Emotional AI in education and toys: Investigating moral risk awareness in the acceptance of AI technologies from a cross-sectional survey of the Japanese population.

Emotional artificial intelligence (AI), i.e., affective computing technologies, is rapidly reshaping the education of young minds worldwide. In Japan, government and commercial stakeholders are promulgating emotional AI not only as a neoliberal, cost-saving benefit but also as a heuristic that can improve the learning experience at home and in the classroom. Nevertheless, critics warn of a myriad of risks and harms posed by the technology such as privacy violation, unresolved deeper cultural and systemic issues, machinic parentalism as well as the danger of imposing attitudinal conformity. This study brings together the Technological Acceptance Model and Moral Foundation Theory to examine the cultural construal of risks and rewards regarding the application of emotional AI technologies. It explores Japanese citizens' perceptions of emotional AI in education and children's toys via analysis of a final sample of 2000 Japanese respondents with five age groups (20s-60s) and two sexes equally represented. The linear regression models for determinants of attitude toward emotional AI in education and in toys account for 44 % and 38 % variation in the data, respectively. The analyses reveal a significant negative correlation between attitudes toward emotional AI in both schools and toys and concerns about privacy violations or the dystopian nature of constantly monitoring of children and students' emotions with AI (Education: ßDystopianConcern = - .094***; Toys: ßPrivacyConcern = - .199***). However, worries about autonomy and bias show mixed results, which hints at certain cultural nuances of values in a Japanese context and how new the technologies are. Concurring with the empirical literature on the Moral Foundation Theory, the chi-square (Χ2) test shows Japanese female respondents express more fear regarding the potential harms of emotional AI technologies for the youth's privacy, autonomy, data misuse, and fairness (p < 0.001). The policy implications of these results and insights on the impacts of emotional AI for the future of human-machine interaction are also provided.

Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace: Markets, EdTech, and the spaces of schooling.

For decades investors have sought to find ways of profiting off the billions of public dollars spent annually on systems of public schooling across the world. This interest has coincided with the growing marketization of systems of public schooling, especially in the United States, as well as the increased use of educational technologies (or EdTech). This study examines the implications of the growing use of profit-driven educational technologies for the politics and spatial practices of schooling. Specifically, it examines past experiences with market-oriented EdTech systems in Oregon and Michigan to highlight how the combination of market systems of governance and profit-driven EdTech practices depend on the deconstruction of links between schools, communities, and students in order to roll out aspatial and apolitical educational practices that maximize profits. The placeless vision for education embedded in profit-driven EdTech helps promote the reproduction of dominant orders and stifles place-based struggles over educational justice.

Protocol Development for Digisection: Making a Case for Standardizing Educational Technology Use for Digital Dissection and Anatomical Studies.

The changes that have characterized advancements in anatomical sciences and medical education have significantly influenced pedagogies and the mode of delivery of teaching and training in the context of medical education. Another reality is the impact of educational technology (EdTech) penetration and integration into medical sciences and education. These events have undoubtedly influenced certain traditional practices and pedagogies including dissection. For example, EdTech and innovations have introduced virtual human images and three-dimensional (3D) human body representations for the purposes of teaching and dissection. Another instance includes the fact that the old dissection guides for gross anatomy, which follow the traditional regional anatomy approach, are often challenging to adapt to the relatively modern medical school curriculum that has embraced the integration philosophy. It is apparent that one practical and realistic way to provide an adapted and effective guide for anatomical dissections under various curricular philosophies and contexts would be to develop de novo protocols or adapt existing ones. Protocol development would be a vital component of the modern anatomist toolkit. This article presents the basic considerations and practical approach, including underpinning principles, to developing virtual dissection protocols using a digital 3D dissection facility, the Anatomage table (Anatomage Inc., California, United States of America), as a case study.

Developing faculty EdTech instructional decision-making competence with principles for the integration of EdTech.

Future success for online teaching can be described in terms of competencies, the knowledge, skills, and affect and motivation that as component parts undergird successful performance, or in terms of competence, the behaviors that demonstrate ability to perform in an online setting. Either framing could aid higher education to consider how to foster online teaching excellence. Yet, considering this dichotomy instead as a continuum emphasizes a fruitful point in between to target for faculty professional learning. This linking, middle view, emphasizes the processes faculty use to recognize what the situation demands and make decisions about what to do and operationalize competencies into competence. This concept paper presents a set of conceptual principles that can serve as guidance to organize faculty decision making when integrating EdTech into higher education courses. Drawing on an existing dataset of interview data from two studies of faculty learning to integrate a new EdTech, instructors' experiences with each principle are illustrated. This provides opportunities to see how faculty organized decisions aligned with the principles and how faculty needs were met when principles described the project's support conditions. This approach shows how universities could benefit from framing EdTech support in terms of embedding representations to first build, then guide, technical and pedagogical knowledge and skill. Providing guiding principles may then motivate faculty to acquire and assemble those competencies in context-sensitive ways for instructional decision making.

