Digital technologies in support of students learning in Higher Education: literature review

Digital technologies are an integral part of Higher Education teaching, revealing a set of technologies chosen to integrate formal learning contexts, and therefore being used by students in support of learning. This paper presents a literature review mapping the digital technologies set for higher education students to use in formal education contexts, over the last five years between 2012 and 2017. Results show a pattern of technologies reflecting teacher’s choice for methods combining face-to-face and at distance learning, frequently in relation to the adoption of flipped classroom methods. Mapping the digital technologies used by students, showed a pattern of three most used in a total of nine types identified. Institutional Learning Management Systems mainly support a wider access to information and learning materials, followed by technologies that promote publishing and sharing content related to class activities, and a broad range of technologies categorized under ICTs. The overall impact of use of technologies in students learning process and outcomes revealed to be positive, used with the intention to promote students’ active engagement and participation in the learning process inside and outside the classroom walls. The data also revealed digital technologies to support more transmissive ways of teaching, facilitating students individually to Access, share and publish information, and significantly lesser used to promote collaborative and cooperative learning

O impacto de uma aplicação mobile no ensino da história para alunos do ensino secundário

O crescimento e difusão da informação, do conhecimento e das tecnologias permite que a sociedade esteja em constante comunicação. A acessibilidade aos recursos tecnológicos viabiliza a utilização de tecnologia por parte dos alunos, regularmente, no seu dia-a-dia. Consequentemente, a atenção e motivação dos alunos em contexto de sala de aula e o seu desempenho decresceu, pelo que origina a necessidade de os professores reformularem o método educativo para que motive e mantenha o interesse dos alunos. A problemática do presente estudo derivou do baixo desempenho dos alunos do ensino secundário na disciplina de História, a qual pretende-se analisar se uma aplicação gamificada melhora a aprendizagem. Realizou-se um questionário qualitativo de respostas abertas que possibilitou analisar os requisitos que os alunos consideram relevante na aprendizagem (Consultar Resumos, Realização de Testes, Facilitar a Aprendizagem e Avaliar o progresso do aluno) e permitiu modelar e desenvolver uma aplicação mobile com elementos de jogos que visa auxiliar e melhorar o processo de aprendizagem de História. O protótipo foi testado por alunos do ensino secundário de forma a observar em que medida uma aplicação mobile gamificada pode melhorar o estudo de História. A análise dos resultados do protótipo desenvolvido evidencia que a maioria dos alunos utilizaria o protótipo para auxiliar o estudo, pois torna-o mais divertido e estimulante. O uso de tecnologia na educação motiva os alunos e permite agilizar a aprendizagem. Futuramente, poderemos investigar qual o impacto de uma aplicação mobile gamificada noutros níveis de ensino e noutras disciplinas.The growth and diffusion of information, knowledge and technologies allows society to be in constant communication. The accessibility to technological resources makes it possible for students to use technology regularly in their daily lives. Consequently, the attention and motivation of students in the classroom and their performance has decreased, which leads to the need for teachers to reformulate the educational method so that it motivates and maintains the interest of students. The problematic of the present study was originated due to the low performance of secondary school students in the subject of History, as it aimed to analyze if an application gamified strength and improve the learning. A qualitative survey with open questions was carried out to analyze the requirements that students consider relevant in learning (Consult Summary, Testing, Facilitate Learning and Evaluate Student Progress) and enabled to model and develop a mobile application with game elements that aims to assist and improve the process of learning History. The prototype was tested by high school students in order to observe to what extent a gamified mobile application can improve the study of History. The analysis of the results of the developed prototype evidences that most students would use this solution to help the study, since it makes it more fun and stimulating. The use of technology in education motivates students and allows them to improve the learning. In the future, we will be able to investigate the impact of a mobile application gamified in other education levels and other subjects

Challenges for engineering students working with authentic complex problems

Engineers are important participants in solving societal, environmental and technical problems. However, due to an increasing complexity in relation to these problems new interdisciplinary competences are needed in engineering. Instead of students working with monodisciplinary problems, a situation where students work with authentic complex problems in interdisciplinary teams together with a company may scaffold development of new competences. The question is: What are the challenges for students structuring the work on authentic interdisciplinary problems? This study explores a three-day event where 7 students from Aalborg University (AAU) from four different faculties and one student from University College North Denmark (UCN), (6th-10th semester), worked in two groups at a large Danish company, solving authentic complex problems. The event was structured as a Hackathon where the students for three days worked with problem identification, problem analysis and finalizing with a pitch competition presenting their findings. During the event the students had workshops to support the work and they had the opportunity to use employees from the company as facilitators. It was an extracurricular activity during the summer holiday season. The methodology used for data collection was qualitative both in terms of observations and participants’ reflection reports. The students were observed during the whole event. Findings from this part of a larger study indicated, that students experience inability to transfer and transform project competences from their previous disciplinary experiences to an interdisciplinary setting

Exploring the practical use of a collaborative robot for academic purposes

This article presents a set of experiences related to the setup and exploration of potential educational uses of a collaborative robot (cobot). The basic principles that have guided the work carried out have been three. First and foremost, study of all the functionalities offered by the robot and exploration of its potential academic uses both in subjects focused on industrial robotics and in subjects of related disciplines (automation, communications, computer vision). Second, achieve the total integration of the cobot at the laboratory, seeking not only independent uses of it but also seeking for applications (laboratory practices) in which the cobot interacts with some of the other devices already existing at the laboratory (other industrial robots and a flexible manufacturing system). Third, reuse of some available components and minimization of the number and associated cost of required new components. The experiences, carried out following a project-based learning methodology under the framework of bachelor and master subjects and thesis, have focused on the integration of mechanical, electronic and programming aspects in new design solutions (end effector, cooperative workspace, artificial vision system integration) and case studies (advanced task programming, cybersecure communication, remote access). These experiences have consolidated the students' acquisition of skills in the transition to professional life by having the close collaboration of the university faculty with the experts of the robotics company.Postprint (published version