Immersive learning technologies such as virtual reality have long been deemed as the next generation of digital learning environments. There is a limited number of studies addressing how immersive technologies can be designed, applied, and studied in collaborative learning settings. This paper presents a systematic review of empirical studies reporting on use of immersive virtual reality in collaborative learning within educational and professional learning settings. 11 studies have been grouped and coded in a textual narrative synthesis, outlining the pedagogical concepts behind the learning design, as well as the design of virtual reality environments and the collaborative learning activities in which the technology is employed. The results suggest that collaborative learning in virtual reality can currently be conceptualised as a shared experience in an immersive, virtually mediated space, where there is a shared goal/problem which learners must attend to collaboratively. This conceptualisation implies a need to design technologies, environments, and activities that support participation and social interaction, fostering collaborative learning processes. Based on the outlined conceptualisation, we present a series of recommendations for designing for collaborative learning in immersive virtual reality. The paper concludes that collaborative learning in virtual reality creates a practice- and reflection space, where learning is perceived as engaging, without the risk of interfering with actual practices. Current designs however struggle with usability, realism, and facilitating social interaction. The paper further identifies a need for future research into what happens within virtual reality, rather than only looking at post-virtual reality evaluations.

Emerging discussions highlight the role of chatbots in education, which centres around fundamental perspectives concerning technology as either beneficial or an unnecessary disruption to the learning and assessment processes. However, it is crucial to recognise that no technology can be deemed value-neutral, and technological euphoria often blinds us to the unintended consequences of its use. Hence, there is a need for a practical understanding informed by value-based perspectives to comprehend how the encoded experiences created by ChatGPT transform the teaching of students. This article makes a significant contribution to the field of educational research, as only limited attention has been given to higher education students’ reflections on the pedagogical use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for learning and assessment. The article discusses, through empirical findings, the constructive alignment between learning objectives and assessment when employing AI chatbots. The data collection process revolves around students’ reflective experiences while utilising the potential of ChatGPT, which are subsequently analysed through focused group interviews. The paper, informed by these observational data, presents a conceptual framework for teachers to employ and assess ChatGPT as a means to scaffold learning among students.

The transition from nursing education to professional practice is a critical period for newly graduated nurses, marked by significant moral challenges that can lead to moral distress and impact the development and application of clinical judgment. Understanding how moral distress affects newly graduated nurses is vital to support their integration into professional roles and ensure the delivery of quality care. Newly graduated nurses may experience moral distress due to conflicts between professional values and institutional constraints, which impact their ability to exercise effective clinical judgment. The purpose of this qualitative meta-ethnographic review is to investigate the phenomenon of moral distress among newly graduated nurses and its implications for clinical judgment. The research question is: How do newly graduated nurses experience moral distress, and how does it affect their clinical judgment? Methodologically, the study is grounded in Ricoeur’s three-fold mimesis, which offers a rich interpretative framework for exploring the complexities of moral distress in nursing practice. Guided by the seven steps of meta-ethnography, the analysis reveals significant variations in the conceptualization and experiences of moral distress, thus highlighting inadequacies in existing definitions. The findings from 12 qualitative studies were synthesized into an integrative model of moral challenges. This integrative model presents moral distress as a multifaceted phenomenon that intersects with clinical judgment. The integrative model of moral challenges demonstrates how institutional constraints, moral uncertainty, moral conflict and lack of moral attention can hinder newly graduated nurses' ability to exercise effective clinical judgment and deliver quality care. The integrative model of moral challenges is a crucial contribution to research on moral distress. The review reveals limited research on the way moral distress affects the clinical judgment of newly graduated nurses and highlights the importance of promoting reflective practice and moral deliberation among newly graduated nurses to strengthen their clinical judgment and professional development.

This article contributes new knowledge on collaboration within and between Change Laboratory sessions and how it offers the potential to support the zone of proximal development and the expansive learning of participants. The Change Laboratory is a formative intervention method that helps participants transform their practices. This qualitative study examines how six educators participating in a Change Laboratory intervention dealt with problems that arise when implementing digital artifacts in teaching mathematics. We collected data through participant observation between sessions and video recordings during sessions. We conducted the data analysis abductively, using the seven expansive learning actions as an analytical framework. The findings highlight how collaboration between the researcher and the participants, both during and between Change Laboratory sessions, helped support the participants’ zone of proximal development and expansive learning. This close collaboration enabled the educators to collectively reflect on and transform their teaching practices, specifically by incorporating digital artifacts into their educational routines. The study provides important insights into how digital artifacts can be successfully implemented in practice using Change Laboratories, emphasizing the importance of supporting educators in their zone of proximal development. Using a theoretical perspective grounded in cultural-historical activity theory, the study contributes to understanding how change occurs in the educational field.

Although play naturally embeds computational thinking (CT) and mathematical learning in early childhood education, designing developmentally appropriate learning activities that purposefully nurture and extend these competencies remains a challenge. This study investigates how young children engage with foundational mathematical and computational concepts through analog (DUPLO^®) and digital (Blue-Bot) tools in a play-responsive early childhood education workshop setting. The study adopts a qualitative workshop format aimed at promoting playful exploration and active experimentation, involving eleven 4–5-year-old children and their two teachers. Based on a sociocultural perspective, the findings highlight that mathematics is a human activity embedded in everyday playful practices. In particular, unplugged analog activities, embedded within an open-ended narrative framework, guided and structured the process. Based on these findings, we suggest “computational play” as a framework for developmentally appropriate integration of computational thinking (CT) and mathematics. This framework offers implications for educators seeking to support early CT and mathematical learning in playful, exploratory early childhood education (ECE) environments.