Abstract
As digital information tool boxes continue to increase in numbers and capability, higher education faculty and support staff need to improve the design of their instructional programs. Both the positive and negative impacts of the new learning tools need to be addressed. At the 2017 CIT conference of the faculty and support staff of the campuses of the State University of New York, Educational Technology researchers presented papers that focused on how to make more optimum use of the nascent digital technologies. In this issue of JETS, we feature six of the best papers from the CIT conference.
The first three papers report on how new software tools can be used to improve existing valued instructional approaches such as:
Collaborative learning Development of decision making skills The shift to learner-centered instructional environments
The next two papers discuss both the positive and negative impacts of Virtual Reality applications in educational programs. One of these papers discusses the use of Virtual Reality in a teacher preparation program for future science educators.
The final paper reports on a research study that addressed the problem of digital distraction of nonacademic use of digital devices in the classroom. All the papers also address how blended learning systems can provide the best of both worlds: combination of F2F class room learning and online instruction.
Co-Editor