Tag Archives: Education

October 29, 2025 · 11:35 am

Call for papers on education technologies for a Scopus-indexed conference

I am so pleased to share that the University of Malta is supporting the International Conference on Education and Training Technologies (ICETT2026). I am also delighted to let you know that I am serving as its PublicityChair.

📌 This conference is indexed in Scopus and ElCompendex.

📌 ICETT2025’s conference proceedings were published through the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This underlines the international standing and scholarly credibility of this conference.

📌 All accepted papers will be peer-reviewed, presented during the conference and published via ICETT’s 2026 Conference Proceedings. They will be indexed by EI Compendex and Scopus, among other recognised academic databases.

 Conference topics include (but are not limited to):

  • E-learning and online learning
  • Game-based learning
  • Learning analytics and education big data
  • MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
  • Mobile & ubiquitous learning
  • Online platforms and environments
  • Open educational resources
  • Podcasting and broadcasting
  • Social media for teaching and learning
  • Virtual reality for teaching and learning

 The papers’ submission deadline is the 20th of December, 2025.


🔗 Learn more about this fruitful event. https://www.icett.org/

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May 30, 2023 · 8:25 am

Metaverse education: A cost-benefit analysis

This is an excerpt from one of my latest articles.

Suggested Citation: Camilleri, M.A. (2023). Metaverse applications in education: A systematic review and a cost-benefit analysis, Interactive Technology and Smart Education, Forthcoming, https://doi.org/10.1108/ITSE-01-2023-0017

A critical review of the literature suggests that there are both pros and cons of using the Metaverse applications in education. Table 3 provides a summary of possible costs and benefits of delivering education through the Metaverse’s virtual environments. The following section features a more detailed discussion on these elements.

Table 1. A cost-benefit analysis on Metaverse education

CostsBenefits
Infrastructure, resources and capabilitiesImmersive multi-sensory experiences in 3D environments  
The degree of freedom in a virtual world  Equitable and accessible space for all users  
Privacy and security of users’ personal dataInteractions with virtual representations of people and physical objects  
Identity theft and hijacking of user accountsInteroperability  
Borderless environment raises ethical and regulatory concerns   
Users’ addictions and mental health issues   
(Camilleri, 2023)

Costs

Infrastructure, resources and capabilities

            The use of the Metaverse technology will probably necessitate a thorough investment in hardware to operate in the universities’ virtual spaces. It requires intricate devices, including appropriate high-performance infrastructures to achieve accurate retina display and pixel density for realistic virtual immersions. These systems rely on fast internet connections with good bandwidths as well as computers with adequate processing capabilities, that are equipped with good graphic cards (Bansal et al., 2022; Chang et al., 2022; Girard and Robertson, 2020; Jiawen et al., 2022; Makransky and Mayer 2022). For the time being, VR, MR and AR hardware may be considered as bulky, heavy, expensive and cost-prohibitive, in some contexts.

The degree of freedom in a virtual world

            The Metaverse may offer higher degrees of freedom than what is available through the worldwide web and web2.0 technologies (Hackl et al., 2022). Its administrators cannot be in a position to anticipate the behaviors of all persons using their technologies. Therefore, Metaverse users including students as well as their educators, can possibly be exposed to positive as well as to negative influences, as other individuals can disguise themselves, by using anonymous avatars, to roam in the vast virtual environments.

Privacy and security of users’ personal data

            The users’ interactions with the Metaverse as well as their personal or sensitive information, can be tracked by platform operators hosting this Internet service, as they continuously record, process and store their virtual activities in real-time. Like its preceding worldwide web and Web 2.0 technologies, the Metaverse can possibly raise the users’ concerns about the security of their data and of their intellectual properties (Chen, 2022; Ryu et al., 2022l; Skalidis et al., 2022). They may be wary about data breaches, scams, et cetera (Njoku et al., 2023; Tan et al., 2022).

            Public blockchains and other platforms can already trace the users’ sensitive data, so they are not anonymous to them.  Individuals may decide to use one or more avatars to explore the Metaverse’s worlds. They may risk exposing their personal information, particularly when they are porting from one Metaverse to another and/or when they share transactional details via non-fungible token (NFTs) (Hwang, 2023). Some Metaverse systems do not require their users to share personal information when they create their avatar. However, they could capture relevant information from sensors that detect their users’ brain activity, monitor their facial features, eye motion and vocal qualities, along with other ambient data pertaining to the users’ homes or offices.

            They may have legitimate reasons to capture such information, in order to protect them against objectionable content and/or unlawful conduct of other users. In many cases, the users’ personal data may be collected for advertising and/or for communication purposes. Currently, different jurisdictions have not regulated their citizens’ behaviors within the Metaverse contexts. Works are still in progress, in this regard.

Identity theft and hijacking of user accounts

            There may be malicious persons or groups who may try use certain technologies, to obtain the personal information and digital assets from Metaverse users. Recently, a deepfake artificial intelligence software has developed short audible content, that mimicked and impersonated a human voice. Other bots may easily copy the human beings’ verbal, vocal and visual data including their personality traits. They could duplicate the avatars’ identities, to commit fraudulent activities including unauthorized transactions and purchases, or other crimes with their disguised identities. For example, Roblox users reported that they experienced avatar scams in the past. In many cases, criminals could try to avail themselves of the digital identities of vulnerable users, including children and senior citizens, among others, to access their funds or cryptocurrencies (as they may be linked to the Metaverse profiles). As a result, Metaverse users may become victims of identity theft. In the near future, evolving security protocols and digital ledger technologies like the blockchain will be increasing the transparency and cybersecurity of digital assets (Ryu et al., 2022). However, users still have to remain vigilant about their digital footprint, to continue protecting their personal information.

            As the use of the virtual environment is expected to increase in the coming years, particularly with the emergence of the Metaverse, it is imperative that new ways are developed to protect all users including students. Individuals ought to be informed about the risks to their privacy. Various validation procedures including authentication, such as face scans, retina scans, and speech recognition may be integrated in such systems to prevent identity theft and hijacking of Metaverse accounts.

Borderless environment raises ethical and regulatory concerns

            For the time being, a number of policy makers as well as academics are raising their questions on the content that can be presented in the Metaverse’s virtual worlds, as well as to how they can control the conduct and behaviors of the Metaverse users. Arguably, it may prove difficult for the regulators of different jurisdictions to enforce their legislation in the Metaverse’s borderless environment (Njoku et al., 2023). For example, European citizens are well acquainted with the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2016). Other countries have their own legal frameworks and/or principles that are intended to safeguard the rights of data subjects as well as those of content creators. For example, the United States governments has been slower that the EU to introduce its privacy by design policies. Recently, the South Korean Government announced a set of laudable, non-binding ethical guidelines for the provision and consumption of metaverse services. However, currently, there aren’t a set of formal rules that can apply to all Metaverse users.

Users’ addictions and mental health issues

            Although many AR and VR technologies have already been tried and tested in the past few years, the Metaverse is still getting started. At the moment, it is difficult to determine what are the effects of the Metaverse on the users’ health and well-being (Chen, 2022). Many commentators anticipate that an unnecessary exposure to Metaverse’s immersive technologies may result in negative side-effects for the psychological and physical health of human beings (Han et al., 2022).  They are suggesting that individuals may easily become addicted to a virtual environment, where the limits of reality are their own imagination. They are lured to it “for all the things they can do” and will be willing to stay “for all the things they can be” (these are excerpts from Ready Player One, a movie blockbuster).

