Distributed online discussion events in social media are increasingly used as sites for open, informal professional development, knowledge sharing and community formation. Synchronous chat events hosted on Twitter have become particularly prominent in a number of professional domains. Yet theoretical and critical analysis of these Twitter chat events has, to date, been limited: this thesis contributes to the development of such analysis through a socio-material, network assemblage lens employing trans-disciplinary and multi-method research approaches. This research positions the Twitter chat events as the relational effects of network-assemblages of human and non-human actants. This thesis explores Twitter chat events with a particular focus on human resource development (HRD) as a professional domain that is widely seen as inherently changeable, fluid, contested and continually emergent. This study examines how practitioner-generated reportage of professional practice interact with the specific functions of Twitter to generate definitions of HRD as a professional field of practice. A combination of descriptive statistics, Social Network Analysis and analysis of the content and structure of the Chat events has been employed in researching 32 separate chat events with 12,061 tweets. The research methods generated multiple readings of the research data and surfaced different and fluid potential lines of enquiry in to the Twitter chat events. A number of these potential lines of enquiry were then selected as points of entry to ‘zoom in’ to the data using a Critical Discourse Analysis for a smaller sample of the chat events. The assemblages of the chat events are collective achievements involving human and non-human actants. The collective effects surfaced in the research problematise (a) the notion of online communities as the product of network ties and (b) the humanist orientations of much of the literature on professional learning. Within the Twitter chat events, HRD is constructed as a profession in crisis as the traditional bases of professional identity are eroded. The practitioners participating in these events position HRD as increasingly less relevant to its constituent audiences, clients and customers and as locked into organisational assemblages that cut-off the potential for new trajectories for the field to emerge. The chat events normalise technological and societal imperatives that create work intensification, demand committed lifelong learners and venerate precarious relations of employment. Hence, the domain of HRD is enacted as subservient to a new-capitalist discourse that emphasises adaptability, innovation and speed. A key finding of the research is that, in response to these challenges, the Twitter chat events seek to generate an idealised archetype of HRD bounded by a stable set of dominant practices. These practices emphasise the importance of self-directed learning, autonomous working and the capacities to cope with continuous change. Learning and development is positioned as the responsibility of the individual to enhance their employability within increasingly competitive labour markets. Thus, the idealised archetype of HRD is aligned with conceptualisations of a global post-industrial capitalism and with a notion of ‘enterprising selfhood’.

This research aims to construct a brand-new teaching and learning environment called Transportable Digital Learning Center (TDLC) which contains three important features: mobility, ready-made and self-contained features. TDLC is constructed for providing learning opportunities to (a) people in disaster areas with a temporary teaching and learning environment before their reconstructions finished; (b) people in undeveloped countries who do not have learning opportunities due to the lack of financial resources; (c) people in geographically isolated places like deserts or high mountain areas who do not have learning opportunities due to the isolation of their geographic locations. The mobility feature means that it can be transported to different geographic locations easily; The ready-made feature means that all the components of a TDLC such as access point, TDLC Server, power supply, Tablet PCs and charging devices used to provide a teaching and learning environment are all equipped inside the TDLC in advance; Self-contained feature means that it is unnecessary to provide it with any other resources like network connections and electricity to sustain its operation. Therefore, once a TDLC has been transported to its destination, it can be used to conduct teaching and learning activities immediately. In this paper, we describe the overall concepts, main components, system design and implementation, and teaching & learning activity design of TDLC. We also conducted an experimental English Situated Learning activity to evaluate the effects of using TDLC in the teaching and learning activity. Finally, some future research topics of TDLC are proposed.

Actualmente el proceso de aprendizaje es un proceso intrínsecamente relativo puesto que es preciso que el estudiante desee aprender y se sienta motivado a ello. En lo que respecta a la Matemática, es sumamente importante motivar y despertar el interés de los estudiantes en determinados temas que son relevantes en su carrera profesional. Es así que, utilizamos el diseño de entornos virtuales de aprendizaje interactivos con videos educativos en “Pantalla Verde” como una parte dentro del modelo educativo en el cual se viene trabajando, el flipped classroom, en cursos blended (semipresenciales) de Matemática de la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas. / Currently the learning process is an intrinsically relative process since it is necessary that the student wants to learn and feel motivated to do so. With regard to Mathematics, it is extremely important to motivate and arouse students' interest in certain topics that are relevant to their professional career. Thus, we use the design of interactive virtual learning environments with educational videos in "Green Screen" as a part of the educational model in which the flipped classroom is being developed, in blended courses of University Mathematics Institute of Applied Sciences.

