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It has been demonstrated that AI-powered, data-driven tools’ usage is not universal, but deeply linked to socio-cultural contexts. The purpose of this paper is to display the need of adopting situated lenses, relating to specific personal and professional learning about data protection and privacy.

The authors introduce the results of a case study based on a large educational intervention at a fully online university. The views of the participants from degrees representing different knowledge areas and contexts of technology adoption (work, education and leisure) were explored after engaging in the analysis of the terms and conditions of use about privacy and data usage. After consultation, 27 course instructors (CIs) integrated the activity and worked with 823 students (702 of whom were complete and correct for analytical purposes).

The results of this study indicated that the intervention increased privacy-conscious online behaviour among most participants. Results were more contradictory when looking at the tools’ daily usage, with overall positive considerations around the tools being mostly needed or “indispensable”.

Though appliable only to the authors’ case study and not generalisable, the authors’ results show both the complexity of privacy views and the presence of forms of renunciation in the trade-off between data protection and the need of using a specific software into a personal and professional context.

This study provides an example of teaching and learning activities that supports the development of data literacy, with a focus on data privacy. Therefore, beyond the research findings, any educator can build over the authors’ proposal to produce materials and interventions aimed at developing awareness on data privacy issues.

Developing awareness, understanding and skills relating to data privacy is crucial to live in a society where digital technologies are used in any area of our personal and professional life. Well-informed citizens will be able to obscure, resist or claim for their rights whenever a violation of their privacy takes place. Also, they will be able to support (through adoption) better quality apps and platforms, instead of passively accepting what is evident or easy to use.

The authors specifically spot how students and educators, as part of a specific learning and cultural ecosystem, need tailored opportunities to keep on reflecting on their degrees of freedom and their possibilities to act regarding evolving data systems and their alternatives.

The purpose of the paper is to explore how frontline contact persons appropriate and use learning tools from the socio‐cultural context for learning about customers in their everyday work.

The study utilises an ethnographic‐research approach involving participant observations, informal conversations, and interviews among car salespersons and service advisors at a car‐retailing company.

The study comes to two main conclusions. First, learning tools are appropriated and utilised for learning about customers in a two‐layered process: interactions between frontline contact persons and the socio‐cultural context; and interactions between frontline contact persons and customers. Secondly, learning about customers can be of two types: subject‐ or object‐driven learning.

Tools that enhance the process of learning about customers can be developed within the socio‐cultural environment of an organisation whereas tools that inhibit the learning process can be minimised.

This paper provides a novel socio‐cultural conceptualisation of how learning about customers takes place. This approach has not been previously emphasised in service‐management research.

This study aims to explore the socio-cultural aspects of e-learning delivery in Saudi universities from the perspectives of universities’ instructors and expert designers from the Ministry of Education. More specifically, this study examined the opportunities and challenges faced in the development of online learning environments at Saudi universities from a socio-cultural perspective.

This qualitative research study addressed pervasive socio-cultural challenges connected to e-learning delivery in Saudi Arabia. Data collection methods consisted of 28 in-depth insider expert interviews as well a thematic analysis of documents related to socio-cultural aspects of e-learning delivery in Saudi Arabia.

Findings from the data analysis uncovered two main thematic areas connected to e-learning delivery in Saudi Arabia, namely, culture and female access to e-learning.

This research contributes original knowledge to international online learning research about the social and cultural complexity connected to online learning development in Saudi Arabia, as well as in other areas of the Arabic world where similar e-learning development initiatives are underway.

This research contributes original knowledge to international online learning research about the social and cultural complexity connected to online learning development in Saudi Arabia, as well as in other areas of the Arabic world where similar e-learning development initiatives are underway.

This research contributes unique knowledge about the social and cultural complexity connected to online learning development in Saudi Arabia, as well as in other areas of the Arabic world where similar e-learning development initiatives are underway.

The interaction between Saudi culture and online learning has nurtured a unique learning model that adapts to cultural values to provide a quality learning experience.

The purpose of this paper is to present the transdisciplinary case study (TCS) as a learning framework based on what we call functional socio‐cultural constructivism and project‐based learning (PBL). In doing so, the paper attempts to illustrate the applicability of TCS to learn competencies and skills necessary to research problems of sustainable development.

TCS is considered a learning framework based on the principle of self‐regulated learning; i.e. students must actively deal with the requirements as well as plan and execute their project work within their own worldviews and goals. TCS methods are essential as we tackle complex real‐world problems.

