The added value of implementing the Planet Game scenario with Collage and Gridcole

This paper discusses the suitability and the added value of Collage and Gridcole when contrasted with other solutions participating in the ICALT 2006 workshop titled “Comparing educational modelling languages on a case study.” In this workshop each proposed solution was challenged to implement a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning situation (CSCL) posed by the workshop’s organizers. Collage is a pattern-based authoring tool for the creation of CSCL scripts compliant with IMS Learning Design (IMS LD). These IMS LD scripts can be enacted by the Gridcole tailorable CSCL system. The analysis presented in the paper is organized as a case study which considers the data recorded in the workshop discussion as well the information reported in the workshop contributions. The results of this analysis show how Collage and Gridcole succeed in implementing the scenario and also point out some significant advantages in terms of design reusability and generality, user-friendliness, and enactment flexibility

A new approach to collaborative creativity support of new product designers

Bitter-Rijpkema, M., Sloep, P. B., Sie, R., Van Rosmalen, P., Retalis, S., & Katsamani, M. (2011). A new approach to collaborative creativity support of new product designers. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 7(4), 478-492. DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2011.042992Effective collaborative creativity is crucial to contemporary professionals who have to continuously produce innovative products and services. The technological nature and complexity of the innovations require team work, among specialists from different disciplines. Often these teams work in a distributed fashion, across boundaries of time and place. Therefore they need electronic “spaces” that support (‘afford’) their creative collaboration. Co-creativity support is not only a matter of making appropriate groupware spaces available but also of providing concurrent support in all these dimensions. These considerations inspired the development of the idSpace platform. idSpace is a collaboration platform integrating a variety of creativity tools with pedagogy-based guidance. It aims to optimize both the use of creativity techniques themselves and of the supporting processes of team collaboration and knowledge creation. In this paper we zoom in on Knowledge-sharing Strategies for Collaborative Creativity (KS4CC). We show how collaborative creativity can be enhanced via integration of pattern-based pedagogical flow support, including suggestions of optimal use of creativity techniques. The KS4CC strategies consist of a merger of learning and collaboration flow patterns with support for the application of creative techniques

Open Source and Open Standards

Publication reference: Koper, R. (2008). Open Source and Open Standards. In J. M. Spector, M. Merrill, J. van Merriënboer & M. P. Driscol (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (3rd ed., pp. 355-368). New York: Routledge.The objective of this chapter is to create an understanding of the importance of open source software and open standards (OSS/OS) for e-learning research. Open source is a fundamental new way to develop software, and open standards are needed to make software components work together. It is argued that OSS and OS can improve the convergence of knowledge in the e-learning field, improve the general quality and interoperability of e-learning applications, and improve collaboration between researchers and users. All of these are beneficial and necessary requirements for e-learning research. After a general introduction into basic OSS and OS concepts, the following questions will be answered: a) How does OSS/OS facilitate the technological activities of the researchers in terms of methodology, collaboration and dissemination of results? b) How does OSS/OS facilitate the development of technological knowledge in the field? c) How does OSS/OS facilitate the development of technological artifacts in the field? The development and use of the open standard “IMS Learning Design” (a formal design language for online courses), and the open source applications that are developed to run and present IMS Learning Design courses will be used as an example to demonstrate the use of OSS/OS in e-learning research. In the concluding section we provide some practical information for researchers how to get involved in OSS and OS and how to use it in e-learning research

From face-to-face to distance LMS-mediated collaborative learning situations with GLUE!

