Josep M. Duart

New era and challenges for a consolidated journal in educational technology in higher education

© I a l We are pleased to announce the start of a new era for this journal, which was founded in 2004 by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). It will provide researchers working in the field of educational technology (e-learning) in higher education with a publication to disseminate the results of their studies. The first issue of this open-access online journal was published under the name of Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimiento, the abbreviated form of which – RUSC – has been used to refer to the journal for 10 years. The first volumes were published in Spanish but, from 2010 onwards, all articles were published in both Spanish and English. Also in 2010, we decided to change the name of the journal to RUSC. Universities and Knowledge Society Journal. It was an important year because the journal was incorporated into renowned citation databases like Scopus. Then, in 2013, a co-edition agreement between UOC and the University of New England (UNE) was signed in order to drive the journal’s internationalisation strategy forward. Since its launch, the number of articles published, downloaded and cited has increased year on year, and particularly so since the 2013 agreement with UNE. We are now indexed in Scopus, Web of Science (ESCI), Google Scholar, Educational Research PremierTM (EBSCO), Fuente AcademicaTM (EBSCO), Educational Research Abstracts (ERA), ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research), IRESIE, ISOC (CSIC/CINDOC), Dialnet, DOAJ, Dulcinea, OAISTER, Scientific Commons, Redalyc, e-Revistas, and SHERPA/RoMEO. Twelve years and more than 250 published articles later, we are presenting the start of a new and promising chapter for the journal, which will now be known as the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education (ETHE). The new name is the result of some considerable thought given to how best to summarise the journal’s thematic scope—that of studying and analysing the use of technology in teaching and learning processes in higher education. The change of name has come about as a result of a new publication agreement; from 2016, the journal will be published by Springer on the SpringerOpen platform.

Análisis de la interacción en ambientes híbridos de aprendizaje

El analisis de la interaccion en ambientes virtuales e hibridos es un tema complejo, puesto que es necesario superar la aproximacion cuantitativa, numero de mensajes, y lograr informacion sobre las dinamicas de interaccion, en el marco de las actividades educativas. En este trabajo se presenta un conjunto de estrategias para el analisis de la interaccion, las cuales se disenaron durante el desarrollo de una tesis doctoral, como respuesta a dos retos que fueron identificados: ?como observar la interaccion?, ?como relacionar la interaccion con el rendimiento academico? Las estrategias disenadas ofrecen elementos para el analisis de las actividades educativas, analisis de las discusiones virtuales asincronicas, representacion de las interacciones y la relacion entre la interaccion y el rendimiento academico. El conjunto de estrategias permitio reconocer el fenomeno de la interaccion en el marco de actividades educativas, asi como el proceso o dinamica en la interaccion grupal, que muestra la evolucion del grupo hacia la construccion de conocimiento. Por otro lado, tambien permitio analizar los procesos virtuales de interaccion y establecer comparaciones entre las dinamicas de los grupos y la relacion entre estas y los resultados de rendimiento academico. Si bien el grupo de estrategias surgen en un estudio especifico, ofrecen herramientas que pueden utilizarse en otros contextos. La manera de utilizar las estrategias se ilustra en este articulo con un ejemplo.

La Red en los procesos de enseñanza de la Universidad

igher education has undergone some very significant changes in recent decades: access to it has been democratised, major progress has been made both in terms of research and of relationships with business and society, new teaching methodologies have been introduced, laws have been amended, quality assurance systems have been incorporated, the European Higher Education Area process has been implemented and so on. All of these changes are a consequence of the impact that an increasingly open and dynamic society –the information and knowledge society– has had on higher education. Moreover, we have experienced –and continue to experience– the rise of technologies that were first described as «new», then referred to as the ‘Internet’ and are now known as the «Web». The Web has spread into all areas of society and makes it more open. The social networking phenomenon is changing how we communicate with each other and how we value the present. However, technologies are not responsible for bringing about these changes in society in general and in higher education in particular; the changes were already there, bubbling under the surface until the time was right for them to happen. What the Internet has done is speed up the pace of change and enabled these changes to happen, while at the same time promoting new ways of communicating and disseminating ideas. These dynamics generate and are generating a real change in society and all of its institutions, not only in the field of higher education. The introduction and use of the Internet in higher education has transformed its organisational, technological, communication and educational models. While the early Internet-related changes affected organisation and communication (institutional websites, access to grades, online libraries, access to teaching plans, folders of virtual documents, etc.), nowadays it could be said that that major change affects education; it is the outcome of a model that integrates technology into teaching and learning processes. According to currently available data, teaching staff constitute one of the collectives that most uses the Internet on a personal level. However, we find that only slightly more than 50% of teachers in the Spanish education system use the Internet in teaching (although they make widespread of the Internet for research). These data also show that the uses to which the Internet is put in the classroom tend to focus on searching for and accessing information, and on communicating via e-mail. It would therefore seem that what is worthwhile in their personal lives and for research is of no use in classroom dynamics. Something similar happens when analysing the student collective, although we consider that students should not be held responsible for the low level of Internet use in higher education teaching. Today, we also know that Internet use in the classroom does not, in its own right, help to improve H http://dx.doi.org/10.3916/C37-2011-02-00

