A review of research on bridging the gap between formal and informal learning with technology in primary school contexts

Abstract

This study reviews empirical research articles published in the field of technology‐enhanced learning in the out‐of‐class contexts in primary schools between the years 2007 and 2016 and explores how the body of research has connected formal and informal learning experiences, referred to in the paper as bridging the gap. The review focuses on 43 selected experiments from 41 research papers, which are in detail examined and classified using the 3 criteria: (a) the Bloom's taxonomy for learning, (b) the intentionality to physical settings classification used to differentiate types of learning in various environments, and (c) the characteristics of seamless learning design. The findings confirm that technology can enhance learning in and out of classroom, especially by impacting student interest, motivation, and engagement. The close examination of the subset of studies with cognitive gains shows that they successfully bridged the gap between learning spaces and that such bridging positively correlates with the number of steps in the learning activity design. The successful bridging of the gap between learning spaces could further benefit from including more online social learning activities into the designed learning process and from involving teachers as cocreators of the learning process and resources.

Seamless Learning: A Scoping Systematic Review Study

“…According to Table 3, as the most popular data collection tools, interview (19,6 %), academic achievement (17,5 %), questionnaire (15,4 %) and document analysis (11,3 %) were the most frequent ones used in these studies. The fact that interview, academic achievement tests and questionnaire were the most common data collection tools is also supported by other research results in related literature (Cheung and Hew, 2009;Hwang and Tsai, 2011;Jagušt et al, 2018).…”

“…In this study, the most common ones were Conceptual/Descriptive methods. On the other hand, in some other studies, quantitative methods (Hung and Zhang, 2012;Wu et al, 2012;Jagušt et al, 2018) were more common, and still in some other studies, the qualitative methods (Cheung and Hew, 2009) were favoured more. Similar to the related finding obtained in the present study, in two review studies carried out by Sad et al (2016) and Wong and Looi (2011) Conceptual/Descriptive methods were used more.…”

“…In addition, the researchers reported that surveys and experimental methods were the most frequent research methods and that mobile learning had positive influence on students" achievement. Jagušt et al (2018) examined a total of 43 experimental studies carried out on technology use out of school at k12 level. They found that of all these 43 studies, 33 of them examined the variables of attitude, motivation and engagement and that in 25 studies, quasi-experiments with pre-tests and post-tests were used.…”

The generation of student engagement as a cognition-affect-behaviour process in a Twitter learning experience

“…This is surprising, since Twitter is a microblogging-based social network that allows users to express themselves by posting a maximum of 280 characters per tweet, as well as to share a picture, a video or a link to a website, or to retweet or comment on other users' tweets (Murthy, 2013). Twitter is a pedagogical tool that facilitates active participation and enables collaborative behaviour, permitting students to be connected with teachers, amplifying class materials, and bridging the gap between formal and informal learning environments by enhancing student engagement beyond the classroom (Barn, 2016;Holland, 2019;Jagušt, Botički, & So, 2018;Pérez-San Agustín, Muñoz-Merino, Alario-Hoyos, Soldani, & Delgado-Kloos, 2015).…”

A Preliminary Study of the Influence of Game Types on the Learning Interests of Primary School Students in Digital Games

“…The use of technology to assist teaching can enhance learning, both inside and outside the classroom; technology usage can increase students' interest, motivation, and participation, and can bridge the gap between learning spaces [3]. Blended learning, which combines traditional face-to-face lessons and teaching technology, gives learners the flexibility to learn based on their time and learning speed, however there are some challenges associated with this method [4].…”