            Past research confirms that spending excessive time on internet, social media or playing video games can increase the chances of mental health problems like attention deficit disorders (Dullur et al., 2021), as well as anxiety, stress or depression (Lee et al., 2021), among others. Individuals play video games to achieve their goals, to advance to the next level. Their gameplay releases dopamine (Pallavicini and Pepe, 2020). Similarly, their dopamine levels can increase when they are followed through social media, or when they receive likes, comments or other forms of online engagements (Capriotti et al., 2021; Camilleri and Kozak, 2022; Troise and Camilleri, 2021). Individuals can easily develop an addiction to this immersive technology, as they seek stimulating and temporary pleasurable experiences in its virtual spaces. As a result, they may become dependent to it (Burhan and Moradzadeh, 2020).

            However, the individuals’ interpersonal communications via social media networks are not as authentic or satisfying as real-life relationships, as they are not interacting in-person with other human beings. In the case of the Metaverse, their engagement experiences may appear to be real. Yet again, in the Metaverse, its users are located in a virtual environment, they not physically present near other individuals. Human beings need to build an honest and trustworthy relationship with one another. The users of the Metaverse can create avatars that could easily conceal their identity within the virtual world.

Benefits

Immersive multi-sensory experiences in 3D environments

            The Metaverse could provide a smooth interaction between the real world and the virtual spaces. Its users can engage in activities that are very similar to what they do in reality. However, it could also provide opportunities for them to experience things that could be impossible for them to do in the real world. Sensory technologies enable users to use their five senses of sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell, to immerse themselves in a virtual 3D environment.

            Many students are experienced gamers and are lured by their 3D graphics. They learn when they are actively involved (Siyaev and Jo, 2021a). Therefore, the learning applications should be as meaningful, socially interactive and as engaging as possible (Camilleri and Camilleri, 2019). The Metaverse’s VR tools can be entertaining and could provide captivating and enjoyable experiences to their users (Bühler et al., 2022; Hwang, 2023; Suh and Ahn, 2022). In the past years, a number of educators and students have been using 3D learning applications (e.g. like Second Life) to visit virtual spaces that resemble video games (Hadjistassou, 2016).

            Arguably, there is scope for educators and content developers to create digital domains like virtual schools, colleges and campuses, where students and teachers can socialize and engage in two-way communications. Students could visit the premises of their educational institutions in online tours, from virtually anywhere. A number of universities are replicating their physical campus with virtual ones (Díaz et al., 2020). The design of the virtual campuses may result in improved student services, shared interactive content that could improve their learning outcomes, and could even reach wider audiences. Previous research confirms that it is more interesting and appealing for students to learn academic topics through the virtual world (Lu et al., 2022).

Equitable and accessible space for all users

            Like other virtual technologies, the Metaverse could be accessed from remote locations. Educational institutions can use its infrastructure to deliver courses (free of charge or against tuition fees, as of now). Metaverse education may enable students from different locations to use its open-source software to pursue courses from anywhere, anytime. Hence, its democratized architecture could reduce geographic disparities among students, and increases their chances of continuing education through higher educational institutions in different parts of the world.

            In the future, students including individuals with different abilities, may use the Metaverse’s multisensory environment to immerse themselves in engaging lectures (Hutson, 2022; Lee et al., 2022a).

Interactions with virtual representations of people and physical objects

            Currently, individual users can utilize the AR and VR applications to communicate with others and to exert their influence on the objects within the virtual world. They can organize virtual meetings with geographically distant users, attend conferences, et cetera (Camilleri and Camilleri, 2022b; Yu, 2022). Various commentators indicate that the Metaverse can be used to learn academic subjects in real-time sessions in a VR setting (Saritas and Topraklikoglu, 2022; Singh et al., 2022). It could be utilized to interact with peers and course instructors. The students and their lecturers will probably use an avatar that will represent their identity in the virtual world. Many researchers noted that avatars facilitate interactive communications and are a good way to personalize the students’ learning experiences (Barry et al., 2015; Díaz, 2020; Garrido-Iñigo and Rodríguez-Moreno, 2015; Melendez Araya and Hidalgo Avila, 2018; Park, and Kim, 2022).

Interoperability

            Many commentators speculate that unlike other VR applications, the Metaverse could probably enable its users to retain their identities as well as the ownership of their digital assets through different virtual worlds and platforms (Hwang, 2023; Xu et al., 2022). This implies that Metaverse users can communicate and interact with other individuals in a seamless manner through different devices or servers, across different platforms. They may be in a position to use the Metaverse to share data and content in different virtual worlds via Web 3.0 (Seddon et al., 2023).

Conclusion

            This research theorizes about the pros and cons of using Metaverse’s immersive applications for educational purposes. It clearly indicates that many academics are already experimenting with VR’s immersive technology. While some of them anticipate that the Metaverse is poised to transform education as they envisage that it could be integrated with school curricula and in their educational programs.  Others are more skeptical about the hype around this captivating technology. Time will tell whether the Metaverse project comes to fruition.

            For the time being, education stakeholders are invited to untap the potential of AR and VR technologies to continue improving the students’ learning journeys. Of course, further research is required to better understand how policy makers as well as practitioners including the developers of the Metaverse, can address the number of challenges and issues identified in this contribution.

The full article and the list of references are available through Researchgate, Academia and SSRN.

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June 25, 2022 · 5:00 pm

Learning from anywhere, anytime: The use of mobile technologies for educational purposes

This contribution is a excerpt from my latest article that was published by Springer’s Technology, Knowledge and Learning (Journal). The content has been adapted for this blog post.

Suggested citation: Camilleri, M.A. & Camilleri, A.C. (2022). Learning from anywhere, anytime: Utilitarian motivations and facilitating conditions to use mobile learning applications. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-022-09608-8

dailymail.co.uk

University students are using mobile technologies to improve their learning outcomes. In the past years, a number of academic authors contended that educational apps were supporting many students in different contexts Butler et al., 2021; Crompton & Burke, 2018; Hamidi & Chavoshi, 2018; Sung et al., 2016; Tosuntas et al., 2015). In the main, they maintained that ubiquitous technologies enable them to access learning management systems and to engage in synchronous conversations with other individuals (Camilleri & Camilleri, 2021).

One may argue that the m-learning paradigm is associated with the constructivist approaches (Chang et al., 2018), including those related with discovery-based learning (Camilleri & Camilleri, 2019c). Relevant theoretical underpinnings suggest that the use of mobile apps can improve the delivery of quality, student-centered education (Camilleri & Camilleri, 2021; Camilleri, 2021b; Chang et al., 2018; Crompton & Burke, 2018; Furió et al., 2015; Lameu, 2020; Nikolopoulou et al., 2021; Sung et al., 2016; Swanson, 2020). This research raises awareness on m-learning technologies that enable students to search for solutions for themselves through the Internet and via learning management systems. It also indicated that mobile apps like Microsoft Teams or Zoom, among others, allow them to engage in synchronous conversations with course instructors and with their peers, in real time.

This study explored the users’ perceptions about m-learning technologies. It validated key constructs from TAM Briz-Ponce et al., 2017; Cheung & Vogel, 2013; Granić & Marangunić, 2019; Ngai et al., 2007; Scherer et al., 2019; Thong Hong & Tam, 2002) and UTAUT (Gunasinghe et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2019), as shown in Table 1.

