Scientific Literacy in the digital age: tools, environments and resources for co-inquiry

This paper describes some European and International projects to promote Scientific Literacy in the digital age as well as technologies, environments and resources for co-inquiry. The aim of this research is also to describe computer applications, software tools and environments that were designed to support processes of collaborative inquiry learning to promote Scientific Literacy. These tools are analyzed by describing their interfaces and functionalities. The outcomes of this descriptive research points out some effects on student learning and competences developed known from the literature. This paper argues the importance of promoting scientific citizenship not only through schools and Universities (formal learning), but also non-credit online courses and community-based learning programmes (non-formal context), as well as daily life activities, educational open digital materials through social networks (informal scenario)

Supporting strategic cultural change: The Strathclyde learning technology initiative as a model

This paper describes the strategies being developed at the University of Strathclyde in response to the vision in the Dearing Report of a learning society in which Communication and Information Technology (C&IT) is central to students' learning experiences. The Strathclyde Learning Technology Initiative aims to support strategic change in the development and use of new learning technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of teaching and learning within the University. In order for a major cultural shift in teaching and learning to take effect there are three main areas that need to be addressed: (i) many academics still work within a traditional teaching framework and believe that these methods can simply be transferred to the Web, (ii) students who have been taught in a traditional teaching environment need support in acquiring new learning skills for an electronic learning environment, and (iii) new methods of learning and teaching can only be successfully integrated within the environment of a supporting infrastructure and institutional climate. These key elements are further explored, drawing on the lessons learned from the implementation of the Initiative, and suggestions are made for ways of surmounting the barriers to the uptake of C&IT perceived by academics

Using Blogs to Foster Inquiry, Collaboration, and Feedback in Pre-Service Teacher Education

This chapter presents a critical case study on the use of information technology in a pre-service teacher education program. The authors integrated Weblogs (blogs) into two constructivist-oriented teacher preparation courses with the goal of helping students learn to think like a teacher through enhanced inquiry, collaboration, and feedback. The authors found that, through the use of blogs, pre-service teaching candidates grew in their abilities to reflect on their own teaching and to provide constructive comments to peers. The authors’ experience also indicated that while instructor and peer feedback via blogs was valuable, it functioned best when paired with face-to-face meetings between the instructors and students. They discussed design principles for combining online and face-to-face environments and offer possibilities for the expanded use of blogs in pre-service teacher education

Action Research : the first steps to start up a pilot experiment in heritage education

Peer-reviewedLes relacions entre els museus i les escoles canvien amb l'ús d'internet. Volem analitzar com aquestes noves relacions tenen lloc a una escala nacional. És important analitzar aquestes noves relacions possibles, que són producte de canvis socials i tecnològics, ja que permeten noves interaccions i participació, al mateix temps que demanen canvis en les formes d'organització, la gestió de recursos web i els models d'ensenyament i aprenentatge. Concretament, les xarxes d'aprenentatge poden establir una nova forma de relació entre els museus i les escoles, i els recursos educatius en línia amb contingut sobre patrimoni cultural poden oferir oportunitats d'aprenentatge i recursos de coneixement més enllà dels límits de l'ensenyament formal. Tanmateix, calen projectes experimentals per a efectuar proves i veure com aquests tipus de pràctiques d'ensenyament i aprenentatge funcionaran en un context social i cultural concret. Així, doncs, la recerca activa pot contribuir al desenvolupament d'una experiència d'aprenentatge, basat en la reflexió i l'acció. L'objectiu d'aquesta experimentació és obtenir un model de treball i millors pràctiques per a aprendre i ensenyar en xarxes d'aprenentatge formades per gestors, professors i estudiants de patrimoni en què els membres produeixin i utilitzin recursos educatius en línia amb contingut de patrimoni cultural. Els resultats d'aquest projecte empíric seran comprovats amb resultats de la primera part metodològica de la tesi doctoral per a obtenir un model que es pugui exportar a altres contextos.Las relaciones entre los museos y las escuelas cambian con el uso de internet. Queremos analizar cómo estas nuevas relaciones tienen lugar a una escala nacional. Es importante analizar estas posibles nuevas relaciones, que son producto de cambios sociales y tecnológicos, ya que permiten nuevas interacciones y participación, a la vez que requieren cambios en las formas de organización, la gestión de recursos web y los modelos de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Concretamente, las redes de aprendizaje pueden establecer una nueva forma de relación entre los museos y las escuelas, y los recursos educativos en línea con contenido de patrimonio cultural pueden ofrecer oportunidades de aprendizaje y recursos de conocimiento más allá de los límites de la enseñanza formal. No obstante, existe una necesidad de proyectos experimentales para realizar pruebas para ver cómo estos tipos de prácticas de enseñanza y aprendizaje funcionarán en un contexto social y cultural concreto. Así pues, la investigación-acción puede contribuir al desarrollo de una experiencia de aprendizaje, basado en la reflexión y las acciones. El objetivo de esta experimentación es obtener un modelo de trabajo y mejores prácticas para el aprendizaje y la enseñanza en redes de aprendizaje formadas por gestores, profesores y estudiantes del patrimonio en las que los miembros produzcan y utilicen recursos en línea con contenido de patrimonio cultural. Los resultados de este proyecto de investigación empírico serán comparados con los resultados de la primera parte metodológica de la tesis doctoral para obtener un modelo que pueda ser exportado a otros contextos.The relationships between museums and schools are changing through the use of internet. We want to analyse how these new relationships occur at a national level. It is important to analyse these possible new relationships, which are the product of social and technological changes. They allow for new interactions and participation whilst requiring changes in the forms of organisation, web resource management, and teaching and learning models. Specifically, learning networks can establish a new form of relationship between museums and schools and educational online resources with cultural heritage content can offer learning opportunities and knowledge resources beyond the boundaries of formal education. However, there is a need for experimental projects to test the evidence and to see how these kinds of teaching and learning practices will work within a concrete social and cultural context. Thus, Action Research can contribute to the development of a learning experience, based on reflection and actions. The aim of this experimentation is to obtain a working model and best practices for learning and teaching in learning networks shaped by heritage managers, teachers and students where the members produce and use educational online resources with cultural heritage content. The results of this empirical research project will be compared with results from the first methodological part of the PhD thesis to obtain a model that can be exported to other contexts

