Transforming the space-time of learning through interactive whiteboards : the case of a knowledge creation collaborative task

The present article aims at qualitatively exploring the emergent space-time configurations of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) usage within a collaborative media design task at a university of applied sciences. During this course, the students had an opportunity to use the IWB technology to support the collaborative learning process within small groups of 4-5 members. It is argued that research on the space-time transformations enabled by digital technology, carried out by adopting the dialogical concept of chronotope, is useful to improve the understanding of learning in technology rich settings. Participant observation was conducted on two groups of students. Video-audio records of the students' activity and of group interviews were collected and qualitatively analyzed. The findings reveal that the IWB was only partially integrated within the students’ activity. Most of the IWB usage took place during the first phase of the course. The IWB use was characterized by specific space-time configurations that allow to examine how the students attempted to integrate the IWB in their learning space. The students’ reflections during the group interview allow to advance our understanding concerning the emergence of the space-time configurations identified by the researcher, as well as on the students’ perception of the learning environment. It is concluded that the potentiality of IWB and the effectiveness of the emergent space-time configurations is strictly dependent on the nature of the learning task and the pedagogical approach adopted.The present article aims at qualitatively exploring the emergent space-time configurations of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) usage within a collaborative media design task at a university of applied sciences. During this course, the students had an opportunity to use the IWB technology to support the collaborative learning process within small groups of 4-5 members. It is argued that research on the space-time transformations enabled by digital technology, carried out by adopting the dialogical concept of chronotope, is useful to improve the understanding of learning in technology rich settings. Participant observation was conducted on two groups of students. Video-audio records of the students' activity and of group interviews were collected and qualitatively analyzed. The findings reveal that the IWB was only partially integrated within the students’ activity. Most of the IWB usage took place during the first phase of the course. The IWB use was characterized by specific space-time configurations that allow to examine how the students attempted to integrate the IWB in their learning space. The students’ reflections during the group interview allow to advance our understanding concerning the emergence of the space-time configurations identified by the researcher, as well as on the students’ perception of the learning environment. It is concluded that the potentiality of IWB and the effectiveness of the emergent space-time configurations is strictly dependent on the nature of the learning task and the pedagogical approach adopted.Peer reviewe

Tools and Methods to Analyze Multimodal Data in Collaborative Design Ideation

Collaborative design ideation is typically characterized by informal acts of sketching, annotation, and discussion. Designers have always used the pencil-and-paper medium for this activity, partly because of the flexibility of the medium, and partly because the ambiguous and ill-defined nature of conceptual design cannot easily be supported by computers. However, recent computational tools for conceptual design have leveraged the availability of hand-held computing devices for creating and sharing ideas. In order to provide computer support for collaborative ideation in a way that augments traditional media rather than imitates it, it is necessary to study the affordances made available by digital media for this process, and to study designers\u27 cognitive and collaborative processes when using such media. In this thesis, we present tools and methods to help make sense of unstructured verbal and sketch data generated during collaborative design, with a view to better understand these collaborative and cognitive processes. This thesis has three main contributions

A Social Network Approach for Investigating Social Influences on Effective Use: Demonstration in Virtual Reality Collaboration

Merely using new collaboration technologies does not necessarily result in the desired benefits, which is why it is important to understand what constitutes effective use behavior. In information systems research, the affordance network approach has been developed as a methodological approach to investigate effective use behavior. The approach has already been applied to understand the effective use of electronic medical record systems and fitness wearables; however, it neglects how social influences foster or hinder effective use behavior in collaborative settings. Therefore, we supplemented the affordance network approach for collaborative contexts by using social network methods. We demonstrate our approach based on two university courses in which students carried out group work within the collaborative VR application Spatial. Thereby, we contribute a methodological approach that enables researchers to identify influential users who encourage their team members to actualize affordances leading to goal achievement

Thinking Differently: A Visual Note Recording Strategy to Improve Learning

The use of visuals in the learning environment is increasing every day. The idea of connecting images with existing knowledge is one way to effectively learn and remember. Since visual literacy has become one of the most important concepts in education today, finding a new way to present and understand information about the concept is an essential part of the learning process. The purpose of this study is to explore the importance of using visual note recording (VNR) in the learning process, and how the participant perceives visual note recording as an aid to thinking and recalling information. A qualitative methodology was used to gain in-depth understanding of visual note recording (VNR) in the learning process. Interviews were used to collect information from five participants representing different nations. Participants were asked questions designed to explore their experiences in using VNR as an aid to enhanced thinking, and to determine how they define the activity of visual note recording. Findings from this study show that VNR can have a great impact on students’ learning ability. The study demonstrates that the use of VNR leads to recalling information more easily, simplifying complex ideas, and enhancing critical and visual thinking skills. This study also points out that VNR is constructive and supports authentic student learning opportunities.Originality: Since there is a paucity of research on VNR and its use in the learning process, either in educational institutions or business organizations, this paper adds value to educators, practitioners and policy-makers. Keywords: visual note recording (VNR), sketchnoting, learning process, cognition, memory recall, visual literacy, visual thinking, critical thinking. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-2-02 Publication date: January 31st 202

