Angelos Konstantinidis | University of Nottingham (original) (raw)

Papers by Angelos Konstantinidis

V irtual Exchanges (VEs) are flourishing yet there are still few courses in higher education that... more V irtual Exchanges (VEs) are flourishing yet there are still few courses in higher education that offer in-service teachers the fundamental theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to organize and conduct a telecollaborative project in their own educational settings. This paper aims to provide a resource to teacher educators and course designers who seek to design a course on VEs in higher or post-secondary education. Through reflective practice (Bolton, 2018) and adhering to the principles of educational design research (McKenney & Reeves, 2012), the process of design and development of an online master's course for language teachers is described. The article begins by describing the context and discussing the underlying rationale and principal course aims and learning outcomes, and the syllabus and assessment tasks are then reviewed. Course evaluation throughout the years is briefly reported as well as other outcomes. The results are positive overall both in terms of how students evaluated the course and the competences they acquired, although a couple of limitations are recognized. The study concludes with a reflection on the process of course design and the challenges faced.

Journal of Learning Analytics

Personalized feedback is important for the learning process, but it is time consuming and particu... more Personalized feedback is important for the learning process, but it is time consuming and particularly problematic in large-scale courses. While automatic feedback may help for self-regulated learning, not all forms of feedback are effective. Social comparison offers powerful feedback but is often loosely designed. We propose that intertwining meaningful feedback with well-designed peer comparison using a learning analytics dashboard provides a solution. Third-year bachelor students were randomly assigned to have access to the learning analytics dashboard IguideME (treatment, n=31) or no access (control, n=31). Dashboard users were asked to indicate their desired grade, which was used to construct peer-comparison groups. Personalized peer-comparison feedback was provided via the dashboard. The effects were studied using quantitative and qualitative data, including the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ). Compared to the...

CALL communities and culture – short papers from EUROCALL 2016

The purpose of this contribution is to share reflections and practices in cultivating a community... more The purpose of this contribution is to share reflections and practices in cultivating a community of learners in the context of a professional development programme at Master's level for language teachers. The programme implements a highly participatory pedagogical model of online learning which combines the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 1999) with the Community Indicator Framework (CIF) (Galley, Conole, & Alevizou, 2012). The tangible outcome of our revised interpretation of the two models is a cohesive community characterised by a strong sense of commitment towards the learning of the individuals as well as that of the group. This affects the quality of the learning experience, enhances academic achievements, and increases student retention.

ICERI Proceedings, 2019

When teachers inquire into problems within the classroom, they can support their own professional... more When teachers inquire into problems within the classroom, they can support their own professional development and better equip their students to address contemporary needs. Drawing on frameworks for supporting inquiry-based practices in educational settings, this study aims to elaborate a model for the assessment of inquirer teacher identity while a teacher conducts an educational innovation. The model presents inquirer teacher identity as a dynamic multiplicity of ten teachers' competencies related to the five phases of the practice of inquiry (scan and focus, understand and explore, plan and implement, evaluate and reflect, write and present). Based on the model, a questionnaire that measures teachers' inquiry functions during the development of an educational innovation was constructed. The questionnaire is comprised of ten sub-scales with 43 Likert-type items in total. The questionnaire was shared on teachers' groups on social media and on special interest online groups, and teachers who actively develop innovative projects with their classes were requested to fill it in. 111 Greek in-service teachers from all sectors completed the questionnaire. Findings revealed that in-service teachers conduct inquiry functions to a considerable extent during the development of educational innovation.

Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education

In spite of its increasing popularity, distance education faces challenges – levels of digital li... more In spite of its increasing popularity, distance education faces challenges – levels of digital literacy, access to technology, workload and time management, students’ feelings of isolation and disconnection – that can have a significant impact on the experience of the learners. In addressing these issues, we propose a pedagogical model for distance learning which promotes the synergy of eight ingredients – Community, Openness, Multimodality, Participation, Personalisation, Learning, Experience, Technological-Enhancement, with their initial letters generating the acronym COMP-PLETE – for the shaping of a highly participatory online learning experience and the creation of an active and cohesive community characterised by a strong sense of commitment towards the learning of the individuals and that of the group. This paper presents the theoretical rationale for and implementation of COMP-PLETE. It also provides recommendations for researchers and practitioners interested in cultivating...

Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 2015

Electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) have a positive impact on the learning process in a broad ra... more Electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) have a positive impact on the learning process in a broad range of educational sectors and on learners of all ages. Yet because most e-portfolio-related studies are about their implementation in higher education, this type of research is less usual in the early childhood context, and there is no available research for Greek schools. This study aims to investigate the impact of e-portfolios on learning in a Greek primary school and to provide a resource regarding the educational benefits of e-portfolio in primary education. To do that, it employs the qualitative naturalistic method to collect data, along with mixed methods which were used to achieve triangulation and strengthen confidence in the outcomes. Participants in the research were fourteen 8-year-old pupils, and one of the researchers was their regular teacher. Data evaluation revealed that the e-portfolio added value in pupils’ learning, acted as a medium to involve parents, promoted pupi...

The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for ... more The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for Greek teachers. (eTwinning is a flexible scheme that enables schools in Europe to work together on collaborative pedagogical projects using information and communication technologies.) This paper discusses the design and implementation of such a course to reflect a learning-oriented assessment (LOA) approach to teaching and learning. The aim of LOA is to strengthen the learning aspects of assessment, and it is premised on the ideas that assessment tasks should be designed as learning tasks, that students should be involved in the assessment process, and that feedback should be forward looking. Evaluation results attest to the effectiveness of the course in terms of its pedagogical design and implementation, and to the significance of the learning experience for participants. The results suggest that LOA is a promising pedagogical approach in online learning contexts for adult learners. T...

The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for ... more The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for Greek teachers. (eTwinning is a flexible scheme that enables schools in Europe to work together on collaborative pedagogical projects using information and communication technologies.) This paper discusses the design and implementation of such a course to reflect a learning-oriented assessment (LOA) approach to teaching and learning. The aim of LOA is to strengthen the learning aspects of assessment, and it is premised on the ideas that assessment tasks should be designed as learning tasks, that students should be involved in the assessment process, and that feedback should be forward looking. Evaluation results attest to the effectiveness of the course in terms of its pedagogical design and implementation, and to the significance of the learning experience for participants. The results suggest that LOA is a promising pedagogical approach in online learning contexts for adult learners. T...

Future-proof CALL: language learning as exploration and encounters – short papers from EUROCALL 2018, 2018

There is a mismatch between the availability of learning opportunities on the internet and the op... more There is a mismatch between the availability of learning opportunities on the internet and the optimised use of them by learners. Disruptive technologies have always required time to be integrated into society to fully make use of their benefits. The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ‘Create your own Personal Language Learning Environment (PLLE)’ emerges from the willingness to provide language learners with digital and language skills for autonomous learning while fulfilling the research interests about exploring the learners’ needs, how they use the internet, and how they can become more autonomous. Following the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model for instructional design and connectivism principles, the study presents the design process of a MOOC which aims to integrate data gathering tools into course content in a way that allows iterative formative course evaluations not affecting the learning process.

The purpose of this review is to analyze and evaluate the research findings on using Plagiarism D... more The purpose of this review is to analyze and evaluate the research findings on using Plagiarism Detection Services (PDS) in universities. In order to do that, conceptual issues about plagiarism are examined and the complex nature of plagiarism is discussed. Subsequently, the pragmatic forms of student plagiarism are listed and PDS strategies on detecting plagiarism are accounted briefly. Research findings are categorized into four interconnected areas: (a) effectiveness and efficiency of PDS; (b) university and course context; (c) perceptions and attitudes towards use of PDS from educators; and (d) perceptions and attitudes towards use of PDS from students. Finally, the authors discuss their own perspective on the issue of implementing PDS in various educational contexts.

The Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 2013

Web 2.0 tools provide enormous opportunities for teaching and learning, yet their application in ... more Web 2.0 tools provide enormous opportunities for teaching and learning, yet their application in education is still underdeveloped. What is more, it is no longer possible for teachers to ignore such a technological advance, while they are expected to provide students with opportunities to take control of their learning. However, teachers are still reluctant with technology integration. This paper introduces four Web 2.0 tools; Blogger, StripGenerator, Go!Animate, and Google Forms, that are free and easy to use, in an effort to motivate teachers with low technological skills in integrating them into their instruction practices. The aforementioned tools comprised the curriculum in a blended-learning professional development course for in-service teachers and attracted many favourable comments from the participants.

Journal of Education and Practice, 2017

The paper presents the course design and evaluation methods of an online community of inquiry tha... more The paper presents the course design and evaluation methods of an online community of inquiry that is developed in a blended learning training course for in-service teachers working in public K-6 schools in Greece. The course content is about digital storytelling, its educational value, and the use of supportive web 2.0 tools for developing digital stories. It lasts four weeks and is carried out mostly online with two face-to-face meetings, one at the beginning and one at the end of the course. The instructional design and evaluation of the course is based on the community of inquiry model of Garrison, Anderson & Archer (2000). Based on the preliminary findings, since the course is still in progress, the course design is found to be sound and in line with the relevant literature. Keywords: community of inquiry model, digital storytelling, professional development, teacher training, online learning

The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for ... more The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for Greek teachers. (eTwinning is a flexible scheme that enables schools in Europe to work together on collaborative pedagogical projects using information and communication technologies.) This paper discusses the design and implementation of such a course to reflect a learning-oriented assessment (LOA) approach to teaching and learning. The aim of LOA is to strengthen the learning aspects of assessment, and it is premised on the ideas that assessment tasks should be designed as learning tasks, that students should be involved in the assessment process, and that feedback should be forward looking. Evaluation results attest to the effectiveness of the course in terms of its pedagogical design and implementation, and to the significance of the learning experience for participants. The results suggest that LOA is a promising pedagogical approach in online learning contexts for adult learners. T...

Virtual Exchanges (VEs) are flourishing yet there are still few courses in higher education that ... more Virtual Exchanges (VEs) are flourishing yet there are still few courses in higher education that offer in-service teachers the fundamental theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to organize and conduct a telecollaborative project in their own educational settings. This paper aims to provide a resource to teacher educators and course designers who seek to design a course on VEs in higher or post-secondary education. Through reflective practice (Bolton, 2018) and adhering to the principles of educational design research (McKenney & Reeves, 2012), the process of design and development of an online master’s course for language teachers is described. The article begins by describing the context and discussing the underlying rationale and principal course aims and learning outcomes, and the syllabus and assessment tasks are then reviewed. Course evaluation throughout the years is briefly reported as well as other outcomes. The results are positive overall both in terms of how stude...

Professional development in CALL: a selection of papers, Mar 15, 2019

T he emergence of Web 2.0 has created diverse opportunities for continuing professional developme... more T he emergence of Web 2.0 has created diverse opportunities for continuing professional development in the area of language teaching. This article begins by presenting how the pedagogical model implemented in an online postgraduate programme integrates the Personal Learning Environment and Personal Learning Network (PLE and PLN) concept and practice to support students' learning. Furthermore, it provides two case studies from the students of the programme on the integration of the PLE and PLN concept in their own settings as well as its effects on their professional development. The first case study describes how the PLE and PLN concept has become part of the instructional strategy of the teacher and discusses the outcomes of its implementation. The second case study deals with how the PLE and PLN concept facilitated the professional networking activities of the teacher and how this has affected teaching practices. The two case studies demonstrate diverse ways as to how teachers can use PLEs and PLNs for supporting their own as well as their students' learning, and for creating professional development opportunities within their