GLUE! is an integration architecture that allows teachers to easily set up an LMS environment with several external tools to carry out complex collaborative learning situations in distance settings. Though its effectiveness in alleviating the burden on teachers of deploying and enacting such situations has been studied elsewhere, there are no studies in the literature analyzing the impact, in terms of learning achievement, of turning traditional face-to-face collaborative learning situations into distance LMS-mediated ones with the support of integration approaches such as the GLUE! architecture. This paper compares the learning achievement in a distance LMS-mediated collaborative learning situation supported by GLUE! and in the equivalent face-to-face in a non-technological setting. The conclusions of this comparison, along with the fact that GLUE! significantly reduces the set up effort, suggest that GLUE! is a good choice for turning traditional face-to-face collaborative learning situations into distance LMS-mediated ones without significant negative effects in the learning achievement.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness projects TIN2011-28308-C03-01 andTIN2011-28308-C03-02, and the postdoctoral fellowship Alliance 4 Universities.Publicad

Addressing drop-out and sustained effort issues with large practical groups using an automated delivery and assessment system

The acquisition of programming skills specially in introductory programming courses poses an important challenge for freshmen students of engineering programs. These courses require students to devote a sustained effort during the whole course and a failure to do so may contribute to not passing the course. However, it is difficult for the teaching staff to deploy measures to enforce a pattern of continuous work without significantly increasing the required management tasks. A significant reduction of this workload can be achieved with the automation of time consuming tasks such as the delivery of activities or submission grading. This paper presents a case of study where a technology based orchestration of learning scripts was applied in a large enrollment course to promote student sustained effort through the course and keep the workload on teaching staff within reasonable margins. The orchestration system, based on IMS Learning Design and Generic Service Integration, automatically evaluated the student submissions and gradually unlocked the following activities depending on the received results. Such system was used during a semester supporting 425 students and 8 instructors. The analysis of the case of study followed a mixed method based on qualitative and quantitative data, and revealed a significant reduction of the orchestration workload on the teaching staff, allowing the strategy of continuous work to be applied in a course with high enrollment. Additionally, the application of these techniques show statistically significant differences in the drop out rate with respect to previous editions of the course.Work partially funded by the EEE project, “Plan Nacional de I+D+I TIN2011-28308-C03-01” and the “Emadrid: Investigación y desarrollo de tecnologías para el e-learning en la Comunidad de Madrid” project (S2009/TIC-1650)

A Social Platform for Fostering Ethical Education through Role-Playing

Nowadays the complexity of knowledge, the specialization of labor and the pervasiveness of ICT in human activity, lead individuals to frequently make complex decisions with ethical implications. The educational system has a fundamental role in preparing specialized human capital in every discipline, however, it also faces the challenge of educating individuals with ethical discernment capabilities and behavior. In this book chapter, we describe the design, implementation and validation of EthicApp-RP, a social platform aimed at higher education settings, for fostering reflection and moral reasoning around ethical cases through a role-playing activity. We present an application of EthicApp-RP involving a cohort of undergraduate business students (N = 85), based on a case in which students play political and public leadership roles in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. The results indicate that students and teachers acknowledge the learning environment’s capacity to stimulate reflection and argumentation around ethical issues, while providing all students with equal opportunities for participation. In addition, the tool offers high technical and pedagogical usability, based on the Systems Usability Scale and the Pedagogically Meaningful Learning Questionnaire. EthicApp-RP can contribute to the improvement of ethics education, especially in scientific and technological disciplines, wherein students are quantitatively inclined by nature, in spite that ethics, a humanistic subject often foreign to them, must live at the core of their preparation

Harnessing collective intelligence for the future of learning – a co-constructed research and development agenda

Learning, defined as the process of constructing meaning and developing competencies to act on it, is instrumental in helping individuals, communities, and organizations tackle challenges. When these challenges increase in complexity and require domain knowledge from diverse areas of expertise, it becomes difficult for single individuals to address them. In this context, collective intelligence, a capacity of groups of people to act together and solve problems using their collective knowledge, becomes of great importance. Technologies are instrumental both to support and understand learning and collective intelligence, hence the need for innovations in the area of technologies that can support user needs to learn and tackle collective challenges. Use-inspired research is a fitting paradigm that spans applied solutions and scientific explanations of the processes of learning and collective intelligence, and that can improve the technologies that may support them. Although some conceptual and theoretical work explaining and linking learning with collective intelligence is emerging, technological infrastructures as well as methodologies that employ and evidence that support them are nascent. We convened a group of experts to create a middleground and engage with the priorities for use-inspired research. Here we detail directions and methods they put forward as most promising for advancing a scientific agenda around learning and collective intelligence

