Original article here, written by Dr Nina Bergdahl and Dr Melissa Bond.
When COVID shuttered schools across the world in 2020, the way teachers delivered their lessons and students did their classwork changed over night. As one Boston-based secondary school student wrote in a recent case study, “bedrooms turned into school classrooms, living rooms turned into science laboratories and backyards turned into workout gyms.” Two years on, this shift to remote and, subsequently, hybrid learning has presented many challenges. It has caused stress and confusion for teaching staff and pupils alike. But it has brought surprising benefits too. A recent report drawing together the results of 81 studies of secondary schools from 38 countries has highlighted how complementary these digital learning methods can be to traditional methods of schooling. Pupils have found working at their own pace, and without the social pressures of the classroom, beneficial. Even as we face the prospect of continued disruption in 2022, these are reasons to be hopeful. Digital skills During the pandemic, many schools had to make greater use of learning management systems and apps, in order to improve communication between school and home. It might seem obvious, but having to work remotely has encouraged teachers and students to revisit and enhance their digital skills. This has stimulated innovation and creative thinking, and prompted students to develop skills in using multiple digital tools and resources effectively for learning, such as those reported in a US study. Many students have showed an increased ability to study and to problem-solve independently. Teachers in Hong Kong reported that students had developed problem-solving methods that their teachers hadn’t taught them. Of the 2,824 secondary school pupils who responded to a survey in Slovakia, meanwhile, most said they’d found learning at their own pace to be invaluable. Having the ability to re-watch instructional videos helped them gain deeper understanding of their subjects and maintain a connection to their teachers. In England, Sweden and the US, several students who, pre-pandemic, were reluctant to take part in lessons or go to class at all, reported becoming more involved and engaged with their schoolwork during lockdown, because they felt less social pressure. Instrumental music students in Australia also showed improvement in their social skills, including communication, negotiation and active listening. Students in Austria, the US and Portugal also benefited from interacting with their peers - remote learning gave them new methods of collaboration, including developing interactive ePortfolios, using discussion boards to share ideas and conduct school work with peers, as well as collaborating on authentic tasks such as co-creating digital posters and videos, and distributing them via social media. One US study reported that using the chat function in Google Meet during live lessons, combined with editing work and writing comments in Google Docs, was particularly helpful for students to collaborate and stay in touch with their peers. Communication and assessment For some countries, shifting to online assessment, when they had formerly adopted a heavily standardised test-based culture, was quite difficult, as this now demanded alternative assessment methods that could also secure trustworthy results. While some countries forbade assessment during lockdown, our review uncovered the opposite too: no fewer than 21 online assessment strategies were identified. Thus, having to rely heavily on technology during lockdown did open new and creative modes of assessment design and delivery. The two most common strategies used were formative assessment and online quizzes – identified in 16% of the studies we looked at. While formative assessment has previously been found to boost student learning, the two strategies were employed for different reasons. Formative assessment, often conducted in real time, was supported by video-conferencing tools. It enabled teachers to see and hear their students, which supported the assessment of literature talk and language assessment, including role plays, online debates and drama performances. Teachers also reported that this real-time interaction supported a sense of social presence, which is important for student wellbeing. Online quizzes, meanwhile, allowed students to check their understanding at their own pace, which helped, as reported in an Indonesian study of Year 10 students, to stave off bordeom. Being auto-corrected, quizzes also helped to decrease teachers’ work load. Lastly, this kind of digital assessment was also easily shared between teachers, which supported equality and re-usability. Parent engagement Some parents reported enhanced digital skills as a result of the pandemic. But the main takeaway has been parents’ increased impetus to engage more in their children’s learning. Research in Nigeria found that giving parents greater access to what their children were learning helped to improve the students’ commitment to learning online. In Vietnam, having parents on board in this way was found to make the whole process more effective. Being able to access meetings with teachers virtually has also reduced social barriers for some families. A survey conducted by ParentPing in December 2020, found that both parents and teachers wanted to keep parent evenings virtual, or at least be given the option to do so. School, more broadly, can and should become more flexible. Ensuring that it does will encourage inclusion and accessibility. It will support lifelong learning.
