Journal of Learning for Development

EDITORIAL

Santosh Panda — 2026-07-13

Developing and Evaluating an Arcade-Based Educational Game to Improve Needs Analysis Skills in Online Learning Design

Ulfia Rahmi — 2026-07-13

Effective online learning design requires instructional designers to possess strong needs analysis skills to identify student characteristics, contextual constraints, and instructional requirements. However, students in instructional design programmes often struggle to apply needs analysis frameworks in practice. This study developed and evaluated an arcade-based educational game, the Pali-Pali Game, to strengthen students’ needs analysis skills in online learning design. Using developmental research, the study followed three phases: exploration, design and development, and testing and evaluation. The game underwent expert validation, assessed for practicality by lecturers and students, and tested for effectiveness using a pretest-posttest design with undergraduate students. Results showed high validity and practicality ratings. Statistical analysis indicated a significant improvement in students’ needs analysis skills after using the game. These findings suggest that arcade-based educational games can serve as effective technology-enabled learning tools for strengthening instructional design competencies in teacher education.

Emergency Online Accounting Education in a Resource-Constrained South African University: Pedagogical Disruptions, Emotional Costs, and Equity Implications during Covid-19

Shibe Sekgota — 2026-07-13

The Covid‑19 pandemic forced higher education institutions to adopt emergency remote teaching, exposing deep pedagogical, emotional, and equity challenges, particularly in resource‑constrained contexts. This study aimed to examine how emergency online teaching shaped undergraduate accounting education at a historically disadvantaged South African university. A qualitative research design was employed, involving focus group interviews with 12 undergraduate accounting students and semi‑structured interviews with six accounting lecturers, and data were analysed thematically using an inductive approach. The findings reveal uneven preparedness between lecturers and students, significant pedagogical disruption, heightened emotional and psychological stress, reliance on informal mentoring practices, and pronounced equity constraints linked to connectivity, learning spaces, and energy instability. Although adaptive strategies and peer‑support networks mitigated some disruptions, they remained uneven and insufficient. The study recommends the development of context‑responsive technology‑enabled learning models that integrate low‑bandwidth pedagogies, structured mentoring systems, flexible assessment practices, and sustained socio‑emotional support to promote equitable and resilient accounting education during and beyond crisis conditions.

Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Educational Development: Co-Creating a Digital Library for Northeast Syria

Laura Hosman — 2026-07-13

This study explored the collaborative development of an offline digital library for use in Northeast Syria, highlighting the challenges and achievements of a cross-cultural partnership between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and an educational initiative at Arizona State University (ASU) in the US. Employing Participatory Action Research, the project focused on empowering local communities through technology-enhanced education amidst the region’s complex socio-political landscape. This case study detailed adapting educational tools to meet the area’s diverse linguistic and cultural needs, enhancing access to educational resources, and building digital and information literacy. The project's success demonstrates such partnerships' potential to positively influence educational practices, even in conflict-affected areas, providing a model for future initiatives aiming to integrate technology in challenging environments.

Integrating Soft Skills into IT Education for Development: A Study of Universities in Kenya

Anne Njogu Wachira — 2026-07-13

Despite widespread recognition of their importance, soft skills remain poorly integrated into IT undergraduate programmes across Sub-Saharan Africa. This mixed-methods study examined prevalence, barriers, and strategies for soft skills integration across ten Kenyan universities, grounded in Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory and Vygotsky's Constructivist Learning Theory. The findings reveal a stark recognition-provision gap: 87.2% of students consider soft skills essential, yet only 31.4% received formal training and 18.6% reported formal assessment. Five institutional barriers were identified — overloaded curricula, passive pedagogy, absence of assessment frameworks, weak industry-academia linkages, and no mandating policy — with inadequate faculty preparation as a cross-cutting constraint. Mentorship (79.53%) and curriculum integration (79.35%) were the most preferred strategies. No significant differences emerged by institution type or year of study. The study provided the first large-scale mixed-methods evidence base for this gap in Kenyan IT education, with direct implications.