The place of academia and industry in the adoption and adaptation of educational technologies for a post-COVID-19 recovery in Africa.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted livelihoods on different fronts and at varying degrees globally. The global education sector was one of the key sectors that bore the heaviest brunt, particularly in the teaching and learning delivery modes. For instance, digital educational technologies became vital methods for teaching and learning. In response, a number of initiatives were adopted by countries to lend insight into how to cope with the emergent challenges, as well as how to alleviate the challenges brought about by the pandemic for post-COVID-19 recovery and growth. In this paper, we explore the contribution of industry and academia to post-COVID-19 recovery and growth, with a special focus on education technologies (ICT)'s adoption and promotion of entrepreneurial efforts in Africa. To attain the paper's objective, we used a scoping review approach to obtain crucial literature from credible and relevant databases to demonstrate and deliver succinct, stronger, clear, and clarified findings on the areas of focus. Additionally, we visited websites of certain international organizations that supported sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically focusing on responses targeting the education sector. The findings highlighted in this paper reveal that both academia and industry have a significant contribution to building back better efforts for a post-COVID-19 recovery and growth. Such efforts operate within the realms of adoption and adaptation of technology in the education sector, and increased emphasis on involvement in entrepreneurship practices. The paper also offers salient recommendations on how to better improve academia and industry's involvement in post-COVID-19 recovery and growth efforts.

Innovations and Strategies During Online Teaching in an EdTech Low-Resourced University.

The study focused on identifying innovations deployed by lecturers when teaching online during the COVID-19 pandemic at the University of Zambia. The interpretivist worldview anchors the study. Researchers adopted a descriptive qualitative case study design. Purposefully and conveniently sampled lecturers (n = 21) took part in key informant interviews from the university faculties: the school of education, the school of humanities and social sciences and the school of health sciences. Thematic analyses were applied to the data collected using face-to-face and telephone interview schedules. Results show that all lecturers fully know online instruction's possible challenges. Lecturers have devised innovations that are lecturer-oriented, lesson-oriented, resource-oriented and student-oriented in managing online teaching and learning. The success of online teaching in an EdTech low-resourced university depends on the lecturers' desire to learn, the availability of essential ICT devices, the use of open educational resources-OER, the potential of the use of devices and the availability of internet connectivity. However, intermittent internet connectivity, student absenteeism, a lack of primary ICT devices, and EdTech illiteracy persist. External support-such as continuous professional development programs (CPDs), import duty exemptions or corporate sponsorships and donations-should be sought to facilitate online lessons. Innovation in teaching and learning does not only entail high-tech educational technologies but the use of what works best for a community of learners in a particular context. Though focused on Zambia, the study results reflect the situation and experience of universities in other countries with similar characteristics.

A Collaborative Metaverse based A-La-Carte Framework for Tertiary Education (CO-MATE).

The paper aims to propose a futuristic educational and learning framework called CO-MATE (Collaborative Metaverse-based A-La-Carte Framework for Tertiary Education). The architectural framework of CO-MATE was conceptualized in a four-layered approach which depicts various infrastructure and service layer functionalities. CO-MATE is a technologically driven educational metaverse environment involving loosely coupled building blocks to provide an a-la-carte model for platform designers. For this, the authors had undertaken a systematic mapping study of the pre/post-COVID period to review the application of various emerging technologies. Further, the paper also discusses the core attributes and component offerings of CO-MATE for a technology-driven and automated immersive-learning environment and exemplifies the same through various use cases.

Well Played! Promoting Phonemic Awareness Training Using EdTech-GraphoGame Brazil-During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Early literacy skills such as alphabet knowledge and phonemic awareness are made up the foundation for learning to read. These skills are more effectively taught with explicit instruction starting inpreschool and then continuing during early elementary school years. The COVID19 pandemic school closures severely impacted early literacy development worldwide. Brazil had one of the longest school closure periods, which resulted in several children having no access to any educational activities. Education Technology (EdTech) tools can leverage access to pedagogical materials and remediate the consequences of school closure. We investigated the impact of using an early literacy EdTech, GraphoGame Brazil, to foster learning of early literacy skills during the height of COVID19 school closures, in Brazil. We carried out a quasi-experimental, pretest and posttest study with elementary school students who were taking online classes. Participants were pseudo randomly assigned to (1) an experimental group, who played GraphoGame Brazil, and to (2) an active control group, who played an EdTech that focuses on early numeracy skills. The results show a significant positive training effect on word reading accuracy associated with the use of GraphoGame for the children in the experimental group, relative to the control group. We also found statistically significant negative effect in lowercase naming for the control group. We address the consequences of COVID19 school closures, the promise of EdTech and its limitations, and discuss the issue of fostering successful early literacy instruction in countries that have struggled with teaching children to read even before the pandemic.

