Digital Equity

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, there was a sudden shift from face-to-face to distance education in all schools and universities in Saudi Arabia (SA) starting March 2020. Many instructors and students were not technically prepared for this abrupt transition as some did not have devices and Internet access. On the other hand, some households have high-speed Internet and even a device for each child. This study investigates the digital equity in accessing online courses by students in low-income families, orphanages, and remote areas. A sample of school and university teachers and students from different regions in SA was interviewed. The subjects reported that lack of devices/Internet access was overcome by: (i) Governorates donating thousands of tablets to disadvantaged students; (ii) charity organizations and affluent individuals donate tablets/laptops and financial aid; (iii) some school teachers collect money to buy tablets for needy students; (iv) students who do not have devices and/or Internet go to school few times a week and meet with teachers face-to-face to teach them and help them with homework; (v) needy college students are allowed to use devices and Internet at their college computer laps or library; (vi) some underprivileged students reported borrowing a smart phone/laptop from relatives or neighbours and/or use relatives and neighbours' Internet; (vii) Saudi mobile companies offer special Internet packages for students and teachers. Sample regions, types of disadvantaged students and help provided to bridge the digital and distance education gap in SA during COVID-19 are given in detail.

Modes of teaching and learning have had to rapidly shift amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As an emergency response, students from Philippine public schools were provided learning modules based on a minimized list of essential learning competencies in Biology. Using a cross-sectional survey method, we investigated students’ perceptions of the Biology self-learning modules (BSLM) that were designed in print and digitized formats according to a constructivist learning approach. Senior high school STEM students from grades 11 (n = 117) and 12 (n = 104) participated in a survey using a 3-point Likert-scale questionnaire uploaded online through Google Forms. The survey results indicate that majority of the students perceived the modules positively, suggesting that aspects of the modules that were salient to students corresponded to essential elements of constructivist pedagogies. However, during interviews, students reported several difficulties in learning with BSLM as it was constrained by, ...

Public librarians –even librarians who only know English – can assist multilingual patrons who are using the internet in other languages including New Americans such as immigrants and refugees. Multilingual Information Literacy (MLIL) is a subset of information literacy. As Nzomo et al. explain, a person with MLIL is “someone who is able to find, read, evaluate, and use information regardless of what language it is written in” (2021, p. 914). In addition to supporting multilingual internet access with MLIL techniques, librarians can also facilitate comprehension of English language digital content. Through free multilingual options in the Vermont Online Library and the internet, public libraries in Vermont can increase digital access for patrons with language backgrounds including Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, Nepali, Pashto, Spanish, Swahili, Thai, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, and many others.

Augmented Reality (AR) has gained popularity in K-12 education in the past decades (Bower et al., 2014; Dunleavy & Dede, 2014; Dunleavy et al., 2009; Leighton & Crompton, 2017). Researchers and educators agree that AR is a useful pedagogical tool in teaching because it is grounded on efficient teaching and learning models such as constructivist learning (Abdoli-Sejzi, 2015), situated learning (Liarokapis et al., 2004), and inquiry-based learning (Chiang et al., 2014). Research on AR in the K12 context tends to focus on its impact on students’ learning processes and learning outcomes (Calle-Bustos et al., 2017; Chang et al., 2016; Freitas & Campos, 2008; Wu et al., 2013). However, it is essential to understand K-12 students’ behavioral intention to use AR—their perceptions of usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment—so that teachers can better design and integrate AR-based learning into their courses. After defining AR in education, this literature-based research explores K12 students’ behavioral intention to use AR in learning guided by the Technology Acceptance Model. Specifically, we aim to answer this research question: What is K-12 students’ behavioral intention to use AR-based learning in real classrooms?

Modes of teaching and learning have had to rapidly shift amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As an emergency response, students from Philippine public schools were provided learning modules based on a minimized list of essential learning competencies in Biology. Using a cross-sectional survey method, we investigated students' perceptions of the Biology self-learning modules (BSLM) that were designed in print and digitized formats according to a constructivist learning approach. Senior high school STEM students from grades 11 (n = 117) and 12 (n = 104) participated in a survey using a 3-point Likert-scale questionnaire uploaded online through Google Forms. The survey results indicate that majority of the students perceived the modules positively, suggesting that aspects of the modules that were salient to students corresponded to essential elements of constructivist pedagogies. However, during interviews, students reported several difficulties in learning with BSLM as it was constrained by, to name a few, the use of unfamiliar words, lack of access to supporting resources, slow internet connection, and time constraints. To address these problems, teachers reported that they gave deadline extensions, complemented modules with other channels of support, and used online and offline platforms for reaching out to students to answer their queries and plan out their schedule for the week. The findings across the data sources point to the complex demands of emergency distance education that teachers, as curriculum designers and enactors, need to bear in mind in order to craft productive pedagogies, constructivist or otherwise, during this unprecedented time.

Against a backdrop of globalization, the increasing role of technology, an ever-more diverse population of learners and the changing nature of social interaction, how do leaders approach and make decisions about redesigning learning environments for the next generation of learners and educators? This white paper will shed light on practices driving the need to create new learning environments, identify conditions that support innovations in redesigning learning environments and pedagogical reforms, and hopefully advance the conversation. Strategies and resources to explore these questions will be surveyed. Six ideas to advance research on the role of leadership, emerging technologies and virtual learning will be presented.