Report on the Implementation of Work Package 4 “Selection and Testing New ICT Tools” in the Framework of the IRNet Project

This article, prepared by an international team of authors – researchers from different scientific areas, connected with ICT, e-learning, pedagogy, and other related disciplines – focuses on the objectives and some results of the IRNet international project. In particular, this article describes the research tools, methods, and some procedures of the Work Package 4 (WP4) “Selection and Testing New ICT tools”: Objectives, Tasks, Deliverables, and implementation of research trips. Researchers from partner universities have analysed the results of WP4 in the context of the next stages and Work Packages of the IRNet project – International Research Network

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

Transforming pre-service teacher curriculum: observation through a TPACK lens

This paper will discuss an international online collaborative learning experience through the lens of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The teacher knowledge required to effectively provide transformative learning experiences for 21st century learners in a digital world is complex, situated and changing. The discussion looks beyond the opportunity for knowledge development of content, pedagogy and technology as components of TPACK towards the interaction between those three components. Implications for practice are also discussed. In today’s technology infused classrooms it is within the realms of teacher educators, practising teaching and pre-service teachers explore and address effective practices using technology to enhance learning

Designing an Authentic Blend: Development of a ‘real-life’ Learning Environment for Higher Education

Increasing student enrolments in higher education have created new challenges for universities to address, if they are to provide a quality learning experiences for all students. One key challenge is identifying how to construct more flexible, interactive and engaging student-centred environments that can support students’ transition to the workplace. This article describes how teaching and learning processes have been reengineered to design an authentic blended learning environment that offers students real-life learning experiences supported by new technologies

Moodbile: A Framework to Integrate m-Learning Applications with the LMS.

[ES] Los Sistemas de Gestión de Aprendizaje (LMS) se han generalizado entre la mayoría de los centros de educación y formación. Ya se trata de una tecnología madura, han dejado la vanguardia de la innovación. Los usos educativos de la Web 2.0, los Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje, el aprendizaje basado en el juego y en particular la introducción de los teléfonos móviles y las tabletas en la educación están sucediendo fuera de los límites de los LMS. En este trabajo se propone una manera de integrar los dispositivos móviles y las aplicaciones educativas con el LMS a través de servicios web; Se presenta el proyecto Moodbile que proporciona una extensión de servicios web de Moodle 2.0 para la integración móvil y dos clientes móviles listos para utilizar en situaciones reales.[EN] Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become widespread among most centres for education and training. Being a mature technology, LMS have left the vanguard of innovation. Educational usages of the Web 2.0, Personal Learning Environments, Game-based Learning and particularly the introduction of mobile phones and tablets in education are happening outside the boundaries of the LMS. This paper proposes a way to integrate mobile devices and educational applications with the LMS through webservices; introducing the Moodbile project that provides an extension of Moodle 2.0 webservices for mobile integration and two mobile clients ready to use on real courses

A case study for measuring informal learning in PLEs

The technological support for learning and teaching processes is constantly changing. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) applied to education, cause changes that affect the way in which people learn. This application introduces new software systems and solutions to carry out teaching and learning activities. Connected to ICT application, the emergence of Web 2.0 and its use in learning contexts enables an online implementation of the student-centred learning paradigm. In addition, 2.0 trends provide “new” ways to exchange, making easier for informal learning to become patent. Given this context, open and user-centered learning environments are needed to integrate such kinds of tools and trends and are commonly described as Personal Learning Environments. Such environments coexist with the institutional learning management systems and they should interact and exchange information between them. This interaction would allow the assessment of what happens in the personal environment from the institutional side. This article describes a solution to make the interoperability possible between these systems. It is based on a set of interoperability scenarios and some components and communication channels. In order to test the solution it is implemented as a proof of concept and the scenarios are validated through several pilot experiences. In this article one of such scenarios and its evaluation experiment is described to conclude that functionalities from the institutional environments and the personal ones can be combined and it is possible to assess what happens in the activities based on them.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Scrum-Based Learning Environment: Fostering Self-Regulated Learning

Academics teaching software development courses are experimenting with teaching methods aiming to improve students’ learning experience and learning outcomes. Since Agile software development is gaining popularity in industry due to positive effects on managing projects, academics implement similar Agile approaches in student-centered learning environments. In this paper, we discuss teaching introductory programming based on Scrum. Our learning environment, supported by the Doubtfire learning management system, fosters perceived autonomy and perceived competence by providing tools and opportunities for self-regulated learners to adjust their learning strategies. Evaluation of the learning environment revealed that students want to be in control of their learning

Teacher competence development – a European perspective

This chapter provides an European perspectives on teacher competence development