This book is based on research conducted to investigate whether interactivity yields a learning effect when used appropriately in e-Learning Systems, and whether this effect enhances learning. There is no doubt interactivity is vital in learning. This statement is emphasized to such an extent that it is claimed that students with higher levels of interaction will obtain more positive and higher levels of achievement. However, little scientific evidence can be found to support this relationship. The importance of this book is based on the fact that it provides evidence of the impact of interactivity on e-Learning Systems considering the three main agents of an educational activity: the learner, the teacher and the environment. In addition, the concept of feedback as a key element in any interactive mechanism for enhancing learning is well documented in several studies throughout this book. Three empirical studies are presented that investigated interactivity within the educational triangle. These three studies were conducted based on the framework of positivism and action research paradigms. The first study, entitled “Interactive Pedagogical Feedback”, gathers evidence for how highly interactive pedagogically designed formative feedback enhances students’ memory and understanding. The second study, entitled “Interactive Audio Feedback”, examines whether the speed enhancements of oral feedback improve the conditions for the production of the lecturer’s feedback and the quality of the feedback delivered to the students. The final study, “Interactive Texting Feedback”, takes a pedagogical approach to provide formative feedback to a student audience using mobile text messages, and determines whether Interactive Texting Feedback enhances the learning experience within the e-Learning environment. The information contained in the book is useful for academics and institutions to improve their teaching and the efficiency of their learning delivery mechanisms, and will guide the design of instructional content. It will also be of utility to other researchers and those in roles that require an understanding of interactivity.

"This book provides a comprehensive examination of interactivity, combining key perspectives from communication and media studies, distributed cognition, system affordances, user control, and social interaction, intended for researchers working in the fields of communication and media, educational media, e-learning, and instructional technology"--Provided by publisher.

Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is a very broad and increasingly mature research field. It encompasses a wide variety of research topics, ranging from the study of different pedagogical approaches and teaching/learning strategies and techniques, to the application of advanced technologies in educational settings such as the use of different kinds of mobile devices, sensors and sensor networks to provide the technical foundation for context-aware, ubiquitous learning. The TEL community has also been exploring the use of artificial intelligence tools and techniques for the development of intelligent learning environments capable of adapting to learners’ needs and preferences and providing learners with personalized learning experience. Recognizing the potential of online social networks, social media, and web-based social software tools as learning platforms for online education, the TEL community has devoted significant time and effort into researching how these popular technologies could be combined with appropriate pedagogical approaches to make learning experience more engaging, satisfying, and successful. Among the most important results of these research endeavors are personal learning environments that allow learners to create mash-ups of diverse social software tools based on their own needs and preferences as well as to create and maintain their online learning networks. Undeniably, technological advancement is making education more accessible to an increasing number of people worldwide. To fully exploit the huge benefit the technology is offering, the TEL community is exploring effective approaches for adapting learning resources to address language, generation, and cultural specificities. Aiming to make learning accessible to all, the community has also focused on the development of solutions for learners with special needs. Finally, it should be noted that all the above mentioned research efforts of the TEL community are finding their applications in different learning contexts and domains, including formal education and informal learning, as well as workplace learning in small, medium, and large organizations. Since the scope of TEL research is constantly evolving, the above given overview of the current research efforts does not aim to be exhaustive by any means. Instead, its purpose is to give some insights into the breadth of research topics and challenges that this edited book aims to cover. The book comprises 14 chapters, which are topically organized into several sections. However, this division of chapters into sections is not strictly definitive as each of the chapters itself presents a comprehensive research work that often spans across diverse TEL areas and thus could be categorized into more than one section of the book.

Describes how to evaluate interactive learning systems, both in their initial development and later in regard to effectiveness and efficiency. These include web-based systems, computer-aided learning, etc.

This monograph focuses on the design of personalized and adaptive online interactive learning environment (OILE) to enhance students’ learning in and about complex dynamic systems (CDS). Numerous studies show that students experience difficulties when learning in and about CDS. The difficulties are due to challenges originating from a) the structural complexity of CDS, (b) the production of dynamic behavior from the underlying systems structure, and (c) methods, techniques and tools employed in the analysis of such systems. Despite the fact that studies have uncovered such learning challenges, it is still not well understood how we may effectively address these challenges. In this monograph, the authors provide some answers as to how we may best improve our cognitive capabilities to meet these challenges by way of effective instructional methods, techniques, and tools and their implementation in the form of an OILE. The OILE developed for this purpose, builds on a five-step holistic instructional design framework; identification of instructional design models, identification of authentic learning material, identification of instructional methods, identification of instructional techniques, and design of the interface and implementation of the tool. In this OILE development, six well-documented instructional design models were considered; a four component instructional design, first principles of instruction, constructivists learning environment, task centered instruction, cognitive apprenticeship, and elaboration theory.