Exploring Problem-Based Learning for Middle School Design and Engineering Education in Digital Fabrication Laboratories

This is a research study of design and engineering classes that use a problem-based learning (PBL) approach in digital fabrication makerspaces in two middle schools. In these studies, teachers employ a PBL approach and provide an ill-structured problem scenario to facilitate design and engineering lessons in the FabLab (fabrication laboratory). Students in each school tackled different challenges that they defined for themselves in groups. This study provides examples of student-student interactions separated into key themes—defining specifications with teammates, personal exploration, and communication about discoveries. This study also provides examples of teacher-student interactions, and themes include demonstrations with tangible objects, discussing prototype failure, and managing behavioral issues. The purpose of this study is to provide insights about PBL in a nontraditional, technology-rich FabLab environment

Сервисная модель цифровой (электронной) библиотеки образовательной организации

Theoretical, regulative and organizational foundations for developing e-libraries are discussed along with the experience of their operation in educational systems in Russia and worldwide. The author defines the digital (electronic) library of an educational institution as the integrated organizational, software and technological tools to support educational activities, computerize key library and information processes, integrated at the level of user data with library and information services within the e-libraries and public libraries, digital educational resources and platforms.When building the model of digital (electronic) library, educational organizations are recommended to apply service-based approach so to structurize the list of services of information acquisition, processing, storage, representation and delivery to library users, e. g. students, pedagogues, parents and administrators. The minimum requirements, including these used in the related information systems, to data within the service-based model are determined; the repertory of analytical digital services for assessing, forecasting and modelling of educational activities, is suggested. These approaches are efficient in digital transformation of libraries and building of digital (electronic) libraries within the structure of educational environment.В работе рассмотрены теоретические, нормативные и организационные предпосылки создания электронных библиотек, а также практика их эксплуатации в различных образовательных системах мира и России. Под понятием цифровая (электронная) библиотека образовательной организации автор подразумевает комплекс организационных, программных и технологических инструментов, предназначенных для обеспечения образовательной деятельности, автоматизации основных процессов библиотечно-информационного обслуживания, интегрированных на уровне пользовательских данных с библиотечно-информационными сервисами, электронными и публичными библиотеками, цифровыми образовательными ресурсами и платформами.При построении модели цифровой (электронной) библиотеки образовательной организации рекомендуется применять сервисный подход, позволяющий структурировать перечень услуг по сбору, обработке, хранению, представлению и передаче информации пользователям библиотеки: учащимся, педагогам, родителям и административному персоналу. Определены минимальные требования сервисной модели к составу используемых данных, в том числе из смежных информационных систем; предложен набор аналитических цифровых сервисов для оценки, прогнозирования и моделирования образовательной деятельности. Заявленные подходы эффективны для цифровой трансформации библиотеки и создания цифровых (электронных) библиотек в структуре образовательной среды

Creative Computation for CS1 and K9-12

We present the design and development of a new approach to teaching the introductory computing course (CS1), at both the college-level as well as K9-12, using the context of digital art and creative computation. Creative computation is a highly interdisciplinary area combining theory and methodology from computer science and engineering with aesthetic principles and creative practices from the arts. Using the Processing programming language, students create a portfolio of aesthetic visual designs that employ basic programming constructs and structures typically taught in traditional CS1 courses. The goal of this approach is to bring the excitement, creativity, and innovation fostered by the context of creative coding. We have developed a web portal containing an extensive set of resources for adoption by others. A comprehensive textbook has also been published in 2013 [Greenberg et al 2013]. We present results from a comparative study involving multiple offerings of the new course at the two lead institutions as well as several other partner institutions. We also describe the success of bringing creative computation via Processing into two very different high schools that span the range of possibilities of grades 9-12 in American education. We report on how contextualized computing that supports integration of media arts, design, and computer science can successfully motivate students to learn foundations of programming and come back for more. The work of two high school teachers with divergent pedagogical styles is presented. They successfully adapted a college-level creative computation curriculum to their individual school cultures providing a catalyst for significant increases in enrollment and female participation in high school computer science

Creative Computation for CS1 and K9-12

We present the design and development of a new approach to teaching the introductory computing course (CS1), at both the college-level as well as K9-12, using the context of digital art and creative computation. Creative computation is a highly interdisciplinary area combining theory and methodology from computer science and engineering with aesthetic principles and creative practices from the arts. Using the Processing programming language, students create a portfolio of aesthetic visual designs that employ basic programming constructs and structures typically taught in traditional CS1 courses. The goal of this approach is to bring the excitement, creativity, and innovation fostered by the context of creative coding. We have developed a web portal containing an extensive set of resources for adoption by others. A comprehensive textbook has also been published in 2013 [Greenberg et al 2013]. We present results from a comparative study involving multiple offerings of the new course at the two lead institutions as well as several other partner institutions. We also describe the success of bringing creative computation via Processing into two very different high schools that span the range of possibilities of grades 9-12 in American education. We report on how contextualized computing that supports integration of media arts, design, and computer science can successfully motivate students to learn foundations of programming and come back for more. The work of two high school teachers with divergent pedagogical styles is presented. They successfully adapted a college-level creative computation curriculum to their individual school cultures providing a catalyst for significant increases in enrollment and female participation in high school computer science

