Methods and models of next generation technology enhanced learning - White Paper

Our understanding of learning with technology is increasingly lagging behind technological advancements, such that it is no longer possible to fully understand learning with technologies without bringing together evidence from practice-based experiences and theoretical insight to inform research, design, policy and practice. Furthermore, whilst practical experiences and theoretical insights make significant contributions towards understanding learning with new technologies, the dynamic nature of learner practices and study contexts make it difficult to predict future requirements in terms of methods and models for next generation technology enhanced learning. We therefore require formal and comprehensive methods and models of learning with technology that accommodate theory and practice whilst allowing us to anticipate methodological innovations that capture future transitions and changes in learner practices and study contexts, in order to inform research, design, policy and practice. Workshop participants represented different communities of interest including research, design, evaluation and assessment. The overall objective was to anticipate methodological innovations in technology enhanced learning research and design over the next 5/10 years

How can exploratory learning with games and simulations within the curriculum be most effectively evaluated?

There have been few attempts to introduce frameworks that can help support tutors evaluate educational games and simulations that can be most effective in their particular learning context and subject area. The lack of a dedicated framework has produced a significant impediment for uptake of games and simulations particularly in formal learning contexts. This paper aims to address this shortcoming by introducing a four-dimensional framework for helping tutors to evaluate the potential of using games- and simulation- based learning in their practice, and to support more critical approaches to this form of games and simulations. The four-dimensional framework is applied to two examples from practice to test its efficacy and structure critical reflection upon practice

Building Systemic Practice Into Evaluation Of Knowledge Management Tools

In the absence of any truly systemic approach to IS evaluation, an approach to evaluation of knowledge management tools is described. This uses co-operative inquiry as a participatory action research framework. Evaluation of knowledge management tools is seen as problematic due to the close coupling between the technology and the social system that is attempting to manage its knowledge. The paper first explains the rationale for why co-operative inquiry may be a useful framework for structuring a systemic evaluation. Finally several barriers to implementing the framework at the level of the individual and the group are discussed

Considering adoption: Towards a consumption-oriented approach to innovation

What are the forces that shape the adoption of innovations? This question has been sidelined in a largely production-centric literature on the economic geography of innovation. Inspired by Weber’s dual concern with procurement and distribution activities in the location of industry, this paper examines the new nature of distances products must overcome en route to the market, and the resources that are necessary to do this successfully. Building on findings in sociology, this paper suggest a consumption-centric perspective and future research on innovation in the knowledge-based economy, which foregrounds the significance of actors that are able to validate new products.innovation adoption and diffusion; consumption; sociology of scientific knowledge; Alfred Weber; knowledge economy

Rationale in Development Chat Messages: An Exploratory Study

Chat messages of development teams play an increasingly significant role in software development, having replaced emails in some cases. Chat messages contain information about discussed issues, considered alternatives and argumentation leading to the decisions made during software development. These elements, defined as rationale, are invaluable during software evolution for documenting and reusing development knowledge. Rationale is also essential for coping with changes and for effective maintenance of the software system. However, exploiting the rationale hidden in the chat messages is challenging due to the high volume of unstructured messages covering a wide range of topics. This work presents the results of an exploratory study examining the frequency of rationale in chat messages, the completeness of the available rationale and the potential of automatic techniques for rationale extraction. For this purpose, we apply content analysis and machine learning techniques on more than 8,700 chat messages from three software development projects. Our results show that chat messages are a rich source of rationale and that machine learning is a promising technique for detecting rationale and identifying different rationale elements.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. The 14th International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR'17

Software development: A paradigm for the future

A new paradigm for software development that treats software development as an experimental activity is presented. It provides built-in mechanisms for learning how to develop software better and reusing previous experience in the forms of knowledge, processes, and products. It uses models and measures to aid in the tasks of characterization, evaluation and motivation. An organization scheme is proposed for separating the project-specific focus from the organization's learning and reuse focuses of software development. The implications of this approach for corporations, research and education are discussed and some research activities currently underway at the University of Maryland that support this approach are presented