The descriptive statistics clearly indicated that the research participants felt that m-learning technologies were useful for them to continue their course programs. The principal component analysis confirmed that the students’ engagement with their educational apps was primarily determined by their ease of use. This is one of the main factors that influenced their intentions to engage with m-learning apps.

The findings revealed that higher education students were using m-learning apps as they considered them as useful tools to enhance their knowledge. Evidently, their perceptions about the ease of use of m-learning technologies were significantly correlated with their perceived usefulness. In addition, it transpired that both constructs were also affecting their attitudes towards usage, that in turn preceded their intentions to use m-learning apps.

The results also revealed that the respondents were satisfied by the technical support they received during COVID-19. Apparently, their university provided appropriate facilitating conditions that allowed them to engage with to m-learning programs during the unexpected pandemic situation and even when the preventative restrictions were eased.

The stepwise regression analyses shed light on the positive and significant relationships of this study’s research model. Again, these results have proved that the respondents were utilizing m-learning apps because their university (and course instructors) supported them with adequate and sufficient resources (i.e. facilitating conditions). The findings indicated that they were assisted (by their institution’s helpdesk) during their transition to emergency remote learning. In fact, the study confirmed that there was a positive and significant relationship between facilitating conditions and the students’ engagement with m-learning technologies.

On the other hand, this empirical research did not yield a statistically significant relationship between the students’ social influences and their intentions to use the mobile technologies. This is in stark contrast with the findings from past contributions, where other researchers noted that students were pressurized by course instructors to use education technologies (Camilleri & Camilleri, 2020; Teo & Zheng, 2014). The researchers presume that in this case, the majority of university students indicated that they were not coerced by educators or by their peers, to use m-learning apps. This finding implies that students became accustomed or habituated with the use of mobile technologies to continue their course programs.

This research builds on previous technology adoption models Davis et al., 1989; Venkatesh et al., 2003; 2012) to better understand the students’ dispositions to engage with m-learning apps. It integrated constructs from TAM with others that were drawn from UTAUT/UTAUT2. To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, currently, there are no studies that integrated facilitating conditions and social influences (from UTAUT/UTAUT2) with TAM’s perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and attitudes. This contribution addresses this knowledge gap in academia. In sum, it raises awareness on the importance of providing appropriate facilitating conditions to students (and educators). This way, they will be in a better position to use educational technologies to improve their learning outcomes.

Practical implications

This research indicated that students held positive attitudes and perceptions on the use of m-learning technologies in higher educational settings. Their applications allow them to access course material (through Moodle or other virtual learning environments) and to avail themselves from video conferencing facilities from everywhere, and at any time. The respondents themselves considered the mobile technologies as useful tools that helped them improve their learning journeys, even during times when COVID-19’s preventative measures were eased. Hence, there is scope for university educators and policy makers to create and adopt m-learning approaches in addition to traditional teaching methodologies, to deliver quality education (Camilleri, 2021).

Arguably, m-learning would require high-quality wireless networks with reliable connections. Course instructors have to consider that their students are accessing their asynchronous resources as well as their synchronous apps (like Zoom or Microsoft Teams) on campus or in other contexts. Students using m-learning technologies should have appropriate facilitating conditions in place, including adequate Wi-Fi speeds (that enable access to high-res images, and/or interactive media, including videos, live streaming, etc.). Furthermore, higher education institutions ought to provide ongoing technical support to students and to their members of staff (Camilleri & Camilleri, 2021).

This study has clearly shown that the provision of technical support, as well as the utilization of user-friendly, m-learning apps, among other factors, would probably improve the students’ willingness to engage with these remote technologies. Thus, course instructors are encouraged to create attractive and functional online environments in formats that are suitable for the screens of mobile devices (like tablets and smartphones). There can be instances where university instructors may require technical training and professional development to learn how to prepare and share customized m-learning resources for their students.

Educators should design appealing content that includes a good selection of images and videos to entice their students’ curiosity and to stimulate their critical thinking. Their educational resources should be as clear and focused as possible, with links to reliable academic sources. Moreover, these apps could be developed in such a way to increase the users’ engagement with each other and with their instructors, in real time.

Finally, educational institutions ought to regularly evaluate their students’ attitudes and perceptions toward their m-learning experiences, via quantitative and qualitative research, in order to identify any areas of improvement.

Research limitations and future research directions

To date, there have been limited studies that explored the institutions’ facilitating conditions and utilitarian motivations to use m-learning technologies in higher education, albeit a few exceptions. A through review of the relevant research revealed that researchers on education technology have often relied on different research designs and methodologies to capture and analyze their primary data. In this case, this study integrated measures that were drawn from TAM and UTAUT. The hypotheses were tested through stepwise regression analyses. The number of respondents that participated in this study was adequate and sufficient for the statistical purposes of this research.

Future research could investigate other factors that are affecting the students’ engagement with m-learning technologies. For example, researchers can explore the students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to use educational apps. These factors can also have a significant effect on their intentions to continue their learning journeys. Qualitative research could shed more light on the students’ in-depth opinions, beliefs and personal experiences on the usefulness and the ease of use of learning via mobile apps, including serious games and simulations. Inductive studies may evaluate the effectiveness as well as the motivational appeal of gameplay. They can possibly clarify how, where and when mobile apps can be utilized as teaching resources in different disciplines. They can also identify the strengths and weaknesses of integrating them in the curricula of specific subjects.

Prospective researchers can focus on the design, structure and content of m-learning apps that are intended to facilitate the students’ learning experiences. Furthermore, longitudinal studies may provide a better understanding of the students’ motivations to engage with such educational technologies. They can measure their progress and development, in the long term. The students’ perceptions, attitudes and intentions to use m-learning technologies can change over time, particularly as they become experienced users.

A prepublication of the full article is available here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360541461_Learning_from_anywhere_anytime_Utilitarian_motivations_and_facilitating_conditions_to_use_mobile_learning_applications

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October 3, 2019 · 4:42 pm

Key Terms in Education Technology Literature

This is an excerpt from one of my latest contributions, entitled: “The Use of Mobile Learning Technologies in Primary Education”.

edtech(The Image has been adapted from Buzzle.com)

 

  • The ‘Constructivist-Based learning’ is a learning theory claiming that individuals construct their knowledge and understandings through experiencing things.
  • The ‘Digital Learning Resources’ include digitally formatted, educational materials like; graphics, images or photos, audio and video, simulations and animation technologies, that are used to support students to achieve their learning outcomes.
  • The ‘Digital Games-Based Learning’ (DGBL) involves the use of educational video games that can be accessed through computer-based applications. DGBL are usually aimed to improve the students’ learning outcomes by balancing educational content and gameplay.
  • The ‘Discovery-Based Learning’ is a constructivist-based approach to education as students seek to learn through continuous inquiry and experience.
  • The ‘Learning Outcomes’ are assessment tools that measure the students’ achievement at the end of a course or program.
  • ‘Mobile Learning’ (M-Learning) is a term that describes how individuals learn through mobile, portable devices, including smart phones, laptops and/or tablets.
  • The ‘Serious Games’ refer to games that are used in industries like; education, health care, engineering, urban planning, politics and defence, among other areas. Such games are usually designed for training purpose other than pure entertainment.
  • The ‘Ubiquitous Technology’ involves the use of wireless sensor networks that disseminate information in real time, from virtually everywhere.

