Tracking learning experiences with xAPI

Along with the digitalizing society, the education sector is undergoing changes. Especially in recent years, many educational institutions have - either on their initiative or out of necessity - adopted e-learning as an integral part of their learning process. This has been reflected in the development of learning environments from formal and static to more versatile and varied structures, where learners can develop their competencies flexibly regardless of time and location. The changes have provided opportunities to track and collect increasing amounts of learning-related data to understand learning and learners more comprehensively. This process however requires certain flexibility and interoperability between systems and applications, for diverse e-learning contents to be tracked, stored, and reported effectively. However, many of the current e-learning standards are relatively rigid and ineffective in providing capabilities for online/offline recording of learning experiences outside of LMS systems, as well as considering more versatile learning activities such as watching videos, playing mobile games, and informal learning tasks. The study discussed the capabilities of xAPI technology to encompass the development objectives and expectations for e-learning at the national level. The objective of the study was to clarify how the unique functionalities of xAPI can respond to the needs of the developing e-learning industry and what issues should be considered in the development of xAPI for it to become a nationally significant framework for tracking and monitoring learning events. Initially, a literature review was conducted, to search for information about e-learning, xAPI, and related key concepts in the research context. The features of xAPI were furthermore compared to other nationally significant e-learning standards and specifications to develop a comprehensive understanding of the research topic. On the basis of the literature review, a general understanding of the xAPI specification and its key features was created. These observations were compared to national expectations for the future of e-learning and analytics using empirics. Empirical data was collected through thematic interviews. The material was analyzed and combined with the results obtained from the literature. The empirical material was utilized to develop an understanding of the xAPI’s correspondence to the national e-learning expectations but also to test the suitability of xAPI for the digital service platform being developed in the target organization. The study discovered that xAPI is an e-learning-related technical programming specification that can enable different learning experiences and learning monitoring systems to communicate with each other effectively. Different learning activities such as watching a video, reading online material, or playing mobile games can be tracked and recorded with xAPI in a common database called LRS for further processing. xAPI provides communities and organizations an opportunity to analyze learning profoundly - not only based on scores and results - and therefore can deliver valuable information about the development of competencies to form a better overall picture of the entire learning experience. Compared to many other e-learning standards and specifications, xAPI provides a flexible and globally developing specification that has clear potential to evolve into a nationally significant e-learning standard and therefore provide the education sector with opportunities to better comprehend future learning needs.Digitalisoituvan yhteiskunnan myötä myös koulutussektori on jatkuvien muutosten alla. Erityisesti viime vuosien aikana valtava määrä oppilaitoksia on – joko omasta