Building capacity in climate change policy analysis and negotiation: methods and technologies

Capacity building is often cited as the reason “we cannot just pour money into developing countries” and why so many development projects fail because their design does not address local conditions. It is therefore a key technical and political concept in international development. Some of the poorest countries in the world are also some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Their vulnerability is in part due to a lack of capacity to plan and anticipate the effects of climate change on crops, water resources, urban electricity demand etc. What capacities do these countries lack to deal with climate change? How will they cope? What steps can they take to reduce their vulnerability? This innovative and high-profile research project was part of a larger project (called C3D) and conducted with non-governmental organisations in Senegal, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The research involved several participatory workshops and a questionnaire to all three research centres

Exploring pre-service visual art teachers’ competitiveness through porter’s five forces model

The primary objective of this cross-sectional study was to explore the degree to which 117 pre-service visual art teachers’ competitiveness within the education field. A self-reported competitiveness scale (six items distributed between three factors) was designed and validated by the authors based on the focal points of Michael Porter’s Five Forces framework. Additionally, the   respondents’ digital competence was assessed as an auxiliary criterion of educator attractiveness in the art education domain. Both competitiveness and digital skills measurements yielded mediocre scores. Regression analysis showed that respondents’ competitiveness perceptions were predicted neither by digital skills level nor by socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, rural or urban background, marital status or whether the student was a graduate or undergraduate. The present study highlights the need for understanding of how visual art majors perceive the sector and   evaluate competitiveness among visual art students which itself indicates its sizable contribution to educational research. Other researchers can employ the competitiveness questionnaire introduced to gain deeper insights into the topic or related subjects

Real-Time Statistics for Padel Tennis Using Artificial Intelligence

O Padel, desporto conhecido pelo seu crescimento explosivo e jogabilidade emocionante, está à beira de uma revolução tecnológica. Com o objetivo de transformar o jogo de Padel através do uso criativo de técnicas de deteção de objetos e Deep Learning, esta dissertação de mestrado investiga a junção da Inteligência Arti cial (IA) e do Padel. O principal objetivo é usar a IA para produzir estatísticas em tempo real que darão aos jogadores, treinadores e fãs um melhor conhecimento das complexidades do Padel e dos meios para levar o jogo a novos patamares. Esta dissertação explora a monitorização e localização em tempo real dos jogadores e da bola dentro do campo, através de algoritmos de visão computacional. As Redes Neu ronais de Convolução (RNC), um tipo de modelo de Deep Learning, são essenciais para o reconhecimento preciso de eventos e ações importantes durante o jogo. A criação de um sistema baseado em IA que produz dados instantâneos para partidas de Padel é a inovação central desta dissertação. Estas estatísticas oferecem uma visão analítica e detalhada de cada jogo, tendo em consideração os movimentos dos jogadores, as trajetórias da bola e a dinâmica do jogo. Esta dissertação não promove apenas o Padel, mas também cria novas oportunidades para a utilização de IA em outros desportos.The sport of Padel, known for its explosive growth and exciting gameplay, is on the verge of a technological revolution. With the goal of transforming the game of Padel through the creative use of object detection and deep learning techniques, this master's thesis investi gates the junction of Arti cial Intelligence (AI) and Padel. The main goal is to use AI to produce real-time statistics that will give players, coaches and fans a better knowledge of the complexities of Padel and the means to take the game to new heights. This dissertation explores the real-time tracking and localization of players and the ball within the court by utilizing cutting-edge computer vision algorithms. Convolution Neural Networks (CNN), one type of deep learning model, are essential for the precise recognition of important gaming events and actions. The creation of an AI-driven system that produces in-the-moment data for Padel matches is the central innovation of this dissertation. These statistics o er a detailed and analytical view of each game by taking into account player movements, ball trajectories, and game dynamics. This dissertation not only advances the sport of Padel but also creates new op portunities for the use of AI in other sports analytics

The Augmented Learner : The pivotal role of multimedia enhanced learning within a foresight-based learning model designed to accelerate the delivery of higher levels of learner creativity

