COLLAGE: a collaborative Learning Design editor based on patterns

CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) constitutes a significant field that has drawn the attention of many researchers and practitioners (Dillenbourg, 2002). This domain is characterized by the coexistence of very different expectations, requirements, knowledge and interests posed by both collaborative learning practitioners and experts in information and communication technologies. In other words, CSCL is an intrinsically interdisciplinary field that implies a need for mutual understanding among the implied stakeholders. This need demands the active participation of all these stakeholders during the whole development cycle of CSCL solutions. Participatory Design (PD) approaches (Muller & Kuhn, 1993) propose a diversity of theories, practices, etc. with the goal of working directly with users and other stakeholders in the design of social systems. That is, PD methodologies define processes where users and developers work together during a certain period of time, while they identify the requirements of an application. In the CSCL case, it has been shown that it is not efficient enough to simply perform the identification and analysis of requirements for the development of CSCL solutions that support effective ways of learning. Collaborative learning practitioners also become active players in the process of customizing technological solutions to their particular needs in every learning situation. PD poses a new requirement that CSCL developers should tackle: how to obtain technological solutions for collaborative learning capable of being particularized/customized by practitioners that usually do not have technological skills

System Orchestration Support for a Collaborative Blended Learning Flow

Portable and interactive technologies are changing the nature of collaborative learning practices and open up new possibilities for Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). Now, activities occurring in and beyond the classroom can be combined and integrated leading to a new type of complex collaborative blended learning scenarios. However, to organize and structure these scenarios is challenging and represent a workload for practitioners, which hinder the adoption of these technology-enhanced practices. As an approach to alleviate this workload, this paper proposes a proof of concept of a technological solution to overcome the limitations detected in an analysis of an actual collaborative blended learning experiment carried out in a previous study. The solution consists on a Unit of Learning suitable to be instantiated with IMS Learning Design and complemented by a GenericService Integration system. This chapter also discusses to which extent the proposed solution covers the limitations detected in the previous study and how useful could be for reducing the orchestration effort in future experiences.This work has been partially funded by the Project Learn3 (TIN2008- 05163/TSI) from the Plan Nacional I+D+I and "Investigación y Desarrollo de Tecnologías para el e-Learning en la Comunidad de Madrid” funded by the Madrid Regional Government under grant No. S2009/TIC-1650

PeerPigeon: A Web Application to Support Generalised Peer Review

Peer Review (also known as Peer Assessment) is an important technique in learning, but can be difficult to support through e-learning due to the complexity and variety of peer review processes. In this paper we present PeerPigeon, a Web 2.0 style application that supports generalised Peer Review by using a canonical model of Peer Review based on a Peer Review Pattern consisting of Peer Review Cycles, each defined in terms of Peer Review Transforms. We also demonstrate how PeerPigeon makes use of a Domain Specific Language based on Ruby to define these plans, and thus cope with the irreducible complexity of the flow of documents around a peer network

S-COL: A Copernican turn for the development of flexibly reusable collaboration scripts

Collaboration scripts are usually implemented as parts of a particular collaborative-learning platform. Therefore, scripts of demonstrated effectiveness are hardly used with learning platforms at other sites, and replication studies are rare. The approach of a platform-independent description language for scripts that allows for easy implementation of the same script on different platforms has not succeeded yet in making the transfer of scripts feasible. We present an alternative solution that treats the problem as a special case of providing support on top of diverse Web pages: In this case, the challenge is to trigger support based on the recognition of a Web page as belonging to a specific type of functionally equivalent pages such as the search query form or the results page of a search engine. The solution suggested has been implemented by means of a tool called S-COL (Scripting for Collaborative Online Learning) and allows for the sustainable development of scripts and scaffolds that can be used with a broad variety of content and platforms. The tool’s functions are described. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and ease of script reuse with S-COL, we describe the flexible re-implementation of a collaboration script for argumentation in S-COL and its adaptation to different learning platforms. To demonstrate that a collaboration script implemented in S-COL can actually foster learning, an empirical study about the effects of a specific script for collaborative online search on learning activities is presented. The further potentials and the limitations of the S-COL approach are discussed

InstanceCollage: a tool for the particularization of collaborative IMS-LD scripts

Current research work in e-learning and more specifically in the field of CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) deals with design of collaborative activities, according to computer-interpretable specifications, such as IMS Learning Design, and their posterior enactment using LMSs (Learning Management Systems). A script that describes such collaborative activities is typically designed beforehand in order to structure collaboration, and defines the features that determine the behavior of the LMS, for instance, the sequence of activities or the groups/role distribution. In CSCL settings, group management and composition are especially relevant and affect the chances of achieving the expected learning outcomes. This paper presents a software tool, named InstanceCollage, which aims at facilitating the configuration and population of groups for IMS-LD scripts created with the authoring tool Collage, and discusses the implications of the IMS-LD specification with respect to this task. InstanceCollage is designed to process collaboration scripts based on CLFPs (Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns). Using this type of patterns, InstanceCollage focuses on the importance of understanding the function of groups within the learning strategy of the script. This paper describes the approach taken in InstanceCollage to facilitate this understanding for non-expert users. Additionally, two case studies are presented, which represent complex authentic collaborative learning scenarios, as a proof of concept of the functionality of this tool. The case studies are also used to illustrate the requirements of group configuration tools and to show that InstanceCollage complies to such requirements

