The present paper presents a systematic review of the last 30 years that concerns records on Smart Toys and focuses on toys regarding early childhood and primary education children (3–12 years old). This paper aims to analyse and categorise smart toys (50 articles) in terms of their technological and educational affordances. The results show that the toys are designed based on four main technological affordances and their combinations. The educational affordances of smart toys are studied in terms of different use modes and their learning objectives aimed to identify specific objectives in different subjects and objectives based on transversal competencies such as problem solving, spatial thinking, computational thinking, collaboration and symbolic thinking. Finally, with the multiple correspondence analysis, the correlations between smart toys’ individual technological and educational affordances are grouped with the evolution of affordances related to their development date. In conclusion, in recent years, smart toys concern special sciences (programming) and some 21st-century skills (STEM and computational thinking). In contrast, in the first 20 years, the interest focused more on transverse skills, such as collaboration, emotional thinking, symbolic thinking, story-telling and problem solving.

An emerging area of research is the study of factors that influence the use of e-learning systems in higher education. Previous studies have mainly focused on the factors that influence the adoption of learning management systems (LMS) from the student’s point of view, and rarely from the point of view of the university lecturers. Moodle is an open-source LMS that has been used increasingly by the higher education community worldwide in the past few years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that explain the acceptance of Moodle by academic personnel (faculty members) in the Greek higher education system. The convenience sample consists of 85 lecturers from different universities in Greece. All of them reported having used Moodle. Using the technology acceptance model, the correlations between the six latent variables (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, behavioral intention to use, perceived self-efficacy, subjective norms, and technology complexity) were examined. Five of the eight hypotheses were supported by variance base structural equation modelling. The total explained variance of the faculty members’ behavioral intention to use Moodle was estimated to be 68.3%. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use had a high overall effect. Subjective norms, self-efficacy, and technological complexity influenced the teachers’ intentions to adopt Moodle. This study recommends training as well as technical support for academic personnel. In addition, stakeholders should address these factors to increase usability, awareness of new opportunities for the educational community, accessibility, and the general dissemination of the benefits of learning management systems in education.

The rapid developments in early 2020 with the emergence of COVID-19 have led humanity into unexpected situations with significant implications at all levels. In trying to cope with the urgent need for distance education, the Greek educational community has incorporated various platforms and digital tools previously unknown to most teachers and students. This study uses a mixed research method to capture (a) the frequency of use of a Personal Learning Environment called ‘e-me’ by the teachers before, during, and after the quarantine, and (b) the reasons why some teachers did not use this environment during these three periods. A total of 902 Greek teachers from primary and secondary education participated in this research. The results showed an almost universal non-use of ‘e-me’ before the pandemic and universal usage during the pandemic. Moreover, about 40% of these teachers used this personal learning environment after the pandemic. The main reason for not using this learning environment in the three periods is teachers’ familiarity with the interface of another platform. Implications for educational policy and teacher development programs are discussed.

A principal factor of the fourth Industrial Revolution is the Internet of Things (IoT), a network of “smart” objects that communicate by exchanging helpful information about themselves and their environment. Our research aims to address the gaps in the existing literature regarding the educational and technological affordances of IoT applications in learning environments in secondary education. Our systematic review using the PRISMA method allowed us to extract 25 empirical studies from the last 10 years. We present the categorization of educational and technological affordances, as well as the devices used in these environments. Moreover, our findings indicate widespread adoption of organized educational activities and design-based learning, often incorporating tangible interfaces, smart objects, and IoT applications, which enhance student engagement and interaction. Additionally, we identify the impact of IoT-based learning on knowledge building, autonomous learning, student attitude, and motivation. The results suggest that the IoT can facilitate personalized and experiential learning, fostering a more immersive and adaptive educational experience. Based on these findings, we discuss key recommendations for educators, policymakers, and researchers, while also addressing this study’s limitations and potential directions for future research.