 

ADDITIONAL READING

  1. Bakker, M., van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M., & Robitzsch, A. (2015). Effects of playing mathematics computer games on primary school students’ multiplicative reasoning ability. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 40, 55-71.
  2. Blatchford, P., Baines, E., & Pellegrini, A. (2003). The social context of school playground games: Sex and ethnic differences, and changes over time after entry to junior school. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 21(4), 481-505.
  3. Bottino, R. M., Ferlino, L., Ott, M., & Tavella, M. (2007). Developing strategic and reasoning abilities with computer games at primary school level. Computers & Education, 49(4), 1272-1286.
  4. Camilleri, M.A. & Camilleri, A. (2017). The Students’ Perceptions of Digital Game-Based Learning. In Pivec, M. & Grundler, J. (Ed.)11th European Conference on Games Based Learning (October). Proceedings, pp. 52-62, H JOANNEUM University of Applied Science, Graz, Austria, pp 56-62. http://toc.proceedings.com/36738webtoc.pdf https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3087801
  5. Camilleri, A.C. & Camilleri, M.A. (2019). The Students Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations to Engage with Digital Learning Games. In Shun-Wing N.G., Fun, T.S. & Shi, Y. (Eds.) 5th International Conference on Education and Training Technologies (ICETT 2019). Seoul, South Korea (May, 2019). International Economics Development and Research Center (IEDRC). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3339158
  6. Camilleri, A.C. & Camilleri, M.A. (2019). The Students’ Perceived Use, Ease of Use and Enjoyment of Educational Games at Home and at School. 13th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference. Valencia, Spain (March 2019). International Academy of Technology, Education and Development (IATED). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3339163
  7. Camilleri, M.A. & Camilleri, A.C. (2019). Student-Centred Learning through Serious Games. 13th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference. Valencia, Spain (March 2019). International Academy of Technology, Education and Development (IATED). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3339166
  8. De Aguilera, M., & Mendiz, A. (2003). Video games and education:(Education in the Face of a “Parallel School”). Computers in Entertainment (CIE), 1(1), 1-14.
  9. Hainey, T., Connolly, T. M., Boyle, E. A., Wilson, A., & Razak, A. (2016). A systematic literature review of games-based learning empirical evidence in primary education. Computers & Education, 102, 202-223.
  10. Hromek, R., & Roffey, S. (2009). Promoting Social and Emotional Learning With Games: “It’s Fun and We Learn Things”. Simulation & Gaming, 40(5), 626-644.
  11. Lim, C. P. (2008). Global citizenship education, school curriculum and games: Learning Mathematics, English and Science as a global citizen. Computers & Education, 51(3), 1073-1093.
  12. McFarlane, A., Sparrowhawk, A., & Heald, Y. (2002). Report on the educational use of games. TEEM (Teachers evaluating educational multimedia), Teem, Cambridge, UK. pp.1-26. http://consilr.info.uaic.ro/uploads_lt4el/resources/pdfengReport%20on%20the%20educational%20use%20of%20games.pdf
  13. Miller, D. J., & Robertson, D. P. (2010). Using a games console in the primary classroom: Effects of ‘Brain Training’programme on computation and self‐British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2), 242-255.
  14. Pellegrini, A. D., Blatchford, P., Kato, K., & Baines, E. (2004). A short‐term longitudinal study of children’s playground games in primary school: Implications for adjustment to school and social adjustment in the USA and the UK. Social Development, 13(1), 107-123.
  15. Tüzün, H., Yılmaz-Soylu, M., Karakuş, T., İnal, Y., & Kızılkaya, G. (2009). The effects of computer games on primary school students’ achievement and motivation in geography learning. Computers & Education, 52(1), 68-77.

 

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September 29, 2019 · 6:19 pm

The Students’ Engagement with Mobile Learning Technologies

These are excerpts from our latest academic article.

How to Cite: Camilleri, M.A. & Camilleri, A.C. (2019). The Students’ Readiness to Engage with Mobile Learning Apps. Interactive Technology and Smart Education. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ITSE-06-2019-0027/full/html

Hand-held mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets allow individuals, including students, to access and review online (educational) content from virtually anywhere. The mobile applications (apps) can provide instant access to the schools’ learning resources (Camilleri & Camilleri, 2019b; Sánchez & Isaías, 2017; Cheon, Lee, Crooks & Song, 2012). Therefore, they are increasingly being utilized in the context of primary education to improve the student experience. Relevant theoretical underpinnings reported that more primary level students are utilizing mobile learning technologies to engage with their instructors (Rodríguez, Riaza & Gómez, 2017; Sánchez & Isaías, 2018). Notwithstanding, it is much easier for the younger pupils to mobile apps to read eBooks, as hard-copy textbooks need to be carried in their bags. Arguably, the proliferation of portable technologies like tablets are lighter and less bulky than laptop computers. Hence, primary school students can easily use mobile technologies anywhere, beyond the traditional classroom environment (Rodríguez et al., 2017). Currently, there is a wide variety of educational apps that are readily available on a wide array of mobile devices (Chee, Yahaya, Ibrahim &Hasan, 2017; Domingo & Garganté, 2016). Such interactive technologies can improve the delivery of quality education as teachers provide direct feedback to their students, in real time. Some of the mobile apps can even engage primary school students in immersive learning experiences (Camilleri & Camilleri,2019c; Isaias, Reis, Coutinho & Lencastre, 2017).

On the other hand, other academic literature posited that some students may not want to engage in mobile learning. Very often, commentators implied that the mobile technologies have their own limitations (Cheon et al., 2012; Wang, Wu & Wang, 2009). A few practitioners contended that mobile devices had small screens with low resolutions. Alternatively, some argued about their slow connection speeds, or pointed out that they lacked standardization features  (Sánchez & Isaías, 2017; Camilleri & Camilleri,2017).

As a matter of fact, Android, Apple and Microsoft Windows have different operating systems. As a result, learning apps may have to be customized to be compatible with such systems. Moreover, individuals, including primary school students may hold different attitudes towards the use of mobile devices. There may be students who may be motivated to engage with mobile technologies (Sánchez & Isaias, 2018; Ciampa, 2014) as they use these devices to play games, watch videos, or to chat with their friends, online (Wang et al., 2009). In this case, the primary school students may use their mobile devices for hedonic reasons, rather than to engage in mobile learning activities. Such usage of the mobile technologies can possibly result in undesired educational outcomes. Nevertheless, those primary level students who already own or have instant access to a mobile device may easily become habitual users of this technology; as they use it for different purposes. However, there is still limited research in academia that explores these students’ readiness to engage in mobile learning at home, and at school.

Results

The findings in this study are consistent with the argument that digital natives are increasingly immersing themselves in digital technologies (Bourgonjon et al., 2010), including educational games (Camilleri & Camilleri,2019; Ge & Ifenthaler, 2018; Carvalho et al., 2015, Wouters et al., 2013). However, the results have shown that there was no significant relationship between the perceived ease of the gameplay and the children’s enjoyment in them. Furthermore, the stepwise regression analysis revealed that there was no significant relationship between the normative expectations and the children’s engagement with the educational apps; although it was evident (from the descriptive statistics) that the parents were encouraging their children to play the games at home and at school. This research relied on previously tried and tested measures that were drawn from the educational technology literature in order to explore the hypothesized relationships. There is a common tendency in academic literature to treat the validity and reliability of quantitative measures from highly cited empirical papers as given.

Future studies may use different sampling frames, research designs and methodologies to explore this topic. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other empirical study that has validated the technology acceptance model within a primary school setting. Further work is needed to replicate the findings of this research in a similar context.

