Participation in online citizen science is increasingly popular, yet studies that examine the impact on participants' learning are limited. The aims of this paper are to identify the learning impact on volunteers who participate in online citizen science projects and to explore the methods used to study the impact. The ten empirical studies, examined in this systematic review, report learning impacts on citizens' attitudes towards science, on their understanding of the nature of science, on topic-specific knowledge, on science knowledge, and on generic knowledge. These impacts were measured using self-reports, content analysis of contributed data and of forum posts, accuracy checks of contributed data, science and project-specific quizzes, and instruments for measuring scientific attitudes and beliefs. The findings highlight that certain technological affordances in online citizen science projects can cultivate citizens' knowledge and skills, and they point to unexplored areas, including the lack of experimental and long-term studies, and studies in formal education settings.

Mobile applications are popular among young children, yet there is a dearth of studies examining their impact on learning and development. A systematic review identified 19 studies reporting learning effects on children 2 to 5 years old. The number of children participating in experimental, quasi-experimental, or mixed-method studies was 862 and in descriptive or correlation studies, 941. The majority of studies reported positive effects on literacy development, mathematics, science, problem-solving, and self-efficacy. Among the factors explaining observed effects were design features, the role of adults, and a similarity between applications and transfer context.Although drawing firm conclusions remains a challenge, this review forms a first step towards systematic research in the field and contributes to shaping directions for future research. KEYWORDSearly years, learning, mobile devices, tablets, young children | INTRODUCTIONMobile devices such as tablets, iPads, and smartphones have been increasingly used by young children including toddlers and preschoolers (Holloway, Green, & Livingstone, 2013). The tactile-based digital interface of touch screens enables digital interactions earlier in the development of preschoolers or even toddlers and infants (Plowman, Stevenson, Stephen, & McPake, 2012) and a greater degree of independence when interacting with this technology compared to computers (Holloway et al., 2013). The last few years the design and release of mobile applications targeting early years' learning presents the greatest growth in online application stores with 72% of the educational applications targeting preschool-or elementary-aged children (Shuler, Levine, & Ree, 2012). In the United States, amongst the 2-4 years old, 39% are found to have used a smart device (iPad or iPod; MDG Advertising, 2012). In the UK, 40% of the 3-4 years olds make use of tablets at home (OfCom, 2014). In Sweden, 50% of children aged 3 and 4 are found to use tablets and 25% smartphones (Findahl, 2013).As such, touch screen mobile devices and applications warrant special consideration. They present distinct affordances including their lightweight design, portability, relatively intuitive interface use, communication features, and affordable cost (e.g., Vavoula & Karagiannidis, 2005). They hold the potential to revolutionize learning through flexible, personalized, and mobile educational experiences.They can scaffold synchronous and asynchronous types of learning, customized instruction and individualized assessment, rich communication, and learning anywhere and anytime (Mehdipour & Zerehkafi, 2013). Despite their increasing uptake and the potential for new and interactive forms of learning, there is limited understanding of their impact on young children's learning and development.Although an extensive body of research has been dedicated to the investigation of the cognitive, socio-emotional, and health impact of older media, including TV, video games, the Internet, and cell phones, on children and adolescents (Ca...

By collecting longitudinal learner and learning data from a range of resources, predictive learning analytics (PLA) are used to identify learners who may not complete a course, typically described as being at risk. Mixed effects are observed as to how teachers perceive, use, and interpret PLA data, necessitating further research in this direction. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether providing teachers in a distance learning higher education institution with PLA data predicts students' performance and empowers teachers to identify and assist students at risk. Using principles of Technology Acceptance and Academic Resistance models, a university-wide, multi-methods study with 59 teachers, nine courses, and 1325 students revealed that teachers can positively affect students' performance when engaged with PLA. Follow-up semi-structured interviews illuminated teachers' actual uses of the predictive data and revealed its impact on teaching practices and intervention strategies to support students at risk.

A vast number of studies, yet mostly small-scale reported exciting innovations and practices in the field of learning analytics. Whilst these studies provide substantial insights, there are still relatively few studies that have explored how the stakeholders' (i.e., teachers, students, researchers, management) perspectives and involvement influence largescale and institutional-wide adaptation of learning analytics. This study reports on one such large-scale and long-term implementation of Predictive Learning Analytics (PLA) spanning a period of four years at a distance learning university. OU Analyse (OUA) is the PLA system used in this study, providing predictive insights to teachers about students and their chance of passing a course. Over the last four years, OUA has been accessed by 1,182 unique teachers and reached 23,640 students in 231 undergraduate online courses. The aim of this study is twofold: (a) to reflect on the macro-level of adoption by detailing usage, challenges and factors facilitating adoption at the organisational level, and (b) to detail the micro-level of adoption, that is the teachers' perspectives about OUA. Amongst the factors critical to the scalable PLA implementation were: the faculty's engagement with OUA, teachers as "champions", evidence generation and dissemination, digital literacy, and conceptions about teaching online.

Online citizen science projects have broadened options for accessing science and enabled different forms of participation in scientific research for adult and young volunteers. Yet, little is known regarding participation patterns among youth participants. Quantitative approaches were used to investigate the contribution of 183 young volunteers to citizen science on the iNaturalist platform and the participation behaviour that relates to their contribution. The participants accessed and used iNaturalist as part of one-day field-based events (bioblitzes) facilitated by museums. Compared to the observation behaviour of all iNaturalist users, as documented on the platform, the young volunteers observe fewer plants and birds, and more molluscs, arachnids and insects. The average daily contributions of young volunteers were found to be positively associated with a large proportion of active days on iNaturalist and a systematic contribution behaviour, yet negatively related to a long duration on the platform. This study enhances our understanding of young volunteers’ contributions to citizen science and provides insights for research on participation in online citizen science. Our findings have implications on how museums design the field-based events to encourage follow-up systematic participation and maintain active contribution.