The central theme for this dissertation lies at the intersection of multisensory technology enhanced learning, the field of foresight and transformative pedagogy and their role in helping to develop greater learner creativity. These skills will be key to meeting the needs of the projected growing role of the creative class within the emerging global workforce structure and the projected growth in R&D and the advancement of human-machine resource management. Over the past two decades, we have traversed from the Industrial Age through the Information Age into what we now call postnormal times, manifested partly in Industry 4.0. It is widely considered that the present education system in countries with developed economies is not optimised for delivering the much-needed creative skills, which are prominent amongst the critical 21st C skills required by the creative class, (also known as creatives), which will be increasingly dominant in terms of near future employability. Consequently, there will be a potential shortfall of creatives unless this issue is rapidly addressed. To ensure that the creative skills I aimed to enhance were relevant and aligned with emerging demands of the changing landscape, I deconstructed the critical dimensions, context, and concept of creativity in postnormal times as well as undertaking in-depth research on the potential future workscape and the future of education and learning, applying a comprehensive foresight approach to the latter using a 2030-2040 horizon. Based upon the outcomes of these studies I designed an experimental integrative learning system that I have applied, researched, and evolved over the past 4 years with over 150 students at PhD and master’s level. The system is aimed at generating higher levels of creative engagement and development through a focus on increased immersion and creativity-inducing approaches. The system, which I call the Living Learning System, is based upon eight integrated elements, supported by course development pillars aimed at optimizing learner future skill competencies and levels of creativity for which I apply severalevaluation techniques and metrics. Accordingly, as the central hypothesis of this dissertation, I argue that by integrating the critical elements of the Living Learning System, such as emerging multisensory technology enhanced learning coupled with optimised transformative and experiential learning approaches, framed within the field of foresight, with its futures focus and decentralised thinking approaches, students increase their ability to be creative. This increased ability is based on the student attaining a richer level of personal ambience through deeper immersion generated through higher incidence of self-direction, constructivism-based blended pedagogy, futures literacy, and a balance of decentralised and systems-based thinking, as well as cognitive and social platforms aimed at optimizing learner creative achievement. This dissertation demonstrates how the application of the combined elements of the Living Learning System, with its futures focus and its ensuing transdisciplinary curricula and courses, can provide a clear path towards significantly increased learner creativity. The findings of the quantitative, questionnaire-based research set out in detail in Chapter 9, together with the performance and creativity evaluation models applied against the selected case studies of student projects substantiate the validity of the hypothesis that the application of the Living Learning System with its futures focus leads to increased creativity in line with the needs of the postnormal era.publishedVersio

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience

Experts on e-learning: insights gained from listening to the student voice!

The Student Experience of e-Learning Laboratory (SEEL) project at the University of Greenwich was designed to explore and then implement a number of approaches to investigate learners’ experiences of using technology to support their learning. In this paper members of the SEEL team present initial findings from a University-wide survey of nearly a 1000 students. A selection of 90 ‘cameos’, drawn from the survey data, offer further insights into personal perceptions of e-learning and illustrate the diversity of students experiences. The cameos provide a more coherent picture of individual student experience based on the totality of each person’s responses to the questionnaire. Finally, extracts from follow-up case studies, based on interviews with a small number of students, allow us to ‘hear’ the student voice more clearly. Issues arising from an analysis of the data include student preferences for communication and social networking tools, views on the ‘smartness’ of their tutors’ uses of technology and perceptions of the value of e-learning. A primary finding and the focus of this paper, is that students effectively arrive at their own individualised selection, configuration and use of technologies and software that meets their perceived needs. This ‘personalisation’ does not imply that such configurations are the most efficient, nor does it automatically suggest that effective learning is occurring. SEEL reminds us that learners are individuals, who approach learning both with and without technology in their own distinctive ways. Hearing, understanding and responding to the student voice is fundamental in maximising learning effectiveness. Institutions should consider actively developing the capacity of academic staff to advise students on the usefulness of particular online tools and resources in support of learning and consider the potential benefits of building on what students already use in their everyday lives. Given the widespread perception that students tend to be ‘digital natives’ and academic staff ‘digital immigrants’ (Prensky, 2001), this could represent a considerable cultural challenge