On enhancing students’ cognitive abilities in online learning using brain activity and eye movements

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted education institutions in over 150 nations, affecting billions of students. Many governments have forced a transition in higher education from in-person to remote learning. After this abrupt, worldwide transition away from the classroom, some question whether online education will continue to grow in acceptance in post-pandemic times. However, new technology, such as the brain-computer interface and eye-tracking, have the potential to improve the remote learning environment, which currently faces several obstacles and deficiencies. Cognitive brain computer interfaces can help us develop a better understanding of brain functions, allowing for the development of more effective learning methodologies and the enhancement of brain-based skills. We carried out a systematic literature review of research on the use of brain computer interfaces and eye-tracking to measure students’ cognitive skills during online learning. We found that, because many experimental tasks depend on recorded rather than real-time video, students don’t have direct and real-time interaction with their teacher. Further, we found no evidence in any of the reviewed papers for brain-to-brain synchronization during remote learning. This points to a potentially fruitful future application of brain computer interfaces in education, investigating whether the brains of student-teacher pairs who interact with the same course content have increasingly similar brain patterns.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4363-4397
Number of pages35
JournalEducation and Information Technologies
Volume28
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2023

Keywords

  • Attention
  • Electroencephalogram
  • Eye-tracking
  • Online learning
  • Student-teacher interaction
  • Systematic literature review

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Library and Information Sciences

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'On enhancing students’ cognitive abilities in online learning using brain activity and eye movements'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this