Scaffolding through prompts in digital learning

New top publication on digital learning in the journal 'Educational Research Review'

Digital learning environments such as LMS, AR or VR are seen as promising - but their development is resource intensive. This raises the question of which digital learning tools are really worthwhile.

A recent analysis by Prof. Dr. Viola Deutscher and Herbert Thomann from the Chair of Business Education and Digital Vocational Learning shows that scaffolding through digital prompts significantly increases learning success (Ø effect size d = .394). Personalised prompts, such as those based on rule-based AI, are particularly effective - their effect is almost twice as high. Text-based prompts perform surprisingly better than expensive multimedia variants. At the same time, there is a publication bias in previous studies, and effectiveness is context dependent - depending on the target group, subject and region.

The results underline this: Not every innovation pays off. What counts is a didactically sound design rather than a variety of functions. The study therefore provides important information for the design of effective digital learning opportunities in vocational training and higher education. It was recently published in the prestigious journal Educational Research Review (IF 9.6).

You can read the study here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X25000235