This study utilised students' online engagement, digital technology attitude, digital literacy, and self-efficacy theories to develop and test a model connecting these factors within a regional university in Australia. A field survey collected data from 110 first-year students. AMOS 28 was employed for measurement and structural model path analysis. The study initially examined the impact of students' attitudes and digital literacy on their self-efficacy. Subsequently, the effects of self-efficacy on five dimensions of online engagement were assessed: social, collaborative, cognitive, behavioural, and emotional. The findings indicated that positive student attitudes and digital literacy significantly contributed to self-efficacy, which, in turn, positively affected the engagement dimensions. This suggests that when designing and facilitating online, blended, or technology-enhanced courses in higher education, educators should pay attention to various elements of engagement. The study highlights the importance of considering students' attitudes and digital literacy in fostering self-efficacy and enhancing online learning engagements. Further research and implications for future studies are also recommended.

In recent times, Australia has recognised and enacted a range of initiatives at service, system and community levels that seek to embed sustainability into the early childhood sector. This paper explores the impact of a professional development (PD) session that provided opportunities for early childhood educators to learn and share ideas about the theory and practice of sustainability generally and early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) specifically. The PD was entitled ‘Living and Learning about Sustainability in the Early Years’ and was offered on three occasions across Tasmania. A total of 99 participants attended the three PD sessions (one 5 hour; two 2 hour). The participants had varying levels of experience and included early childhood teachers, centre based educators and preservice teachers. At the start and end of the PD, participants were invited to complete a questionnaire that contained a series of likert scale questions that explored their content knowledge, level of understanding and confidence in regards to ECEfS. Participants were also asked at the start and end of the PD to ‘list five words you think of when you consider the word sustainability.’ A model of teacher professional growth was used to conceptualise the results related to the changes in knowledge, understanding and confidence (personal domain) as a result of the PD related to ECEfS (external domain). The likert-scale questions on the questionnaire revealed significant positive changes in levels of knowledge, understanding and confidence from the start to the end of the PD. Differences as a function of length of PD, level of experience and role are presented and discussed. The ‘5 words’ question showed that participants widened their understandings of ECEfS from a narrow environmental focus to a broader understanding of the social, political and economic dimensions. The early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector has been characterised as having a pedagogical advantage for EfS suggesting that early childhood educators are well placed to engage with EfS more readily than might educators in other education sectors. This article argues that PD is necessary to develop capability in educators in order to meet the imperatives around sustainability outlined in educational policy and curriculum documents in ECEC

This study compared the problem-solving abilities of ChatGPT and 58 pre-service teachers (PSTs) in solving a mathematical word problem using various strategies. PSTs were asked to solve a problem individually. Data was collected from PSTs’ submitted assignments, and their problem-solving strategies were analyzed. ChatGPT was also given the same problem to solve with various prompts, and the correctness of its solutions and problem-solving strategies were assessed alongside those of PSTs. The results indicated that PSTs used diverse strategies and achieved accurate solutions, but not always relevant strategies to children’s level of understanding. ChatGPT employed similar strategies to PSTs but mostly produced incorrect solutions, and its performance needed to be contextualized in the primary school context. The study highlights the potential of ChatGPT in mathematics teaching and informs teacher education programs about the possibility of using it in teaching problem-solving strategies.

Ensuring quality education for all students requires teachers to possess knowledge and skills in utilising digital technologies effectively for teaching and learning. This study explored how pre-service teachers (PSTs) perceive their digital attitude, efficacy, literacy, engagement, and understanding of digital technologies in an online learning environment. The study employed a mixed-methods research approach. A survey comprising Likert Scale questions and demographic information was administered to 110 PSTs from a regional university. Descriptive statistics were employed to investigate the relationship between PSTs’ understanding of digital technologies and their attitude, literacy, self-efficacy, and learning engagement in online learning. To illustrate the frequently used words in participants’ definitions of digital technologies, a ‘word cloud’ representation was utilised, accompanied by quantitative weightings of key terms. The study revealed significant connections between PST self-efficacy and their attitudes toward digital technologies, digital literacies, and learner engagement. Notably, most of the PSTs exhibited narrower definitions of digital technologies than anticipated. The implications of these findings for course design are discussed, emphasising the need to address PSTs’ perceptions of digital technologies, foster their self-efficacy, and enhance their digital literacy and engagement in online learning environments. Understanding these factors can lead to more effective integration of digital technologies in teacher education program courses, ultimately preparing future teachers for digital-age classrooms.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) practices with young children from birth to eight years is an emerging area in academic and professional literature. ECEfS practices reflect growing awareness of the imperative for twenty-first century societies to respond to the pressures of unsustainable patterns of living. This article contributes to the growing area of ECEfS research by exploring sustainability conceptualisations and practice initiatives as reported by early childhood teachers, educators, pre-service educators and parents in Tasmania. We do this by analysing data collected from participants who attended ECEfS professional learning workshops, entitled Living and learning about sustainability in the early years. Findings show that environmental (nature/natural) aspects of sustainability dominate these adults' practice initiatives and understandings. While many of the reported educational initiatives are to be celebrated, the authors contend that there is much work to be done to extend thinking and practice beyond the natural/environmental dimension in order to embrace holistic notions of sustainability incorporating social, economic and political dimensions.