aloitteesta tai pakon edessä – adaptoinut e-oppimisen kiinteäksi osaksi opetusta, mikä on näkynyt oppimisympäristöjen kehityksenä muodollisista ja staattisista ympäristöistä monipuolisempiin ja vaihtelevimpiin rakenteisiin, joissa opiskelijoilla on mahdollisuus kehittää omaa tietotaitoaan ajasta ja paikasta joustavin menetelmin. Analytiikan näkökulmasta tämä on avannut mahdollisuuksia kerätä yhä enemmän oppimiseen ja opiskelijoihin liittyvää dataa ja sitä kautta ymmärtää oppimista syvällisemmin. Tämä vaatii kuitenkin tiettyä joustavuutta ja yhteentoimivuutta järjestelmien ja sovellusten välillä, jotta erilaisia e-oppimisen sisältöjä voidaan seurata, tallettaa ja raportoida tehokkaasti. Monet nykyisistä e-oppimisstandardeista ovat kuitenkin verrattain jäykkiä ja tehottomia tarjoamaan mahdollisuuksia oppimistapahtumien online/offline seurantaan ja tallentamiseen LMS järjestelmien ulkopuolella sekä huomioimaan verrattain yksinkertaisten asioiden kuten suoritusten ja tulosten seurannan ohella myös monipuolisemmat oppimistehtävät kuten videoiden katsomisen, mobiilipelien pelaamisen ja erilaiset epämuodolliset oppimistapahtumat. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin, miten xAPI-teknologia kykenee vastaamaan e-oppimiseen kohdistuviin kehitystavoitteisiin ja odotuksiin kansallisella tasolla. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää kuinka xAPI:n ominaisuudet vastaavat digitalisaation myötä kehittyvän e-oppimisekosysteemin tarpeita ja mitä asioita on huomioitava xAPI:n kehityksessä, jotta siitä voisi muodostua kansallisesti merkittävä oppimistapahtumien seuranta- ja välitystyökalu. Tutkimuksen aluksi suoritettiin kirjallisuuskatsaus, jossa etsittiin tietoa e-oppimisesta, xAPI:sta ja näihin liittyvistä keskeisistä käsitteistä tutkimuskontekstissa. xAPI:n ominaisuuksia verrattiin myös muihin kansallisesti merkittäviin e-oppimisstandardeihin ja -spesifikaatioihin tutkimusaiheen kokonaisvaltaisen ymmärryksen kehittämiseksi. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen pohjalta luotiin yleiskäsitys xAPI spesifikaatiosta ja sen keskeisimmistä ominaisuuksista muihin kansallisesti merkittäviin e-oppimisen standardeihin peilaten. Näitä havaintoja verrattiin kansallisiin e-oppimisen ja analytiikkatiedon tulevaisuuden odotuksiin empirian avulla. Empiirinen aineisto kerättiin teemahaastatteluilla. Aineisto analysoitiin ja yhdistettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksen tuloksiin. Empiirisen aineiston avulla ymmärrystä sekä xAPI:n vastaavuudesta e-oppimisen odotuksiin, että sopivuudesta kohdeorganisaatiossa kehitettävän digitaalisen palvelualustan tarpeisiin kehitettiin lopulliseen muotoonsa. Tutkimuksessa saatiin selville, että xAPI on e-oppimiseen liittyvä ohjelmointirajapinta, jonka välityksellä erilaiset oppimiskokemukset ja oppimisenseurantajärjestelmät voivat keskustella keskenään tehokkaasti. Erilaiset oppimiskokemukset kuten videon katsominen, verkkomateriaalin lukeminen tai mobiilipelien pelaaminen voidaan kokonaisuudessaan jäljittää ja taltioida xAPI:n avulla jatkokäsittelyä varten erilliseen tietokantaan nimeltä LRS. xAPI antaa yhteisöille ja organisaatioille mahdollisuuden analysoida oppimista syvällisesti – ei vain suorituksiin ja tuloksiin pohjautuen – ja tarjoaa näin arvokasta tietoa muun muassa oppimisen kehittymisestä oppimistavoitteisiin nähden ja mahdollistaa siten entistä paremman kokonaiskuvan muodostamisen koko oppimiskokemuksesta. Moniin muihin e-oppimisen standardeihin ja spesifikaatioihin verrattuna xAPI tarjoaa joustavan ja kansainvälisesti kehittyvän spesifikaation, jolla on selkeät mahdollisuudet kehittyä kansallisesti merkittäväksi e-oppimisen standardiksi ja joka kykenee tarjoamaan koulutusalalle mahdollisuuksia vastata paremmin tulevaisuuden oppimistarpeisiin