Computational representation of collaborative learning flow patterns using IMS learning design

The identification and integration of reusable and customizable CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) may benefit from the capture of best practices in collaborative learning structuring. The authors have proposed CLFPs (Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns) as a way of collecting these best practices. To facilitate the process of CLFPs by software systems, the paper proposes to specify these patterns using IMS Learning Design (IMS-LD). Thus, teachers without technical knowledge can particularize and integrate CSCL tools. Nevertheless, the support of IMS-LD for describing collaborative learning activities has some deficiencies: the collaborative tools that can be defined in these activities are limited. Thus, this paper proposes and discusses an extension to IMS-LD that enables to specify several characteristics of the use of tools that mediate collaboration. In order to obtain a Unit of Learning based on a CLFP, a three stage process is also proposed. A CLFP-based Unit of Learning example is used to illustrate the process and the need of the proposed extension

Desenvolvimento de cenários digitais interoperáveis para aprendizagem baseada em problemas

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Ptograma de Pós-graduação em Engenharia e Gestão do ConhecimentoAs possibilidades para a criação de cenários para a educação a distância são influenciadas por novas demandas decorrentes do uso das TICs. Estas novas demandas são contempladas por arranjos organizacionais e administrativos, novos meios de comunicação e técnicas diferenciadas para o projeto de cursos. A investigação de técnicas para desenvolvimento de cursos que visam aperfeiçoar o uso de recursos investidos na elaboração de materiais para a educação on-line é o foco principal desta pesquisa. Especificamente são apresentados recursos para promoção da interoperabilidade de cenários de aprendizagem entre sistemas, sendo analisados o modelo de referência SCORM e a especificação IMS Learning Design, ambos aplicados em cenários com Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas. A aplicação do modelo de referência ocorre sobre conteúdos previamente elaborados, que padronizados possibilitaram a migração dos conteúdos entre plataformas. Já a especificação IMS Learning Design atua como complemento ao SCORM, permitindo a modelagem de atividades colaborativas nos cenários desenvolvidos. Em complemento à aplicação do SCORM também é desenvolvdo um aplicativo de edição on-line de hipermídia com apoio à exportação de conteúdos na forma de objetos de aprendizagem SCORM. É apresentada a modelagem de um cenário de aprendizagem utilizando os recursos trazidos pela especificação IMS LD. São identificadas diretrizes para a criação dos objetos de aprendizagem utilizando-se os conteúdos do curso on-line Cor no Design Gráfico e finalmente efetua-se uma análise crítica dos recursos utilizados de modo a orientar para a aplicação destes novos elementos em cenários digitais interoperáveis para aprendizagem baseada em problemas

Computational representation of collaborative learning flow patterns using IMS learning design

The identification and integration of reusable and customizable CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) may benefit from the capture of best practices in collaborative learning structuring. The authors have proposed CLFPs (Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns) as a way of collecting these best practices. To facilitate the process of CLFPs by software systems, the paper proposes to specify these patterns using IMS Learning Design (IMS-LD). Thus, teachers without technical knowledge can particularize and integrate CSCL tools. Nevertheless, the support of IMS-LD for describing collaborative learning activities has some deficiencies: the collaborative tools that can be defined in these activities are limited. Thus, this paper proposes and discusses an extension to IMS-LD that enables to specify several characteristics of the use of tools that mediate collaboration. In order to obtain a Unit of Learning based on a CLFP, a three stage process is also proposed. A CLFP-based Unit of Learning example is used to illustrate the process and the need of the proposed extension