Critical Factors of a Learning Management System to Support Students' Problem-Solving Skills in Physics Learning

Ahmad Abtokhi — 2026-07-13

Identifying the critical factors in developing a physics Learning Management System (LMS) that effectively improves students' problem-solving skills is crucial. Higher education institutions worldwide are striving to enhance their ability to adapt and adjust to emerging models of knowledge, information, and change. This study aims at developing and evaluating an LMS designed specifically for undergraduate physics students. This study employed a Research and Development (R&D) strategy, following the Borg and Gall Model. The tool’s effectiveness and validity were evaluated quantitatively using a descriptive analytic approach, with expert validation scores ranging from 1 to 5. Additionally, its practicality was tested through student questionnaires and Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA). The LMS has undergone validation, achieving an average score of 85.6%. This indicates the need for minor adjustments to further boost its usefulness in enhancing problem-solving skills among undergraduate physics students. The IPA analysis indicated that the majority of indicators were functioning effectively and should be upheld. However, there is room for improvement in terms of suitability, and it appears that durability and user impression may be receiving excessive focus.

Analysis of the Emotional State of Students Based on Cognitive Technologies During an Online Class

Olena Hlazunova — 2026-07-13

This study explored students’ emotional responses to different formats of educational content and the use of cognitive technologies during synchronous online learning. It involved 41 second-year Ukrainian undergraduate students in software engineering and examined their emotional states, attention, and engagement. Three content formats were applied during a live online lecture: (1) presentation, (2) discussion, and (3) demonstration and data were analysed using the MorphCast Emotion AI tool for reading expressions and facial features in real-time. Real-time facial expression and emotion data were collected and analysed using MorphCast Emotion AI. The findings revealed that different content formats elicited distinct emotional responses. Notably, they demonstrated that a practice-oriented task produced the highest average level of positive emotions compared to presentation and discussion, indicating the strong emotional and motivational potential of practice-oriented instructional formats in synchronous online learning.

Creation and Implementation of a Learning and Development Homepage for a Higher Education Institution

Ricarda Micallef — 2026-07-13

The Staff Learning and Development Homepage homepage was launched in January 2024 at Kingston University. Its creation required reviewing current practice and opportunities through investigation and communication with the input of multiple stakeholders and course activity owners. Our PowerApp, a behind-the-scenes tool, was our innovative, and free, solution for managing data. To build the platform and engage colleagues from concept to launch required sharing learned experiences, constantly looking in new directions for solutions, plus creating consistent standards. Initial engagement with the Homepage was positive, with ongoing evaluation planned.

Book Review: Risks and Opportunities in Using Educational Technologies

Masibo Lumala — 2026-07-13

Book Review: Innovative Models and Practices in Teacher Development: Case Studies from the Commonwealth

Waaiza Udhin — 2026-07-13

Evaluating the Multifarious and Complex Nature of Technology-Enhanced Learning in the Developing Context Through the SAMR Model

Ruth Aluko — 2026-07-13

The aim of this study was three-fold: to report the findings from contextualised data collection instruments; to determine how these findings assisted with the preparation of a virtual orientation programme; and to identify the emerging trends from the support that was provided. The adopted exploratory mixed-methods research design was guided by the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition (SAMR) Model. The total sample comprised all 224 school principals from the rural and semi-rural areas in Limpopo Province, South Africa, who were the first cohort in a programme. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, document reviews and a thematic analysis of the interview data. Findings from the survey showed digital inequality among participants and their diverse technological skills levels, among other things. These findings guided the process of determining the type and extent of support needed by the participants. Lastly, emerging trends indicated an improvement in student pass rates. Further research areas, applicable to web-dependent programmes in the developing context, as well as a suggestion for improving the SAMR Model, were identified.

Students’ Perceptions of Blended Learning in Higher Education: A Multidimensional Analysis

Prasenjit Das — 2026-07-13

Blended learning, combining face-to-face and digital instruction, is increasingly being adopted in higher education, warranting systematic examination of students’ perceptions. This cross-sectional quantitative study investigates postgraduate students’ perceptions in a public university in eastern India using the Blended Learning Perception Scale (BLPS), a 21-item instrument across seven dimensions. The scale demonstrated satisfactory reliability (α = .82) and construct validity (KMO = .84; Bartlett’s test significant), supporting its multidimensional structure. Data from 313 postgraduate students indicated moderate perceptions overall, with most respondents clustered in the mid-range. Group comparisons using t-tests and ANOVA showed no statistically meaningful differences across demographic, academic, or access-related variables, suggesting relative consistency across subgroups. Multiple regression indicated that the dimensions jointly explained a substantial proportion of variance in perception (R² ≈ .50), with instructional and teaching-related factors showing comparatively stronger associations than technological aspects. The findings highlight the role of pedagogical design alongside technological features and offer a structured, multidimensional approach to examine blended learning perceptions in higher education.