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Innovative Pedagogy

SoTLIP Journa

Model driven design and data integration in semantic web information systems

The Web is quickly evolving in many ways. It has evolved from a Web of documents into a Web of applications in which a growing number of designers offer new and interactive Web applications with people all over the world. However, application design and implementation remain complex, error-prone and laborious. In parallel there is also an evolution from a Web of documents into a Web of `knowledge' as a growing number of data owners are sharing their data sources with a growing audience. This brings the potential new applications for these data sources, including scenarios in which these datasets are reused and integrated with other existing and new data sources. However, the heterogeneity of these data sources in syntax, semantics and structure represents a great challenge for application designers. The Semantic Web is a collection of standards and technologies that offer solutions for at least the syntactic and some structural issues. If offers semantic freedom and flexibility, but this leaves the issue of semantic interoperability. In this thesis we present Hera-S, an evolution of the Model Driven Web Engineering (MDWE) method Hera. MDWEs allow designers to create data centric applications using models instead of programming. Hera-S especially targets Semantic Web sources and provides a flexible method for designing personalized adaptive Web applications. Hera-S defines several models that together define the target Web application. Moreover we implemented a framework called Hydragen, which is able to execute the Hera-S models to run the desired Web application. Hera-S' core is the Application Model (AM) in which the main logic of the application is defined, i.e. defining the groups of data elements that form logical units or subunits, the personalization conditions, and the relationships between the units. Hera-S also uses a so-called Domain Model (DM) that describes the content and its structure. However, this DM is not Hera-S specific, but instead allows any Semantic Web source representation as its DM, as long as its content can be queried by the standardized Semantic Web query language SPARQL. The same holds for the User Model (UM). The UM can be used for personalization conditions, but also as a source of user-related content if necessary. In fact, the difference between DM and UM is conceptual as their implementation within Hydragen is the same. Hera-S also defines a presentation model (PM) which defines presentation details of elements like order and style. In order to help designers with building their Web applications we have introduced a toolset, Hera Studio, which allows to build the different models graphically. Hera Studio also provides some additional functionality like model checking and deployment of the models in Hydragen. Both Hera-S and its implementation Hydragen are designed to be flexible regarding the user of models. In order to achieve this Hydragen is a stateless engine that queries for relevant information from the models at every page request. This allows the models and data to be changed in the datastore during runtime. We show that one way to exploit this flexibility is by applying aspect-orientation to the AM. Aspect-orientation allows us to dynamically inject functionality that pervades the entire application. Another way to exploit Hera-S' flexibility is in reusing specialized components, e.g. for presentation generation. We present a configuration of Hydragen in which we replace our native presentation generation functionality by the AMACONT engine. AMACONT provides more extensive multi-level presentation generation and adaptation capabilities as well aspect-orientation and a form of semantic based adaptation. Hera-S was designed to allow the (re-)use of any (Semantic) Web datasource. It even opens up the possibility for data integration at the back end, by using an extendible storage layer in our database of choice Sesame. However, even though theoretically possible it still leaves much of the actual data integration issue. As this is a recurring issue in many domains, a broader challenge than for Hera-S design only, we decided to look at this issue in isolation. We present a framework called Relco which provides a language to express data transformation operations as well as a collection of techniques that can be used to (semi-)automatically find relationships between concepts in different ontologies. This is done with a combination of syntactic, semantic and collaboration techniques, which together provide strong clues for which concepts are most likely related. In order to prove the applicability of Relco we explore five application scenarios in different domains for which data integration is a central aspect. This includes a cultural heritage portal, Explorer, for which data from several datasources was integrated and was made available by a mapview, a timeline and a graph view. Explorer also allows users to provide metadata for objects via a tagging mechanism. Another application is SenSee: an electronic TV-guide and recommender. TV-guide data was integrated and enriched with semantically structured data from several sources. Recommendations are computed by exploiting the underlying semantic structure. ViTa was a project in which several techniques for tagging and searching educational videos were evaluated. This includes scenarios in which user tags are related with an ontology, or other tags, using the Relco framework. The MobiLife project targeted the facilitation of a new generation of mobile applications that would use context-based personalization. This can be done using a context-based user profiling platform that can also be used for user model data exchange between mobile applications using technologies like Relco. The final application scenario that is shown is from the GRAPPLE project which targeted the integration of adaptive technology into current learning management systems. A large part of this integration is achieved by using a user modeling component framework in which any application can store user model information, but which can also be used for the exchange of user model data

Orchestration of learning activities through the integration of third-party services in IMS learning design

