The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based approach and the Laboratory Training Model of Teaching (LTM) chemistry. It strived to determine whether the ICT or the LTM would be more effective with respect to the male and female students' overall as well as component-based achievement in chemistry and their retention of learning. The sample of the study consisted of 120 seventh standard students from two English-medium elementary schools in Mysore city, India. Four homogenous groups were formed randomly for the study and the effects of independent variables were tested under experimental conditions. The Test of Higher Mental Ability in Science (THMAS) was used to determine the homogeneity of the participants. After one month, the delayed posttest for achievement in chemistry was administered to determine the retention level of the students. The statistical techniques used to analyze the data were the independent sample t-test and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings indicated that as far as the overall achievement in chemistry, component-based achievement, and retention of knowledge, comprehension, application, and skills are concerned, the ICTbased method of teaching chemistry was more effective than the LTM of teaching. The effects of gender varied according to comparisons.

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Background: Educational systems have adopted e-learning in high quantity all over the world and they are currently concerned about the quality of instruction. Different factors including pedagogical factors, technical factors, content issues, ease of use of elearning systems, and computer knowledge of the users constitute the quality dimensions. The present study examines the degree of which each dimension affects the achievement in e-learning settings. Methods: The present semi-experimental research was conducted in teacher education colleges affiliated to University of Mysore, India, in 2015 -2016. Pretest on educational psychology (EP) was administered to 72 students selected through purposive sampling technique. The students were treated through e-learning by the researcher for 16 sessions. EP posttest and E-learning dimensions evaluation questionnaire (ELDEQ) were administered at the end of the intervention. ELDEQ contained 58 questions on the quality of e-learning dimensions and it was constructed based on the evidence from content analysis. Face validity and content validity of the instrument were established through 13 experts in the field of e-content. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was adopted to establish construct validity. Cronbach's alpha above 0.7 indicated the reasonable reliability of the instrument. SPSS 22 and multiple regression were utilized to analyze the data. Results:The results indicated a difference between the effects of various dimensions including content dimension (P = 0.001), technical dimension (P = 0.03), pedagogical dimension (P = 0.02), computer knowledge of the users (P = 0.47), and ease of use of elearning systems (P = 0.17) on achievement. Conclusions: Based on the results of the study, content dimension is the first and foremost predictor of learning. Pedagogical and technical dimensions were found to be the second and the third significant predictors of achievement, respectively.

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Social media has transformed and impacted on communication, learning, research and education in general. The study aimed to examine the impact of social media on scholastic achievement among higher secondary students The investigator adopted survey method to study the impact of social media on scholastic achievement among higher secondary students. For this study a sample of 300 higher secondary students from five Govt and Private schools which are situated in and around Udumalpet town of Tirupur district in Tamil Nadu were selected by the investigator using simple random sampling technique. The findings reveal that there is no significant impact of social media on scholastic achievement among selected higher secondary students.