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The rest of them, though, involved multiple rounds of peer review. For example, my review on flipped learning and student engagement was initially rejected – I submitted it in April 2019, and received the Reject & Resubmit notification on 13 October 2019 – this was after a round or two of peer review! I then reworked and resubmitted the article, and received notification on Christmas Day 2019 that it had been accepted. It was then published in February 2020.
I really didn't think that there was much difference between the length of publication process for systematic review articles, as opposed to other types of articles, so I decided to do a quick analysis of my publications. In terms of the systematic review articles, two were published in the International Journal of Educational Technology, one in the Asian Journal of Distance Education, one in Computers & Education, and one in the CITE Journal. Two of the other journals were published in the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, two in the British Journal of Educational Technology, one in the International Journal of Educational Technology, and one in the Journal of Interactive Media in Education. Analysis of publication process length
Much like the approach taken by Dr Shannon Mason in her article on PhDs by publication, here is an indication of how long my systematic review articles have taken to get published, in comparison to my other primary research and theoretical articles:
I actually found the results of my analysis quite surprising. Aside from my rapid review, which was incredibly quick through the peer review process, the least amount of time to an initial response that I had for a systematic review article was 47 days. On average, it actually took 19 days longer to receive an initial response to a systematic review article, and 40 days longer to final acceptance, with the overall process taking 66 days longer on average for the entire publication process. However, when compared to Mason's (2018) articles, the length of publication for my other articles was actually 24 days quicker on average, and the systematic review articles 42 days slower.
I suspect that one of the major reasons why the length of the peer review and publication process for my systematic review articles was so much longer, is the difficulty journals have in securing reviewers with the requisite knowledge of systematic review methodology. However, this seems like an area, ripe for further exploration in the future. What I my recommendations for conducting reviews?
For further thoughts on conducting systematic reviews, please see this open access book chapter I co-wrote with my ActiveLearn colleagues.
Suggested citation:
Bond, M. (2021). Are systematic reviews "harder" to get published? http://drmelissabond.weebly.com/blog/are-systematic-reviews-harder-to-get-published What does a recent flipped learning systematic review reveal for K-12 educators teaching online?
1/4/2020
Teachers should maintain presence through their own videosIn order to facilitate continued teacher presence in student learning, and to enhance engagement, it is important for teachers to create videos themselves where possible, rather than solely relying on videos from other sources, as this can impede student engagement and their understanding of the materials, as well as lead to students not watching them. Students reported feeling far more connected to their teacher when they could at least hear their teacher's voice in a video, and they felt that they understood the content of videos more, because their teacher was using the same instructional techniques that they use in the classroom. Influences on student engagement (Bond, 2020b, p. 39) Keep videos short, no longer than 7 minutesVideos that are shorter were less likely to lead to disengagement, with the average suggested length being 5-7 minutes. Videos also need to be connected to the curriculum, with the number of videos and worksheets given per day/week kept to a minimum, so as not to overwhelm students. Students could also be encouraged to create their own videos for their peers. If using YouTube, consider embedding videos within a website or LMS, to eliminate distractions and make them more accessible.
Self-assessment quizzes are linked to increased engagementInclude questions, either as accompanying or embedded quizzes, or as guides for discussion in the next lesson/discussion forum/video, as students are more likely to successfully engage with the content. A recent meta-analysis of 114 studies also found that self-assessment quizzes positively affect learning outcomes. Encourage collaborative learningIn order to facilitate group discussions, interaction and engagement, especially for students learning at home, collaborative technologies such as Google Docs and social media are encouraged. However, given child protection and GDPR laws, collaborative LMS (e.g. Edmodo or Class Dojo) that students need logins for, are always preferred. Twitter can be a great extra resource, as teachers and students can use unique hashtags for their own class (e.g. #MsBondYr3) to make conversations easily locatable. Don't worry if you make a mistake in a video - just keep going!Teachers often commented about being embarrassed to appear in their own videos, but students are used to seeing you teach every day! Students reported not caring about how their teacher looked or sounded - what was important to them was that you use a consistent instructional approach and just keep going if you make a mistake. Blog Post ReferencesBond, M. (2020a). Facilitating student engagement through the flipped learning approach in K-12: A systematic review. Computers & Education. (151), 1–36.