Realtime Feedback in Coding Games

Visual feedback in the space of interactive media can give users more insight into the execution of a program. This paper discusses the implications and results of incorporating visual annotations into both programming environments and computer games and how it affects the user experience. We combined both of these spaces and developed a coding-based resource-management game and used playtesting feedback to analyze the impact of the visuals on a user\u27s performance in the game. The collected data shows that in general, the introduction of visuals assists players in making more well-informed decisions within a time limit. Based on these gathered results, there is clearly a lot of undiscovered potential for visual annotations in both coding and gaming to provide more informative experiences

The influence of computer-mediated feedback on collaboration

Collaboration is a crucial behavior of humans. People work together in a variety of contexts. For example, they wish to discuss and solve problems, to exchange knowledge or to be creative. However, group work is not necessarily successful when groups are left to themselves. The present thesis aims at improving collaborative work by means of technology. One technological solution to support small groups in being more effective is the use of group mirrors. These are systems that provide feedback to a group about specific aspects of their collaborative activities. An exemplary scenario is a small group that convenes a meeting to collect ideas on a certain topic. In one well-known realization of a group mirror, the speaking time of each group member is captured and displayed on a peripheral wall display, leading to an increased awareness of varying participation rates. Previous research on group mirror systems mainly focused on providing quantitative feedback such as speaking times or speaking turns. This thesis focuses on the various ways of giving qualitative feedback during co-located group work. In order to cover the wide spectrum of possible collaboration setups but still stay focused, two representative tasks are evaluated in detail, which stand for extreme positions of the whole range of applications: collaborative creativity, a more open-ended task, and collaborative argumentation, a more structured task. The contribution of this dissertation is twofold. Firstly, a design space for group mirrors is defined on a rather abstract and general level, and existing group mirrors are classified according to this design space. Secondly, for the two specific tasks, several aspects of this design space are systematically evaluated in studies using different prototypes, leading to suggestions for the design of group mirrors. To evaluate the feasibility of group mirrors for collaborative creativity, we implemented four different prototypes that support brainstorming and the Disney Method, a creativity technique that makes use of different roles (i.e., dreamer, realist and critic). We used the amount of ideas as qualitative feedback that we showed to the group. To investigate the influence of different aspects of group mirrors on collaboration, we compared several display environments in form of visualizations on table or wall and public or private display settings. Finally, we addressed the problem of the competitive nature of existing group mirrors that can lead to frustration and social pressure by proposing more cooperative concepts. Compared to collaborative creativity, argumentative debates represent a more structured task. An essential rule is to observe a particular structure of arguments. To support novices in learning how to use this structure, we built two prototypes. One system is composed of cylindrical light objects that facilitate peer feedback. We compared two versions of the light cylinders in a study in which the feedback providers either are anonymous or identifiable. A second system runs on smartphones and tablets and supports traditional debates as practiced in debate clubs by enabling a feedback loop between a jury member and the speaker. All prototypes presented in the current thesis are classified according to the design space. A synthesis of the results is presented and suggestions for adequate support in various usage scenarios are derived. With this, we provide insights into the various effects of group mirrors on collaboration and intend to offer guidance for the design of technologically mediated feedback.Die Zusammenarbeit in Gruppen ist ein essenzielles menschliches Verhalten. Menschen diskutieren und lösen Probleme miteinander, tauschen untereinander Wissen aus oder sind gemeinsam kreativ. Gruppen arbeiten allerdings nicht unbedingt erfolgreich zusammen, wenn sie auf sich selbst gestellt sind. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, technologische Möglichkeiten vorzustellen, die die Zusammenarbeit innerhalb von Gruppen fördern können. Eine dieser Möglichkeiten kleinere Gruppen darin zu unterstützen effektiver zusammenzuarbeiten, sind sogenannte Group Mirrors. Das sind Systeme, die Feedback über das Verhalten in der Gruppe geben. Ein Szenario könnte sein, dass sich Personen treffen, um Ideen zu einem bestimmten Thema zu sammeln. Ein bekanntes Beispiel eines Group Mirrors zeigt auf einem peripheren Bildschirm an, wie viel jede Person gesprochen hat, was dazu führt, dass die Gruppenmitglieder diesem Aspekt mehr Aufmerksamkeit schenken. Vorherige wissenschaftliche Arbeiten zu Group Mirror-Systemen verwendeten meist quantitatives Feedback, wie zum Beispiel die Anzeige von Redezeiten oder die Reihenfolge der Sprecher. Die hier vorgestellte Arbeit beschäftigt sich nun mit den verschiedenen Möglichkeiten, einer Gruppe qualitatives Feedback zu geben. Um ein möglichst großes Spektrum der vielen möglichen Arten von kommunikativen Gruppenprozessen zu erfassen, wurden zwei repräsentative Aufgaben gewählt, die zwei extreme Positionen abdecken, und zwar Kreativitätstechniken, die ein eher unbestimmtes Ergebnis haben, und Argumentationen, die einen strukturierteren Ansatz verfolgen. Dies soll im Wesentlichen durch zwei Beiträge erzielt werden. Zum einen wird ein eher abstrakter Design Space für die Gestaltung von Group Mirror-Systemen vorgestellt und bestehende Group Mirror-Systeme werden in diesen eingeordnet. Zum anderen werden verschiedene Aspekte dieses Design Space anhand der beiden zuvor vorgestellten Aufgaben systematisch evaluiert. Dazu wurden verschiedene Prototypen entwickelt, in Studien untersucht und Schlussfolgerungen für das Design von Group Mirror-Systemen abgeleitet. Um die Eignung von Group Mirror-Systemen zur Unterstützung von kreativem Arbeiten in der Gruppe zu analysieren, entwickelten wir vier Prototypen, zwei davon für die Kreativitätstechnik Brainstorming und zwei für die Disney Methode, die auf der Verwendung verschiedener Rollen (Träumer, Realist und Kritiker) aufbaut. Qualitatives Feedback wurde der Gruppe dabei in Form der Anzahl der generierten Ideen gegeben. Um den Einfluss verschiedener Aspekte von Group Mirror-Systemen auf die Gruppenarbeit zu untersuchen, verglichen wir mehrere Display-Umgebungen miteinander. Insbesondere wurden Visualisierungen auf horizontalen oder vertikalen Oberflächen sowie der Einfluss von öffentlichen und privaten Display-Umgebungen untersucht. Zudem betrachteten wir das Problem, dass viele Group Mirror-Systeme einen eher kompetitiven Charakter haben, der zu Frustration und sozialem Druck führen kann. Daher entwickelten wir kooperative Konzepte und verglichen diese mit den traditionellen, eher kompetitiven Ansätzen. In Bezug auf Kreativität haben argumentative Debatten eher eine strukturiertere Aufgabe. Eine der grundlegenden Regeln ist es, Argumente einer bestimmten Struktur nach aufzubauen. Wir entwickelten zwei Prototypen, die dazu beitragen sollen, dass Anfänger diese Struktur verinnerlichen. In einem Ansatz werden Lichtzylinder verwendet, die den Gruppenmitgliedern ermöglichen sich gegenseitig Feedback zu geben. In einer Studie verglichen wir zwei Versuchsanordnungen, eine, in der derjenige, der das Feedback gibt, anonym bleibt und eine, in der diese Person identifizierbar ist. Ein weiteres System wurde umgesetzt, um traditionelle Debatten, wie sie in Debattierclubs praktiziert werden, zu unterstützen. Dabei wird eine Feedbackschleife zwischen der Jury und dem Sprecher ermöglicht, die dazu ein Smartphone und ein Tablet verwenden. Alle genannten Prototypen werden schließlich in den Design Space eingeordnet und eine Synthese der vorgestellten Ergebnisse wird präsentiert. Vorschläge dafür, wie verschiedene Anwendungsszenarien unterstützt werden können, werden unterbreitet. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, damit Anhaltspunkte für die Gestaltung von technologisch vermitteltem Feedback zu geben

Creative User-Centered Visualization Design for Energy Analysts and Modelers

We enhance a user-centered design process with techniques that deliberately promote creativity to identify opportunities for the visualization of data generated by a major energy supplier. Visualization prototypes developed in this way prove effective in a situation whereby data sets are largely unknown and requirements open – enabling successful exploration of possibilities for visualization in Smart Home data analysis. The process gives rise to novel designs and design metaphors including data sculpting. It suggests: that the deliberate use of creativity techniques with data stakeholders is likely to contribute to successful, novel and effective solutions; that being explicit about creativity may contribute to designers developing creative solutions; that using creativity techniques early in the design process may result in a creative approach persisting throughout the process. The work constitutes the first systematic visualization design for a data rich source that will be increasingly important to energy suppliers and consumers as Smart Meter technology is widely deployed. It is novel in explicitly employing creativity techniques at the requirements stage of visualization design and development, paving the way for further use and study of creativity methods in visualization design