Up and down the number line: modelling collaboration in contrasting school and home environments

This paper is concerned with user modelling issues such as adaptive educational environments, adaptive information retrieval, and support for collaboration. The HomeWork project is examining the use of learner modelling strategies within both school and home environments for young children aged 5 – 7 years. The learning experience within the home context can vary considerably from school especially for very young learners, and this project focuses on the use of modelling which can take into account the informality and potentially contrasting learning styles experienced within the home and school

Inclusive, adaptive design for students with severe learning disabilities

Young adults with severe disabilities and learning difficulties (SLD) have very limited access to appropriate learning resources. Their unique individual needs and requirements prevent them from accessing traditional methods of online learning, and resources tend not to be age appropriate. The majority of SLD learners has difficulty accessing a computer with standard peripherals such as a mouse and relies on assistive technologies (e.g. switches) to do so. Each learner tends to have specific needs that must be addressed in order to provide an accessible and adaptive platform for learning. The aim of this research project was, with the assistance and support of the learners and their tutors, to design and develop an adaptable and inclusive online learning environment specifically catering for the needs of young adults with SLD. Each stage of development was prototyped and assessed in the college environment to ensure the needs of the learners were thoroughly addressed. 1

The Implementation Of Vocabulary Building Strategy In Teaching English Vocabulary To Young Learners

Vocabulary as one of English component and it's very important to learn. Before the students master the four skills they have to know some vocabularies to support them in learning English. English vocabulary as one of the language skill elements has an important role for young learners in learning foreign languages. In presenting English, especially vocabulary, the teacher should be creative in choosing materials and able to stimulate the student's interest. The teacher needs to manipulate some strategies to support the teaching and learning process. Teaching English for young learner is different from teaching adults in a way that they are often more enthusiastic, active and easily adaptive than adults. The type of this research is descriptive qualitative research. This research is a descriptive qualitative research that focuses on vocabulary building strategy in teaching vocabulary to young learners. It describes the technique and method used by the teacher in teaching English vocabulary to young learner

Innovating Pedagogy 2015: Open University Innovation Report 4

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This fourth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International. We proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories, and practices. We then pared these down to ten that have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice, particularly in post-school education. Lastly, we drew on published and unpublished writings to compile the ten sketches of new pedagogies that might transform education. These are summarised below in an approximate order of immediacy and timescale to widespread implementation

A literature synthesis of personalised technology-enhanced learning: what works and why

Personalised learning, having seen both surges and declines in popularity over the past few decades, is once again enjoying a resurgence. Examples include digital resources tailored to a particular learner’s needs, or individual feedback on a student’s assessed work. In addition, personalised technology-enhanced learning (TEL) now seems to be attracting interest from philanthropists and venture capitalists indicating a new level of enthusiasm for the area and a potential growth industry. However, these industries may be driven by profit rather than pedagogy, and hence it is vital these new developments are informed by relevant, evidence-based research. For many people, personalised learning is an ambiguous and even loaded term that promises much but does not always deliver. This paper provides an in-depth and critical review and synthesis of how personalisation has been represented in the literature since 2000, with a particular focus on TEL. We examine the reasons why personalised learning can be beneficial and examine how TEL can contribute to this. We also unpack how personalisation can contribute to more effective learning. Lastly, we examine the limitations of personalised learning and discuss the potential impacts on wider stakeholders

Coherence compilation: applying AIED techniques to the reuse of educational resources

The HomeWork project is building an exemplar system to provide individualised experiences for individual and groups of children aged 6-7 years, their parents, teachers and classmates at school. It employs an existing set of broadcast video media and associated resources that tackle both numeracy and literacy at Key Stage 1. The system employs a learner model and a pedagogical model to identify what resource is best used with an individual child or group of children collaboratively at a particular learning point and at a particular location. The Coherence Compiler is that component of the system which is designed to impose an overall narrative coherence on the materials that any particular child is exposed to. This paper presents a high level vision of the design of the Coherence Compiler and sets its design within the overall framework of the HomeWork project and its learner and pedagogical models

State-of-Science review: learning difficulties: SR-D4: Dyscalculia

Low numeracy skills in general and developmental dyscalculia (DD) in particular constitute a severe handicap. This review examines the causes and behavioural manifestations of numeracy deficits, their neuropsychological correlates and the limits to our understanding of these conditions. It then goes on to describe a validated test for diagnosing DD – a specific impairment in the capacity to learn arithmetic. The challenges in educating DD children and analysing their particular intervention needs are described. Reference is also made to the impact of dyscalculia on mental health (and ill-health) and individual wellbeing