Colleges and universities have started to recognize the benefits of shifting from a professor-centered instructional paradigm that focuses on the dissemination of information to the learner to a student-centered paradigm. This latter paradigm is designed to provide an environment that enables the student to personalize, analyze, synthesize, and apply the information learned both inside and outside the classroom. Few would argue that such a paradigm shift would be best supported with the provision of a cost-effective, digitally interactive textbook that supports this type of personalized student-centered learning anywhere, anytime. Additionally, an Internet-based textbook would give the student more control of when, what, and how much he/she learns allowing for a potentially deeper exploration of content. This quantitative study was conducted to ascertain if the use of an instructionally designed, interactive college nutrition textbook (iTextbook) with embedded links to digitally-rich supporting graphics, videos, figures, and self-assessments would significantly improve students’ knowledge acquisition and application of the information as compared to the use of an identical print textbook and a static electronic textbook (eTextbook) in a Portable Digital Format (PDF). This study also looked at the time-on-task for reading the textbook content in each of the three formats. Lastly, this study assessed if students would prefer this type of instructionally designed, digitally-rich iTextbook format rather than reading the same information in a print textbook or a PDF eTextbook. The results of the study alluded that while there was a trend for a higher mean exam score measuring knowledge acquisition and application of the information read in the iTextbook group and a lower mean exam score in the eTextbook group, the scores among the three formats were not significantly different. The time-on-task spent by each group reading the textbook content was also similar among the three formats. However, the students reading the eTextbook spent a significantly longer amount of time reading the eTextbook compared to the iTextbook yet obtained the lowest average exam score among the three groups. In response to a final questionnaire, students significantly preferred the iTextbook rather than the print or eTextbook formats. College students reading a textbook in an iTextbook format obtained similar exam scores as those reading the same content in a print or eTextbook format. Compared to the iTextbook, the time-on-task was not only longer for those reading the eTextbook format but this format also produced a lower exam score measuring knowledge acquisition and application. The iTextbook format was more favorably received by college students than the print or eTextbooks formats.

The purpose of this research review is to explore the effectiveness of using digital games to enhance vocabulary development in the subject of English, as well as to investigate how digital games impact students' motivation and teachers' attitudes toward incorporating digital games in English language instruction. These questions were addressed through a literature review of scholarly articles from various databases. The results of this research review show that digital games positively affect students' vocabulary learning and motivation in English teaching. Digital games promote learning through interactivity, multimedia, and the utilization of specific information. Students who regularly engage with digital games experience increased motivation to study English, influenced by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Teachers' attitudes vary, ranging from viewing games as valuable tools to having concerns and doubts. Additional research indicates that training is necessary to support teachers in meaningfully integrating digital games into the classroom. In summary, this paper highlights the potential of digital games as educational tools in English language instruction. Keyword: English

In this thesis a study upper secondary school teachers’ experiences from using digital resources is presented. The study was carried out in two upper secondary schools where the students had each recently been given their own laptop, a so-called one-to-one computer. The purpose of the study was to describe and analyse the teachers’ experiences of using digital resources in teaching. Four teachers, three men and one woman, from two upper secondary schools in a Swedish municipality, participated in the study. Empirical material was collected during autumn 2010 and spring 2012. The methods used in the collection were interviews and participatory observations, so-called go-along observations. The study’s theoretical approach has its foundation in phenomenological philosophy. In the result care, time and teachers’ lived experiences of didactic work emerge as important for the utilisation of digital resources in teaching. In the teaching, the teachers’ experiences and knowledge of their subjects, teaching, digital resources, and life experiences and knowledge seemed to interact. This interaction between experiences and knowledge is described in the study as lived experiences of didactic work. The study shows that teachers dealt with the new digital technology and designed learning environments for the students with the starting point of their lived experiences of didactic work and assumptions about the students’ interest for digital resources. The teachers’ care with relationship building and creation of trust and confidence was shown to have importance for how, and to what extent, digital resources could be used in teaching. Both similarities and differences in the teachers’ experiences of, and knowledge about, how teaching is carried out with one-to-one computers emerged in the study. Two of the teachers were more experienced users of digital resources in comparison with the two others. The teachers’ experiences of digital resources are often related to their own interest in these, but their experiences are also related to the lack of time for learning to use digital resources as pedagogical tools. / <p>På omslaget har en liten felaktighet i titeln smugit sig in. Titeln på omslaget ska lyda: Från datasal till en-till-en</p>