References (the full bibliography of this paper)

Ajzen, I. (1991), “The theory of planned behavior”, Organization Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 179-211.

Bourgonjon, J., Valcke, M., Soetaert, R., and Schellens, T. (2010), “Students’ perceptions about the use of educational games in the classroom”, Computers & Education, Vol. 54, No. 4, pp. 1145-1156.

Burguillo, J.C. (2010), “Using game theory and competition-based learning to stimulate student motivation and performance”, Computers & Education, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 566-575.

Camilleri, M.A. and Camilleri, A. (2017a), “The Technology Acceptance of Mobile Applications in Education”, In Sánchez, I.A. & Isaias, P. (Eds) 13th International Conference on Mobile Learning (Budapest, 11th April). Proceedings, pp 41-48. International Association for Development of the Information Society.

Camilleri, M.A., and Camilleri, A.C. (2017b), “Digital learning resources and ubiquitous technologies in education”, Technology, Knowledge and Learning, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 65-82.

Camilleri, M. A., and  Camilleri, A. (2019a), “Student Centred Learning Through Serious Games”, 13th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference. Valencia, Spain (March, 2019). International Academy of Technology, Education and Development (IATED).

Camilleri, A.C., and Camilleri, M.A. (2019b), “Mobile Learning via Educational Apps: An Interpretative Study”. In Shun-Wing N.G., Fun, T.S. & Shi, Y. (Eds.) 5th International Conference on Education and Training Technologies (ICETT 2019). Seoul, South Korea (May, 2019). International Economics Development and Research Center (IEDRC).

Camilleri, A.C., and Camilleri, M.A. (2019c), “The Students Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations to Engage with Digital Learning Games”, In Shun-Wing N.G., Fun, T.S. & Shi, Y. (Eds.) 5th International Conference on Education and Training Technologies (ICETT 2019). Seoul, South Korea (May, 2019). International Economics Development and Research Center (IEDRC).

Carvalho, M.B., Bellotti, F., Berta, R., De Gloria, A., Sedano, C.I., Hauge, H.B., Hu, J., and Rauterberg, M. (2015), “An activity theory-based model for serious games analysis and conceptual design”, Computers & Education, Vol. 87, pp.166-181.

Chang, C.T., Hajiyev, J., and Su, C.R. (2017), “Examining the students’ behavioral intention to use e-learning in Azerbaijan? The general extended technology acceptance model for e-learning approach”, Computers & Education, Vol. 111, pp. 128-143.

Chee, K. N., Yahaya, N., Ibrahim, N. H., and Hasan, M. N. (2017). Review of mobile learning trends 2010-2015: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 20(2), 113-126.

Chen, K. C. and Jang, S. J. (2010), “Motivation in online learning: Testing a model of self-determination theory”, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 741-752.

Cheon, J., Lee, S., Crooks, S. M. and Song, J. (2012), “An investigation of mobile learning readiness in higher education based on the theory of planned behavior”, Computers & Education, Vol. 59, No. 3, pp. 1054-1064.

Ciampa, K. (2014), “Learning in a mobile age: an investigation of student motivation”, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 82-96.

Connolly, T.M., Boyle, E.A., MacArthur, E.  Hainey, T., and Boyle, J.M. (2012), “A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games”, Computers & Education, Vol. 59, No. 2, pp. 661-686.

Davis, F.D. (1989), “Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 319-340.

Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P., and Warshaw, P.R. (1989), “User acceptance of computer technology: a comparison of two theoretical models”, Management Science, Vol. 35, No. 8, pp. 982-1003.

Dickey, M.D. (2011), “Murder on Grimm Isle: The impact of game narrative design in an educational game‐based learning environment”, British Journal of Education Technology, Vol. 42, No.  3, pp. 456-469.

Domingo, M. G. and Garganté, A. B. (2016). Exploring the use of educational technology in primary education: Teachers’ perception of mobile technology learning impacts and applications’ use in the classroom. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 56, pp. 21-28.

Dunne, Á., Lawlor, M. A., and Rowley, J. (2010), “Young people’s use of online social networking sites–a uses and gratifications perspective”, Journal of Research in International Marketing,. Vol. 4, No. 1, pp.  46-58.

Ge, X., and Ifenthaler, D. (2018), “Designing engaging educational games and assessing engagement in game-based learning”, In Gamification in Education: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice, IGI Global, Hershey, USA, pp. 1-19.

Harris, J. Mishra, P., and Koehler, M. (2009), “Teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge and learning activity types: Curriculum-based technology integration reframed”, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 393-416.

Huang, W.H., Huang, W.Y., and Tschopp, J. (2010), “Sustaining iterative game playing processes in DGBL: The relationship between motivational processing and outcome processing”,  Computers & Education, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 789-97.

Hwang, G.J., and Wu, P.H.  (2012), “Advancements and trends in digital game‐based learning research: a review of publications in selected journals from 2001 to 2010”, British. Journal of Education Technology, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. E6-E10.

Isaias, P., Reis, F., Coutinho, C. and Lencastre, J. A. (2017), “Empathic technologies for distance/mobile learning: An empirical research based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT)”, Interactive Technology and Smart Education, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 159-180.

Lee, M. K., Cheung, C. M., and Chen, Z. (2005), “Acceptance of Internet-based learning medium: the role of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation”, Information & Management,. Vol. 42, No. 8, pp. 1095-1104.

Li, H., Liu, Y., Xu, X., Heikkilä, J., and Van Der Heijden, H. (2015), “Modeling hedonic is continuance through the uses and gratifications theory: An empirical study in online games”, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 48, pp. 261-272.

Park, S.Y. (2009), “An analysis of the technology acceptance model in understanding university students’ behavioral intention to use e-learning”, Education. Technology & Society, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 150-162.

Park, S. Y., Nam, M. W., and Cha, S. B. (2012), “University students’ behavioral intention to use mobile learning: Evaluating the technology acceptance model”, British Journal of Education Technology, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 592-605.

Rodríguez, A. I., Riaza, B. G., & Gómez, M. C. S. (2017), “Collaborative learning and mobile devices: An educational experience in Primary Education”, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 72, pp. 664-677.

Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L. (2000), “Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions”, Contemporary Education Psychology, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 54-67.

Sánchez, I. A., & Isaías, P. (2017), “Proceedings of the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS)”, International Conference on Mobile Learning (13th, Budapest, Hungary, April 10-12, 2017). International Association for Development of the Information Society.

Sánchez, I. A., & Isaias, P. (2018), “Proceedings of the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS)”, International Conference on Mobile Learning (14th, Lisbon, Portugal, April 14-16, 2018). International Association for Development of the Information Society.

Teo, T., Beng Lee, C., Sing Chai, C., and Wong, S.L. (2009), “Assessing the intention to use technology among pre-service teachers in Singapore and Malaysia: A multigroup invariance analysis of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)”, Computers & Education, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp. 1000-1009.

Venkatesh, V., Morris, M.G., Davis, G.B. and Davis, F.D. (2003), “User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 425-478.

Venkatesh, V., Thong, Y.T.L., and Xu, X. (2012), “Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 36, No.1, pp. 157-178.

Wang, Y. S., Wu, M. C., & Wang, H. Y. (2009), “Investigating the determinants and age and gender differences in the acceptance of mobile learning”, British Journal of Educational technology, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 92-118.

Wouters, P., Van Nimwegen, C., Van Oostendorp, H., and Van Der Spek, E.D. (2013), “A meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious games”,  Journal of Education Psychology,  Vol. 105, No.  2, pp. 249-266.