When students are conducting their research project as part of their studies, they can be better ... more When students are conducting their research project as part of their studies, they can be better prepared for the societal and professional challenges of the future. This study contributes to the research of the inquirer identity by elaborating a model for the assessment of student-inquirer identity skills in light of the development of a master thesis in an education-related field in an online university. The model presents student-inquirer identity as a dynamic multiplicity of ten skills related to the five phases of the practice of inquiry (search and focus, understand and explore, design and implement, interpret/evaluate and reflect, write and present). Based on the model, a questionnaire that measures students’ inquiry skills during the development of the master thesis was constructed. The questionnaire is comprised of ten sub-scales with 42 Likert-type items in total. 154 students of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya responded to the questionnaire. Findings revealed that, ov...

Advances in Game-Based Learning

Online learning is proliferating in education, yet the establishment of social presence, developm... more Online learning is proliferating in education, yet the establishment of social presence, development of group cohesion, and cultivation of a group identity can be particularly challenging. These three elements have a key role for a fruitful educational experience in online courses. The same time, research has shown that the use of Virtual Worlds (VWs) in educational contexts can sustain the sense of being and communicating with other people and it potentially increases group coherence and identity. In this chapter the use of a VW, SmallWorlds, for enhancing the aforementioned elements in a distance learning online master's course is discussed. The chapter begins by providing the definitions and importance of the three elements. Next, the rationale behind the choice of SmallWorlds is explained and its main features are presented. What follows is the presentation of the key pedagogical strategies implemented and it is examined how each of these strategies contributes to the enhanc...

Contemporary Educational Technology

V irtual Exchanges (VEs) are flourishing yet there are still few courses in higher education that... more V irtual Exchanges (VEs) are flourishing yet there are still few courses in higher education that offer in-service teachers the fundamental theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to organize and conduct a telecollaborative project in their own educational settings. This paper aims to provide a resource to teacher educators and course designers who seek to design a course on VEs in higher or post-secondary education. Through reflective practice (Bolton, 2018) and adhering to the principles of educational design research (McKenney & Reeves, 2012), the process of design and development of an online master's course for language teachers is described. The article begins by describing the context and discussing the underlying rationale and principal course aims and learning outcomes, and the syllabus and assessment tasks are then reviewed. Course evaluation throughout the years is briefly reported as well as other outcomes. The results are positive overall both in terms of how students evaluated the course and the competences they acquired, although a couple of limitations are recognized. The study concludes with a reflection on the process of course design and the challenges faced.

Journal of Learning Analytics

Personalized feedback is important for the learning process, but it is time consuming and particu... more Personalized feedback is important for the learning process, but it is time consuming and particularly problematic in large-scale courses. While automatic feedback may help for self-regulated learning, not all forms of feedback are effective. Social comparison offers powerful feedback but is often loosely designed. We propose that intertwining meaningful feedback with well-designed peer comparison using a learning analytics dashboard provides a solution. Third-year bachelor students were randomly assigned to have access to the learning analytics dashboard IguideME (treatment, n=31) or no access (control, n=31). Dashboard users were asked to indicate their desired grade, which was used to construct peer-comparison groups. Personalized peer-comparison feedback was provided via the dashboard. The effects were studied using quantitative and qualitative data, including the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ). Compared to the...

CALL communities and culture – short papers from EUROCALL 2016

The purpose of this contribution is to share reflections and practices in cultivating a community... more The purpose of this contribution is to share reflections and practices in cultivating a community of learners in the context of a professional development programme at Master's level for language teachers. The programme implements a highly participatory pedagogical model of online learning which combines the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 1999) with the Community Indicator Framework (CIF) (Galley, Conole, & Alevizou, 2012). The tangible outcome of our revised interpretation of the two models is a cohesive community characterised by a strong sense of commitment towards the learning of the individuals as well as that of the group. This affects the quality of the learning experience, enhances academic achievements, and increases student retention.

