31,332 research outputs found
Multi-User Virtual Environments Fostering Collaboration in Formal Education
This paper is about how serious games based on MUVEs in formal education can foster collaboration. More specifically, it is about a large case-study with 4 different programs which took place from 2002 to 2009 and involved more than 9,000 students, aged between 12 and 18, from various nations (18 European countries, Israel and the USA). These programs proved highly effective into fostering a number of transversal skills, among which collaboration (both remote and in presence), stood out as prominent.
The paper will introduce the four programs, the way they were designed to foster collaboration and the data on their impact. Overall, the conclusion is that a technology-based educational experience can be successful only if technology is seen as a âmediatorâ and all the activities that go with it are carefully designed in view of the educational goal and taking into consideration the whole context into which the experience will be embedded. This means that designers of technology-based educational experiences must be ready to make changes and adjustments according to how the experience (which can be compared to a living âcreatureâ) thrives and reacts to the âenvironmentâ (the school, the teachers, the studentsâŠ) in a sort of âevolutionaryâ life cycle quite different from an engineered blue-print
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A literature review of the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education
This review focuses on the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education. It provides a synthesis of the research literature in the field and a series of illustrative examples of how these tools are being used in learning and teaching. It draws out the perceived benefits that these new technologies appear to offer, and highlights some of the challenges and issues surrounding their use. The review forms the basis for a HE Academy funded project, âPeals in the Cloudâ, which is exploring how Web 2.0 tools can be used to support evidence-based practices in learning and teaching. The project has also produced two in-depth case studies, which are reported elsewhere (Galley et al., 2010, Alevizou et al., 2010). The case studies focus on evaluation of a recently developed site for learning and teaching, Cloudworks, which harnesses Web 2.0 functionality to facilitate the sharing and discussion of educational practice. The case studies aim to explore to what extent the Web 2.0 affordances of the site are successfully promoting the sharing of ideas, as well as scholarly reflections, on learning and teaching
Collaborative pedagogy and digital scholarship: a case study of 'Media Culture 2020'
This paper presents an educational case study of âMedia Culture 2020â, an EU Erasmus
Intensive Programme that utilised a range social media platforms and computer software
to create open, virtual spaces where students from different countries and fields could
explore and learn together. The multi-disciplinary project featured five universities from
across Europe and was designed to develop new pedagogical frameworks to encourage
collaborative approaches to teaching and learning in the arts. The main objective of
the project was to break down classroom and campus walls by creating digital learning
environments that facilitated new forms of production, transmission and representation of
knowledge. Media Culture 2020 was designed to pilot a novel mode of âblended learningâ,
demonstrating a number of ways in which âWeb 2.0â networked technologies might be
adopted by academics to encourage open and collaborative modes of practice. The project
utilised a number of social media platforms (including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Google
Hangout, Google Docs and Blogger) to enhance the learning experiences of a diverse set
of students from different cultural and international contexts. In doing so, Media Culture
2020 enabled participants with a diverse range skills and cultural experiences to develop
new working practices that respond to the convergence of digital media and art, as well
as the internationalisation of media production and business, through the use of open,
interactive software
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What would learning in an open world look like? A vision for the future
The pace of current technological advancement is phenomenal. In the last few years we have seen the emergence of ever more sophisticated gaming technologies, rich, immersive virtual worlds and new social networking services that enable learners and teachers to connect and communicate in new ways. The pace of change looks set to continue as annual Horizon reports testify (http://www.nmc.org/horizon). Clearly new technologies offer much in an educational context, with the promise of flexible, personalised and student-centred learning. Indeed research over the past few years, looking at learners' use of technologies, has given us a rich picture of how learners of all ages are appropriating new tools within their own context, mixing different applications for finding/managing information and for communicating with others (Sharpe and Beetham, forthcoming)
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