In this second issue of the journal of Education and Information Technologies (EAIT) for 2016 there are twelve interesting articles covering a wide range of issues related to the use and implications of ICT in Education. In this issue, articles come from authors in: Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Tanzania, The Netherlands, Turkey, Finland, Australia, China, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan.

The first article: “Interactive whole language e-story for early literacy development in ethnic minority children” comes from Muneeroh Phadung, Surachai Suksakulchai and Wacheerapan Kaewprapan from King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand. Their study investigated the effects of using an interactive e-story for early literacy education on word recognition, story comprehension and story application with ethnic minority children at the kindergarten level in southern Thailand. Their sample consisted of 60 children who used the Pattani Malay language as a mother tongue, and who had little experience with Thai which is the language of instruction in the kindergarten classrooms. The research used a pre-test / post-test design on word recognition and story application and a post-test design on story comprehension. The results showed the positive effects of using an interactive e-story and present an alternative method to foster the early literacy learning of ethnic minority children.

Next, Nabeel Al-Qirim from the United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates looks at: “Smart board technology success in tertiary institutions: The case of the UAE University”. The described research explored teaching-faculty adoption and usage of Interactive White Board Technology in UAE University, with findings suggesting two different perspectives. Firstly on Interactive White Board Technology’s basic features where it proved its superiority when compared to other competing technologies in the classroom. The second theme concerned advanced features of the Interactive White Board Technology as it is integrated with curricula and course content. The research depicts an evolutionary path for the data-show industry across time showing the position of Interactive White Board Technology.

Following is an article by K. Chatzara from the University of Thessaly and NOUS Institute of Digital Learning and Communication, C. Karagiannidis from the University of Thessaly and D. Stamatis from Alexander T.E.I. of Thessaloniki, Greece and examines: “Cognitive support embedded in self-regulated e-learning systems for students with special learning needs”. Their article presents an anthropocentric approach in human–machine interaction in the area of self-regulated e-learning and proposes incorporation of an intelligent emotional agent that is represented by a synthetic character with multimedia capabilities and modelled to imitate human behaviour in an attempt to enhance communication mediated through computers for pedagogical use. They note that analysis of their research indicates that emotional agents improve communication between users of a particular learning group and learning environments by providing cognitive support through behavioural communication when compared to agents with neutral behaviour.

“Teacher design in teams as a professional development arrangement for developing technology integration knowledge and skills of science teachers in Tanzania” has been contributed by Ayoub Kafyulilo from Dar Es Salaam University College of Education in Tanzania, Petra Fisser from the National Institute for Curriculum Development in The Netherlands and Joke Voogt from the University of Amsterdam. Their reported study investigated the impact of teacher design teams in professional development for developing technology integration knowledge and skills among in-service science teachers. The study was conducted at a secondary school in Tanzania where twelve in-service science teachers participated in a workshop about technology integration in science teaching and worked in design teams to prepare technology-enhanced biology, chemistry and physics lessons. Through collaboration in design teams, teachers were able to make science animations using PowerPoint and record videos to use in their teaching. The authors suggest that collaboration in design teams has potential for teachers to share knowledge, skills, experience and challenges related to technology-enhanced teaching.

Sinem Iskeceli-Tunc from Eyuboglu High School in Istanbul and Diler Oner from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey then write on the “Use of WebQuest design for in-service teacher professional development”. Their reported study investigated whether a teacher professional development module built around designing WebQuests could improve teachers’ technological and pedagogical skills including Web searching and Web evaluating skills. This case study involved six in-service teachers, and the pedagogical skills targeted were developing a working definition for higher-order thinking skills, and designing WebQuest tasks to improve such skills. The study provided evidence supporting the use of design-based activities in learning technological and pedagogical skills.

A team from the University of Eastern Finland: Jari Kukkonen, Patrick Dillon, Sirpa Kärkkäinen, Anu Hartikainen-Ahia and Tuula Keinone then discuss “Pre-service teachers’ experiences of scaffolded learning in science through computer supported collaborative inquiry”. In the article they point out that scaffolding helps the novice to accomplish a task goal or solve a problem that otherwise would be beyond unassisted efforts. It does this by supporting the learner in accomplishing the task and also in learning from the task to improve future performance. Their reported study examined pre-service teachers’ experiences of technology enhanced / computer-supported collaborative inquiry learning when studying the anatomy of fish. Scaffolded use of a Wiki in structuring a dissection inquiry activity combined with scaffolded use of digital imaging to support problematising during the sense making process was utilised.