Related Publications

Camilleri, M.A. & Camilleri, A.C. (2019). The Acceptance and Use of Mobile Learning Applications in Higher Education. In Pfennig, A. & Chen, K.C. (Eds.) 3rd International Conference on Education and eLearning (ICEEL2019), Barcelona, Spain.

Camilleri, A.C. & Camilleri, M.A. (2019). The Students’ Perceived Use, Ease of Use and Enjoyment of Educational Games at Home and at School. 13th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference. Valencia, Spain (March, 2019). International Academy of Technology, Education and Development (IATED).Download this paper

Camilleri, M.A. & Camilleri, A. (2017). The Students’ Perceptions of Digital Game-Based Learning. In Pivec, M. & Grundler, J. (Ed.) 11th European Conference on Games Based Learning  (October). Proceedings, pp. 52-62, H JOANNEUM University of Applied Science, Graz, Austria, pp 56-62. http://toc.proceedings.com/36738webtoc.pdf Download this paper

Camilleri, M.A. & Camilleri, A. (2017). Measuring The Educators’ Behavioural Intention, Perceived Use And Ease Of Use Of Mobile Technologies. In Wood, G. (Ed) Re-connecting management research with the disciplines: Shaping the research agenda for the social sciences (University of Warwick, September). Proceedings, pp., British Academy of Management, UK. http://conference.bam.ac.uk/BAM2017/htdocs/conference_papers.php?track_name=%20Knowledge%20and%20Learning Download this paper

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May 28, 2019 · 9:22 pm

The Students Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations to Engage with Digital Learning Games

An Excerpt from one of my latest papers, entitled; “The Students’ Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations to Engage with Digital Learning Games”.

How to Cite: Camilleri, A.C. & Camilleri, M.A. (2019). The Students Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations to Engage with Digital Learning Games. In Shun-Wing N.G., Fun, T.S. & Shi, Y. (Eds.) 5th International Conference on Education and Training Technologies (ICETT 2019). Seoul, South Korea (May, 2019).

This contribution has explored the primary school’s grade three  students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations toward the use of educational games. It relied on the technology acceptance model to investigate the students’ perceived usefulness and ease of use of the  schools’ games ([7], [8], [15]). Moreover, the researchers have also  included the measuring items that explored the students’ perceived  enjoyment ([12], [13], [20]) as they investigated whether they  experienced normative pressures to play the educational games ([14], [22], [23]). The findings from the Wilcoxon test reported that the students played the school games at home, more than they did at school. They indicated that the school’s games were easy to play.

This study reported that the students recognized that the school’s games were useful and relevant as they were learning from them. Moreover, they indicated that the school’s educational games held their attention since they found them enjoyable and fun. The vast majority of the children played the educational games, both at home and at school. The findings in this study are consistent with the argument that digital natives are increasingly immersing
themselves in digital technologies ([2]), including educational games ([1], [4], [10], [11], [28]). However, the results have shown that there was no significant relationship between the perceived ease of the gameplay and the children’s enjoyment in them.

Furthermore, the stepwise regression analysis revealed that there was no significant relationship between the normative expectations and the children’s engagement with the educational games; although it was evident (from the descriptive statistics) that the parents were encouraging their children to play the games at home and at school.

This research relied on previously tried and tested measures that were drawn from the educational technology literature in order to explore the hypothesized relationships. There is common tendency  in academic literature to treat the validity and reliability of quantitative measures from highly cited empirical papers as given. In this case, the survey items in this study were designed and adapted for the primary school children who were in grade 3, in a
small European state. Future studies may use different sampling frames, research designs and methodologies to explore this topic. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other empirical study that has validated the technology acceptance model within a primary school setting. Further work is needed to replicate the findings of  this research in a similar context.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank the department of education, the school’s principal and her members of staff who have provided their invaluable support during the data gathering process.

REFERENCES
[1] Ge, X., and Ifenthaler, D. 2018. Designing engaging
educational games and assessing engagement in game-based
learning” In Gamification in Education: Breakthroughs in
Research and Practice, IGI Global, Hershey, USA, 1-19,

[2] Bourgonjon, J., Valcke, M., Soetaert, R., and Schellens, T.
2010, Students’ perceptions about the use of educational
games in the classroom. Comp. & Educ. 54, 4, 1145-1156.

[3] Hwang, G.J., and Wu, P.H. 2012. Advancements and trends
in digital game‐based learning research: a review of
publications in selected journals from 2001 to 2010. Brit. J.
of Educ. Tech. 43, 1, E6-E10.

[4] Carvalho, M.B., Bellotti, F., Berta, R., De Gloria, A.,
Sedano, C.I., Hauge, H.B., Hu, J., and Rauterberg, M. 2015.
An activity theory-based model for serious games analysis
and conceptual design. Comp. & Educ. 87, 166-181.

[5] Connolly, T.M., Boyle, E.A., MacArthur, E. Hainey, T., and
Boyle, J.M. 2012. A systematic literature review of empirical
evidence on computer games and serious games. Comp. &
Educ. 59, 2, 661-686.

[6] Burguillo, J.C. 2010. Using game theory and competitionbased
learning to stimulate student motivation and
performance. Comp. & Educ. 55, 2, 566-575.

[7] Dickey, M.D. 2011. Murder on Grimm Isle: The impact of
game narrative design in an educational game‐based learning
environment. Brit. J. of Educ. Tech, 42, 3, 456-469.

[8] Huang, W.H., Huang, W.Y., and Tschopp, J. 2010.
Sustaining iterative game playing processes in DGBL: The
relationship between motivational processing and outcome
processing. Comp. & Educ. 55, 2, 789-97.

[9] Harris, J. Mishra, P., and Koehler, M. 2009. Teachers’
technological pedagogical content knowledge and learning
activity types: Curriculum-based technology integration
reframed. J. of Res. on Tech. in Educ. 41, 4, 393-416.

[10] Wouters, P., Van Nimwegen, C., Van Oostendorp, H., and
Van Der Spek, E.D. 2013. A meta-analysis of the cognitive
and motivational effects of serious games. J. of Educ. Psych.
105, 2, 249-266.

[11] Camilleri, M.A., and Camilleri, A. 2017. The Students’
Perceptions of Digital Game-Based Learning, In Pivec, M.
and Grundler, J. 11th European Conference on Games Based
Learning Proceedings (London, UK, October 04-05, 2017),
University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria, 56-62.

[12] Davis, F.D. 1989. Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of
use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS
Quart. 319-340.

[13] Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P., and Warshaw, P.R. 1989. User
acceptance of computer technology: a comparison of two
theoretical models. Mgt. Science, 35, 8, 982-1003.

[14] Ajzen, I. 1991. The theory of planned behavior. Org. Behav.
and Human Dec. Proc. 50, 2, 179-211.

[15] Lee, M. K., Cheung, C. M., and Chen, Z. 2005. Acceptance
of Internet-based learning medium: the role of extrinsic and
intrinsic motivation. Inf. & Mgt. 42, 8, 1095-1104.

[16] Chen, K. C. and Jang, S. J. 2010. Motivation in online
learning: Testing a model of self-determination theory.
Comp. in Human Behav. 26, 4, 741-752.

[17] Dunne, Á., Lawlor, M. A., and Rowley, J. 2010. Young
people’s use of online social networking sites–a uses and
gratifications perspective. Journal of Res. in Int. Mktg. 4, 1,
46-58.

