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With the growing use of technology in second language learning (L2), many techniques of incorporating digital video in L2 learning and platforms of task implementation appear in the field, however, with little, if any, research on how tasks can be designed and developed in these contexts. Based on Chapelle (2001, 2014) task design criteria, the current paper evaluates specifically the “interactivity” of task design interface and how it may contribute towards either dispersing or directing the learners' attention (Robinson, 2011) during the process of task completion in video-based L2 listening.

Using a qualitative approach – mainly focus groups and interviews – the current study evaluated a number of tasks that were used for computer-based L2 listening when digital video is the mode of presentation. The participants, i.e. English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and learners, were presented with a number of task designs to try and evaluate.

The findings revealed that some task designs are perceived to be less interactive and can disperse the learner's attentional resources during the process of task completion. They also shed light on the importance of improving EFL teachers' current practices of task design in computer-based L2 listening.

This paper has contributed to our growing understanding of interactivity in relation to video-based learning and its task designs.

In 2022, the Baltimore professional development school (PDS) partner schools, John Ruhruh Elementary/Middle School (JREMS) and Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) received funds through a Maryland Educational Emergency Revitalization (MEER) grant to determine (a) to what extent additional resources and professional development would increase JREMS teachers’ efficacy in technology integration and (b) to what extent NDMU professional development in the form of workshops and self-paced computer science modules would result in greater use of technology in the JREMS K-8 classrooms. Results indicated a statistically significant improvement in both teacher comfort with technology and integrated use of technology in instruction.

Survey data were collected on teacher-stated comfort with technology before and after grant implementation. Teachers’ use of technology was also measured by unannounced classroom visits by administration before and after the grant implementation and through artifacts teachers submitted during NDMU professional development modules.

Results showing significant increases in self-efficacy with technology along with teacher integration of technology exemplify the benefits of a PDS partnership.

This initiative was original in its approach to teacher development by replacing required teacher professional development with an invitation to participate and an incentive for participation (a personal MacBook) that met the stated needs of teachers. Teacher motivation was strong because teammates in a strong PDS partnership provided the necessary supports to induce changes in teacher self-efficacy.

Why are some lean workfloor teams able to improve their already high performance, over time, and others not? By studying teams' and leaders' behaviour-value patterns, this abductive field study uncovers a dynamic capability at the team level.

Various methods were employed over three consecutive years to thoroughly examine five initially high-performing lean workfloor teams, including their leaders. These methods encompassed micro-behavioural coding of 59 h of film footage, surveys, individual and group interviews, participant observation and archival data, involving objective and perceptual team-performance indicators. Two of the five teams continued to improve and perform highly.

Continuously improving high lean team performance is found to be associated with (1) team behaviours such as frequent performance monitoring, information sharing, peer support and process improvement; (2) team leaders who balance, over time, task- and relations-oriented behaviours; (3) higher-level leaders who keep offering the team face-to-face support, strategic clarity and tangible resources; (4) these three actors' endorsement of self-transcendence and openness-to-change work values and alignment, over time, with their behaviours; and (5) coactive vicarious learning-by-doing as a “stable collective activity pattern” among team, team leader, and higher-level leadership.

Since lean has been undertheorised, the authors invoked insights from organisational behaviour and management theories, in combination with various fine- and coarse-grained data, over time. The authors uncovered actors' behaviour-value patterns and a collective learning-by-doing pattern that may explain continuous lean team performance improvement. Four theory-enriching propositions were developed and visualised in a refined model which may already benefit lean practitioners.

This study aims to explore how learners prefer to interact with microlearning videos. Microlearning is an emerging topic in work-based learning, and the benefits of using video in supporting learning have been widely discussed. However, only very few of previous works were conducted on discussing how learners prefer to interact with microlearning video. This paper aims to fill this knowledge gap.

A questionnaire was used in this study for data collection purposes. In total, the invitation had been sent to 236 enrolled learners from the three targeted modules through emails. A total of 77 participants completed the survey with the response rate of 32.6%. The chi-square test is used in this study in order to conclude whether the findings from the sample related to hypotheses are statistically significant.

By analysing primary data collected from a United Kingdom (UK) university, the findings suggest that 1) the perceived usefulness of the control functions and the expression functions of multimedia microlearning videos are generally high and 2) more participants, on the one hand, prefer to have more control in their multiple-choice questions’ arrangement and open-ended questions’ arrangement; on the other hand, there was no significant difference on the preference of when to attempt assessment.

This is the first time that a study like this had been conducted to review and discuss the interactive preferences between learners and multimedia microlearning. This study could shed some lights on future research in the field of microlearning and work-based learning.

In this opinion article, the authors share their experiences with and perspectives on course design requirements and barriers when applying challenge-based learning (CBL) in an online sustainability education setting. CBL is an established learning approach for (higher) sustainability education. It enables teachers to engage students with open, real-life grand challenges through inter-/transdisciplinary student team collaboration. However, empirical research is scarce and mainly based on face-to-face CBL case studies. Thus far, the opportunities to apply CBL in online educational settings are also underinvestigated.

Using the TPACK framework, the authors address technological, pedagogical and content knowledge related to CBL and online sustainability education. The integration of the different components is discussed, providing teachers and course designers insight into design requirements and barriers.

This paper supports the promising future of online CBL for sustainability education, especially in the context of inter-/national inter-university collaboration, yet emphasizes the need for deliberate use of online collaboration and teaching tools.