Secondary School Students' Self-Directed Learning with Technology: Levels, Perceptions, and Influencing Factors

Saban Bon — 2026-07-13

Self-Directed Learning (SDL) with technology plays a significant role in preparing secondary school students to become lifelong learners in today's technological world. Yet, less research has been conducted to investigate this construct among this group of students. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate the levels of secondary school students’ SDL with technology, their perceptions of the roles of technology in their SDL, and the factors influencing it. A survey questionnaire was adopted to collect the data from 238 students, followed by semi-structured interviews with 12 students studying at a public secondary school in Cambodia. The study found that although students had positive perceptions of the role of technology in their SDL, particularly in terms of flexibility in learning, offering various learning resources, and enhancing cross-cultural knowledge, the level of students’ SDL with technology was not very high. The study yielded four main factors influencing this: a reliable internet connection, classroom experience with technology integration, knowledge of educational technology that could enable their SDL, and supporting technological devices. The findings of this study could provide an overall view of factors contributing to the promotion of SDL with technology among Cambodian secondary school students.

Facilitating Conditions and Gender Gaps: Predicting Intention to Adopt Digital Education Resources Among Teachers

Bijaya Shrestha — 2026-07-13

This study examined factors shaping school teachers’ intention to adopt Digital Educational Resources (DER) in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Factors included were performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and behavioural intention. Fifty-six (56) teachers completed an online survey measuring those factors. Among all the factors, facilitating conditions were the marginally significant positive predictor of behavioural intention to adopt DER. Male teachers reported marginally higher behavioural intention (p =.05) to adopt DER compared to female teachers. However, gender was not a significant moderator in relationship between behavioural intention and its predictors. These findings highlight the role of infrastructural support in encouraging teachers to adopt DER and suggest that gender differences in intention may benefit from further exploration to help guide more inclusive approaches.

Exploring English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Instructors’ Digital Agency through Emotional Labour on a Learning Management System in a Post-Secondary Context

Zülal Ayar — 2026-07-13

Teachers' digital agency (DA), defined as their capacity to act purposefully to address challenges in online instruction, has been increasingly linked to the dynamic interplay between personal skills and the digitally mediated environments. Within this context, emotional labour (EL) can be seen as a regulatory process and as a resource through which DA is enacted. Building on this perspective, the present study explores how instructors mobilise EL as part of their agentic responses in online English teaching on a learning management system (LMS). The study draws on data from 30 Turkish instructors affiliated with a state university, collected through an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that negative emotions (NEs) were more prevalent and often associated with their incompetence in exercising EL, which in turn constrained the enactment of DA. These results underscore the role of emotional processes in shaping agentic action and the need for strengthening teachers’ digital and pedagogical capacities. The study concludes by outlining implications for future research directions.

Factors Influencing ICT Skills among Trainee Teachers: A Confirmatory Analysis under the TOEK Framework

Shyamali Mondal — 2026-07-13

Integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education and development of its competencies are crucial for quality learning and sustainable development in this digital age. This quantitative study investigated the factors influencing ICT skills acquisition among trainee teachers, using the TOEK (Technological infrastructure, Organisational support, Environmental influences, and Knowledge development) framework. Data were collected using validated scales from 202 randomly selected trainee teachers, from different institutions in Jharkhand state, India. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were applied to analyse the relationships between latent variables. The results indicated poor model fit, leading to refinement of the measurement items. The revised model demonstrated improved fit (Chi-square, CFI, TLI, and RMSEA) indices. The findings also revealed that all four factors significantly influence ICT skills acquisition, with knowledge development emerging as the strongest predictor. The model explained 79.8% of the variance in ICT skill acquisition, highlighting the need for institutional and pedagogical support to enhance digital competencies among the future teachers.

Emerging Artificial Intelligence in Mathematics Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Siti Suprihatiningsih — 2026-07-13

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution has affected all of education, inluding mathematics education. Studies on AI have described how it can be integrated into mathematics learning. However, a challenge exists concerning the teacher's perspective on involving AI in mathematics teaching. Every mathematics teacher is expected to improve students’ 21st-century skills, which include problem-solving ability, critical thinking, and creativity. These conditions have driven studies to analyse AI usage in mathematics education. This systematic literature review (SLR) analysed 20 articles according to their research design, research paradigm, data collection methods, topics, participants, and AI tools. Furthermore, it applied an advanced literature search approach to identify relevant scientific sources on the application of AI in mathematics education. The framework utilised in this study is the PRISMA systematic review process. Ultimately, several selected articles that were analysed in this study were found to possess various characteristics. Lastly, the study concludes that AI integration in mathematics education has both benefits and weaknesses.