This study aims to identify factors to be considered when developing Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-integrated classroom models and to suggest a conceptual framework for considering more appropriate classroom models, tailored to the environments and needs of each developing country. In-depth interviews were conducted with experts, yielding many factors to be taken into account when integrating ICT in various educational contexts of developing countries. The factors are categorized into five domains: current status and relevant policies in ICT education, ODA (Official Development Assistance) goals and priority setting, infrastructure and technical challenges, pedagogical methods, and educational resources. Based on the recommendations elicited for the five categories, we suggest a conceptual framework that provides practical guidance on the criteria for selecting classroom models suited to each partner country’s environments and contexts. This study also draws implications from the interviews for classroom design guidelines related to hardware and infrastructure, to improve the sustainability of ICT-integrated classroom projects.

The purpose of this study was to elicit design guidelines for a teacher tool to support students’ diverse needs by facilitating differentiated instructions (DIs). The study used a framework based on activity theory and principles from universal design for learning. As for the research methods, design-based research methods were adopted, and as the first step, this study selected and interviewed four teachers and five community members. As a result, it identified facilitating and conflicting factors in practicing DI and analyzing the activity system in teaching for DI. From this analysis, specific user requirements were identified as blueprints for the design of new tools as mediating strategies. Furthermore, the findings helped establish five design guidelines for teacher tools to encourage DI practice. This study has implications for a teacher application as a mediating tool, which will facilitate DI practice by developing an understanding of teachers’ needs and the challenges they face in DI activities. It also presents a methodology for eliciting users’ requirements as the first step of design-based research to leads to innovations embodied in specific theoretical claims.

Despite the popular claim that massive open online courses (MOOCs) can democratise educational opportunities, this study suggests that current MOOC platforms are not designed to be accessible and inclusive for learners with disabilities. Our main goals in this study were to identify the needs and barriers that learners with visual impairments face when learning with mobile devices in MOOCs and to make recommendations for designing MOOCs that are more accessible and inclusive. We conducted this study in two phases: a user study (Phase I) and a heuristic walkthrough (Phase II). In Phase I, we conducted a user study with three university students with visual impairments to identify their needs and the barriers to learning that they encounter in mobile MOOC platforms. In Phase II, five evaluators conducted a heuristic walkthrough based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (World Wide Web Consortium, 2008) to examine the degree of accessibility of a MOOC platform. Overall, the results indicate that serious accessibility issues exist in MOOC platforms, preventing learners with visual impairments from fully participating in learning activities. We conclude this paper by recommending ways to design mobile MOOCs to make them more accessible for learners with visual impairments.

The aim of this study is to design and develop a user-centered, smart-tool prototype that could be used to assist teachers to practice differentiated instruction (DI) in their classrooms. This study also demonstrates how user-centered design process for the development of teacher’s tools might be useful to identify system features and to prioritize decisions of the features by making teachers participate in all evaluation processes. For the user-centered design approach, first, conceptually designed personas and scenarios were applied based on user needs and system requirements identified in our previous study. Then, three rounds of iterative evaluations including scenario reviews, claim analysis, and usability testing were conducted by the teachers. Scenario reviews with teachers provided designers with an opportunity to better understand teachers’ tasks related to DI, and claim analysis helped to make priorities on the features that designers cannot decide. This study has implications on issues related to student’s private information on smart-technology for instruction. Another implication of this study is to demonstrate the merits of different evaluation methodologies, applied and demonstrated here, in order for designers to utilize the methods when designing and developing new tools with future technologies in educational contexts. Finally, through three rounds evaluations, it was validated that the use of smart technologies, such as the developed smart-tool in this study, can promote differentiated instruction in action.

Since the first appearance of MOOCs in the higher education context, MOOCs have been integrated and transformed into several learning variations. In particular, by integrating formal traditional courses with informal learning approaches, MOOCs have been expanding the position as a learning platform to provide students with diverse learning experiences delivered through blended learning modalities. This chapter aims to discuss how MOOCs have been integrated into higher education contexts to blend formal, non-formal and informal learning experiences. An integration framework suggested in this chapter is based on two factors, namely credit recognition and online learning that lead to three types of MOOC-integrated learning experiences: Type I—formal MOOC learning, Type II—formal blended MOOC learning, and Type III—non-formal/informal MOOC learning. Based on this framework, we mainly illustrate three integration approaches, namely blended learning, flipped learning, and non-formal/informal learning experiences, with relevant research studies. The chapter concludes with some suggestions for research directions that can inform future research on integrating formal and non-formal/informal learning experiences through MOOCs in higher education.