Bond, M. (2020b). Facilitating student engagement through educational technology: Current research, practices and perspectives. Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg. Day 2 of lesson observations for the PhD flipped learning case study saw me observing a double lesson of Year 12 Chemistry. It was quite different to my first day of observations, as this class only has 8 students.
Key flipped learning takeaways...
Key study takeaways...
Yesterday I had the pleasure of beginning data collection for my PhD case study, which focuses on how the flipped learning approach affects student engagement in South Australian schools. Not having undertaken classroom observations as an 'outsider' before, I was a bit unsure of how to proceed at first -
Observation template The template I created was based on indicators of student engagement that I have collected from the literature - and which will inform my (upcoming) framework of student engagement - so that I could keep a tally of which indicators were present in the classroom, how often, and to provide examples. The only problem was, it ended up being 3 pages long, which made it very difficult to work with during the lesson, as I had to keep flipping back and forth between this template and the book I was writing other notes in. I also found the size of the Observation Count column unnecessarily large. I have decided to create a different template and use a highlighter to mark which indicators are observed in the lessons, writing examples of these in my fieldwork book. What were my takeaways from Day 1? I observed a double lesson of Year 7 Maths and a double lesson of Year 7 Creative Arts, with two different cohorts of students.
Embedding a Twitter timeline on your website can be a fantastic way to connect people visiting your website to the other conversations that you are having on Twitter. It can also then prompt visitors to follow you. I have one embedded on my home page here and I also have it on the COER website. If you have a Weebly website, please follow the following steps:
For more help, you could visit this website or watch the video below. ActiveLeaRn Project: Facilitating student engagement with digital media in higher education
27/6/2017
Stage 1: Exploration of the research fieldUsing the software Leximancer, we are analysing 10,706 journal articles from 26 international journals that relate to the fields educational technology, instructional design or distance education. By using the text mining tool, we can create concept maps that identify thematic areas, key concepts and research trends across the last ten years. Figure below: Concept map of overall scope of the 26 journals, 2007-2016 (n = 10,706) Our research questions are:
What is my role in this stage?
Stage 2: Systematic ReviewA systematic review is "a review of research literature using systematic and explicit, accountable methods” (Gough, Oliver & Thomas, 2012, p. 2). It involves a lengthy amount of time at the beginning to organise a search strategy, figuring out exactly how you're going to conduct a search that will yield the results you want. Our research question is:
Once we have finalised our search strategy, we are going to search in four major databases (Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC and PsycINFO) with our search string. We will then go through and screen all of the articles to assess whether or not they should be included in the review, using a set of very stringent conditions for inclusion. Given that our initial searches have returned some 13,000 results, this stage may take a considerable amount of time, but thankfully we will be using EPPI Reviewer 4.0, which is software especially designed to handle systematic reviews. The result of our systematic review will hopefully be a synopsis of conditions through which universities can support and facilitate student engagement and successful learning. What is my role in this stage?
Stage 3: Communicative validation with e-learning expertsThe results of the study will be validated through qualitative research, in order to examine whether the statements identified by the content analysis and systematic review can be confirmed with practical examples. Interviews will be conducted with academics, who currently work (or did work) with digital learning projects at universities in Duisburg Essen and Oldenburg. Focus groups will also be conducted with academics from various faculties (for example Arts, Sciences, Engineering, Medicine) who use eLearning in their teaching. What is my role in this stage? To be honest, I'm not sure yet - we are currently trying to finish off Stage 1 and have already started Stage 2, which I imagine will keep me very busy for some time, but I will definitely keep you updated! How does this project link to my PhD?I am also looking at student engagement within my PhD, however with more of a focus on K-12. I will also be conducting a content analysis and systematic review as part of my PhD, as I have undergone training and it makes sense for me to apply these skills. I also really enjoy both research methods... I will use the systematic review search strategy to inform my own, with the search and screening process mirroring the project. After more information about the ActiveLeaRn project?Please don't hesitate to contact me or email Professor Michael Kerres or Professor Olaf Zawacki-Richter. Feel free to also connect with us on Research Gate. ReferencesGough, D., Oliver, S., & Thomas, J. (2012). Introducing systematic reviews. In D. Gough, S. Oliver, & J. Thomas (Hrsg.), An introduction to systematic reviews (S. 1–16). London [u.a.]: SAGE.