S-COL: A Copernican turn for the development of flexibly reusable collaboration scripts

Collaboration scripts are usually implemented as parts of a particular collaborative-learning platform. Therefore, scripts of demonstrated effectiveness are hardly used with learning platforms at other sites, and replication studies are rare. The approach of a platform-independent description language for scripts that allows for easy implementation of the same script on different platforms has not succeeded yet in making the transfer of scripts feasible. We present an alternative solution that treats the problem as a special case of providing support on top of diverse Web pages: In this case, the challenge is to trigger support based on the recognition of a Web page as belonging to a specific type of functionally equivalent pages such as the search query form or the results page of a search engine. The solution suggested has been implemented by means of a tool called S-COL (Scripting for Collaborative Online Learning) and allows for the sustainable development of scripts and scaffolds that can be used with a broad variety of content and platforms. The tool’s functions are described. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and ease of script reuse with S-COL, we describe the flexible re-implementation of a collaboration script for argumentation in S-COL and its adaptation to different learning platforms. To demonstrate that a collaboration script implemented in S-COL can actually foster learning, an empirical study about the effects of a specific script for collaborative online search on learning activities is presented. The further potentials and the limitations of the S-COL approach are discussed

Challenges in personalisation: supporting mobile science inquiry learning across contexts

The Personal Inquiry project (PI) aimed to develop and implement personal inquiries in secondary schools in order to motivate engagement in scientific inquiry through its focus on inquiries of personal interest to young learners. This paper describes the authors’ experiences working with teachers in one school over three years, iteratively developing the nQuire toolkit* and pedagogical support across different inquiries which can be used in and across different contexts, ranging from the classroom to field trips and at home. As nQuire is web based, and can be accessed in different locations and on a range of networked devices it supports mobile inquiry learning and is the main resource for bridging between contexts. This paper discusses issues related to developing personal inquiries in schools, working across different contexts and focusing on three aspects of personalisation: choice, personal relevance and learner responsibility. It discusses the challenges faced when developing personalised inquiries in science, both in more traditional classroom contexts and in the less formal environment of an after school club. Drawing on technology supported inquiries from both these contexts it reflects on some of the constraints and tensions in providing learners with choice in their inquiries, identifying both the constraints and successes

weSPOT: A personal and social approach to inquiry-based learning

weSPOT is a new European initiative proposing a novel approach for personal and social inquiry-based learning in secondary and higher education. weSPOT aims at enabling students to create their mash-ups out of cloud based tools and services in order to perform scientific investigations. Students will also be able to share their inquiry accomplishments in social networks and receive feedback from the learning environment and their peers. This paper presents the research framework of the weSPOT project, as well as the initial inquiry-based learning scenarios that will be piloted by the project in real-life educational settings