Seamless support for lifelong learning with ubiquitous technology

This poster presents 3 years research on how to provide support for lifelong learners with mobile technology. The aim of this research is facilitating adapted feedback services to foster self-regulation in adult lifelong learners

Show me the way: proximity layered feedback services in smart cities

The advent of Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) technology and its native implementation within the main smartphone manufacturers is ac- celerating the integration of these sensors in smart cities. Bluetooth LE beacons are being novelty used to provide proximity-adapted feedback in the field of shopping, access control, and home entertainment. However, the potential of this technology for learning purposes is unexplored. This manuscript gives an overview of previous work where proximity and feedback have been tackled. The proximity layered feedback model is presented as an approach to provide suitable ambient feedback services in smart learning cities. An ecology of pilots is described as an instantiation of this model in potential learning scenarios to stimulate discussion. Finally, further research is introduced

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

Stop and think: Exploring mobile notifications to foster reflective practice on meta-learning

Nowadays, smartphone users are constantly receiving notifications from applications that provide feedback, as reminders, recommendations or announcements. Nevertheless, there is little research on the effects of mobile notifications to foster meta-learning. This paper explores the effectiveness of mobile notifications to foster reflection on meta-learning by presenting the results of two studies: 1) a formative study with 37 secondary school students offering a daily reflection and reporting exercise about their learning experience during the day; 2) an experiment involving 60 adults to read an eBook on energy-efficient driving for one hour. During that time the participants received mobile notifications inviting them to reflect in-action. On the one hand, the results from the first study show that students do not have a habit to see themselves as learners and to develop a "professional" awareness about their daily activity at work/school. On the other hand, the second study explores the effects of different notification types on knowledge gain and motivation. Results envision a higher knowledge gain and motivation for the group assigned with the least complex interactions with mobile devices during the reflection exercise. Finally, these results are discussed and important research questions for future research on mobile notifications are raised

Autoría de aplicaciones móviles para el análisis de datos

La incorporación de aplicaciones móviles en diversos entornos genera una gran cantidad de información resultante de la interacción de los usuarios con estas aplicaciones. El análisis de esta información puede ser de gran utilidad para el profesional, ya que le puede facilitar la toma de decisiones o la valoración del proceso que esté aplicando, permitiendo mejorar los resultados o detectar determinados patrones. La información recogida se puede definir siguiendo una serie de características: por un lado contiene una gran cantidad de datos, los cuales deben ser almacenados, por otro lado, requiere velocidad en su procesamiento debido al ritmo en el que se recibe y el número de aplicaciones que pueden enviar esta información de forma simultánea. Finalmente, puede contener una gran variedad de datos, ya que desde una misma aplicación es posible capturar diferentes tipos de situaciones (número de veces que se ha pulsado un determinado botón, número de tiempo invertido para responder una determinada cuestión, etc.). El análisis de esta información es posible haciendo uso de tecnologías Big Data, ya que permite interpretar información con las características anteriormente mencionadas, convirtiéndola en información útil, procesando esta información con gran velocidad y además, permitiendo la variedad de estos datos. No obstante, el desarrollo de aplicaciones móviles que sean capaces de incorporar estas capacidades no es trivial para un usuario que no posea conocimientos adecuados de programación. En este trabajo, se propone una extensión para un entorno de autoría de aplicaciones basado en MIT App Inventor 2 que proporciona a los usuarios un conjunto de herramientas para capturar, procesar y presentar los resultados obtenidos. Finalmente, estas herramientas se evaluarán mediante el desarrollo de una aplicación móvil en la que se realiza el análisis de la información emitida por cada uno de los sensores de un dispositivo BCI, además de la realización de una evaluación de usabilidad en la que se analizarán las opiniones recogidas.118 páginas

Mobile authoring of open educational resources for authentic learning scenarios

The proliferation of smartphones in the last decade and the number of publications in the field of authoring systems for computer-assisted learning depict a scenario that needs to be explored in order to facilitate the scaffolding of learning activities across contexts. Learning resources are traditionally designed in desktop-based authoring systems where the context is mostly restricted to the learning objective, capturing relevant case characteristics, or virtual situation models. Mobile authoring tools enable learners and teachers to foster universal access to educational resources not only providing channels to share, remix or re-contextualize these, but also capturing the context in-situ and in-time. As a further matter, authoring educational resources in a mobile context is an authentic experience where authors can link learning with their own daily life activities and reflections. The contribution of this manuscript is fourfold: first, the main barriers for ubiquitous and mobile authoring of educational resources are identified; second, recent research on mobile authoring tools is reviewed, and 10 key shortcomings of current approaches are identified; third, the design of a mobile environment to author educational resources (MAT for ARLearn) is presented, and the results of an evaluation of usability and hedonic quality are presented; fourth, conclusions and a research agenda for mobile authoring are discussed

Ubiquitous Technology for Lifelong Learners

Nowadays, most people change their career throughout their lives, many times independently on what they learned during their formal education period. Therefore, the necessity to continually keep our skills sharp and up-to-date becomes increasingly important in a rapidly changing job market. The European Commission stressed the importance of lifelong learning as a key challenge for the knowledge society to adapt to the pace in which digital technology is transforming every aspect of people’s lives. Later on, the Commission published a reference framework comprising eight competences to flexibly adapt to a rapidly changing and highly interconnected world. In this thesis, we aim at supporting learners to understand the way they can better learn in-context using technology, therefore we focus on two specific competences, namely, learning to learn and digital competence

Using Educational Applications on tablets to Support Science Learning Among First-Grade Saudi Primary School Children

Multi-touch tablets and educational apps provide young learners with opportunities to support science learning, rarely offered by traditional science teaching methods such as the chalk and talk method, which is heavily employed in Saudi schools. In many developed countries such as United States and Canada the use of tablets in classrooms has increased when compared with other mobile devices due to the educational advantages of tablets’ unique affordances (Fritschi & Wolf, 2012). To date, research conducted on using tablets as educational tools and the potential of educational apps, especially with reference to science learning among children, is insufficient. The aim of this research therefore, was to explore the role of educational apps on tablets’ potential to support science learning and engagement among first-grade Saudi children, as well as to investigate the challenges encountered in implementing mobile learning to support science education. To fulfil this aim, I designed and carried out an interpretative study in a first-grade class in a private school in Riyadh, the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I employed a qualitative approach to obtain deep and extensive understanding of mobile learning. I adopted social-constructivist theory to underpin my study. To collect data, I utilized semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. The current study involved 17 female students between 6 and 7 years old. The data was examined by inductive thematic analysis. The findings indicated that these young learners’ experiences of learning using educational and gamified apps was both personally enjoyable and meaningful. It highly engaged them emotionally and cognitively. Furthermore, social interactions between peers regarding apps’ contents and activities scaffolded their science learning and constructed their personal understanding. Also, these findings suggest that animations and multimodal apps provided children with unique learning experiences regarding abstract scientific concepts and assisted them in gaining new knowledge. Mobile apps afforded the children scaffolds and challenges in proper balance, which maintained their motivation, helped them solve problems, and promoted persistence and risk-taking. The findings of this thesis will provide science teachers, policymakers, researchers, and app developers with an understanding of the potential impact of tablets’ affordances and apps’ educational advantages in supporting and facilitating science learning and their roles in encouraging engagement and scaffolding. Which might encourage science teachers to change the traditional methods that they use in teaching science and employ mobile learning and other modern methods