Kahu, E. R. (2013). Framing student engagement in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 38(5), 758–773. http://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2011. 598505 If you're anything like my colleagues and I, the thought of sifting through the latest research whilst managing the daily load of a teacher can be daunting. So here is a run-down of recent research by Lo & Hew, who analysed 15 empirical studies of K-12 flipped classrooms.
1. Open up teacher-student communication prior to flipping Students will need to understand how a flipped model can be effective and explain your goals, as well as the procedures/routines you want to establish. Also use this time to allow students to express any concerns they may have. 2. Demonstrate how it works to students before you implement Consider introducing the model gradually, explaining during lesson-time how the resources and tools to be used outside of lesson-time work. Provide clear instructions to students for collaborative group work and allow students in-class time to revise instructional videos if necessary. 3. Keep videos short and personal Research suggests keeping videos to between 3-4 minutes long, but definitely not longer than 6 minutes per video. Use an informal style with students (e.g. "you" and "I") and appear in the video if you can, as this heightens a students' sense of engagement with the content. Consider using a Power-Point embedded presentation, such as screencast, as it can assist note-taking and guide students through the video. 4. Keep the same level of workload Estimate the amount of time you would usually give for homework and maintain the same amount, despite the new flipped format. This will help avoid complaints about extra pressure at home. Research suggests no more than 20 minutes of video per 'lecture' or homework session. 5. Provide an online discussion forum Create an online forum for students to pose questions whilst engaging in learning outside of the classroom and encourage class members to respond, rather than relying on the teacher. 6. Build teacher knowledge of the flipped classroom approach Create professional networks in your school or within your district, to share your knowledge and experiences. Raise awareness within your school community on the impact that the approach is having. 7. Prepare flipped materials progressively A flipped course certainly isn't built in a day; start small and keep building. Network with other teachers to see if you can share resources or team teach and conduct 'shared flipping'. However, keep in mind the importance of you 'featuring' in your videos or resources. 8. Support students who have limited resources Consider providing your resources on the school intranet or on a DVD or flash drive, so that students without a stable internet connection at home can still access the learning. If students do not have a computer or compatible TV/DVD system, look into after-hours access to the local public library or at the school. 9. Use an LMS with gamification to monitor and motivate learning By using a Learning Management System (LMS) with quiz functionality, student resource use and learning uptake can be monitored. By using an LMS such as Moodle or Edmodo, teachers can allocate badges or points as students achieve certain milestones in their learning, which has been shown to increase motivation. Some teachers have allocated points, for example, when students actively engage in discussion forums. 10. Involve your IT department and leadership team It is important for your leadership team and IT department to be aware of what you're aiming to achieve, so that they can best support you. Involve them where possible in meetings about your flipped classroom and don't be afraid to ask for help 11. Consider team teaching for the in-class activities One teacher could provide remedial help for students who need further understanding of the materials (re-teaching), and the other teacher can assist the second group explore the materials more deeply (exploration). Suggestions for future research
The above research was summarised from: Lo, C., & Hew, K. (2017). A critical review of flipped classroom challenges in K-12 education: possible solutions and recommendations for future research. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 12(4), 1-22. |
AuthorMelissa is an EPPI-Reviewer Support Officer at University College London and a researcher. She worked for 10 years as a high school teacher in country South Australia, followed by three years as a Research Associate at the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany. Categories
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