The paper discusses challenges and obstacles of such an approach and present lessons learned since 1994, on both the viewpoints of students and of teachers. It conclude that case study learning is a demanding task, especially in a transdisciplinary context where more challenges emerge than in PBL, since goals of teachers, case agents, and students have to be balanced.

TCS or courses like it are important for universities at the present time. Under present budget restrictions and a wide‐ranging mistrust of society toward universities, there is a necessity for a new contract between society and research: students should learn to take over responsibility in societal contexts and be able to communicate beyond the “ivory tower”.

The learning goals of TCS differ from the goals of most university courses. They are more comprehensive and include complex problem solving, societal context, and group processes. The ambitious goal is that students become enabled to tackle complex, real‐world problems.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the meanings and implications of communities of practice; to discuss how socio‐cultural theories and social learning improve pre‐service teachers' understanding of their profession; and to begin a dialogue on how teachers in training can benefit from having a community of practitioners guiding them. The aim here is also to provide a critical re‐evaluation of the state of teacher training in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by looking particularly at social and experiential learning.

In this paper, the author reports on a one‐year study case study designed to inform how communities of practice can shape the professional formation of pre‐service teachers enrolled in a teacher training program in the UAE.

Results indicated that the process of establishing communities of practice around the teachers improves their professional development, however, the danger of emulating poor pedagogical practices modeled by mentor teachers was also found to be a factor for these novice teachers.

This study was confined to the Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE. The findings of this study need to be confirmed in a wider context.

The study draws attention to the relevance of the community of practice concept and socio‐cultural theory to teacher education.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived challenges of attempting to integrate topics related to social and cultural issues into the coursework in graduate programs in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT).

An open‐ended online survey instrument was developed for this study for three reasons. First, the study aimed at investigating what is actually happening in IDT programs in terms of integration of social and cultural issues into coursework. Using an online questionnaire, data were collected from IDT instructors and instructional designers.

Findings of the study indicated that while there is a general agreement and interest in infusing content that addresses socio‐cultural perspectives challenges into courses, the challenges include the existence of a common framework for defining and prioritizing socio‐cultural issues, and difficulties in identifying the most important issues to address, and appropriate instructional approaches to address sensitive topics.

There were some limitations to this study. First, the data were collected primarily through a survey instrument as indicated above. Nonetheless, the qualitative data collected were rich and informative. Second, as noted earlier, a majority of the participants indicated they are based in the USA. Thus, study findings may be more specific to IDT programs in this context. Third, participation in the study was voluntary, hence demographics were not controlled for. However, this opened up opportunities for attaining multiple perspectives from the participants.

A recommendation that this study brings out is that while it is impossible practically to address all potential topics, a starting point may be to identify and address the most pertinent topics, such as those which may cause misunderstanding or reinforce the wrong ideas.

While instructional designers and instructors cannot be expected to be cultural experts in every single context or topic, there are certain content issues, such as authentic activities and design strategies that would warrant further attention. Of course this will vary by content and context and instructors and instructional designers should at least be prepared to recognize these unique issues.

The paper highlights some issues worth discussing: the complexity of directly incorporating socio‐cultural issues into IDT curricula; the broad elusive nature of the knowledge of socio‐cultural issues; and the difficulty in defining socio‐cultural content, including what to teach and how to teach it. These three issues address the role of coursework in professional preparation, and the structure of instructional design courses and curricula.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) use on the educational performance of new millennium learners (NMLs). Even though many factors might influence individual performance besides ICT use itself, the research focus was on the relationship between the behavioral patterns of ICT use and educational performance.

A nation‐wide survey with 1,071 tenth graders considered as NMLs was conducted in Korea. The behavioral patterns of the learners' ICT use were identified in three dimensions of place, purpose and context, and the educational performance was measured in cognitive, affective and socio‐cultural domains.

Based on correlation and regression analyses, the better use of ICT for NMLs and the directions for the future study related to ICT use and educational performance were suggested.

Major contribution of this study is to divide ICT use into place, purpose and context of using ICT and to investigate their relationships with educational performance refined with cognitive, affective and socio‐cultural domains. Limitations of the study are coined with the samples and self‐report survey tools. Continuing effort to validate the tools and various samples is needed.

Policy makers could use the results of the study to implement the ICT diffusion and adaption process.