“Students teach students: Alternative teaching in Greek secondary education” by Anastasios Theodoropoulos, Angeliki Antoniou and George Lepouras from Lepouras University of Peloponnese, Greece looks at how students of a Greek junior high school collaborated to prepare the teaching material of a theoretical Computer Science course and then shared their understanding with other students. Their study investigated collaborative learning and peer tutoring as two alternative teaching methods, and compared the learning results to a traditional learning context. Their research results provide evidence that active-learning methods can promote positive attitudinal shifts and improve skills in creativity, teamwork, collaboration and communication, and suggested that students perceived higher levels of learning than with traditional teaching.

From Deakin University in Australia, Robert Dew, Andrzej Goscinski and Jo Coldwell-Neilson present an article titled: “Towards a framework for aligning learning outcomes, academic literacies and assessment criteria”. They note that although Australian university students spend three or more years studying they can often seem quite unaware of any of the expected learning outcomes of their course as they are often single-unit focused, paying most of their attention to individual assessment items and so not developing a holistic view of their course. Their article presents a theoretical framework to support staff and students to recognise, scaffold and achieve learning outcomes and academic skills at unit-level and to recognise how these contribute to course and graduate learning outcomes, within the boundaries of Australian university and professional accreditation requirements.

Kindergartens are an area of education not always given the research attention they deserve and an article: “Teachers’ use of PowerPoint in kindergarten: An empirical investigation in China” seeks to address this. Xia Liu and Jenny Pange from the University of Ioannina in Greece and Yunrong Xu from Qingdao Binhai University in China begin by reminding us that there are differences between developed and less-developed nations both in ICT application and in ICT research. Their article systematically examines teachers’ PowerPoint use in the setting of Chinese kindergartens, exploring four questions relating to: (i) the status of PowerPoint-related infrastructures in the kindergartens; (ii) teachers’ use of PowerPoint in teaching; (iii) teachers’ design, competences and training related to PowerPoint; (iv) teachers’ perceptions and attitudes toward PowerPoint in teaching.

“E-learning for ungraded schools of Kazakhstan: Experience, implementation, and innovation” is presented by Nurassyl Kerimbayev, Aliya Akramova and Jarkynbike Suleimenova from Astana, Kazakhstan. They point out that modernisation of the educational process in ungraded schools in the Republic of Kazakhstan required the provision of affordable quality education on information technology and the use of e-learning for students in rural areas. Their reported research considered how e-learning influences the educational process and quality of teaching in ungraded schools, and what results can be achieved. They point out the need to develop a set of measures to promote the implementation of quality education for students in ungraded schools in rural areas, and how information and communication technologies and multimedia educational products can influence the quality of education in these schools

“Employing a Wikibook project in a linguistics course to promote peer teaching and learning” is by Lixun Wang from the Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies, Hong Kong Institute of Education. The article notes that peer teaching and learning are learner-centred approaches with great potential for promoting effective learning, and that the development of Web 2.0 technology has offered new approaches for promoting peer teaching and learning. The reported study aimed to establish peer teaching and learning among students by employing a Wikibook project in the course ‘Introduction to Linguistics’ in the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The findings suggest that the Wikibook project is an effective way to promote peer teaching and learning in higher education.

The final article comes from the United Arab Emirates as Masood Badri, Asma Al Rashedi, Guang Yang, Jihad Mohaidat and Arif Al Hammadi from the Abu Dhabi Education Council, United Arab Emirates write on: “Students’ intention to take online courses in high school: A structural equation model of causality and determinants”. They remind us that offering an online integrated high-school subject for the first time involves many challenges, and that a better understanding of factors that affect students’ willingness to participate in the experience can provide support for better implementation of this initiative. Their research results showed significant links between intention to use e-learning, perception of easiness, perception of usefulness, and other factors such as user characteristics and support.

Arthur Tatnall

Editor-in-Chief