The range of applicable pedagogical models has increased with the adoption of the Information and Communication Technologies in the educational field. The so called educational modelling languages enable the orchestration of learning activities on distance education scenarios. It is possible, for example, to apply strategies that emphasise the relevance of an active participation of the subject and the interaction among the different actors of the learning process. Computer-mediated orchestration of learning courses can be extended beyong distance education scenarios to face-to-face experiences. The IMS Learning Design specification is the de facto standard educational modelling language. The application of the specification in the support of collaborative learning models or in the creation of adaptive learning material is a frequent topic in current research. However, the model has several limitations that hinder the practical adoption of the IMS Learning Design framework. Among these limitations, the lack of integration with thirdparty tools is an obstacle for the creation and deployment of student-centred learning courses, where the active participation implies the use of Web based tools. Distance and blended learning models are especially affected by this limitation. Another factor that prevents full adoption of the framework is the lack of flexibility of the model: the existing players play a previously created script and leave no room for teachers’ reaction to unexpected events. This dissertation proposes a solution for the previous problems without limiting the intrinsic benefits of the specification, such as interoperability and expressiveness. The adopted research methodology consists of three phases: characterisation of the problem, design and implementation of the solution, and experimental validation of the proposed model. The complete description of the problem has required a revision of the state of the art regarding IMS Learning Design and the design and deployment of several cases of study. The analysis of these cases has been centred in the study of the factors that affect the authoring, deployment and enactment phases of scripted learning courses. The documentation and publication of these experiences is one of the contributions of this dissertation. An extension of the IMS Learning Design framework is proposed as a solution of the described problem. The extension, called Generic Service Integration is platform independent and allows the integration of third-party tools in courses described by IMS Learning Design. The integration is enabled by the automation of administrative tasks such as the instantiation of external tools, and by the information exchange among the platforms that take part in the course. Thus, it is possible to include learning activities whose enactment requires the use of Web based tools without losing the intrinsic characteristics of IMS Learning Design. The framework proposed by Generic Service Integration has been implemented as an extension of GRAIL, the IMS Learning Design player in the .LRN Learning Management System. Such extension has allowed the design and deployment of cases of study in which tool integration played an essential role in the sequence of activities. The analysis of these experiences demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed model. Such feasibility tackles two facts: first, the expresiveness of the combination of IMS LD and GSI; second, the replicability and scalability with a high number of participants. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------La aplicación de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación al ámbito del aprendizaje tiene como resultado la ampliación del abanico de posibilidades en lo que a modelos pedagógicos se refiere. La aparición de lenguajes de modelado educativo permite la orquestación de actividades en entornos de educación a distancia. Esto hace posible la ejecución de cursos en los que priman la participación activa del sujeto y la interacción entre los diferentes actores del proceso de aprendizaje. La orquestación de cursos guiada por ordenador no es exclusiva de la educación a distancia. En escenarios presenciales, por ejemplo, puede suponer una importante reducción de las tareas administrativas del profesorado. La especificación IMS Learning Design es el actual estándar de facto en el marco de los lenguajes de modelado educativo. Es frecuente la aparición de la especificación en las investigaciones más recientes, explorando su uso en el ámbito del trabajo colaborativo o en la creación de material adaptativo. Sin embargo, son varias las limitaciones que impiden una adopción práctica del esquema de trabajo propuesto por IMS Learning Design. Entre estas limitaciones, la falta de integración con herramientas de terceros dificulta la creación y el despliegue de cursos en los que el papel activo del alumno se refleje en el uso de herramientas basadas en la Web, especialmente en entornos de aprendizaje a distancia o semipresencial. Otro obstáculo importante es la falta de flexibilidad del modelo, ya que las herramientas de despliegue y ejecución de cursos se limitan a reproducir un guión previamente establecido, dejando escaso margen de actuación al profesorado. Esta tesis caracteriza los problemas mencionados y propone una solución factible que no limite las características propias de la especificación, como son su interoperabilidad y expresividad. Para ello, se ha seguido una metodología de trabajo compuesta de tres fases: caracterización del problema, definición e implementación de la solución, y validación experimental del modelo propuesto. Para la caracterización del problema se ha llevado a cabo un estudio del estado del arte con respecto a IMS Learning Design que se ha visto complementado con el diseño y despliegue de casos prácticos reales. En análisis de dichos casos prácticos se ha centrado en el estudio de los factores que afectan a las fases de autoría, despliegue y ejecución de los cursos. La documentación y posterior publicación de dichas experiencias supone por tanto una de las contribuciones de esta tesis. Tras la caracterización del problema, se propone una arquitectura que extiende la especificacióon IMS Learning Design. La arquitectura propuesta es independiente de la plataforma software que se utilice en el diseño y despliegue de cursos. Dicha arquitectura, que recibe el nombre de Generic Service Integration, permite la integración de herramientas de terceros en cursos guiados por IMS Learning Design. Esta integración se basa en la instanciación automática de herramientas externas y el intercambio de información entre las plataformas que intervienen en el curso. Así, se permite la inclusión de actividades que requieran el uso de herramientas basadas en la Web, sin que ello suponga una pérdida de las características propias de IMS Learning Design. El modelo propuesto, Generic Service Integration, ha sido implementado como una extensión de GRAIL, el reproductor de IMS Learning Design en .LRN. Dicha implementación ha permitido la puesta en marcha de casos de estudio en los que la integración de herramientas ha sido un elemento primordial de la secuencia de actividades de aprendizaje. El análisis de dichas experiencias demuestra la viabilidad del modelo propuesto. Esta viabilidad se refiere tanto a la capacidad expresiva de la combinación de IMS LD con GSI, como a su alta replicabilidad y escalabilidad con un número alto de participantes

