27:T41f,

An innovative educational technology called interactive virtual and physical manipulatives (VPM) is developed to improve students’ spatial skills. With VPM technology, not only can students touch and play with real-world physical manipulatives in their hands but also they can see how the corresponding virtual manipulatives (i.e., computer graphics) simultaneously change in real time. The assessment results show that VPM technology resulted in a 21.3% normalized learning gain in the posttest as compared with the pretest. Gender difference in spatial scores was reduced from 22.9% in the pretest to only 5.5% in the posttest. The t-test results revealed a statistically significant effect (p = .032) of VPM technology on student learning, with Hedges’g effect size of 0.54. The majority of the students surveyed (71.9%) preferred using both VPM, rather than virtual or physical manipulatives alone, because the two types of manipulatives provide two simultaneous channels for learning.

28:T43b,

Despite improved spam filtering technology, phishing continues to be a prevalent threat for college students. The current study found that approximately 4-in-10 of the students surveyed (N = 462) indicate they do not know what phishing is and the threat it poses. Students also report initially overestimating their confidence to successfully recognize phishing attempts, and underestimating their susceptibility to being the victim of an attack. By completing an interactive online phishing quiz, which explained what to look for in both counterfeit and legitimate email messages, students’ self-efficacy to identify phishing attempts increased, as did their perceived susceptibility to phishing attacks, their perceptions of the severity of phishing, their intentions to learn more about the topic, and their intentions to discuss phishing with others. These results indicate that a simple, interactive online phishing quiz could be used as an effective teaching tool to supplement existing educational attempts regarding phishing on college campuses.

29:T47c,

This study compared the direct, indirect, and total effects of information, communication, and technology (ICT) variables on math achievement for second-generation immigrant, first-generation immigrant, and nonimmigrant students. A path model was used to analyze U.S. nationally representative data from the Program for International Student Assessment to examine the effects of ICT access and computer use for schoolwork practice and for programming, with self-efficacy as a mediator. The results indicate that second-generation students with two foreign-born parents demonstrated significantly lower mathematics performance than nonimmigrant students. However, the first-generation students did not show any difference from nonimmigrant students. ICT access had significantly positive effects for all three groups, while computer use for schoolwork practice showed overall negative effects. Importantly, computer use for programming showed a differential effect across the three groups, with positive indirect and total effects for second-generation students but overall negative effects for the first-generation and nonimmigrant students.

2a:T4f3,The <i>Journal of Educational Computing Research (JECR)</i> is a leading peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary scholarly journal dedicated to advancing knowledge and critical understanding of educational computing. Through high-quality research reports and critical analyses, the journal addresses the intersection of educational theory, technological innovation, and practical application. It serves as a platform for fostering dialogue between theorists and practitioners, with the goal of shaping the future of educational computing research and practice. Covering diverse topics such as learning outcomes, innovative hardware and software design, policy implications, and the ethical and global impact of educational computing technologies, the <i>journal</i