ICERI Proceedings, 2019

When teachers inquire into problems within the classroom, they can support their own professional... more When teachers inquire into problems within the classroom, they can support their own professional development and better equip their students to address contemporary needs. Drawing on frameworks for supporting inquiry-based practices in educational settings, this study aims to elaborate a model for the assessment of inquirer teacher identity while a teacher conducts an educational innovation. The model presents inquirer teacher identity as a dynamic multiplicity of ten teachers' competencies related to the five phases of the practice of inquiry (scan and focus, understand and explore, plan and implement, evaluate and reflect, write and present). Based on the model, a questionnaire that measures teachers' inquiry functions during the development of an educational innovation was constructed. The questionnaire is comprised of ten sub-scales with 43 Likert-type items in total. The questionnaire was shared on teachers' groups on social media and on special interest online groups, and teachers who actively develop innovative projects with their classes were requested to fill it in. 111 Greek in-service teachers from all sectors completed the questionnaire. Findings revealed that in-service teachers conduct inquiry functions to a considerable extent during the development of educational innovation.

Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education

In spite of its increasing popularity, distance education faces challenges – levels of digital li... more In spite of its increasing popularity, distance education faces challenges – levels of digital literacy, access to technology, workload and time management, students’ feelings of isolation and disconnection – that can have a significant impact on the experience of the learners. In addressing these issues, we propose a pedagogical model for distance learning which promotes the synergy of eight ingredients – Community, Openness, Multimodality, Participation, Personalisation, Learning, Experience, Technological-Enhancement, with their initial letters generating the acronym COMP-PLETE – for the shaping of a highly participatory online learning experience and the creation of an active and cohesive community characterised by a strong sense of commitment towards the learning of the individuals and that of the group. This paper presents the theoretical rationale for and implementation of COMP-PLETE. It also provides recommendations for researchers and practitioners interested in cultivating...

Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 2015

Electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) have a positive impact on the learning process in a broad ra... more Electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) have a positive impact on the learning process in a broad range of educational sectors and on learners of all ages. Yet because most e-portfolio-related studies are about their implementation in higher education, this type of research is less usual in the early childhood context, and there is no available research for Greek schools. This study aims to investigate the impact of e-portfolios on learning in a Greek primary school and to provide a resource regarding the educational benefits of e-portfolio in primary education. To do that, it employs the qualitative naturalistic method to collect data, along with mixed methods which were used to achieve triangulation and strengthen confidence in the outcomes. Participants in the research were fourteen 8-year-old pupils, and one of the researchers was their regular teacher. Data evaluation revealed that the e-portfolio added value in pupils’ learning, acted as a medium to involve parents, promoted pupi...

The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for ... more The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for Greek teachers. (eTwinning is a flexible scheme that enables schools in Europe to work together on collaborative pedagogical projects using information and communication technologies.) This paper discusses the design and implementation of such a course to reflect a learning-oriented assessment (LOA) approach to teaching and learning. The aim of LOA is to strengthen the learning aspects of assessment, and it is premised on the ideas that assessment tasks should be designed as learning tasks, that students should be involved in the assessment process, and that feedback should be forward looking. Evaluation results attest to the effectiveness of the course in terms of its pedagogical design and implementation, and to the significance of the learning experience for participants. The results suggest that LOA is a promising pedagogical approach in online learning contexts for adult learners. T...

The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for ... more The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for Greek teachers. (eTwinning is a flexible scheme that enables schools in Europe to work together on collaborative pedagogical projects using information and communication technologies.) This paper discusses the design and implementation of such a course to reflect a learning-oriented assessment (LOA) approach to teaching and learning. The aim of LOA is to strengthen the learning aspects of assessment, and it is premised on the ideas that assessment tasks should be designed as learning tasks, that students should be involved in the assessment process, and that feedback should be forward looking. Evaluation results attest to the effectiveness of the course in terms of its pedagogical design and implementation, and to the significance of the learning experience for participants. The results suggest that LOA is a promising pedagogical approach in online learning contexts for adult learners. T...