There is no such questionnaires related to ICT use and educational performance in Korea, as well as in other nations. More cross‐cultural studies would be a great help in the field of education.

This paper aims to present part of the work of an ongoing research project that is looking at socio‐ cultural and technological developments from a mobile technology convergence view; in order to show how culturally aware convergence developments in mobile technology can be adopted and employed for the betterment of society.

The paper presents a scenario for a mobile technology enabled learning environment in support of the conventional learning approach with a focus on enabling parental involvement and contribution to the daily learning objectives of their children and hence enhancing a quality learning experience. It further critically discusses issues of interface design – at both the device and application levels – that will have an impact on the quality of e‐learning, with a focus on mobile technology.

The paper shows how interface design can positively enhance the quality defining characteristics of learning in an e‐learning environment. Ways of achieving these characteristics of learning through effective e‐learning are reported. This is done by addressing requirements for quality‐learning through effective interface‐design considerations, towards meeting the overall quality requirements of learning that should be intrinsic to a holistic e‐learning environment. The value of human computer interaction and the critical factors of promoting productive interaction are addressed.

There are several factors affecting quality of e‐learning as a tool and approach to flexible and independent learning. The advent and use of mobile technology has been investigated in this work from a socio‐cultural and technological perspectives in two continents. The limitations lie in the depth of investigations and how far the findings can be applied to the diversity of learners.

As the effects of cultures and the rapid technological advancements take toll on teaching and learning the findings reported in this paper have far reaching implications for learners from different cultures and also for attempts at bridging existing digital divide.

The approach adopted in the research is unique by virtue of new findings and ideas presented. The paper highlights the opportunities for mobile devices and technology to play a role in the development of communities through technology aided learning (e‐learning), with a focus on e‐learning systems and technology requirements for delivering a quality learning experience.

The purpose of this paper is to respond to a recent article published in this journal by Stoll and Kools (2017) on the “School as a Learning Organisation” (SLO). It critiques Stoll and Kools’ integrated model of a SLO by investigating whether the model can be applied to a specific socio-cultural schooling context using the example of mainland China.

This paper reviews the extant published works on SLO with a focus on Stoll and Kools’ integrated model of a SLO. The paper also reviews the existing literature on schooling practices in China.

It is argued that the application of Stoll and Kools’ integrated model of a SLO in China needs to take into consideration and incorporate the prevailing centralised, hierarchical and collective characteristics in the country.

The paper questions the universal application of the seven action-oriented dimensions of the SLO for all schools regardless of socio-cultural contexts. It highlights the mediating and moderating effects of local histories, conditions and developments when promoting SLO in a specific learning site.

Policymakers, researchers and educators need to contextualise the ideal of the SLO by interpreting and appropriating it in ways that are compatible with the dominant socio-cultural norms and practices in a particular locality.

This paper fills a current gap by relating the notion of SLO model to the schooling settings in China. It offers a collective slant to SLO that is tailored for the educational realities and experiences in China.

The purpose of this paper is to explore efforts to bridge conceptualisation and practice in work‐based learning by reflecting on the legacy and sustainability of the Centre for Excellence in Work‐based Learning for Education Professionals at the Institute of Education, University of London. The Centre was part of the national CETL (Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) initiative (2005‐2010) and focussed on exploring ways of transforming current models of work‐based learning (WBL) in a bid to respond to the diversity of professional learning needs within education and beyond.

The paper presents three case studies which are representative of the Centre's approach to drive theoretical development in WBL.

The three projects featured contributed to the development of WBL through synergetic cross fertilisation while operating independently from each other. Also, they are characterised by sustainability beyond the end of the CETL initiative. The Putting Knowledge to Work project developed and operationalised the concept of recontextualisation for WBL in successfully moving knowledge from disciplines and workplaces into a curriculum; and from a curriculum into successful pedagogic strategies and learner engagement in educational institutions and workplaces. The London Mobile Learning Group developed a research dynamic around theory and practice of learning with mobile media which contributed to the development of new approaches in (work‐based) learning. The Researching Medical Learning and Practice Network created a community of practice bringing together educational researchers with medical education practitioners and researchers resulting in a greater understanding of how professional attitudes and practices develop in both undergraduate and postgraduate contexts.

The experience of the WLE offers an example of innovative ways to continue to develop our understanding of work‐based learning and inform practice. The impact of the WLE activities on theory, policy and practice is evident in the creation of national and international platforms strengthening existing institutional links.