How can we better understand innovations in digital and blended learning technologies, and their implications for teaching, learning practices and pedagogy?

To help answer this question, mediaX sponsored seven research projects that explored emerging digital technologies for learning and teaching. Some projects explored how innovations such as Virtual Reality experiences and math video games can enhance learning. Other projects investigated the influence of digital tools on online educational interactions. These included a real-time social communications tool, as well as a social annotation platform. Projects also examined psychological aspects of digital learning – including how student and teacher attitudes towards mental effort and challenge affect learning outcomes, as well as how racial representations in a digital textbook can impact a students sense of belonging and involvement, as well as their performance. An additional study explored the labor market effects of digital learning, with a focus on the influence of MOOC credentials on the perceived employability of job applicants.

Research Initiative

Paulo Blikstein: Real-Time Social Communications Environments for Online Class Engagement and Peer to Peer Learning

Jo Boaler & Keith Devlin: Developing Written and Game-based Assessment Tools to Measure the Effectiveness of Math Video Games

Bryan Brown: Language, Race & Cognition Using Digital Text

Thomas Dee: The Labor Market Effects of Digital Learning: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Carol Dweck: Developing a Diagnostic of Mindset Promoting Practices

Amir Eschel & Candace Thille: Lacuna Stories

Roy Pea, Fiorenza Micheli & Jeremy Bailenson: Assessing Learning in a Virtual Reality Field Trip