Representing CSCL macro-scripts using IMS LD lessons learned

Extended version of Hernández-Leo, D., Burgos, D., Tattersall, C., Koper, R. Representing Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning macro-scripts using IMS Learning Design Proceedings of the Second European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, CEUR Workshop Proceedings, EC-TEL'07, Crete, Greece, September 2007.This paper analyses how CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) macro-scripts can be implemented using IMS Learning Design (LD). CSCL macro-scripts are machine-readable collaboration scripts that structure the activities making up a learning process. In order to support a systematic analysis of the problem, we point out the requirements of CSCL macro-scripts for their representation using LD. These requirements include common collaborative learning mechanisms (group composition, role and resource distribution and coordination) and flexibility demands (such as flexible group composition). Each of these needs is described and illustrated by means of two examples proposed in the literature and which reflect the identified requirements well: Universanté and ArgueGraph Scripts. These scripts are used in the article to expose and exemplify the realization of the requirements using LD. The problem is approached from two angles – that of the LD notation itself and also from related tools and specifications. The paper positions related work and discusses the possibility of generalizing the lessons learned to the representation of CSCL micro-scripts

Towards Flexibility on IMS Learning Design Scripts

Proocedings of: 41st Annual Frontiers in Education Conference: Celebrating 41 Years of Monumental Innovations from Around the World (FIE 2011). Rapy City, South Dakota, October 12–15, 2011.IMS Learning Design is considered by many authors the "de facto" standard in educational modeling languages. The versatility of the framework enables its use in very different situations. However, such versatile framework is usually hidden by its complex management. One handicap identified in practical experiences is the lack of flexibility of scripted courses during the enactment phase. The activity sequence and learning resources are rigidly defined during authoring. This fact makes difficult to react to unexpected events that may happen in live courses. Also, this rigidness does not allow instructors to give "their personal touch" to courses. This paper presents the improvements made on GRAIL - an IMS LD compliant player-aimed at the support of a flexible enactment phase. Two types of modifications are considered: the modification of the learning flow and the management of course content with a wiki engine. Finally, this paper discusses how the integration of third party services in the activity sequence relaxes the rigidness of scripted learning flows. Experiences deployed in real scenarios allowed analyzing how such integration offered flexibility in practical situations.Work partially funded by the project “eMadrid: Investigación y desarrollo de tecnologías para el elearning en la Comunidad de Madrid” (S2009/TIC-1650) and the Spanish project “Learn3: Towards Learning of the Third Kind” (TIN2008-05163/TSI).Publicad

Learning design Rashomon II: exploring one lesson through multiple tools

International audienceAn increasing number of tools are available to support the learning design process at different levels and from different perspectives. However, this variety can make it difficult for researchers and teachers to assess the tool that is best suited to their objectives and contexts as learning designers. Several of the tools are presented elsewhere in this issue. In this article, the aforementioned tools are used as lenses to view the same learning design narrative - an inquiry-based learning lesson on healthy eating aimed at secondary-school students - from different perspectives, in a manner inspired by the plot structure of Kurosawa's film "Rashomon". In modelling the lesson on five tools, we uncovered similarities and differences in relation to the challenges posed by modelling a particular learning scenario, the ease of implementation of the computer-interpretable products' output by the tools and their different target audiences and pedagogical specialities. This comparative analysis thus illustrates some of the current underlying issues and challenges in the field of Learning Design

A Pedagogical Application Framework for Synchronous Collaboration

Designing successful collaborative learning activities is a new focus of research within the E-Learning community. The social dimension inside the traditional face-to-face collaborative learning is important and must be included in the online learning designs. In this thesis, we introduce the concept of Pedagogical Application Frameworks, and describe Beehive, a pedagogical application framework for synchronous collaborative learning. Beehive guides teachers in reusing online collaborative learning activities based on well-known pedagogical designs, to accomplish their educational objectives within a certain educational setting, and also simplifies the development of new pedagogical collaboration designs. Beehive’s conceptual model has four abstraction layers: Pedagogical Techniques, Collaboration Task patterns, CSCL Components, and CSCL script. By following the framework’s guidelines and specifications, developers will place the control of designing pedagogical collaboration tools in the teacher’s hand rather than in the software designer’s