At present, emerging technologies, such as machine learning, deep learning, or various forms of artificial intelligence are penetrating different fields of education, including foreign language education (FLE). Moreover, the current young generation was born into the technological environment, and they perceive technologies as being an indispensable part of their everyday life. However, they mainly use technologies in their informal learning, but there is not much research into emerging technologies in FLE, namely in teaching and learning English as an applied language. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is to identify, bring together, compare and analyze all of the technologies that are currently efficiently employed in foreign language teaching and learning, and based on the findings of the detected experimental studies, we provide specific pedagogical implications on how to use these technologies in the acquisition of English as an applied language at the university level. The methodology followed the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The results of the detected experimental studies revealed that there was a serious lack of the latest technologies, such as chatbots or virtual reality (VR) devices, that are being empirically employed in a foreign language (FL) education. Moreover, mobile apps are merely focused on the development of FL vocabulary. The findings also indicate that although the FL teachers might theoretically know about these latest technological devices, such as neural machine translation, they do not know how to practically implement them in their teaching process. Therefore, this research suggests that teachers must be trained and pedagogically guided on how to purposefully implement them in their FL classes to support traditional instruction in order to identify what skills or language structures could be developed through their use. In addition, it is also claimed that more experimental studies are needed to clearly the evidence and its usefulness in teaching a foreign language as an applied language.

The article provides an overview of academic contributions to blockchain technology over the past three years. A large number of practical implementations are proving the versatility of blockchain across industries. Some of these areas are easy to deduce, but for some, the benefits of using blockchain technology may not be obvious. Real applications of blockchain can be found in sectors such as cyber security and the financial sector, but also in various categories of the public sector, healthcare, and industry. This paper focuses on the use of blockchain technology in the energy industry. The paper aims to present the current trends of blockchain in the energy sector and provide a summary of blockchain technology discussed in academia. The research questions are formulated to correspond to the basic goals of the energy sector today. The core of the paper forms a systematic review based on the PRISMA guidelines. The output of this systematic review brings an up-to-day insight into the issue and introduces potential areas for further research.

The study deals with sustainability of social software applications in a university setting focusing primarily on the YouTube platform. The aim of this paper is to identify the potential of YouTube media in serving as a supportive educational tool. To meet the objective, researchers carried out an exploratory study based on mixed quantitative–qualitative methods. A mental knowledge model was designed as a starting point where crucial aspects of gaining knowledge were visualized. Sustainability of social media was analyzed in three defined sections encompassing three areas reflecting the needs of the educational process: social media as a tool of communication, repository of study materials and a tool for testing. The affective learning domain was highlighted in the study; one of the key explored categories was the category of satisfaction as a students’ motivation mover. Based on the findings, YouTube as an absolute winner was consequently analyzed in detail, focusing on three areas: satisfaction, kinds of activities on this platform and spent time. The discussion raises questions on pitfalls of social media utilization; this chapter also brings the latest experience from the time hit by coronavirus and related quarantine which showed incontestable benefits of social media in education and proved their irreplaceable role.

The paper discusses the deployment of cognitive and affective components for teaching languages in a blended learning university setting. A modified expectancy model of motivation was designed and applied. The usability testing of a language education website was used as a framework with affective and cognitive features. The selection of the education website was based on findings gained from the language needs analysis. The level of students’ language competence representing the cognitive component was diagnosed based on their results in the placement tests in the DIALANG language website. Many students showed progress in language knowledge by the end of the semester. Results were higher than students had expected and enough to encourage further research. The affective part is discussed in the modified expectancy model of motivation that was designed and applied. The psychodidactic approach used in the research met students’ motivational and emotional needs without sacrificing their improved competence in language development.