A review of the Development Trend of Personalized learning Technologies and its Applications

Personalized learning tailors material and strategy to student requirements, interests, and goals in e-learning. These developments help educational institutions and other organizations to keep up with the fast pace of information technology, communications, and computing power. Studies show that self-adaptive learning and relevant learning information improve study efficiency. Compared to traditional teaching methods, the practice of online education is well in its infancy. On the other hand, the pedagogy and evaluation of students in online courses have a large gap that has to be filled, necessitating significant improvements in e-learning. We call this approach to education "personalized learning," which is a central focus of today's leading online education platforms. Several studies have been conducted on e-learning and personalized learning, but few investigated the development trend of personalized learning technologies and applications. Therefore this study examines the literature to close the gap and promote the development trend for personalized learning technologies and applications in higher education from 2010 to 2021 by analyzing related journal articles. The pivotal studies used inclusion criteria after a search generated 372 complete research articles and reduced them to 146 publications based on their proposed learning domains and research themes. Through carefully reviewing current trends and successes in numerous aspects of personalized learning, this discussion analyzes prospective future research directions in the field of personalized learning

Digital Personalization in Early Childhood

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Digital personalization is an emerging interdisciplinary research field, with application to a variety of areas including design, education and publication industry. This book focuses on children’s education and literacy resources, which have undergone important changes with the ‘personalization revolution’ in the early 21st century. The author develops original insights from educational research and her own studies concerned with digital and non-digital personalization, to discuss in a clear and critical way the thinking, research issues and practical implications of this new field. She scrutinises the character of technology-based personalized education to substantiate the claim that the current models of personalized education tend to be technology- and business-driven, with little pedagogical understanding of the social value of personalization. Research involving touchscreens, personalized books and 2-8-year olds is interrogated for its impact on children’s development of language, creativity, identity, as well as family dynamics and classroom dialogue. The literature available on digital and non-digital personalization is discussed in relation to five key themes of personalized education, the so-called 5As: autonomy, authorship, aesthetics, attachment and authenticity. It is argued that the 5As need to be anchored in humanist principles for a sustainable pedagogy and practice. Based on the insights from research with typically and atypically developing children, Kucirkova proposes personalised pluralisation, as a pedagogical framework of personalized education for the future. The book aims to help scholars and professionals understand the connections between personalization and literacy, personalization and education, and personalization and wider socio-moral issues

Academics\u27 Views on Personalised e-Learning in Higher Education

The challenges for academics in meeting the learning requirements of students are many and varied. This research focuses on the concept of personalised learning, where activities are specifically selected to suit the learning requirements of individual students. The creation of personalised learning activities to suit every student’s learning needs, are not easily achieved. A survey was conducted in June 2012 to determine academics awareness of, and views on, the ‘novel teaching approach’ of personalised e-learning in higher education. Forty academics participated in this study. 60% of academic respondents agreed with the statement: “There is a need to personalise e-learning to suit individual student’s learning requirements”. 85% of respondents agreed that e-learning can enhance the learning experience of students, and 70% were of the opinion that the use of personalised e- learning activities would enhance the learning experience of students. 43% of respondents agreed that they would use an authoring tool for personalising e-learning if one was available, and 43% did not know if they would use one or not. ‘Prior knowledge’ was perceived as the most important student characteristic on which to base personalisation and the easiest to achieve, and ‘web navigational behaviour’ was seen as the least important and most difficult to achieve. This study contributes to existing research into the development of authoring tools to facilitate the creation of personalised e-learning activities by non-technical authors

Advising the whole student: eAdvising analytics and the contextual suppression of advisor values

Institutions are applying methods and practices from data analytics under the umbrella term of “learning analytics” to inform instruction, library practices, and institutional research, among other things. This study reports findings from interviews with professional advisors at a public higher education institution. It reports their perspective on their institution’s recent adoption of eAdvising technologies with prescriptive and predictive advising affordances. The findings detail why advisors rejected the tools due to usability concerns, moral discomfort, and a belief that using predictive measures violated a professional ethical principle to develop a comprehensive understanding of their advisees. The discussion of these findings contributes to an emerging branch of educational data mining and learning analytics research focused on social and ethical implications. Specifically, it highlights the consequential effects on higher education professional communities (or “micro contexts”) due to the ascendancy of learning analytics and data-driven ideologies