Utilizing educational technology in enhancing undergraduate nursing students' engagement and motivation: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Modern educational technology (Edtech) combines technological tools with educational theories. Over the years, Edtech has been adopted in nursing education to address student needs and expectations, institutional resources, community stakeholder expectations, and healthcare trends. However, regardless of the technologies used, keeping students engaged in learning is still challenging. As intrinsic motivation is significantly related to academic achievement, ensuring student engagement and motivation for learning becomes crucial. AIMS: This scoping review aims to explore the types and features of modern Edtech that have impacted on undergraduate nursing students' engagement and motivation. DESIGN: This scoping review is based on the five-stage approach following Arksey and O'Malley's framework, and the Engagement theory framework for technology-based teaching and learning. METHODS: A systemic search was conducted across 10 electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ProQuest, Web of Science, Cochrane, Engineering Village, and IEEE Explore). The titles, abstracts, and full texts were screened and reviewed based on the inclusion criteria of undergraduate nursing students, using innovative Edtech, and outcomes of engagement and motivation. Studies published in non-peer reviewed journals, or not in English were excluded. Study characteristics were summarized and quantified. Descriptions of educational technology characteristics from selected studies were coded and categorized as follows: "Facilitating collaboration", "Stimulating problem-solving", and "Pursuing authentic focus". RESULTS: Majority of the studies utilised gamification over other types of Edtech such as virtual reality or smart glasses, successfully engaging and motivating students through the features of collaboration, competition, and challenge. Despite the high technology aspect of the interventions used, the human presence as an authentic focus was perceived to be important in engaging students in learning experience. Moreover, attaining meaningful achievements also improves engagement and motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Edtech can promote positive engagement and motivation of undergraduate nursing students. Educators should emphasize an authentic focus in students' learning experience with Edtech.

Exploring the Negative and Gap-Widening Effects of EdTech on Young Children's Learning Achievement: Evidence from a Longitudinal Dataset of Children in American K-3 Classrooms.

Introducing educational technology (EdTech) into school classrooms constitutes one of the strongest educational reforms of recent decades worldwide, and as a discursive or ideological background of it, there has been the optimistic consensus on the use of EdTech among the global education community. In this context, this study highlights the dark side of EdTech and provides an opportunity for critical self-reflection of its current use through a series of quantitative analyses on a longitudinal dataset of children in K-3 American classrooms collected during the first half of the 2010s (ECLS-K:2011). In this process, two adverse effects of EdTech on young children's learning achievement are identified: the negative effect and the gap-widening effect. These findings convey the crucial message that the education community's approaches to EdTech should be more prudent than the current optimistic consensus. These findings do not lead us to any extreme or rigid conclusion such as techno-determinism or neo-Luddism, but rather call for a balanced and realistic deliberation on the benefits and risks of technology. This point is particularly worth clarifying in the recent situation, where schools' dependence on EdTech has inevitably increased in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current State and Future Directions of Technologies for Music Instrument Pedagogy.

Technological advances over the past 50 years or so have resulted in the development of a succession of hardware and software systems intended to improve the quality and effectiveness of Western music instrument pedagogy during classroom instruction or individual study. These systems have aimed to provide evaluation or visualization of single or combined technical aspects by analyzing performance data collected in real time or offline. The number of such educational technologies shows an ever-increasing trend over time, aided by the wide diffusion and availability of mobile devices. However, we believe there are unrealized opportunities for modern technologies to help music students in their technical development and assist them during their practice sessions in between visits to their teachers. The ubiquity of PCs and mobile devices with built-in microphones, speakers, and cameras has inspired the development of media technologies in support of music pedagogy. They offer an attractive potential for implementing audio signal processing algorithms addressing different technical skills of the performer, providing real-time feedback, collecting data over time, and applying statistical models. Despite this potential, most available software for music instrument pedagogy remains very limited in functionality. This study provides a survey of music edTech software available, together with the methods of use, addressed technical skills, commonalities, and limitations. Results show that most current software is based on the metronome and tuner, with only a few systems that have limited abilities to follow a performance in real-time and compare it to a given score to monitor correctness of notes, intonation, and rhythm. The survey also highlights a high and under-exploited potential regarding the monitoring of other more specific technical skills, which are more instrument-dependent, but no less important, such as the control of dynamic range and clarity of the attack. This article ends with a discussion of possible directions for future development of technologies to support the practice of music students at different levels, with some consideration for the corresponding signal processing methods that can be utilized or that need advancement. By helping students to more efficiently achieve a high level of proficiency of their instruments with assistive technologies, we hope to minimize stress and afford better enjoyment of the music performance experience for all.

