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ISSN 2693-9193

Welcome!

HETS Chair Message

Chair of the Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS) Consortium, I am pleased to announce the publication of the 2026 Spring Issue Volume XVI of our peer-reviewed HETS Online Journal (HOJ). We invite you to access the publication on the editorial platform available from the HETS website (hets.org/ejournal/), and its dedicated editorial platform at HETS Online Journal.

This issue showcases eight new articles, seven in English and one in Spanish, consistently focusing on innovative research, scientific papers, and best practices in topics related to higher education with a globalized perspective. HETS invites you to enjoy the articles on this Issue and share the Journal with colleagues, academics, students, and administrators involved with higher education.

Among the topics, you can find articles discussing: Impact of co-curricular activities during coding bootcamps in two undergraduate introductory programming courses; Beyond the “How To”: A Dual-Framework Model to Drive Strategic LMS Adoption and Empower Student Success; Ethical Integration of Generative AI in Higher Education; From Labs to Laptops: Understanding Online Science Learners; Empowering Students for a Cyber‑Safe Future.

This Journal, created in 2010, provides high-quality research articles in English and Spanish, covering online teaching, learning, and training topics for the academic community around the world. HETS encourages all those interested in publishing their articles to take advantage of this opportunity to share their knowledge. The deadline for submission of articles for our next Fall Issue Volume XVII is September 28, 2026.

Finally, we truly appreciate our Editorial Board for their collaboration and support to our Journal. We invite you to join HETS collaborators as reviewers. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to info@hets.org.

We hope you enjoy this Spring Issue!

Best regards,
Gladys Nieves, P.E.
HETS Chair
President, EDP University

You will now be redirected to the new dedicated platform at the HETS Online Journal.

Editor’s Message

Welcome to the Spring edition of the HETS Online Journal!

The end of an academic year is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of our students, as well as the achievements of our faculty and staff. Of course, as soon as one-year ends, institutions look ahead to the next year… and most of you started preparing for the upcoming year some time ago. While some things continue as usual, our current environment is one of frequent and rapid change… perhaps more so than ever before. Changes driven by technology are especially commonplace, and HETS, with its mission of using technology to facilitate student success, is well-positioned to help institutions navigate this ever-changing environment. Institutions continue to face complex challenges regarding the use of technology in academic endeavors. This issue of the Online Journal addresses several of those current issues in higher education.

The issue begins with an article entitled, “Impact of Co-Curricular Activities during Coding Bootcamps in Two Undergraduate Introductory Programming Courses,” where the author shares the results of a research project designed to strengthen students’ learning experiences in two introductory programming courses. The project began in April 2024, with two levels of the Coding Bootcamp implemented during the academic year 2024–2025. Eight student mentors were utilized to mentor their peers in the development of technical and professional skills.

The next article, “Beyond the ‘How To’: A Dual-Framework Model to Drive Strategic LMS Adoption and Empower Student Success,” documents the adoption and use of a Learning Management System by mathematics faculty at a community college using the combined perspectives of Everett Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory and Arthur Chickering’s Seven Principles of Good Practice. The study examined faculty perceptions, usage patterns, and how Rogers’s five attributes: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability, help explain adoption. Chickering’s principles were used to highlight the pedagogical motivations, including prompt feedback, student–faculty interaction, and active learning, that make technology instructionally meaningful.

“Ethical Integration of Generative AI in Higher Education” examines the ethical integration of generative AI in online higher education and explores how assessment practices must evolve to remain pedagogically relevant and ethically grounded. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship on artificial intelligence, ethics, and higher education, the article analyzes emerging tensions between traditional assessment models and AI-supported learning environments. It examines ethical principles such as transparency, accountability, autonomy, and fairness that should guide the integration of AI technologies in educational contexts.

In “From Labs to Laptops: Understanding Online Science Learners,” the author shares how an institution examined the characteristics of online science learners based on two online organic chemistry laboratory courses that incorporated commercially available at-home laboratory kits. The study highlights the key traits observed among successful students, including self-discipline, technological adaptability, curiosity, and engagement with hands-on learning.

“Empowering Students for a Cyber-Safe Future,” evaluates the effectiveness of a short-term cybersecurity awareness intervention delivered through a series of virtual workshops. The workshops aimed to improve participants’ cybersecurity knowledge, confidence in identifying cyber threats, and increased intention to adopt safer digital practices.

The author of “AI-Augmented Pedagogy in Higher Education: An Ethical and Equitable Framework for the Governance and Operational Integration of AI in Teaching and Learning,” introduces an AI-Augmented Pedagogy (AAP) framework, developed through a Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Design grounded in a systematic synthesis of 312 peer-reviewed empirical studies, 68 institutional policy documents, and 26 grey literature sources. The framework is theoretically principled and empirically informed; its direct causal claims require prospective validation.

“Uncovering the Impact of Integrating Virtual Labs into General Chemistry Wet-Lab Sequence on Student’s Scientific Skills,’ evaluates the authors’ experience with integrating virtual laboratory simulations into an in-person General Chemistry laboratory course to determine if student learning outcomes are enhanced. Two course sections implemented the same virtual laboratory simulations, while a control group section followed the standard wet-lab sequence without virtual laboratory integration. Student learning outcomes were assessed using quiz-based evaluations and cumulative final exam questions across several core laboratory topics, including percent error calculations, stoichiometry, titration, gas laws, and spectrometry.

Finally, our sole Spanish language article in this edition, “El modelo de enseñanza de aprendizaje basado en el trabajo (WBL) y su impacto en las competencias de empleabilidad de estudiantes egresados del currículo de educación ocupacional y técnica del DEPR,” examines the impact of the Work-Based Learning (WBL) teaching model on the employability competencies of graduates from an occupational school over a multi-year period. The study indicated a need for occupational curriculum reform to better align with labor market demands.

As you can see, this issue addresses many of the current hot issues in higher education. We hope that our authors’ experiences will help you and your institution to impact student success!