At the University of Birmingham, Information Services, together with the Staff Development Unit and the Learning Development Unit have been working together to set up a number of initiatives to support staff to use WebCT to underpin its learning and teaching strategy within a flexible framework. The framework seeks to invest in developing appropriate skills and training for University staff to ensure that the quality of the content and the communication tools within the WebCT environment are fully exploited to enhance the student learning experience. Developments include the establishment of an e‑Learning module, team based projects from the Learning Development Unit and a WebCT training and support pathway.

This paper analyses and discusses the future challenges that tertiary educational institutions may expect to face when the traditional organisational forms and norms of the industrial society meet the first generation of natural born ICT using students who have lived their whole life with ICT and the ever changing norms and demands of the unfolding information society. In order to analyse the premise for these challenges the paper applies a long‑term perspective on the generations and organisations affected by the transmission. A key to gain insight to the future students and the nature of the encounter is research aimed at the present primary school. Additionally a key to the organisational perspective is identification of organisations' readiness for change and the potential barriers for adaptation to the information society and the ´ power users´. Based on the analysis, the paper comprises an outline of institutional obstacles inhibiting a successful encounter and argues the necessity of integrating top‑down and bottom‑up initiatives in future organisations. Thus, the process of change demands awareness and support from both the authorities empowered to make grants and from the management of the educational organisations, and the paper explicitly focuses on collaborating teaching staffs as a tool for improving both individual and organisational adaptability.

Abstract: A group of first‑semester engineering students participated in a game design course. The aim of the course was to learn how to design computer games and programming skills by creating their own games, thereby applying their game‑playing experien ces to gain knowledge about game design. The aim was for students to develop a more critically reflective perspective on video games and game design. In applying their game experiences, they developed their own digital prototypes and participated in refl ective discussions on the concept of games: what makes them interesting and how they are constructed. The students used the GameMaker programming tool, which can be used without any prior programming knowledge. The tool allows for the easy development of 2D game prototypes.The didactic approach was based on play as a lever for the design process, and on constructionistic and reflective learning philosophies. Playing games constituted an integral element of the design process; new code added to the program was tested by playing the game. The students were constantly alternating between playing and adding and revising code. The learning environment where games were played and developed could be considered to be a sandbox where experimentation was a motivati onal factor for the students, as they could make mistakes and try out creative ideas. Although the constructionistic learning approach promoted creative and innovative learning, it did not develop competencies in articulation and analysis. The aim was for students to reflect on games in order to promote explicit knowledge. Based on the theory, we consider retrospective reflective discussions in the classroom and their programming experiences reinforced the learning process. In summary, we present the stud ents' first progression from native consumers in the game world to becoming reflective designers. Along their journey, they developed a reflective practice and an understanding of the profession they were entering. The article also throws light on the ver y dynamic and fruitful relationship that ex

The present research aimed to investigate the feasibility of e‑learning implementation in an Iranian comprehensive university (included medical and non‑medical fields) to provide appropriate solutions in this regard. To achieve this objective, seven research questions were formed. Surveying method was applied for data collection in this study. From the results, the readiness of the Iranian university to implement e‑learning was moderate to low. This means that the Iranian university is not prepared for this type of learning. Accordingly, five factors were evaluated of which three factors: human, infrastructural, and cultural factors were in moderate to low level, and two factors: pedagogical and support, were at a low level. Ten basic strategies for successful implementation of e‑learning were extracted at the Iranian university based on the studied five factors and they were presented according to the knowledge and research in the field of e‑learning in the world and in Iran. Some of these consisted of holding training courses at the university level, considering a special place for e‑learning in the university strategic plan, developing a mechanism for monitoring the activities of teaching and research in e‑learning environment for students and faculty, and allocating and spending an appropriate budget.

The mission of today’s universities is to prepare the students properly to live and work in the 21st century. International research demonstrates the positive impact of using iPads in teaching. Successful deploying of mobile learning (m‑learning) is not a matter of accident, but depends on users’ acceptance of the technology. The purpose of this article is to create a mobile learning adoption pre‑model tailored to the needs of a private university. To achieve this goal, valued adoption models were analyzed and, on their basis, the new model was created. The pre‑model has been tested with a questionnaire. A paper‑based survey was conducted among 640 students representing 25 countries. The questionnaire was grouped into sections: specifications of mobile devices owned by students and mobile internet access, expectation from mobile education application and attitudes towards current and future use of mobile devices in education. We computed all data with The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences – IBM SPSS Statistics version 25. The results of the research showed that the students from a central‑eastern European University are technologically ready for mobile learning. Moreover, there appears to be no cause for concern regarding students from post‑Soviet countries with respect to their competency to meet the demands of modern teaching in the form of mobile learning. Students have shown that they have clearly defined expectations for educational materials for mobile devices, which will be a challenge for the university when creating m‑learning materials. Furthermore, students must feel the university's support in using mobile applications. That is why the teachers face a serious task: teachers must be prepared to show students the benefits of mobile learning, so they not only need to be trained but also convinced that it is worth using mobile learning.

: Flipped learning has become a popular approach for supporting higher education, but less is known about its link with the learners’ emotions, which are known to play an important role in science education. The main purpose of this study is to analyse the effects of the flipped learning approach on students’ learning emotions. This research utilised a quasi‑experimental design with two data collection time points (pre‑ and post‑study). The sample involved 65 students from the science track in one Saudi university. The participants were distributed into two groups, taught by the traditional and the flipped learning methods respectively. Data collection took place over a period of 4 study weeks. The results show that the flipped mode group had obtained higher learning emotions mean score compared to its traditional counterpart, and they showed improvement in learning emotions mean score over the period of the study. The findings indicate that further study is needed both to validate the current study in a different context , and also to determine how the flipped learning environment can better support students’ interactions and their emotions.

Abstract: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are striving to provide effective learning experiences to address the needs of the digitally‑oriented generation of learners. Blended learning has emerged as a solution to address these needs and has been a dopted by various HEIs. However, not all academic staff members adopt blended learning when it is introduced by their institutions. Although this teaching and learning approach offers various advantages to academic staff, negative perceptions held by acad emic staff may affect its adoption.The purpose of this case study was to investigate the perceptions academic staff have about blended learning and to identify challenges facing academic staff that affected the adoption of blended learning in a Faculty of Education at a developing university in South Africa. The study employed the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis (1993) and the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) by Rogers (1983: 246‑250) in a qualitative exploratory research de sign. The investigation made use of focus group interviews with lecturers and individual interviews with heads of academic departments, as well as the dean of the Faculty. Data gathered pointed to various perceptions and practical problems hindering acade mic staff from adopting blended learning. Amongst these were perceptions pertaining to e‑learning or blended learning policy, faculty support by management, computer skills of students and lecturers, as well as inadequate access for students to computers. This research is unique in that it applies known knowledge in the new context of a small South African university, which is a developing community. Lessons learned from this study will make a contribution to knowledge in the field of higher education, an d will help developing universities to benefit from the research.