According to various international reports, Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIEd) is one of the currently emerging fields in educational technology. Whilst it has been around for about 30 years, it is still unclear for educators how to make pedagogical advantage of it on a broader scale, and how it can actually impact meaningfully on teaching and learning in higher education. This paper seeks to provide an overview of research on AI applications in higher education through a systematic review. Out of 2656 initially identified publications for the period between 2007 and 2018, 146 articles were included for final synthesis, according to explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria. The descriptive results show that most of the disciplines involved in AIEd papers come from Computer Science and STEM, and that quantitative methods were the most frequently used in empirical studies. The synthesis of results presents four areas of AIEd applications in academic support services, and institutional and administrative services: 1. profiling and prediction, 2. assessment and evaluation, 3. adaptive systems and personalisation, and 4. intelligent tutoring systems. The conclusions reflect on the almost lack of critical reflection of challenges and risks of AIEd, the weak connection to theoretical pedagogical perspectives, and the need for further exploration of ethical and educational approaches in the application of AIEd in higher education.

Digital technology has become a central aspect of higher education, inherently affecting all aspects of the student experience. It has also been linked to an increase in behavioural, affective and cognitive student engagement, the facilitation of which is a central concern of educators. In order to delineate the complex nexus of technology and student engagement, this article systematically maps research from 243 studies published between 2007 and 2016. Research within the corpus was predominantly undertaken within the United States and the United Kingdom, with only limited research undertaken in the Global South, and largely focused on the fields of Arts & Humanities, Education, and Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics. Studies most often used quantitative methods, followed by mixed methods, with little qualitative research methods employed. Few studies provided a definition of student engagement, and less than half were guided by a theoretical framework. The courses investigated used blended learning and text-based tools (e.g. discussion forums) most often, with undergraduate students as the primary target group. Stemming from the use of educational technology, behavioural engagement was by far the most often identified dimension, followed by affective and cognitive engagement. This mapping article provides the grounds for further exploration into discipline-specific use of technology to foster student engagement.

Digitalization in Higher Education (HE) institutions is an issue that concerns many educational stakeholders. ICT skills are becoming increasingly relevant in every context, especially in the workplace, therefore one of the prime objectives for universities has become preparing future professionals to be able to deal with problems and search for solutions, including digital competence as a vital skill set. Different policies, initiatives and strategies are currently being proposed in Germany, addressing educational technology innovations in HE. The University of Oldenburg is presented as an example, in an endeavour to gain an understanding of what is being proposed and what is actually happening in teaching and learning in German university classrooms. Two datasets were examined regarding the use and perceptions of students (n = 200) and teachers (n = 381) on the use of digital tools. Findings reveal that both teachers and students use a limited number of digital technology for predominantly assimilative tasks, with the Learning Management System being perceived as the most useful tool. In order to support the broader use of educational technology for teaching and learning purposes, strategies for HE institutions are suggested.

The flipped learning approach has been growing in popularity in both higher education and K-12, especially for its potential to increase active learning and student engagement. However, further research is needed to understand exactly how the flipped approach enhances student engagement. This narrative systematic review synthesises literature published between 2012-2018, focused on the flipped learning approach in K-12 contexts, and indexed in 7 international databases. 107 articles, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers and grey literature were included for review, and the results are discussed against a bioecological model of student engagement. Studies in this review found the approach to overwhelmingly support student engagement, with 93% of studies citing at least one dimension of behavioural, affective or cognitive engagement, whereas 50% of studies reported facets of disengagement. Collaborative technologies such as Google Docs, Google Classroom and Edmodo were particularly linked to engagement, with videos not created by teachers more likely to lead to disengagement. The results indicate that the majority of research has been undertaken in North American and Asian high schools, heavily focused on student perceptions of flipped learning and achievement within STEM subjects, especially Mathematics, with a slight preference for quantitative methods. Only 12% included a definition of student engagement, and less than half used a theoretical framework. Future empirical research should ensure that all contextual information is included, including year level of student participants, that multiple methods of both quantitative and qualitative data collection are included, and close attention is paid to grounding research in theory. Further research is needed on parent, teacher and school leader perceptions, as well as longitudinal and multiple-class studies.

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