Auch nach Jahren stetiger Förderung sind digitale Lernangebote an deutschen Hochschulen noch immer nicht so etabliert wie klassische Formate der Hochschullehre. Während die Bedeutung bspw. von Didaktik oder institutioneller Verankerung für die Akzeptanz dieser Angebote häufig diskutiert wird, wird der Gebrauchstauglichkeit bisher kaum Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Der Beitrag untersucht deshalb die Usability und den wahrgenommenen Nutzen eines modulbegleitenden Onlinekurses aus Sicht der Studierenden und stellt hierbei einen bedeutsamen Zusammenhang fest.

A rápida evolução e a ampla disseminação de tecnologias digitais estão mudando o contexto e o perfil dos aprendizes que hoje circulam naturalmente entre espaços físicos, espaços virtuais e espaços sociais diferentes, aprendendo em contextos formais e informais. Paradigmas educacionais atuais defendem a aprendizagem centrada no aprendiz que constrói seu conhecimento ao criar e desenvolver projetos, ao interagir com os objetos de estudo, com seus pares, com seus professores e mentores. A análise de requisitos etapa fundamental do desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta digital - concentra-se essencialmente em aspectos computacionais a partir da identificação de fluxos de entrada e saída e dos processos que a ferramenta deverá executar. Entretanto, a análise de requisitos é difícil de ser conduzida quando os conteúdos e inter-relações são complexos e dinâmicos. Recentemente, a abordagem de ecossistemas tem sido usada para entender ou modelar fenômenos que surgem da tecnologia e de seu uso. Propomos utilizar esta abordagem para conceber novas ferramentas digitais de aprendizagem ao analisar seus requisitos, ou para analisar ferramentas existentes. Assim, propomos neste trabalho uma definição e um modelo de Ecossistema Digital de Aprendizagem, que podem ser aplicados tanto na concepção de novas ferramentas educacionais quanto na análise para melhoria de ferramentas existentes. Um conjunto de artefatos, resultantes do detalhamento do modelo, é apresentado a fim de auxiliar na utilização do mesmo. A avaliação da aplicabilidade do modelo foi realizada por meio de sua utilização em estudos de caso de ferramentas educacionais desenvolvidas anteriormente. A aplicação do modelo evidenciou aspectos que não foram contemplados com abordagens tradicionais e permitiu levantar possíveis modificações e ampliações que podem levar a um estágio mais maduro do ecossistema. Os resultados obtidos com a aplicação do modelo na análise de ferramentas existentes apontam caminhos promissores para que esta estratégia seja usada na concepção de novas ferramentas educacionais de aprendizagem. / The rapid evolution and dissemination of digital technology are changing the learners context and profile. Learners move naturally between different physical spaces, different virtual spaces and different social spaces, engaging in learning activities in formal and informal contexts. Educational paradigms defend a learner centered approach, where learners construct their knowledge creating and developing projects, interacting with learning objects, with their peers, their teachers and mentors. Requirements analysis is a fundamental phase in the development of digital tools and concentrates essentially on computational aspects consisting on the identification of the tools input and output flows as well as processing. Nevertheless, requirements analysis is difficult to conduct when contents and relations are complex and dynamic. Recently, the ecosystem approach has been used to understand and to model phenomena that appear from the technology and its use. We propose to use this approach to conceive new digital learning tools, analyzing its requirements, or to use this approach to analyze existing tools. Therefore we propose in this research a Digital Learning Ecosystem definition and model that can be applied to the conception of new educational tools, as well as to analyze and improve existing tools. The detailed model includes a set of artifacts that can support its application. The model applicability evaluation was achieved by applying it on previously developed study cases. The model application showed some aspects that were not considered with traditional approaches and raised possible modifications and extensions that can lead to a mature stage of the ecosystem. The model application analysis of existing tools showed promising results and indicate that this approach can be used to conceive new educational learning tools.

