The dominant roles that digital connective technologies have in the 21st century are causing profound changes in all domains of life, which signal that we have reached a new age: the digital age. Education is one of the fundamental domains of life re-engineered to adopt to the changing landscape of what it means to function in this new age. The school paradigm which rests on the conditions and requirements of the industrial age appears to fall short in terms of meeting the needs and demands of the 21st century learner. The emerging digital connective technologies and the educational innovations they triggered such as open educational resources (OER), massive online open courses (MOOCs) and learning analytics are disrupting the learning processes and structures of the industrial age such that it is now an imperative to develop a new educational paradigm. These new innovations enable learners to extend learning outside the boundaries of traditional learning institutions through informal and enriched learning experiences using online communities on new platforms such as social media and other social platforms. The digital innovations aforementioned also free the learners from the shackles of time so that learners can, not only access but also create knowledge through social interaction and collaboration. The age we live in is ripe for unprecedented fundamental changes and opportunities for higher education (HE). Therefore, policymakers involved in education need to re-think the implications of digital connective technologies, the challenges and opportunities they bring to the educational scene while developing value-added policies regarding HE. This paper addresses the learner, instructor, learning environments and the administration dimensions of HE and how the digital connective technologies are impacting on these dimensions in the digital age. The paper also offers, as a conclusion, a road map for HE to better function in this age.
Media literacy, which traditionally aims to help individuals become better-informed users through proper consumption of media messages, has historically been reshaped to reflect the characteristics of the tools that individuals utilize to consume such messages. Information and Communication Tools (ICT) developed in the 21 st century, also referred to as the Digital Age, have enabled individuals to become producers of media messages in addition to consumers. Therefore, there has been a need for empirical studies into the concept of media literacy that has evolved into new media literacy with the impact of these new participatory and connective technologies. Within this regard, this study seeks to investigate the new media literacy levels of open and distance learners who primarily depend on ICT to access tertiary education. Besides, the study examines the relationship between demographic information of learners and their new media literacy skills.
Open and Distance Learning constantly seeks to enrich learning experiences and processes by trying out innovative technologies and brings forward the best practices. Among these innovative technologies, Augmented Reality, draws attention due to the interactivity it enables within learning environments. Augmented Reality allows for the integration of theory and practice, and offers the potential to deliver learning through open and distance practices on disciplines such as medicine and engineering, which were once deemed impossible through distance learning mechanisms. This article aims to provide brief information on Augmented Reality and discusses its potential in the field of education.
Several components of learning including learners, teachers, schools, learning methodologies, learning content and evaluation criteria are affected by changing technologies. Like other technology-based learning methods, mobile learning is also a product of a period in which new technologies and education are intertwined. As new learning and technologies become more personalized, learner-centered, connected, portable and ubiquitous, skills such as cooperation, communication, critical thinking and creativity start to stand out. Mobile learning has a potential to address these skills and better cater for today's digital native learners thanks to the aforementioned affordances. This potential of mobile learning is the starting point for this study. The aim of this study is to see the trends of mobile learning over the years and to discuss its potentials and challenges. In line with this purpose, the graduate theses published in Turkish Higher Education Council Thesis Database between 2010 and 2019 were reviewed by content analysis method. The results of the study revealed that mobile learning in graduate studies offer the potentials to positively effect on academic achievement, facilitate positive attitude towards mobile learning, increase motivation and develop positive attitude towards the course. In addition, the results also demonstrated that mobile learning is time and place independent, easy, fun and helpful for vocabulary learning and increasing interaction. However, there were also challenges reported associated with mobile learning such as technical and infrastructural problems and lack of hardware and software used in mobile leaning tools.
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