EdTech: Why the project-based approach must change in order to contribute to system resilience.

This viewpoint article argues that there is an urgent need to reform the project-based EdTech approach in order to allow EdTech to contribute to the resilience of education systems in the aftermath of Covid-19. Looking at the contrast between the multiplication of EdTech pilot projects presented as a necessary step in a process that will eventually lead to scaled solutions and the lack of solutions that actually scale, the article highlights those long-standing issues perceived as most pressing by the actors involved in project-based EdTech initiatives. Their perspective and statements allow one to grasp how the EdTech project approach favors the setup of EdTech projects that are by design unscalable, driven by a utopian perception of scalability and instrumentalized in the name of a goal that is de facto only a branding. As a result, and despite the mobilization of tremendous resources, the EdTech project-based approach cannot be system-transformative.

EdTech for Ugandan girls: Affordances of different technologies for girls' secondary education during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Motivation: This article discusses the use of educational technology (EdTech) in girls' education at PEAS (Promoting Education in African Schools) schools in rural Uganda during the Covid-19-related school closures. Purpose: This article addresses a research gap surrounding the potential use of EdTech to support girls' education, focusing on the barriers to girls' EdTech use and how technology might be used to enhance girls' education in disadvantaged rural areas-specifically their academic learning and their social and emotional learning. Methods and approach: A sequential, explanatory mixed-methods case-study approach was used. Quantitative exploration of a dataset of 483 Ugandan students, from 28 PEAS schools, was first conducted, followed by interviews with PEAS staff to elucidate the reasons and context behind the findings. Findings: Findings show that female students are less likely than male students to have access to their caregivers' phones for learning. The form of EdTech that appeared to be most beneficial for girls' academic learning was radio; girls also had significantly more interest in tuning into radio broadcasts than boys did. Also, poorer boys were more likely to be influenced by SMS messages than wealthier boys. Apart from gender-based differences, students with more highly educated parents found SMS messages more helpful, and phone calls from teachers appeared to help boost younger students' self-confidence. Policy implications: The findings suggest that policy-makers need to: carefully consider provision of education through multiple modes of EdTech in order to ensure that it reaches all students; ensure that caregivers are involved in the strategies developed for girls' education; make EdTech interventions interactive; and consider language in EdTech interventions. Given the gender differences which emerged, the findings are of relevance both to supporting the continuation of educational provision during periods of school closure, and also in terms of finding additional ways to support girls' education alongside formal schooling.

A Study of Anatomy Teachers' Perception and Acceptance of the Anatomage Table Technology and Digital Teaching Materials in the Training of Medical and Allied Health Students.

BACKGROUND: The Anatomage Table is a modern technology that is used to enhance the teaching of human anatomy and related basic medical sciences to medical and allied health students. Its use is gaining popularity. This study considered anatomy teachers' perception and acceptance of the Anatomage Table technology and digital teaching materials in the training of medical and allied health students in African countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Validated questionnaires were used. Altogether, 79 respondents fully participated in the study, with all African regions being represented as follows: Ghana, Nigeria (West Africa), Ethiopia Kenya Rwanda (East Africa), Namibia, South Africa, Zambia (Southern Africa), Egypt (North Africa), and Sudan (Central Africa). Responses were obtained from the electronic Google form, organized on Excel spreadsheets, and analyzed using the SPSS statistical software version 23.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY). RESULTS: In terms of proportion, 29.1% of respondents reported that they had some level of mastery in using the Anatomage Table; with 6.3% of all the participants reportedly having a high mastery of this technology, 12% and 6% reported that they had an average mastery and low mastery levels, respectively. Participants' rating of their level of agreement with whether the Anatomage Table is a useful EdTech showed that 54.4% of them strongly agreed while 27.8% just agreed. The majority considered the use of the Anatomage as a means of embracing the global culture of technology-in-medical sciences (87.3%). CONCLUSION: Most respondents would accept the technology as a complementary tool to support the existing traditional practices, especially cadaveric.

Digital higher education: a divider or bridge builder? Leadership perspectives on edtech in a COVID-19 reality.