Supporting orchestration of blended CSCL scenarios in distributed learning environments

El diseño y gestión en tiempo real de escenarios de aprendizaje colaborativo soportado por ordenador (en inglés, CSCL) es una tarea compleja y difícilmente realizable por profesores no expertos, que en los últimos años ha dado en denominarse "orquestación". La presente tesis doctoral profundiza en este concepto de orquestación, y de hecho la primera contribución de la tesis es un marco conceptual para caracterizar la orquestación, destinada a su uso por científicos en el campo del CSCL, validado mediante dos paneles de científicos del CSCL. La tesis también propone los "patrones atómicos" como herramientas conceptuales para que profesores no expertos realicen dicha orquestación, y que se han validado mediante cuatro talleres con profesores de educación primaria y superior. Finalmente, se propone GLUE!-PS, una infraestructura tecnológica para el despliegue y gestión en tiempo real de escenarios CSCL, validada a través de talleres y experiencias auténticas con profesorado universitario.Departamento de Teoría de la Señal y Comunicaciones e Ingeniería Telemática2012-11-2

Experimental Studies in Learning Technology and Child–Computer Interaction

This book is about the ways in which experiments can be employed in the context of research on learning technologies and child–computer interaction (CCI). It is directed at researchers, supporting them to employ experimental studies while increasing their quality and rigor. The book provides a complete and comprehensive description on how to design, implement, and report experiments, with a focus on and examples from CCI and learning technology research. The topics covered include an introduction to CCI and learning technologies as interdisciplinary fields of research, how to design educational interfaces and visualizations that support experimental studies, the advantages and disadvantages of a variety of experiments, methodological decisions in designing and conducting experiments (e.g. devising hypotheses and selecting measures), and the reporting of results. As well, a brief introduction on how contemporary advances in data science, artificial intelligence, and sensor data have impacted learning technology and CCI research is presented. The book details three important issues that a learning technology and CCI researcher needs to be aware of: the importance of the context, ethical considerations, and working with children. The motivation behind and emphasis of this book is helping prospective CCI and learning technology researchers (a) to evaluate the circumstances that favor (or do not favor) the use of experiments, (b) to make the necessary methodological decisions about the type and features of the experiment, (c) to design the necessary “artifacts” (e.g., prototype systems, interfaces, materials, and procedures), (d) to operationalize and conduct experimental procedures to minimize potential bias, and (e) to report the results of their studies for successful dissemination in top-tier venues (such as journals and conferences). This book is an open access publication

A global outlook to the interruption of education due to COVID-19 Pandemic: Navigating in a time of uncertainty and crisis

