New Educational Challenges and Innovations: Students with Disability in Immersive Learning Environments

In today society, one of the most demanded challenges faced by the current educational system is the educational response to diversity in the various educational contexts. University lecturers are opening new lines of research focused on issues as social demand and current reality of produced new learning environments. The general aim of this study was to design learning environments using immersive virtual reality and evaluate improvements produced by this tool in relation to the difficulties show by the participants. From that point, an action plan was created to recreate school situations with a high degree of realism and interaction using IVRSystem. In this way, we want to obtain answers according to the dysfunctions of educational system to work with these students. This was done by a mixed design. On the one hand, a quasi-experimental methodology was used with a control group and an experimental group. On the other hand, direct and observation and applicative methodology made possible the development of educational intervention in immersive learning environments. The results obtained throughout these years have given a response to the initial problem-question raised: Can immersive virtual learning environments serve as a support tool for working disabilities of students, which have a visual learning style, such as students with autism spectrum disorders

The role of social networks in students’ learning experiences

The aim of this research is to investigate the role of social networks in computer science education. The Internet shows great potential for enhancing collaboration between people and the role of social software has become increasingly relevant in recent years. This research focuses on analyzing the role that social networks play in students’ learning experiences. The construction of students’ social networks, the evolution of these networks, and their effects on the students’ learning experience in a university environment are examined

Distance and virtual distance: Preliminary results of a study of interaction patterns in synchronous audio graphic CMC and face-to-face tutorials in beginners’ language tutorials

This paper presents preliminary results of a larger study of interaction patterns in beginners’ language tutorials held at the Open University. The tutorials are voluntary, supplementing a distance learning course in German as a Foreign Language. Tutorials are offered in two versions: traditional face-to-face tutorials in a classroom or online tutorials held through an internet based audio-graphic conferencing system. Interaction patterns are compared between the two modes of presentation, between different tasks performed by students and between different tutors initiating the same task. Results of the completed study will be published in 2005 / 06

Multimodal interactive e-learning: An empirical study. An experimental study that investigates the effect of multimodal metaphors on the usability of e-learning interfaces and the production of empirically derived guidelines for the use of these metaphors in the software engineering process.

This thesis investigated the use of novel combinations of multimodal metaphors in the presentation of learning information to evaluate the effect of these combinations on the usability of e-learning interfaces and on the users¿ learning performance. The empirical research described in this thesis comprised three experimental phases. In the first phase, an initial experiment was carried out with 30 users to explore and compare the usability and learning performance of facially animated expressive avatars with earcons and speech, and text with graphics metaphors. The second experimental phase involved an experiment conducted with 48 users to investigate their perception of avatar¿s facial expressions and body gestures when presented in both the absence and presence of interactive e-learning context. In addition, the experiment aimed at evaluating the role that an avatar could play as virtual lecturer in e-learning interfaces by comparing the usability and learning performance of three different modes of interaction: speaking facially expressive virtual lecturer, speaking facially expressive full-body animated virtual lecturer, and two speaking facially expressive virtual lecturers. In the third phase, a total of 24 users experimentally examined a novel approach for the use of earcons and auditory icons in e-learning interfaces to support an animated facially expressive avatar with body gestures during the presentation of the learning material. The obtained results demonstrated the usefulness of the tested metaphors to enhance e-learning usability and to enable users to attain better learning performance. These results provided a set of empirically derived innovative guidelines for the design and use of these metaphors to generate more usable e-learning interfaces. For example, when designing avatars as animated virtual lecturers in e-learning interfaces, specific facial expression and body gestures should be incorporated due to its positive influence in enhancing learners¿ attitude towards the learning process

The webcam and student engagement in synchronous online learning: visually or verbally?

Given that video conferencing serves as a crucial means for remote teaching, the current study investigated higher education students’ (non)use of webcams and engagement in synchronous online courses. Three phases were studied: (1) A state of engagement; (2) antecedents that influence it; and (3) consequences of engagement. The cross-sectional online survey encompassed 3,610 students. Results indicated that visual and verbal engagement were only slightly related to each other. Structural equation modelling revealed different direct and indirect influences on either visual or verbal engagement in synchronous online higher education courses. Due to the novelty of the research scope, results of this study provide a foundation for further investigation

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VIRTUAL PEER MENTORING IN MICRO TEACHING CLASSES

This study aims to explore the implementation of virtual peer mentoring in Micro Teaching classes and to identify common teaching aspects assessed by peer observers. Employing an online observation form and focus group discussion, data were collected to address the research questions. The participants were 59 English language education students enrolled in three classes of Micro Teaching. Every student was assigned to do an observation on their peer teacher and give feedback to their performance. At the end of the semester, nine student teachers, representing the three Micro Teaching classes, were invited to a forum group discussion. The current research findings suggest that peer virtual peer mentoring is perceived positively by the participants. Breakout rooms in Zoom platform is a useful tool to give them more personal interactions, especially when sharing the result of observation. Even though giving feedback virtually is a challenge for the student teachers, they appear to see the activity as a valuable process. When observing and commenting on their peer teachers, they also do self-evaluation and reflection. Their peer teaching performance is a way to assess their own performance. Furthermore, other findings reveal common teaching aspects observed, namely linguistic aspects, pedagogical skills, and communication skills

An approach to develop intelligent learning environments by means of immersive virtual worlds

Merging Immersive Virtual Environments, Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence techniques provides a number of advantages to develop Intelligent Environments for multiple applications. This paper is focused on the application of these technologies to develop intelligent learning environments. Education is one of the most interesting applications of immersive virtual environments, as their flexibility can be exploited in order to create heterogeneous groups from all over the world who can collaborate synchronously in different virtual spaces. We highlight the potential of virtual worlds as an educative tool and propose a model to create learning environments within Second Life or OpenSimulator combining the Moodle learning management system, embodied conversational metabots, and programmable 3D objects. Our proposal has been applied in several subjects of the Computer Science degree in the Carlos III University of Madrid. The results of the evaluation show that developed learning environment fosters engagement and collaboration and helps students to better understand complex concepts.This work was supported in part by Projects MINECO TEC2012-37832-C02-01, CICYT TEC2011-28626-C02-02, CAM CONTEXTS (S2009/TIC-1485).Publicad

An approach to develop intelligent learning environments by means of immersive virtual worlds

Merging Immersive Virtual Environments, Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence techniques provides a number of advantages to develop Intelligent Environments for multiple applications. This paper is focused on the application of these technologies to develop intelligent learning environments. Education is one of the most interesting applications of immersive virtual environments, as their flexibility can be exploited in order to create heterogeneous groups from all over the world who can collaborate synchronously in different virtual spaces. We highlight the potential of virtual worlds as an educative tool and propose a model to create learning environments within Second Life or OpenSimulator combining the Moodle learning management system, embodied conversational metabots, and programmable 3D objects. Our proposal has been applied in several subjects of the Computer Science degree in the Carlos III University of Madrid. The results of the evaluation show that developed learning environment fosters engagement and collaboration and helps students to better understand complex concepts.Spanish Government TEC2012-37832-C02-01Consejo Interinstitucional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CICYT) TEC2011-28626-C02-02Project CAM CONTEXTS S2009/TIC-148