The edtech community has promoted claims that digital education enhances access, learning, and collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic tested these claims like never before, as higher education systems seemingly overnight had to move teaching online. Through a sequential mixed-method approach, we investigated how 85 higher education leaders in 24 countries experienced this rapid digital transformation. Through their experiences, we identified the multiple and overlapping factors that contribute to an institution's ability to realize the potential of digital education, in terms of access, learning and collaboration, whilst highlighting deeply rooted inequalities at the individual, institutional and system level. Drawing on these empirics, we put forth recommendations for closing the digital divides and pathways forward. Higher education leaders are uniquely positioned to move beyond the emergency adoption of online learning towards inclusive, long-term visions for digital education, which emphasize collaboration over individual gain. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41239-021-00287-6.

Global Education Governance in the Context of COVID-19: Tensions and Threats to Education as a Public Good.

This article discusses the failure of global governance to defend and reinforce education as a public good and its public provision and regulation. Challenging the framing of states and the private sector as being equally important for the achievement of the SDGs, it calls for a reimagination of the role of global governance and an accountability structure that places the economic, social and environmental consequences of policy and financing modalities at the centre.

Instructional interface's blueprint for guiding instructional-technological interactions' research: the Big Bang shift in K-12.

This response reviews and analyzes the ten focal topics and three elements introduced in Nacu, Martin, and Pinkard's work, entitled "Designing for 21st century learning online: a heuristic method to enable educator learning support roles". An analogy of the London Stock Exchange's Big Bang is drawn to describe the moment education is currently living. In this context, homeschooling guided learning is analyzed. Nacu, Martin, and Pinkard (2018) offered insightful approaches for the sudden shift to digital that the world has experienced since April 2020. Their inquiries coincided with the questions asked by researchers and teachers around the world when their schools were closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Along with Nacu et al.'s (Educ Tech Res 64(4):1029-1049, 2018) effort, a theoretical framework, an instructional interface model, is conceptualized as a blueprint, to offer a guide for research for instructional-technological interactions. In this scenario, shifting to digital is not just a tech shift but a worldwide creators' mindset shifts.

A Digital App to Aid Detection, Monitoring, and Management of Dyslexia in Young Children (DIMMAND): Protocol for a Digital Health and Education Solution.

BACKGROUND: Dyslexia, a specific learning difficulty and a disability as defined in the Equality Act 2010, is a lifelong condition that affects a child from the start of education. Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties in language processing (reading, spelling, and writing) which do not correspond with the child's general intellectual abilities. Although dyslexia cannot be cured, there is a consensus that interventions are more effective and have greater impact the earlier they are administered. Effective interventions start with diagnosis. Currently, formal diagnosis requires an assessment by a dyslexia specialist or educational psychologist. These assessments are expensive and are not easy for a non-specialist teacher or parent to interpret. Consequently, formal assessments are normally performed at a much later age, when interventions are less likely to be effective. Combining the latest in scientific research, expertise of dyslexia practitioners and real-time interactivity facilitated by digital technologies, we aim to provide a cost-effective and convenient solution that focuses on early dyslexia detection and management. OBJECTIVE: We discuss the rationale and protocol for the design and development of a digital health solution aimed at improving the early detection, monitoring and management of dyslexia (DIMMAND) in young children (4-8 years). The primary objective is to create a game-based digital solution aimed at children, parents, and teachers that firstly assesses, then monitors and manages progress in a convenient, cost-effective and private environment. METHODS: The proposed solution will be designed and developed in phases. In the initial phase, the full functional specification of the games that constitute the app will be designed, together with the overall architecture of the solution. Prototype proof-of-concept implementation for few of these games, and commercialization strategies will also be developed. The follow-on phases will see the design implemented into a validated solution. RESULTS: In the initial phase, we worked closely with dyslexia specialists, adult dyslexics, teachers of special-needs children, parents of dyslexic children, and senior dyslexia representatives for large organizations. These interactions provided insights into the range of language difficulties faced by dyslexics, which solutions are used by teachers and professionals, and an overall understanding of the market. We comprehensively defined the ethical, privacy, and data security issues. The detailed design spec of the games, the methodology to be followed to interpret the results, and flow diagrams illustrating how the game screens will be presented was completed. As proof of concept, a few reading, visual, and auditory games were developed and successfully tested by stakeholders on different digital devices. The stakeholders provided regular feedback and confirmed the viability of our game-based solution. CONCLUSIONS: DIMMAND has the potential to provide significant positive health care and economic impact. It is expected to reduce intervention costs, improve dyslexia detection at an early age and aid self-management. REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER: RR1-10.2196/9583.