Future-proof CALL: language learning as exploration and encounters – short papers from EUROCALL 2018, 2018

There is a mismatch between the availability of learning opportunities on the internet and the op... more There is a mismatch between the availability of learning opportunities on the internet and the optimised use of them by learners. Disruptive technologies have always required time to be integrated into society to fully make use of their benefits. The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ‘Create your own Personal Language Learning Environment (PLLE)’ emerges from the willingness to provide language learners with digital and language skills for autonomous learning while fulfilling the research interests about exploring the learners’ needs, how they use the internet, and how they can become more autonomous. Following the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model for instructional design and connectivism principles, the study presents the design process of a MOOC which aims to integrate data gathering tools into course content in a way that allows iterative formative course evaluations not affecting the learning process.

The purpose of this review is to analyze and evaluate the research findings on using Plagiarism D... more The purpose of this review is to analyze and evaluate the research findings on using Plagiarism Detection Services (PDS) in universities. In order to do that, conceptual issues about plagiarism are examined and the complex nature of plagiarism is discussed. Subsequently, the pragmatic forms of student plagiarism are listed and PDS strategies on detecting plagiarism are accounted briefly. Research findings are categorized into four interconnected areas: (a) effectiveness and efficiency of PDS; (b) university and course context; (c) perceptions and attitudes towards use of PDS from educators; and (d) perceptions and attitudes towards use of PDS from students. Finally, the authors discuss their own perspective on the issue of implementing PDS in various educational contexts.

The Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 2013

Web 2.0 tools provide enormous opportunities for teaching and learning, yet their application in ... more Web 2.0 tools provide enormous opportunities for teaching and learning, yet their application in education is still underdeveloped. What is more, it is no longer possible for teachers to ignore such a technological advance, while they are expected to provide students with opportunities to take control of their learning. However, teachers are still reluctant with technology integration. This paper introduces four Web 2.0 tools; Blogger, StripGenerator, Go!Animate, and Google Forms, that are free and easy to use, in an effort to motivate teachers with low technological skills in integrating them into their instruction practices. The aforementioned tools comprised the curriculum in a blended-learning professional development course for in-service teachers and attracted many favourable comments from the participants.

Journal of Education and Practice, 2017

The paper presents the course design and evaluation methods of an online community of inquiry tha... more The paper presents the course design and evaluation methods of an online community of inquiry that is developed in a blended learning training course for in-service teachers working in public K-6 schools in Greece. The course content is about digital storytelling, its educational value, and the use of supportive web 2.0 tools for developing digital stories. It lasts four weeks and is carried out mostly online with two face-to-face meetings, one at the beginning and one at the end of the course. The instructional design and evaluation of the course is based on the community of inquiry model of Garrison, Anderson & Archer (2000). Based on the preliminary findings, since the course is still in progress, the course design is found to be sound and in line with the relevant literature. Keywords: community of inquiry model, digital storytelling, professional development, teacher training, online learning

The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for ... more The Hellenic National Support Service for eTwinning provides short, intensive online courses for Greek teachers. (eTwinning is a flexible scheme that enables schools in Europe to work together on collaborative pedagogical projects using information and communication technologies.) This paper discusses the design and implementation of such a course to reflect a learning-oriented assessment (LOA) approach to teaching and learning. The aim of LOA is to strengthen the learning aspects of assessment, and it is premised on the ideas that assessment tasks should be designed as learning tasks, that students should be involved in the assessment process, and that feedback should be forward looking. Evaluation results attest to the effectiveness of the course in terms of its pedagogical design and implementation, and to the significance of the learning experience for participants. The results suggest that LOA is a promising pedagogical approach in online learning contexts for adult learners. T...

