Micro-credentials can provide easily accessible and transparent evidence of skills or knowledge that have been certified by an authority, based on small units of learning. The recognition and ...transfer of credits is becoming essential, as an increasing number of students are studying at different institutions, often at the same time, online or in traditional settings. "Blockchain is a type of database that stores data in an "open, peer-to-peer (P2P) network that favors communal functionality in lieu of a centralized controlling entity" (Columbia Engineering Bootcamps, 2021, para 5). The development of blockchain (https://theconversation.com/demystifying-the-blockchain-a-basic-userguide-60226) holds promise of becoming a useful facilitator for supporting the storage and dissemination of micro-credentials on a global scale. Besides providing effective data security and privacy, blockchain can also facilitate maintaining and disseminating credentials, while ensuring that access is readily available for students under their control. Because of its immutability, blockchain can be used to confidently attest to students accomplishments and is therefore particularly appropriate for micro-credentials.
Action sports have increased in popularity, particularly over the past two decades. Research in the area has also proliferated, as multiple disciplinary perspectives and theoretical and conceptual ...frames have been applied to understanding and exploring a host of research questions concerning action sports culture, contexts and participants. However, despite this flurry of research activity, not much is known empirically about the learning of action sport participants, and few studies have focused specifically on learning in action sports. A scoping review was, therefore, conducted with the aim of synthesising the work that has been undertaken, and mapping future research agendas. Informed by Arksey and O'Malley's six-stage framework, leading sports and education databases and Google Scholar were searched for empirical literature on learning in action sports published before July 2018. After the results were screened and relevant studies identified, data were extracted and analysed using a frequency and thematic analysis to form both a descriptive and thematic summary. A total of 78 empirical studies both from the peer-reviewed and grey literature were included in the scoping review. The frequency analysis concerned information on publication year, academic field, study design, study tools, sport and population. The thematic analysis led to the development of five main themes, addressing learning in social, physical, cultural, and cognitive/psychological contexts and via various forms of feedback. The majority of articles on learning in action sports were published from 2010 onward, suggesting a growing interest in the area. More theses/dissertations resulted in peer-reviewed publications; however, less than half of all reviewed journal articles were published in education/pedagogy journals. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks were rarely explicitly referenced and/or lacked clarity. There was consensus that learning in action sports is largely informal and self-regulated. With the increasing professionalisation of many action sports and their inclusion in international competition events and also in national curricula, an increase in more formalised learning is predicted. Finally, learning in action sports can be highly individualistic but only a few studies acknowledged this. A greater variety of research questions and methodologies, and more work across disciplinary boundaries will assist in the generation of new knowledge. Author abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing many industries and becoming increasingly ubiquitous in everyday life. To empower children growing up with AI to navigate society’s evolving ...sociotechnical context, we developed three middle school AI literacy curricula:
Creative AI, Dancing with AI,
and
How to Train Your Robot.
In this paper we discuss how we leveraged three design principles—active learning, embedded ethics, and low barriers to access – to effectively engage students in learning to create and critique AI artifacts. During the summer of 2020, we recruited and trained in-service, middle school teachers from across the United States to co-instruct online workshops with students from their schools. In the workshops, a combination of hands-on unplugged and programming activities facilitated students’ understanding of AI. As students explored technical concepts in tandem with ethical ones, they developed a critical lens to better grasp how AI systems work and how they impact society. We sought to meet the specified needs of students from a range of backgrounds by minimizing the prerequisite knowledge and technology resources students needed to participate. Finally, we conclude with lessons learned and design recommendations for future AI curricula, especially for K-12 in-person and virtual learning.
Purpose Many studies point out that a complication in the professional training is connected with the division of education into the formal and non-formal part. There is a need to integrate these two ...components to achieve a greater learning effect. The aim of the study is to find out whether students perceive non-formal education as important and to identify which form of extracurricular education they prefer. The aim of this study is to find the relationships among the variables of the educational process of young people. Design/methodology/approach Around 844 Czech secondary and tertiary students participated in the study. The participants expressed their attitudes towards non-formal education through a questionnaire. Welch’s ANOVA test and Games-Howell’s Post-Hoc test were used to verify the hypotheses. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to determine correlation relationships. Findings Students perceive non-formal education as important. The importance was perceived significantly least by high school and beginning university students in technical fields. Digital forms of education are favoured by students. Significant differences in this area are connected with the different field of study. Students are interested especially in the particular area of non-formal education that is connected with their field of study. Originality/value The study provides desirable results in relation to the possible adaptation of education to the needs of students. The article reminds that digital education is promoted because of its flexibility and changing competencies. Specific forms of non-formal education will be appropriate to differentiate according to the fields and the age of students.
