"Tap it again, Sam": Harmonizing the frontiers between digital and real worlds in education

Lifelong leaners are intrinsically motivated to embed learning activities into daily life activities. Finding a suitable combination of the two is not trivial since lifelong learners have to face conflicts of time and location. Hence, lifelong learners normally build personal learning ecologies in those moments they set aside to learn making use of their available resources. On the other hand, the advent of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology facilitates the harmonization in the interactions between the digital world and daily physical spaces. Likewise, NFC enabled phones are becoming more and more popular. The contribution of this manuscript is threefold: first, scientific literature where NFC has been used with a direct or indirect purpose to learn is reviewed, and potential uses for lifelong learners are identified; based on these findings the Ecology of Resources for Lifelong Learning is presented as suitable setup for the scaffolding of learning activities with NFC augmented physical spaces; finally, this ecology is piloted and different learning scenarios are proposed for further extension

Tap it again, Sam: Harmonizing personal environments towards lifelong learning

The increasing number of mobile vendors releas- ing NFC-enabled devices to the market and their prominent adoption has moved this technology from a niche product to a product with a large market-share. NFC facilitates natural interactions between digital world and physical learning environments. The scaffolding of learning ecologies is a key aspect for lifelong learners in their challenge to integrate learning activities into busy daily life. The contribution of this manuscript is twofold: first, a review of scientific litera- ture in which NFC has been used with a direct or indirect purpose to learn is presented, and potential uses for learners are classified according to their type of interaction; based on these findings the NFC MediaPlayer is presented as an instantiation of an ecology of resources (EoR) in a lifelong learning context. Finally, shortcomings and best practices are highlighted in the conclusions, and future work is discussed

Enriching e-learning metadata through digital library usage analysis

Purpose: In this paper we propose an evaluation framework for analyzing learning objects usage, with the aim of extracting useful information for improving the quality of the metadata used to describe the learning objects, but also for personalization purposes, including user models and adaptive itineraries. Methodology: We present experimental results from the log usage analysis during one academic semester of two different subjects, 350 students. The experiment looks into raw server log data generated from the interactions of the students with the classroom learning objects, in order to find relevant information that can be used to improve the metadata used for describing both the learning objects and the learning process. Findings: Preliminary studies have been carried out in order to obtain an initial picture of the interactions between learners and the virtual campus, including both services and resources usage. These studies try to establish elationships between user profiles and their information and navigational behavior in the virtual campus, with the aim of promoting personalization and improving the understanding of what learning in virtual environments means. Research limitations: During the formal learning process, students use learning resources from the virtual classroom provided by the academic library, but they also search for information outside the virtual campus. Not all of these usage data are considered in the model we propose. Further research needs to be done in order to get a complete view of the information search behavior of students for improving the users’ profile and creating better personalized services. Practical implications: In this paper we suggest how a selection of fields used in the LOM standard could be used for enriching the description of learning objects, automatically in some cases, from the learning objects usage performed by an academic community. Originality: Ever since the beginnings of libraries, they have been a “quiet storage place”. With the development of digital libraries, they become a meeting place where explicit and implicit recommendations about information sources can be shared among users. Social and learning process interactions, therefore, can be considered another knowledge source

Dimensions of Mobile Augmented Reality for Learning: A First Inventory

Specht, M., Ternier, S., & Greller, W. (2011). Dimensions of Mobile Augmented Reality for Learning: A First Inventory. Journal of the Research for Educational Technology (RCET), 7(1), 117-127. Spring 2011.This article discusses technological developments and applications of mobile augmented reality (AR) and their application in learning. Augmented reality interaction design patterns are introduced and educational patterns for supporting certain learning objectives with AR approaches are discussed. The article then identifies several dimensions of a user context identified with sensors contained in mobile devices and used for the contextualization of learning experiences. Finally, an AR game concept, “Locatory”, is presented that combines a game logic with collaborative game play and personalized mobile augmented reality visualization

The genesis and development of mobile learning in Europe

In the past two decades, European researchers have conducted many significant mobile learning projects. The chapter explores how these projects have arisen and what each one has contributed, so as to show the driving forces and outcomes of European innovation in mobile learning. The authors identify context as a central construct in European researchers’ conceptualizations of mobile learning and examine theories of learning for the mobile world, based on physical, technological, conceptual, social and temporal mobility. The authors also examine the impacts of mobile learning research on educational practices and the implications for policy. Finally, they suggest future challenges for researchers, developers and policy makers in shaping the future of mobile learning

Mobile Augmented Reality for Learning

Specht, M. (2012, April). Augmented Reality for Learning. Technical report for workshop at eLearning congress 2012. 's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.Until recently, augmented reality (AR) applications were mostly available for powerful workstations and high power personal computers. The introduction of augmented reality applications to smartphones enabled new and mobile AR experiences for everyday users. Because of the increasing pervasion of smartphones, AR is set to become a ubiquitous commodity for leisure and mobile learning. With this ubiquitous availability, mobile AR allows to devise and design innovative learning scenarios in real world settings. This carries much promise for enhanced learning experiences in situated learning. In the present article, we will look at different dimensions of mobile AR and exemplify their potential for education. At the end, we want to report on a short experiment that we conducted, called Locatory. It exceeds the current state of art for common mobile AR applications by introducing interactive and collaborative elements as well as gaming mechanisms

Emerging technologies for learning (volume 1)

Collection of 5 articles on emerging technologies and trend