[18] Li, H., Liu, Y., Xu, X., Heikkilä, J., and Van Der Heijden, H.
2015. Modeling hedonic is continuance through the uses and
gratifications theory: An empirical study in online games.
Comp. in Human Behav. 48, 261-272.

[19] Teo, T., Beng Lee, C., Sing Chai, C., and Wong, S.L. 2009.
Assessing the intention to use technology among pre-service
teachers in Singapore and Malaysia: A multigroup invariance
analysis of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).
Comp. & Educ. 53, 3, 1000-1009.

[20] Camilleri, M.A., and Camilleri, A.C. 2017. Digital learning
resources and ubiquitous technologies in education, Tech.,
Knowl. and Learng. 22, 1, 65-82.

[21] Park, S.Y. 2009. An analysis of the technology acceptance
model in understanding university students’ behavioral
intention to use e-learning, Educ. Tech. & Soc. 12, 3, 150-
162.

[22] Venkatesh, V., Morris, M.G., Davis, G.B. and Davis, F.D.
2003. User acceptance of information technology: Toward a
unified view. MIS Quart. 425-478.

[23] Venkatesh, V., Thong, Y.T.L., and Xu, X. 2012.Consumer
acceptance and use of information technology: extending the
unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS
Quart. 157-178.

[24] Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L. 2000. Intrinsic and extrinsic
motivations: Classic definitions and new directions.
Contemp. Educ. Psych. 25, 1, 54-67.

[25] Cheon, J., Lee, S., Crooks, S. M. and Song, J. 2012. An
investigation of mobile learning readiness in higher
education based on the theory of planned behavior. Comp. &
Educ. 59, 3, 1054-1064.

[26] Chang, C.T., Hajiyev, J., and Su, C.R. 2017. Examining the
students’ behavioral intention to use e-learning in
Azerbaijan? The general extended technology acceptance
model for e-learning approach. Comp. & Educ. 111, 128-
143.

[27] Park, S. Y., Nam, M. W., and Cha, S. B. 2012. University
students’ behavioral intention to use mobile learning:
Evaluating the technology acceptance model. Brit. Journal of
Educ. Tech. 43, 4, 592-605.

[28] Camilleri, M.A. and Camilleri, A.C. 2017. The Technology
Acceptance of Mobile Applications in Education. In
Sánchez, I.A. and Isaias, P. (Eds) 13th
International Conference on Mobile Learning (London, UK,
10-11 April 2018). International Association for
Development of the Information Society Budapest, Hungary,
41-48.

Presentation is available at: https://www.slideshare.net/markanthonycamilleri/the-students-intrinsic-and-extrinsic-motivations-148006875

 

 

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April 12, 2017 · 6:33 pm

The Technology Acceptance of Mobile Applications in Education

Dr Mark A. Camilleri from the University of Malta’s Department of Corporate Communication and Ms Adriana C. Camilleri, a PhD Candidate at the University of Bath (U.K.) have recently delivered a presentation of their latest empirical paper, entitled; The Technology Acceptance of Mobile Applications in Education during the 13th Mobile Learning Conference in Budapest, Hungary. More details on this highly indexed conference are available in this site: http://mlearning-conf.org/. An abstract of this paper is enclosed hereunder:

This paper explores the educators’ attitudes and behavioural intention toward mobile applications. Its research methodology has integrated previously tried and tested measures from ‘the pace of technological innovativeness’ and the ‘technology acceptance model’ to better understand the rationale for further investment in mobile learning technologies (m-learning). A quantitative study was carried out amongst two hundred forty-one educators to reveal their perceptions on their ‘use’ and ‘ease of use’ of mobile devices in their schools. A principal component analysis has indicated that these educators were committed to using mobile technologies. In addition, a stepwise regression analysis has shown that the younger teachers were increasingly engaging in m-learning resources. In conclusion, this contribution puts forward key implications for both academia and practitioners.

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September 23, 2016 · 8:49 am

Quality Education for Smart, Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

imagesThe promotion of quality education has re-emerged as an important policy objective across many countries during the past decade. For instance, the aims of Europe 2020 strategy (that was launched in 2010) were to improve the EU’s competitiveness and productivity that underpin a sustainable social market economy (EU, 2010 a,b). The strategy identified three priorities as the main pillars of this strategy:

  • Smart growth—developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation;
  • Sustainable growth—promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy; and
  • Inclusive growth—fostering a high-employment economy delivering economic, social and territorial cohesion (Pasimeni & Pasimeni, 2015).

Significant investments have already been made across the globe to raise relevant competencies that help to improve social outcomes (e.g. social inclusion, social equity and social capital) since these are known to affect educational and labour market success.

In a similar vein, the fourth United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) and its 10 targets represent an ambitious and universal agenda to develop better skills for better lives. Five of its 10 targets are concerned with improving the quality of education for individual children, young people and adults, and to give them better and more relevant knowledge and skills. During the last few decades; major progress has been made towards increasing access to education at all levels; from school readiness among young children through achieving literacy and numeracy at primary school, increasing enrolment rates in schools particularly for women and girls to equipping young adults with knowledge and skills for decent work and global citizenship (UNSDG4, 2015). In this light, the SDG4’s targets are the following (UNSDG4, 2015):

Quality education

By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes;

By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education;

By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university;

By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship;

By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations;

By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy;

By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development;

Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, nonviolent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all;

By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries. By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing states (UNSDG4, 2015).

However, The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) the world’s most widely used global metric to measure the quality of learning outcomes, as well as its adult version, the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), underlined that although many countries may have  their children in school; only a proportion of them achieve adequate levels of proficiency by the end of lower secondary education (PISA, 2012). This finding does not augur well for economic, social and sustainable development.

Bolder efforts are required to make even greater strides to achieve the sustainable development goal of quality education for all. A centralised educational policy may help to achieve the desired outcomes. Well-laid out curricula are capable of successfully developing the full potential of lifelong learners. In addition, the government’s policies of taxation and redistribution of income may also help to counteract inequalities in some segments of society.

The provision of quality education introduces certain mechanisms that equip people with relevant knowledge and skills that they need for today’s labour market. Active employment policies are required to help unemployed people find work. The overall objective of the employability programmes is the reintegration of jobseekers and the inactive individuals into the labour market as well as the provision of assistance to employed persons to secure and advance in their job prospects.

 

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November 28, 2015 · 12:15 pm

Top US Corporate Citizenship Issues

In its latest quarterly magazine the Boston College Centre for Corporate Citizenship (BCCC) has reiterated how community involvement activities can contribute to achieve corporate goals – particularly, when they are aligned with the company’s business context and the interests of its stakeholders. Companies are becoming increasingly adept at tying employee volunteer and corporate giving programmes to their business strategy. Interestingly, BCCC (2015) noted that many businesses have proritised community involvement projects, including; K12 education, youth programmes and health and wellness programmes among others. These social issues have featured as the top priorities for businesses, as evidenced in BCCC’s (2015) Table. In 2009 and 2011 the top issues were more focused on environmental matters.

The inclusion of health in the top three social goals implies that lately there is more concern amongst US citizens regarding the rising cost of health care. In 2015, the U.S. has spent 17% of its gross domestic product on health care. This figure is higher than any other developed nation, and is projected to reach nearly 20 percent by 2024.

bccc

Unsurprisingly, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education is also an area that is receiving increased investments from business communities. According to BCCC’s (2015) study, nearly 40% of companies are focusing on STEM education in their community involvement programmes. These efforts ensure a future pipeline of talent and skills. In fact, OECD (2014) anticipated that there will be a 17 per cent increase in STEM related jobs between 2014 and 2024 (OECD, 2014).