A rápida evolução e a ampla disseminação de tecnologias digitais estão mudando o contexto e o perfil dos aprendizes que hoje circulam naturalmente entre espaços físicos, espaços virtuais e espaços sociais diferentes, aprendendo em contextos formais e informais. Paradigmas educacionais atuais defendem a aprendizagem centrada no aprendiz que constrói seu conhecimento ao criar e desenvolver projetos, ao interagir com os objetos de estudo, com seus pares, com seus professores e mentores. A análise de requisitos etapa fundamental do desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta digital - concentra-se essencialmente em aspectos computacionais a partir da identificação de fluxos de entrada e saída e dos processos que a ferramenta deverá executar. Entretanto, a análise de requisitos é difícil de ser conduzida quando os conteúdos e inter-relações são complexos e dinâmicos. Recentemente, a abordagem de ecossistemas tem sido usada para entender ou modelar fenômenos que surgem da tecnologia e de seu uso. Propomos utilizar esta abordagem para conceber novas ferramentas digitais de aprendizagem ao analisar seus requisitos, ou para analisar ferramentas existentes. Assim, propomos neste trabalho uma definição e um modelo de Ecossistema Digital de Aprendizagem, que podem ser aplicados tanto na concepção de novas ferramentas educacionais quanto na análise para melhoria de ferramentas existentes. Um conjunto de artefatos, resultantes do detalhamento do modelo, é apresentado a fim de auxiliar na utilização do mesmo. A avaliação da aplicabilidade do modelo foi realizada por meio de sua utilização em estudos de caso de ferramentas educacionais desenvolvidas anteriormente. A aplicação do modelo evidenciou aspectos que não foram contemplados com abordagens tradicionais e permitiu levantar possíveis modificações e ampliações que podem levar a um estágio mais maduro do ecossistema. Os resultados obtidos com a aplicação do modelo na análise de ferramentas existentes apontam caminhos promissores para que esta estratégia seja usada na concepção de novas ferramentas educacionais de aprendizagem. / The rapid evolution and dissemination of digital technology are changing the learners context and profile. Learners move naturally between different physical spaces, different virtual spaces and different social spaces, engaging in learning activities in formal and informal contexts. Educational paradigms defend a learner centered approach, where learners construct their knowledge creating and developing projects, interacting with learning objects, with their peers, their teachers and mentors. Requirements analysis is a fundamental phase in the development of digital tools and concentrates essentially on computational aspects consisting on the identification of the tools input and output flows as well as processing. Nevertheless, requirements analysis is difficult to conduct when contents and relations are complex and dynamic. Recently, the ecosystem approach has been used to understand and to model phenomena that appear from the technology and its use. We propose to use this approach to conceive new digital learning tools, analyzing its requirements, or to use this approach to analyze existing tools. Therefore we propose in this research a Digital Learning Ecosystem definition and model that can be applied to the conception of new educational tools, as well as to analyze and improve existing tools. The detailed model includes a set of artifacts that can support its application. The model applicability evaluation was achieved by applying it on previously developed study cases. The model application showed some aspects that were not considered with traditional approaches and raised possible modifications and extensions that can lead to a mature stage of the ecosystem. The model application analysis of existing tools showed promising results and indicate that this approach can be used to conceive new educational learning tools.

In this thesis a study upper secondary school teachers’ experiences from using digital resources is presented. The study was carried out in two upper secondary schools where the students had each recently been given their own laptop, a so-called one-to-one computer. The purpose of the study was to describe and analyse the teachers’ experiences of using digital resources in teaching. Four teachers, three men and one woman, from two upper secondary schools in a Swedish municipality, participated in the study. Empirical material was collected during autumn 2010 and spring 2012. The methods used in the collection were interviews and participatory observations, so-called go-along observations. The study’s theoretical approach has its foundation in phenomenological philosophy. In the result care, time and teachers’ lived experiences of didactic work emerge as important for the utilisation of digital resources in teaching. In the teaching, the teachers’ experiences and knowledge of their subjects, teaching, digital resources, and life experiences and knowledge seemed to interact. This interaction between experiences and knowledge is described in the study as lived experiences of didactic work. The study shows that teachers dealt with the new digital technology and designed learning environments for the students with the starting point of their lived experiences of didactic work and assumptions about the students’ interest for digital resources. The teachers’ care with relationship building and creation of trust and confidence was shown to have importance for how, and to what extent, digital resources could be used in teaching. Both similarities and differences in the teachers’ experiences of, and knowledge about, how teaching is carried out with one-to-one computers emerged in the study. Two of the teachers were more experienced users of digital resources in comparison with the two others. The teachers’ experiences of digital resources are often related to their own interest in these, but their experiences are also related to the lack of time for learning to use digital resources as pedagogical tools. / <p>På omslaget har en liten felaktighet i titeln smugit sig in. Titeln på omslaget ska lyda: Från datasal till en-till-en</p>