Uncertain times require prompt reflexes to survive and this study is a collaborative reflex to better understand uncertainty and navigate through it. The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic hit hard and interrupted many dimensions of our lives, particularly education. As a response to interruption of education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this study is a collaborative reaction that narrates the overall view, reflections from the K12 and higher educational landscape, lessons learned and suggestions from a total of 31 countries across the world with a representation of 62.7% of the whole world population. In addition to the value of each case by country, the synthesis of this research suggests that the current practices can be defined as emergency remote education and this practice is different from planned practices such as distance education, online learning or other derivations. Above all, this study points out how social injustice, inequity and the digital divide have been exacerbated during the pandemic and need unique and targeted measures if they are to be addressed. While there are support communities and mechanisms, parents are overburdened between regular daily/professional duties and emerging educational roles, and all parties are experiencing trauma, psychological pressure and anxiety to various degrees, which necessitates a pedagogy of care, affection and empathy. In terms of educational processes, the interruption of education signifies the importance of openness in education and highlights issues that should be taken into consideration such as using alternative assessment and evaluation methods as well as concerns about surveillance, ethics, and data privacy resulting from nearly exclusive dependency on online solutions

Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge

Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. Despite the diversity of tools and resources already available -- from well-packaged course materials to simple games, for students, self-learners, faculty, and educational institutions -- we have yet to take full advantage of shared knowledge about how these are being used, what local innovations are emerging, and how to learn from and build on the experiences of others. Opening Up Education argues that we must develop not only the technical capability but also the intellectual capacity for transforming tacit pedagogical knowledge into commonly usable and visible knowledge: by providing incentives for faculty to use (and contribute to) open education goods, and by looking beyond institutional boundaries to connect a variety of settings and open source entrepreneurs.These essays by leaders in open education describe successes, challenges, and opportunities they have found in a range of open education initiatives. They approach -- from both macro and micro perspectives -- the central question of how open education tools, resources, and knowledge can improve the quality of education. The contributors (from leading foundations, academic institutions, associations, and projects) discuss the strategic underpinnings of their efforts first in terms of technology, then content, and finally knowledge. They also address the impact of their projects, and how close they come to achieving a vision of sustainable, transformative educational opportunities that amounts to much more than pervasive technology.Contributors:Richard Baraniuk, Randy Bass, Trent Batson, Dan Bernstein, John Seely Brown, Barbara Cambridge, Tom Carey, Catherine Casserly, James Dalziel, Bernadine Chuck Fong, Richard Gale, Gerard Hanley, Diane Harley, Mary Huber, Pat Hutchings, Toru Iiyoshi, David Kahle, M. S. Vijay Kumar, Andy Lane, Diana Laurillard, Stuart Lee, Steve Lerman, Marilyn Lombardi, Phil Long, Clifford Lynch, Christopher Mackie, Anne Margulies, Owen McGrath, Flora McMartin, Shigeru Miyagawa, Diana Oblinger, Neeru Paharia, Cheryl Richardson, Marshall Smith, Candace Thille, Edward Walker, and David WileyAbout the Editors:Toru Iiyoshi is Senior Scholar and Director of the Knowledge Media Lab at the Carnegie Foundation.M. S. Vijay Kumar is Senior Associate Dean and Director of the Office of Educational Innovation and Technology at MIT

Experimental Studies in Learning Technology and Child–Computer Interaction

This book is about the ways in which experiments can be employed in the context of research on learning technologies and child–computer interaction (CCI). It is directed at researchers, supporting them to employ experimental studies while increasing their quality and rigor. The book provides a complete and comprehensive description on how to design, implement, and report experiments, with a focus on and examples from CCI and learning technology research. The topics covered include an introduction to CCI and learning technologies as interdisciplinary fields of research, how to design educational interfaces and visualizations that support experimental studies, the advantages and disadvantages of a variety of experiments, methodological decisions in designing and conducting experiments (e.g. devising hypotheses and selecting measures), and the reporting of results. As well, a brief introduction on how contemporary advances in data science, artificial intelligence, and sensor data have impacted learning technology and CCI research is presented. The book details three important issues that a learning technology and CCI researcher needs to be aware of: the importance of the context, ethical considerations, and working with children. The motivation behind and emphasis of this book is helping prospective CCI and learning technology researchers (a) to evaluate the circumstances that favor (or do not favor) the use of experiments, (b) to make the necessary methodological decisions about the type and features of the experiment, (c) to design the necessary “artifacts” (e.g., prototype systems, interfaces, materials, and procedures), (d) to operationalize and conduct experimental procedures to minimize potential bias, and (e) to report the results of their studies for successful dissemination in top-tier venues (such as journals and conferences). This book is an open access publication