Virtual Exchanges (VEs) are flourishing yet there are still few courses in higher education that ... more Virtual Exchanges (VEs) are flourishing yet there are still few courses in higher education that offer in-service teachers the fundamental theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to organize and conduct a telecollaborative project in their own educational settings. This paper aims to provide a resource to teacher educators and course designers who seek to design a course on VEs in higher or post-secondary education. Through reflective practice (Bolton, 2018) and adhering to the principles of educational design research (McKenney & Reeves, 2012), the process of design and development of an online master’s course for language teachers is described. The article begins by describing the context and discussing the underlying rationale and principal course aims and learning outcomes, and the syllabus and assessment tasks are then reviewed. Course evaluation throughout the years is briefly reported as well as other outcomes. The results are positive overall both in terms of how stude...

Professional development in CALL: a selection of papers, Mar 15, 2019

T he emergence of Web 2.0 has created diverse opportunities for continuing professional developme... more T he emergence of Web 2.0 has created diverse opportunities for continuing professional development in the area of language teaching. This article begins by presenting how the pedagogical model implemented in an online postgraduate programme integrates the Personal Learning Environment and Personal Learning Network (PLE and PLN) concept and practice to support students' learning. Furthermore, it provides two case studies from the students of the programme on the integration of the PLE and PLN concept in their own settings as well as its effects on their professional development. The first case study describes how the PLE and PLN concept has become part of the instructional strategy of the teacher and discusses the outcomes of its implementation. The second case study deals with how the PLE and PLN concept facilitated the professional networking activities of the teacher and how this has affected teaching practices. The two case studies demonstrate diverse ways as to how teachers can use PLEs and PLNs for supporting their own as well as their students' learning, and for creating professional development opportunities within their

When students are conducting their research project as part of their studies, they can be better ... more When students are conducting their research project as part of their studies, they can be better prepared for the societal and professional challenges of the future. This study contributes to the research of the inquirer identity by elaborating a model for the assessment of student-inquirer identity skills in light of the development of a master thesis in an education-related field in an online university. The model presents student-inquirer identity as a dynamic multiplicity of ten skills related to the five phases of the practice of inquiry (search and focus, understand and explore, design and implement, interpret/evaluate and reflect, write and present). Based on the model, a questionnaire that measures students’ inquiry skills during the development of the master thesis was constructed. The questionnaire is comprised of ten sub-scales with 42 Likert-type items in total. 154 students of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya responded to the questionnaire. Findings revealed that, ov...

Advances in Game-Based Learning

Online learning is proliferating in education, yet the establishment of social presence, developm... more Online learning is proliferating in education, yet the establishment of social presence, development of group cohesion, and cultivation of a group identity can be particularly challenging. These three elements have a key role for a fruitful educational experience in online courses. The same time, research has shown that the use of Virtual Worlds (VWs) in educational contexts can sustain the sense of being and communicating with other people and it potentially increases group coherence and identity. In this chapter the use of a VW, SmallWorlds, for enhancing the aforementioned elements in a distance learning online master's course is discussed. The chapter begins by providing the definitions and importance of the three elements. Next, the rationale behind the choice of SmallWorlds is explained and its main features are presented. What follows is the presentation of the key pedagogical strategies implemented and it is examined how each of these strategies contributes to the enhanc...

Contemporary Educational Technology

When teachers inquire into problems within the classroom, they can support their own professional... more When teachers inquire into problems within the classroom, they can support their own professional development and better equip their students to address contemporary needs. Drawing on frameworks for supporting inquiry-based practices in educational settings, this study aims to elaborate a model for the assessment of inquirer teacher identity while a teacher conducts an educational innovation. The model presents inquirer teacher identity as a dynamic multiplicity of ten teachers' competencies related to the five phases of the practice of inquiry (scan and focus, understand and explore, plan and implement, evaluate and reflect, write and present). Based on the model, a questionnaire that measures teachers' inquiry functions during the development of an educational innovation was constructed. The questionnaire is comprised of ten sub-scales with 43 Likert-type items in total. The questionnaire was shared on teachers' groups on social media and on special interest online groups, and teachers who actively develop innovative projects with their classes were requested to fill it in. 111 Greek in-service teachers from all sectors completed the questionnaire. Findings revealed that in-service teachers conduct inquiry functions to a considerable extent during the development of educational innovation.