The Internet and its increasing usage has changed informal learning in depth. This change has affected young and older adults in both the workplace and in higher education. But, in spite of this, ...formal and non-formal course-based approaches have not taken full advantage of these new informal learning scenarios and technologies. The Web 2.0 is a new way for people to communicate across the Internet. Communication is a means of transformation and knowledge exchange. These are the facts that cannot be obviated by the organisations in their training programmes and knowledge management. This special issue is devoted to investigating how informal learning changes or influences online information in Social Web and training strategies in institutions. In order to do so, five papers will present different approaches of informal learning in the workplace regarding Web 2.0 capabilities.
This article explores the social and historical formation of 'successful' refugee students' learning practices utilising in-depth, critical incident interviews with primary school aged, ...refugee-background students in Australia. Employing a practice lens, this article firstly explores the informal learning practices the students identify from their past; secondly, examines the arrangements which hold these learning practices in place, and thirdly, explicates the ways in which these practices may enable students' educational achievement in their current host country. We conclude that despite difficult starting points and educational gaps, many refugee students find ways to learn and succeed in school, but such achievement should not be a matter of serendipity. Inclusive schools must acknowledge not only the challenges in refugee students' learning, but also the resources they bring into their education.
Learners encounter science in a wide variety of contexts beyond the science classroom which collectively could be quite influential on student attitudes and abilities. But relatively little is known ...about the relative influence of different forms of informal science experiences, especially for the kinds of experiences that students typically access. We conduct factor and regression analyses on data collected from a large number of diverse public-school attending 6th and 8th graders drawn from two regions in the USA. Students completed a science reasoning measure and surveys of attitudes, previously completed informal science learning experiences, and demographic factors. Factor analyses identify four dimensions of informal science learning participation (in home, semiformal, nature, and museums). Regression analyses find a relative specificity of effects, with particular outcomes associated with a subset of the forms of informal science participation, highlighting the importance of controlling for correlated factors. There were also a few differences by grade level, with different experiences influencing the development of competency beliefs in science in early vs. late middle schoolers.
Research on creativity is a field of great relevance since it studies our capacity to create, the root of all innovation and problem solving. Some factors, like personality, motivation and artistic ...knowledge, are known to influence creativity. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of music expertise and gender on creativity and the interaction between these factors. One hundred and fifty-eight participants, aged between 18 and 50, were involved in the study. Eighty-seven of them were musicians (56 male and 31 female) and 71 non-musicians (30 male and 41 female). To evaluate creativity, two tasks, one verbal and one visual, were used, each lasting 2 minutes. Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, Elaboration, and General Creativity were the creative domains under evaluation. The results showed statistically significant differences in music expertise and, to a lesser extent, in gender, especially in the verbal task. Music expertise had a positive impact on creative performance, and women were found to be more creative in the verbal domain than men. This research extends previous work on the influence of biological and environmental factors on creativity.
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on two areas of digital badge design that impact learner experience: the value and meaning of badges outside of their original context and badge function and platform ...functionality that impact learner experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a design-based research approach. For this paper, components of badge systems were analyzed to identify the characteristics of learning experiences in each program.
Findings
Findings in this paper are from a National Science Foundation-funded project where digital badge systems were co-designed to connect informal science learning with college credit. The badge design principles presented to address the value of badges and badge function and platform functionality, as well as making program design more systematic and using badge design as a conceptual, organizing design framework for improved educational programs.
Research limitations/implications
Though this research is limited in the number of programs examined, the findings provide a framework for the language and standards to discuss and implement digitals badges.
Practical implications
This paper will be of use to programing developers seeking to integrate badges into their educational programs or simply reexamine their educational goals and opportunities for learners.
Originality/value
This paper challenges the conventional use of badges for simply increasing learner engagement by illustrating that the badge design and development process can improve program design and subsequent learner experience rather than serving purely as a learner motivational tool.
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