Written by: Mahnaz Shirdel & Judit Háhn, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Abstract: Virtual exchange, as a tool for fostering intercultural understanding, allows participants to engage in online collaboration with international partners (O’Dowd, 2018). It offers significant benefits, such as the enhancement of participants’ 21st-century skills. However, its effectiveness can be compromised by certain challenges such as dissatisfaction with communication (Brooks & Pitts, 2016), which has been considered to be linked to identity gaps (Jung & Hecht, 2004).  In this qualitative study, we aim to explore the main identity gap(s) perceived in our data.

The data comprises the first author's regular self-reflections during participation in a virtual exchange, as well as semi-structured interviews conducted with three volunteer participants from the same virtual exchange. We identified the main identity gaps and employed thematic analysis (Clarke & Braun, 2017) on the data to explore the themes that could be interpreted as their underlying reasons. The findings highlight the role of facilitators, self-other alignment, and technology in the development of identity gaps. The study contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of identity gap formation in international online learning contexts, particularly virtual exchanges. Our findings can inform virtual exchange design and facilitator training programs, thereby enhancing the experience for participants.

Keywords: virtual exchange, identity gap, facilitator, self-other alignment, technology

Written by: Lydia Kokkola, University of Oulu, Finland and Marie Nordlund, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden

Abstract: All school leavers should have efficient online searching skills, defined here as the ability to select suitable search terms, feed them into a search engine, and make active decisions about which options to open from the results page. An additional element in our study includes the ability to search in English. As less than 1% of the Internet is in Swedish and about 60% is in English, this study assumes that Swedish school leavers will need to be able to use both languages. The study provides a qualitative, naturalistic account of the searching activities of Swedish teenagers in English classes from Grade 8 through to English 6 (ages 14-18 years). Screen recordings from normal English lessons were analysed and supplemented with stimulated recall interviews with 40% of the pupils. The study reveals low levels of ambition and limited digital competence combined with high levels of confidence. Most pupils were unaware that they could have achieved more. The same pattern emerged across four school years in eight different classes. We conclude that improvements in digital competence education require more modelling of skills such as searching, so that teenagers recognize the value of aiming high.

Keywords: online searching; digital competence; Swedish schools; L2 English; over-confidence

Written by: Connie Blomgren, Athabasca University, Canada

Abstract: Aspects of copyright literacy and attributing open licenses as scholarly practice inform this commentary. Because citation practices have a much longer history than attribution, an overview of the study of citation and its relationship to the developing practice of attributing open licenses provides a model and trajectory to follow. Copyright literacy as part of attribution knowledge and skills bifurcates from citation scholarship, yet it is part of reconsidering and affirming knowledge connections. Decolonizing perspectives of epistemology and what counts as knowledge, ownership, and sharing are part of this bifurcation that involves attribution, Indigenous ways of knowing, and Traditional Knowledge Labels. There are also tensions involved with properly attributing Creative Commons licenses and the title, author, source, and license process offers an imperfect and sometimes complicated pathway forward. Through this process, accurate and effective license acknowledgement occurs for newly created, reused, revised, remixed, or reshared artifacts. It is suggested to use the online attribution builder and best practices for attribution placement are provided for written documents, presentations, blog posts, videos, and other formats. As part of open education practices, attribution signals contributions to the knowledge commons and are part of copyright literacy and professional digital competence.

Keywords: attribution, Creative Commons, open licenses, copyright literacy, citation practices, Traditional Knowledge Labels, professional digital competence

Written by: Francesca Boyd and Paul Brindley, University of Sheffield 

Abstract: This paper presents lessons learnt from research on integrating urban nature into university students’ daily lives for wellbeing benefits. It examines the application of traditional and technological interventions as a way of increasing university students’ engagement with urban nature to support their mental health. It focuses on two research questions: (1) How does a walking intervention and a mobile phone app intervention in urban nature compare - in terms of their effect on nature connection and wellbeing measures? (2) How should engagement with the natural environment be encouraged for university students’ wellbeing? The use of two different styles of nature-based interventions demonstrated the implementation opportunities and challenges amongst the student population. Results analysed the extent of changes over time and differences within groups. This confirmed that the relationship between different aspects of an individual’s relationship with nature is complex and dynamic. The experience of conducting this research highlighted the challenges to implementing novel technological interventions - including creating a nature-based intervention scheme at a university. The difference in outcome measures and unexpected direction of change for connection to nature suggests the need for a holistic approach to improve student wellbeing, including different ways to integrate nature into the university experience.  

Keywords: urban nature, university students, interventions, mobile phone app, wellbeing. 

Written by: Crystal L. Beach, Donna E. Alvermann, Stephanie Loomis, William Wright, & LaTasha Hutcherson Price

Abstract: Our purpose for researching self-sponsored creative composing online was to explore ways in which the cultural practice of digital remix might mediate connections among participants in a study conducted on a Creative Commons website. Specifically, we asked to what degree, if any, might digital remixes inspire or arouse feelings of connection with and through the creator and the created? A conceptual framework that took into account a case study design, the cultural practice of digital remix, and people’s reported feelings associated with that practice fell well within the realm of a post-intentional approach to studying the phenomenon of digital remix. A total of 82 remixes, 51 fragments, and 56 blogs were available for analysis. Using a five-step analytic procedure developed by the authors, we conducted 26 individual semi-structured interviews. Implications based on the data from those interviews, along with separate content analyses of the digital remixes, are discussed.

Keywords: Remix, Creative Composing Online, Integrating Technology, Digital Culture, Post- Intentional Phenomenology

Written by:
Stine Brynildsen, Østfold University College, Halden, Norway
Halvdan Haugsbakken, Østfold University College, Halden, Norway

Abstract: Understanding digital competence in teaching is challenging because technology and teachers’ workdays are moving targets. Previous research suggests using professional digital competence (PDC) as an approach for better understanding how teachers develop a deep understanding of technology, learning processes and subjects. Accordingly, inspired by a short-term design-based research methodology, a project was conceived to have a group of teachers and teacher educators collaborate on developing digital teaching environments using Microsoft Class Teams and OneNote Class Notebook at a lower secondary school in Norway. To investigate the outcomes, this paper adopts an agentic socio-cultural perspective to examine how the teachers enacted digital teaching environments to develop PDC. The results show that the teachers employed negotiation strategies and used different material and immaterial resources in their local school contexts to enact digital teaching environments. The study suggests adding new research to two emerging and relevant research streams—teachers’ digital competence and Microsoft Class Teams and the OneNote Class Notebook—by emphasising a strong human-centric agency approach and that teachers’ digital competence can be made visible through acts of collaboration.

Keywords: professional agency; teachers’ professional digital competence; digital teaching environments; Microsoft Teams; OneNote Class Notebook