This study examines digital education exchange between South Korea and Cambodia through teachers’ experiences in educational ODA programs. Using Engeström’s third-generation Activity Theory, we analyzed interactions within the Busan-based LEAD Teacher Group (B-LTG) and Cambodian Teacher Group (C-TG). Data from reflective journals, focus groups, and program documents were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis with coding based on activity system components. Contradictions among educational tools, goals, and cultural contexts drove transformative learning. B-LTG teachers refined instructional strategies for local needs, and C-TG participants developed proactive ICT integration approaches, which they then extended to colleagues through self-organized workshops. On this evidence, ODA programs should prioritize context-specific, interactive training models over one-way technology transfer. The study contributes a multi-level account of how contradictions between an advanced donor system and a resource-constrained partner system generate a shared learning object.
The educational practicum is a critical yet challenging threshold for pre-service teachers, often triggering “survival anxiety” due to limited immediate feedback. This 16-week longitudinal cluster-randomized trial (N = 356) investigated the heterogeneous effects of artificial intelligence (AI) feedback (AF), human expert feedback (EF), and an active self-guided reflection condition (SR) on pre-service physical education teachers’ instructional efficacy. Linear mixed models (LMM) revealed an efficiency–depth trade-off: AI feedback significantly outperformed expert feedback in maximizing students’ moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) through low-latency spatial monitoring, effectively alleviating novices’ survival anxiety. Conversely, expert feedback showed a distinct and sustained advantage in cultivating deep specialized content knowledge (SCK) and metacognitive reflection. Cross-lagged panel network (CLPN) analysis further revealed distinct temporal patterns: in the AI condition, informing behaviors predicted subsequent task extension, consistent with an external “scaffolding” of procedural execution, whereas in the expert condition task refinement predicted greater subsequent skill application and fewer management episodes—a pattern consistent with internal “pedagogical control.” These findings challenge the paradigm of viewing AI as a universal substitute for mentorship. We propose the TOL-PE framework, advocating a layered synergistic ecosystem in which AI stabilizes baseline physical order while human experts elevate higher-order pedagogical reasoning, offering insights for teacher preparation in contexts facing mentor scarcity, pending cross-cultural validation.
A growing body of research on board games demonstrates that these games can function as learning environments and provide opportunities for learning across diverse contexts. Although learning is often conceptualized contextually within this literature, studies increasingly demonstrate that meaningful learning can occur through participation in board game environments. However, the relationship between board games and learning has been examined predominantly through the study of modern board games, with comparatively limited attention given to classic African board games. This literature review explores learning in classic African board games. This study serves two purposes as it highlights the state of research on classic African board games and the relationship of these games with learning. The fi ndings show that classic African board games are spaces where learning occurs and players engage in a constellation of literacies. The studies analyzed indicate that playing these games can facilitate mathematical learning, engage players in computational thinking and songoputation, and foster the development of skills related to science, engineering, and technology (i.e. STEM). These board games also allow for the exploration of artificial intelligence (AI), which results in the learning of new AI techniques. Classic African board games have the potential to simplify the learning of various subjects and the acquisition of skills relevant to the 21st century. As such, more empirical studies should be conducted to further investigate the connection between playing thesegames, their game mechanics and learning; and particularly the link between their gameplay and the learning of specific subjects such as mathematics, science, and engineering.
Open Educational Resources (OER) are widely promoted as a digital means of expanding access and reducing student costs, yet institutions often lack evidence on whether large-scale adoption is financially sustainable. This study examines the institutional costs and returns associated with OER degree pathways at five U.S. community colleges, conceptualizing institutional return on investment (ROI) as a mechanism shaping the adoption and sustainability of program-level educational technology innovations. Institutional costs were estimated using Levin’s ingredients method based on financial records and faculty and staff time-use logs. To assess potential institutional returns, we analyzed the association between OER course enrollment and students’ credit hours attempted using propensity score matching with student transcript data. Estimated changes in credit attempts were then translated into tuition and mandatory-fee revenue and compared with institutional costs to derive site-level and cross-site ROI estimates. Average institutional investments exceeded 500,000, and several colleges recouped these costs within three years through increased tuition revenues associated with higher levels of credit-taking. However, returns varied substantially across sites, indicating that financial viability is contingent on implementation strategies and institutional context. Overall, the findings suggest that OER degree pathways can generate modest institutional returns and that jointly tracking implementation resources and enrollment behavior provides institutions with a pragmatic basis for assessing sustainability and informing decisions about scaling.
The acquisition of science concepts is necessary for fostering analytical and problem-solving skills. The complexity of heart anatomy, obscured within the human body, presents a challenge that high-immersion virtual reality (VR) holds promise in addressing. This study explored the impact of VR versus screencast video instruction in learning anatomy, which is a core life science topic within the broader science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domain. College students (N = 91) were randomly distributed into two groups. One group learned heart anatomy through an immersive VR tutorial, while the other group watched the identical tutorial presented via screencast video. Both groups were assessed on (1) learning content, (2) enjoyment, (3) sense of presence, and (4) cognitive load. The multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) indicated that the VR group, despite reporting significantly higher enjoyment (p ≤ .0001) and sense of presence (p ≤ .0001), scored significantly lower on a heart anatomy knowledge test (p = .003) compared with the video group. Both groups reported comparable levels of cognitive load (p = .65). This study adds evidence confirming the potential benefits and challenges of integrating VR into higher educational settings, suggesting that, in a tightly controlled, single, and short lesson on anatomy, VR enhances enjoyment and presence but does not lead to superior immediate learning outcomes compared with video instruction.