Planning, Designing and Managing Higher Education Institutions

Developed below is a selection of the ideas and case studies presented at the conference on “Planning, Designing and Managing Higher Education Institutions”, in San Jose, California (United States): Megatrends and myths which influence facilities management practices. The technology-enabled learning space. Natural hazard risk mitigation. The modernisation of Montreal’s Concordia University. An analysis of decision-making in integrating information and communications technology in Spanish universities. A network of library and information services units created by Mexico’s Veracruz University.

Research Trends in Mobile Learning in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Articles (2011 – 2015)

The potential and use of mobile devices in higher education has been a key issue for educational research and practice since the widespread adoption of these devices. Due to the evolving nature and affordances of mobile technologies, it is an area that requires ongoing investigation. This study aims to identify emerging trends in mobile learning research in higher education in order to provide insights for researchers and educators around research topics and issues for further exploration. This study analysed the research themes, methods, settings, and technologies in mobile learning research in higher education from 2011 to 2015. A total of 233 refereed articles were selected and analysed from peer reviewed journals. The results were compared to three previous literature review-based research studies focused between 2001 and 2010 to identify similarities and differences. Key findings indicated that: (a) mobile learning in higher education is a growing field as evidenced by the increasing variety of research topics, methods, and researchers; (b) the most common research topic continues to be about enabling m-learning applications and systems; and (c) mobile phones continue to be the most widely used devices in mobile learning studies, however, more and more studies work across different devices, rather than focusing on specific devices.

Usos de Internet y éxito académico en estudiantes universitarios

espanolEl uso de la tecnologia provoca cambios sociales. Esto incluye el trabajo en el ambito universitario en donde esta cambiando tanto la forma de ejercer la docencia como la forma de aprender y se requiere conocer el efecto del uso de la tecnologia sobre el rendimiento del alumnado. En este trabajo se investigo la incidencia del uso de Internet sobre el exito academico del alumnado de cinco universidades de Ecuador. Se levanto una muestra aleatoria de 4.697 personas y se las categorizo en perfiles de uso de Internet para actividades academicas y para entretenimiento, utilizando analisis factorial y analisis cluster. Las categorias resultantes se utilizaron como variables independientes en modelos de regresion logistica multinomial que buscaban determinar si el uso de Internet tenia incidencia sobre el exito academico. Los resultados muestran que quienes realizan actividades interactivas con pares y profesores o quienes utilizan de forma balanceada las distintas herramientas de Internet tienden a un mayor exito academico que aquellos que solo buscan informacion. En lo referente al entretenimiento, se encontro una incidencia positiva del uso de Internet sobre el exito academico. Los estudiantes que realizan descargas de contenido de audio, video y software, y quienes utilizan todas las posibilidades de entretenimiento, presentan menor tendencia a suspender que los estudiantes que utilizan minimamente Internet. En cuanto al genero se presentan diferencias en los usos academicos y de entretenimiento. EnglishThe use of technology is changing the way things are done, including the work in universities where the teaching and learning process are changing, and it is required to know the effect of technology on student achievement. In this research work, we present the influence of Internet use on academic success of students from five universities in Ecuador. A random sample of 4,697 people was got up and categorized in two groups: the use of Internet in academic activities and entertainment, using factor analysis and cluster analysis; the resulting categories were used as independent variables in multinomial logistic regression model which are seeking to determine if the use of Internet has impacted on academic success. The results show that people who perform interactive activities with peers and teachers or use in a balanced way the different internet tools tend to have more academic success than those who only seeks information. Regarding to the use of Internet in entertainment, a positive impact was found on academic achievement. Students who download audio, video and software, and students who use all the entertainment possibilities show less likely to fail than who using minimally Internet. In terms of gender, it has different effects for entertainment and academic purposes.El uso de la tecnologia provoca cambios sociales. Esto incluye el trabajo en el ambito universitario en donde esta cambiando tanto la forma de ejercer la docencia como la forma de aprender y se requiere conocer el efecto del uso de la tecnologia sobre el rendimiento del alumnado. En este trabajo se investigo la incidencia del uso de Internet sobre el exito academico del alumnado de cinco universidades de Ecuador. Se levanto una muestra aleatoria de 4.697 personas y se las categorizo en perfiles de uso de Internet para actividades academicas y para entretenimiento, utilizando analisis factorial y analisis cluster. Las categorias resultantes se utilizaron como variables independientes en modelos de regresion logistica multinomial que buscaban determinar si el uso de Internet tenia incidencia sobre el exito academico. Los resultados muestran que quienes realizan actividades interactivas con pares y profesores o quienes utilizan de forma balanceada las distintas herramientas de Internet tienden a un mayor exito academico que aquellos que solo buscan informacion. En lo referente al entretenimiento, se encontro una incidencia positiva del uso de Internet sobre el exito academico. Los estudiantes que realizan descargas de contenido de audio, video y software, y quienes utilizan todas las posibilidades de entretenimiento, presentan menor tendencia a suspender que los estudiantes que utilizan minimamente Internet. En cuanto al genero se presentan diferencias en los usos academicos y de entretenimiento.

