Years of data show many students exit the U.S. educational system unprepared for college and career. In response, the White House launched the "My Brother's Keeper" (MBK) initiative, calling for the closing of opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color. SWIFT Center assembled a national task force to determine how SWIFT can…

The notion of design thinking is becoming more concrete nowadays, as design researchers and practitioners study the thinking processes involved in design and employ the concept of design thinking to foster better solutions to complex and ill-defined problems. The goal of the present research is to develop a cognitive activity-based design…

In today's knowledge society, there is a demand for professionals who are able to create knowledge across boundaries of disciplines, professions and perspectives. Traditional universities, universities of applied sciences and institutions for vocational education are all challenged to educate these knowledge workers. Accordingly, these…

Educators can use video to gain invaluable information about their students. A concern is that collecting videos online can create an increased security risk for children. The purpose of this article is to provide ethical and legal guidelines for designing video-based apps for mobile devices and the web. By reviewing the literature, law, and code…

The purpose of this study was to elicit design guidelines for a teacher tool to support students' diverse needs by facilitating differentiated instructions (DIs). The study used a framework based on activity theory and principles from universal design for learning. As for the research methods, design-based research methods were adopted, and as the…

Our paper provides some critical attributes of an online homegrown assessment test, which we labelled Major Field Learning Test (MFLT). These attributes are also valid for departmental tests, directly connected to coursework which makes up the MFLT. The paper provides helpful recommendations for online assessment of learning as well as retention…

Student achievement does not depend solely on teacher competence. Students' own behavior, their motivation to achieve, and their attitudes toward others around them all contribute. These variables create conditions--an environment--that either favors or disfavors achievement. They can dictate the amount of time a teacher has to devote to…

The purpose of this study was to design and develop a set of guidelines for multimedia learning objects to inform instructional designers (IDs) about the procedures involved in the process of content analysis. This study was motivated by the absence of standardized procedures in the beginning phase of the multimedia learning object design which is…

Numerous studies have proposed and implemented various innovative designs of mobile learning practices, and several pedagogical affordances of mobile technologies in different subject domains have also been suggested. This study proposes a notion for helping instructors design an innovative mobile learning practice in their subject domain. The…

This is a critical phase for Open Educational Resources (OER) movement: on one side the number of OER is increasing rapidly, and on other side debates about quality of OER-based courseware are heating up. These debates emanate from the fact that OER-based courseware are supposed to help users to follow a logical learning path and get an engaging,…

Since the adoption of faceted search in a small number of academic libraries in 2006, faceted library catalogs have gained popularity in many academic and public libraries. This dissertation seeks to understand whether faceted search improves the interactions between searchers and library catalogs and to understand ways that facets are used in…

The current study applies semantic differential to explore the semantic perception of emergency signs, in an attempt to analyze the meanings of emergency signs in regard to the psychological exigencies of the general public. The results indicate that problems concerning recognition accuracy have been observed, but also that the evaluation of the…

Virtual environments, virtual worlds, simulations, 3D models are loaded with potential, promise, and problems. While learning in virtual settings is still being researched, instructional designers are challenged as to which instructional design practices are best suited for virtual environments (VEs). The problem is there is a lack of a conceptual…

"Ergonomics" is a body of knowledge about human abilities and limitations and how these abilities and limitations should be applied to the design of equipment, machinery, and other devices to ensure safe, comfortable and effective use. Most homes and schools today are equipped with computers for student use. Backpacks have become the…

At Franklin University, we are in the process of creating a master's degree in Instructional Design and Performance Technology. In one of the program courses, Enhancing Learning with Technology, we wanted students to experience applying principles of e-learning while using an industry standard e-learning application. However, we have learned by…