This special edition of the Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook Series bears a title of “Learning Environment and Design: Current and Future Impact”. It provides a timely forum to share theoretical and practical insights in both the local and international contexts in response to the fact that new media and technologies have infiltrated and shaped the learning environments from mere physical spaces into multifaceted possibilities, impacting the ways individuals teach and learn. Designs of learning environments to harness technologies appropriately to engage learners better, as well as the roles of learners and educators play in this changing learning environment, are examples of important global issues in the discourse of the contemporary educational developments. Having gathered a diverse collection of research papers written by scholars and practitioners in the fields of education, communication and humanities across Asia, Australasia, Europe and the United States, this book gives readers a cross-cultural background on the developments of technological designs and educational practices, investigating areas in redefining of quality education; online learning and blended learning; new media in education; gamification, AI, and innovative learning technologies. Aimed to catalyze knowledge exchanges and provide fresh views on interdisciplinary research, the book sheds light on how emerging technologies can be adapted in the fields of education and communication, so as to facilitate the current and future designs of learning environments to improve learners’ performances.
Will W. K. Ma received his Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong. He is currently the Head of the Learning Commons, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi). Dr. Ma’s research focuses on the use of information systems for communication, knowledge sharing and knowledge creation. He was awarded the Publons Peer Review Awards 2017 to the top 1% of the world's Social Sciences reviewers. He is the President of the HKAECT and has served as co-Editor of the Journal of Communication and Education.
Kar-wai Tong has had multi-disciplinary exposure to education, health care and law. He holds a degree of Doctor of Juridical Science. He is a non-practicing lawyer (New Zealand and New South Wales), an accredited general mediator (Hong Kong) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK). He is also a book Co-Editor as well as an Editor cum Reviewer of international journals. He has been teaching at universities on a part-time basis for years. His research interests cover a range of diverse areas, e.g. legal issues in the contexts of education and health care, health care and social policies, human rights, Confucianism and happiness. He served as an Executive Committee Member of the HKAECT from 2016 to 2019.
Wing Bo Anna Tso obtained her Ph.D. from The University of Birmingham, UK. With over 10 years of teaching experience in various universities in Hong Kong, she is keen on carrying out language and literature research. She is the Vice President of the HKAECT, the award-winning editor of Digital Humanities and New Ways of Teaching (Springer, 2019), and the Associate Editor of the Digital Culture and Humanities book series.