Determinants of digital inequality in universities: the case of Ecuador

The digital divide was initially defined by socioeconomic variables, mainly the level of family income, but now it focuses on how the Internet is used and is called digital inequality. In the case of universities, recent studies have pointed to the existence of patterns that are dependent on a variety of socioeconomic variables. This article analyses the effect that the level of family income, gender and age of students from five Ecuadorian universities has on Internet use for academic activities and entertainment purposes. In the procedure applied to a sample of 4,697 students, factor analysis was used to reduce the data, and multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the relationships. The results show that the higher the level of family income, the better the technology use for academic activities. Regarding entertainment, the level of income does not determine the intensity of technology use, though it does determine the types of tool that students use. With reference to gender, men have a greater tendency to use technology for entertainment, but there is no difference between genders when it comes to academic uses.

Una segunda brecha digital entre el alumnado universitario

Resumen La relación de los individuos con internet conlleva una serie de consecuencias sociales y económicas para su vida. Este hecho es de especial relevancia en el caso de los estudiantes universitarios ya que sus conocimientos y hábitos de uso de internet pueden influir en las posibilidades de ocupar los trabajos cualificados para los que se están formando. Partiendo de la teoría de la segunda brecha digital, en esta investigación se investiga qué variables se relacionan con el nivel de habilidades de uso de internet y el uso de la web 2.0. entre los estudiantes universitarios. Para ello, se utiliza una base de datos con información sobre 14.727 estudiantes de las universidades públicas y presenciales catalanas. Los resultados muestran con claridad la relación entre la experiencia de uso de internet, el tipo de aprendizaje formal cursado y las características sociodemográficas con la variación en habilidades y usos de internet. Los resultados obtenidos son de utilidad para conocer que variables están influyendo, a través de la relación con internet, en la futura estratificación de los estudiantes en el mercado laboral y la sociedad.

Model for Measuring the Implementation of Online Programs in Higher Education

This study presents the results of expert judgment assessment of a model to measure the implementation of online programs in higher education. Online education is an innovative approach that has been used worldwide by several universities. The evaluation of the implementation of online education is, generally, focused in technology, content quality, instructor and service quality and learner satisfaction. However, it is weak in the structural and functional aspects of the universities. Therefore, a question needs to be answered: Are the dimensions and components of this model suitable for measuring the implementation of online programs? In order to answer that question, this work follows a descriptive statistical approach and four stages: 1. preparing the questionnaire for model assessment; 2. selecting experts; 3. application of the questionnaire; and 4. analysis of results. This study collected 39 completed responses from experts. The Aiken’s V coefficient was used as a measure to quantify the expert agreement. Findings illustrate the importance (88.4%), sufficiency (82%), influence (81.8%) and priority of the model components. As a conclusion, it was found that the dimensions and components of the model are suitable for measuring the implementation of online programs. The expert criterion is an important technique to support models designed from the literature. Limitations, as well as possible research directions, are also discussed.

Thematic analysis of the international journal of educational Technology in Higher Education (ETHE) between 2004 and 2017

* Correspondence: jduart@uoc.edu Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Introduction It gives us great pleasure to be able to use this editorial to present a thematic analysis of the articles published in the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education (ETHE) since it began back in 2004. The study uses the articles published in the 14 years of the journal’s history (2004-2017) to show what research was carried out in the field of educational technology in higher education in this period. This qualitative analysis could be considered to be complementary to the bibliometric analysis between 2004 and 2013 (Ramiro, Ramiro-Sánchez, & Alba-Ruiz, 2014). Although we cannot say that the study reflects all the areas of research covered during this period given that, as with any other journal of its kind, the articles published have to have passed a peer-review process and fit with the topic of the special issues proposed by the editors, but the results do show that the areas of research and the subjects covered in the articles published correspond to the research carried out in the field as a whole over the same period (Hsu, Hung, & Ching, 2013). As in previous studies with other journals in the field Edutec-e (Marín, Zawacki-Richter, Pérez Garcias, & Salinas, 2017), IRRODL (Zawacki-Richter, Alturki, & Aldraiweesh, 2017) or Distance Education (Zawacki-Richter & Naidu, 2016) -, the key themes covered in the publications over this period and the semantic relationships among these themes were explored with the text mining tool LeximancerTM.