Arguably, businesses are putting food where their mouth is. As they focus their competences and resources in the areas where they can do the most good, there is potential for them to achieve greater returns on their discretionary investments. At the same time, they close the skill gaps and mismatches in their labour market (Camilleri and Camilleri, 2015).

References:

BCCC (2015). The Corporate Citizen, Issue 14 (Fall 2015) Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship https://bc-ccc.uberflip.com/i/571714-corporatecitizen-issue14

Camilleri, M.A.  and Camilleri, A. (2015). Education and social cohesion for economic growth, International Journal of Leadership in Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2014.995721

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June 9, 2015 · 8:57 am

CSR and Educational Leadership

people

Adapted from my chapter, entitled; “Reconceiving CSR  programmes in Education” in Academic Insights and Impacts (Springer, Germany).

CSR and sustainability issues are increasingly becoming ubiquitous practices in different contexts, particularly among the youngest work force. This contribution suggests that there is a business case for responsible behaviours. Besides, minimising staff turnover, CSR may lead to strategic benefits including employee productivity, corporate reputation and operational efficiencies. Therefore, CSR can be the antecedent of financial performance (towards achieving profitability, increasing sales, return on investment et cetera).

Notwithstanding, the businesses’ involvement in setting curricula may also help to improve the effectiveness of education systems across many contexts. Businesses can become key stakeholders in this regard. Their CSR programmes can reconnect their economic success with societal progress. They could move away from seeking incremental gains from the market . Proactive companies who engage in CSR behaviours may possibly take fundamentally different positions with their stakeholders – as they uncover new business opportunities. This contribution showed how businesses could inspire their employees, build their reputations in the market and most importantly create value in education. This movement toward these positive outcomes may represent a leap forward in the right direction for global education.

This chapter has given specific examples of how different organisations were engaging in responsible behaviours with varying degrees of intensity and success. It has identified cost effective and efficient operations. It reported measures which were enhancing the human resources productivity. Other practices sought to engage in philanthropic practices and stewardship principles. At the same time, it was recognised that it was in the businesses’ interest to maintain good relations with different stakeholders, including the regulatory ones. Evidently, there is more to CSR than public relations and greenwashing among all stakeholder groups (including the employees, customers, marketplace and societal groups). Businesses ought to engage themselves in societal relationships and sustainable environmental practices. Responsible behaviours can bring reputational benefits, enhance the firms’ image among external stakeholders and often lead to a favourable climate of trust and cooperation within the company itself
(Herzberg et al., 2011). This chapter reported that participative leadership will boost the employees’ morale and job satisfaction which may often lead to lower staff turnover and greater productivity in workplace environments. However, it also indicates that there are many businesses that still need to realise the business case for responsible behaviours. Their organisational culture and business ethos will inevitably have to become attuned to embrace responsible behavioural practices.

Governments may also have an important role to play. The governments can take an active leading role in triggering corporate responsible behaviours in the realms of education. Greater efforts are required by governments, the private sector and other stakeholders to translate responsible behaviours into policies, strategies and regulations. Governments may give incentives (through financial resources in the form of grants or tax relief) and enforce regulation in certain areas where responsible behaviour is necessary. The governments ought to maintain two-way communication systems with stakeholders. The countries’ educational outcomes and curriculum programmes should be aligned with the employers’ requirements (Walker and Black, 2000). Therefore, adequate and sufficient schooling could instil students with relevant knowledge and skills that are required by business and industry (Allen and De Weert, 2007). The governments should come up with new solutions to help underprivileged populations and subgroups. New solutions could better address the diverse needs of learners. This chapter indicated that there is scope for governments to work in collaboration with corporations in order to nurture tomorrow’s human resources.

It must be recognised that there are various business operations, hailing from diverse sectors and industries. In addition, there are many stakeholder influences, which can possibly affect the firms’ level of social responsibility toward education. It is necessary for governments to realise that it needs to work alongside with the business practitioners in order to reconceive education and life-long learning. The majority of employers that were mentioned here in this chapter; were representative of a few businesses that hailed from the developed economies. There can be diverse practices across different contexts. Future studies could investigate the methods how big businesses are supporting education. Future research on this subject could consider different samples, methodologies and analyses which may obviously be more focused and will probably yield different outcomes. However, this contribution has puts forward the shared value’ approach. It is believed that since this relatively ‘new’ concept is relatively straightforward and uncomplicated, it may be more easily understood by business practitioners themselves. In a nutshell, this synergistic value proposition requires particular focus on the human resources’ educational requirements, at the same time it also looks after stakeholders’ needs (Camilleri, 2015). This notion could contribute towards long term sustainability by addressing economic and societal deficits in education. A longitudinal study in this area of research could possibly investigate the long term effects of involving the business and industry in setting curriculum programmes in education. Presumably, shared value can be sustained only if there is a genuine commitment to organisational learning for corporate sustainability and responsibility, and if there is a willingness to forge genuine relationships with key stakeholders.

Recommendations
This contribution contends that the notion of shared value is opening up new opportunities for education and professional development. Evidently, there are competitive advantages that may arise from nurturing human resources. As firms reap profits and grow, they can generate virtuous circles of positive multiplier effects. Many successful organisations are increasingly engaging themselves in socially responsible practices. There are businesses that are already training and sponsoring individuals to pursue further studies for their career advancement (McKenzie and Woodruff, 2013; Kehoe and Wright, 2013; Hunt and Michael, 1983). It may appear that they are creating value for themselves as well as for society by delivering relevant courses for prospective employees. In conclusion, this chapter puts forward the following key recommendations to foster an environment where businesses become key stakeholders in education.

  • Promotion of business processes that bring economic, social and environmental value;
  • Encouragement of innovative and creative approaches in continuous professional development and training in sustainable and responsible practices;
  • Enhancement of collaborations and partnership agreements with governments, trade unions and society in general, including the educational leaders;
  • Ensuring that there are adequate levels of performance in areas such as employee health and safety, suitable working conditions and sustainable environmental practices among business and industry;
  • Increased CSR awareness, continuous dialogue, constructive communication and trust between all stakeholders;
  • National governments ought to create regulatory frameworks which encourage and enable the businesses’ participation in the formulation of educational programmes and their curricula.

References

Allen, J., & De Weert, E. (2007). What Do Educational Mismatches Tell Us About Skill Mismatches? A Cross‐country Analysis. European Journal of Education, 42(1), 59-73.

Camilleri, M.A. (2015) The Synergistic Value Notion in Idowu, S.O.; Capaldi, N.; Fifka, M.; Zu, L.; Schmidpeter, R. (Eds). Dictionary of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer http://www.springer.com/new+%26+forthcoming+titles+%28default%29/book/978-3-319-10535-2

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (2011). The motivation to work (Vol. 1). Transaction Publishers.

Hunt, D. M., & Michael, C. (1983). Mentorship: A career training and development tool. Academy of management Review, 8(3), 475-485.

McKenzie, D., & Woodruff, C. (2013). What are we learning from business training and entrepreneurship evaluations around the developing world?. The World Bank Research Observer, lkt007.

Walker, K. B., & Black, E. L. (2000). Reengineering the undergraduate business core curriculum: Aligning business schools with business for improved performance. Business Process Management Journal, 6(3), 194-213.

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