Creating cost-effective adaptative educational hypermedia based on markup technologies and e-learning standards

This paper addresses the problem of developing a cost-effective, flexible Web educational environment focused on the learner. Our project, called <e-Aula>, has three main goals: (1) to simplify the creation of a virtual class environment, (2) the reuse of previously existing educational content and, (3) to enable content adaptation to meet individual needs. The design of <e-Aula> is based on recently developed e-learning standards (such as IMS, EML and ADL/SCORM) and courses are developed according to the Learning Object model. We use markup technologies (i.e. XML) to streamline the way the system is built and how it handles information. XML's metadata and related technologies are used not only to mark up the course material so that content can be adapted and reused, but also to mark up all data needed to manage different activities involved in the learning process (such as managing student information or system use). <e-Aula> also includes synchronous and asynchronous tools for communication between students and tutors.This paper addresses the problem of developing a cost-effective, flexible Web educational environment focused on the learner. Our project, called <e-Aula>, has three main goals: (1) to simplify the creation of a virtual class environment, (2) the reuse of previously existing educational content and, (3) to enable content adaptation to meet individual needs. The design of <e-Aula> is based on recently developed e-learning standards (such as IMS, EML and ADL/SCORM) and courses are developed according to the Learning Object model. We use markup technologies (i.e. XML) to streamline the way the system is built and how it handles information. XML's metadata and related technologies are used not only to mark up the course material so that content can be adapted and reused, but also to mark up all data needed to manage different activities involved in the learning process (such as managing student information or system use). <e-Aula> also includes synchronous and asynchronous tools for communication between students and tutors

Creating cost-effective adaptative educational hypermedia based on markup technologies and e-learning standards

This paper addresses the problem of developing a cost-effective, flexible Web educational environment focused on the learner. Our project, called <e-Aula>, has three main goals: (1) to simplify the creation of a virtual class environment, (2) the reuse of previously existing educational content and, (3) to enable content adaptation to meet individual needs. The design of <e-Aula> is based on recently developed e-learning standards (such as IMS, EML and ADL/SCORM) and courses are developed according to the Learning Object model. We use markup technologies (i.e. XML) to streamline the way the system is built and how it handles information. XML's metadata and related technologies are used not only to mark up the course material so that content can be adapted and reused, but also to mark up all data needed to manage different activities involved in the learning process (such as managing student information or system use). <e-Aula> also includes synchronous and asynchronous tools for communication between students and tutors.This paper addresses the problem of developing a cost-effective, flexible Web educational environment focused on the learner. Our project, called <e-Aula>, has three main goals: (1) to simplify the creation of a virtual class environment, (2) the reuse of previously existing educational content and, (3) to enable content adaptation to meet individual needs. The design of <e-Aula> is based on recently developed e-learning standards (such as IMS, EML and ADL/SCORM) and courses are developed according to the Learning Object model. We use markup technologies (i.e. XML) to streamline the way the system is built and how it handles information. XML's metadata and related technologies are used not only to mark up the course material so that content can be adapted and reused, but also to mark up all data needed to manage different activities involved in the learning process (such as managing student information or system use). <e-Aula> also includes synchronous and asynchronous tools for communication between students and tutors

Conectado: concienciando contra el cyberbullying mediante un videojuego educativo

Conectado es un juego educativo diseñado y desarrollado para concienciar sobre el cyberbullying en las escuelas a jóvenes de secundaria. Este juego trabaja las emociones y coloca al jugador en el papel de víctima durante 40 minutos que dura el juego para que pueda empatizar con las víctimas y ponerse en la piel de estas. Se ha comprobado que el videojuego cumple su objetivo y es efectivo al incrementar la percepción que logran los alumnos sobre el ciberacoso como se ha demostrado a través de varios experimentos realizados con 257 jóvenes de 11 a 17 años de tres centros educativos distintos.Conectado es un juego educativo diseñado y desarrollado para concienciar sobre el cyberbullying en las escuelas a jóvenes de secundaria. Este juego trabaja las emociones y coloca al jugador en el papel de víctima durante 40 minutos que dura el juego para que pueda empatizar con las víctimas y ponerse en la piel de estas. Se ha comprobado que el videojuego cumple su objetivo y es efectivo al incrementar la percepción que logran los alumnos sobre el ciberacoso como se ha demostrado a través de varios experimentos realizados con 257 jóvenes de 11 a 17 años de tres centros educativos distintos

Conectado : concienciando contra el cyberbullying mediante un videojuego educativo

Conectado es un juego educativo diseñado y desarrollado para concienciar sobre el cyberbullying en las escuelas a jóvenes de secundaria. Este juego trabaja las emociones y coloca al jugador en el papel de víctima durante 40 minutos que dura el juego para que pueda empatizar con las víctimas y ponerse en la piel de estas. Se ha comprobado que el videojuego cumple su objetivo y es efectivo al incrementar la percepción que logran los alumnos sobre el ciberacoso como se ha demostrado a través de varios experimentos realizados con 257 jóvenes de 11 a 17 años de tres centros educativos distintos

Omaishoitajien toiveet ja odotukset hoitopaikalle lakisääteisten vapaapäivien ajaksi

Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli selvittää millaisia toiveita ja odotuksia omaishoitajilla oli hoitopaikalle, jossa heidän omaishoidettavaansa hoidetaan lakisääteisten vapaapäivien ajan. Halusimme tietää myös oliko yhteistyökumppanimme Kaislakoti Oy tuttu hoivapaikkana omaishoitajille, jotka osallistuivat tutkimukseemme. Tutkimustyyppi on kvalitatiivinen. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin haastattelemalla kuutta omaishoitajaa teemahaastattelumenetelmällä. Haastateltavat pyydettiin Hiiden Seudun Omaishoitajayhdistyksen toimesta järjestetyistä tilaisuuksista, joihin osallistuimme. Haastattelut tehtiin 2013 alkuvuodesta. Jaoimme myös 30 puolistrukturoitua kyselylomaketta täytettäväksi omaishoitajille. Kyselylomakkeista palautui 11 kappaletta. Tutkimustuloksista kävi ilmi, että omaishoitajat toivoivat hoitopaikalta aktivoivaa toimintaa hoidettavalleen, jotta tämän toimintakyky ei heikentyisi hoitojakson aikana. Tärkeäksi koettiin myös kuntouttava toiminta ja palveluiden monipuolisuus, joiden tulisi olla muokattavissa vastaamaan jokaisen henkilökohtaisia tarpeita. Hoitopaikan tärkeimpinä kriteereinä pidettiin sen kodinomaisuutta, turvallisuutta ja viihtyisyyttä. Omaishoitajat odottivat hoitopaikalta täysihoitoa, jossa heidän hoidettavansa otettaisiin kokonaisvaltaisesti huomioon. Omaishoitajat tunsivat tarvitsevansa tukea tilanteissa, joissa heidän oma toimijuutensa ja terveydentilansa heikentyy. Tutkimustuloksista selvisi, että omaishoitajien jaksamista tukevia muotoja ovat loma ja mahdollisuus saada luotettava ja turvallinen sijaishoitopaikka nopeasti. Työelämäkumppanimme Kaislakoti ei ollut tunnettu kuin parin omaishoitajan kohdalla. Tutkimustulostemme pohjalta Kaislakoti voi kehittää tulevaisuudessa tunnettavuuttaan ja pystyy koordinoimaan toimintaansa omaishoitajien toiveita vastaavaksi. Avainsanat Omaishoito, vapaapäivät, omaishoitajien toiveet, sijaishoitoThe purpose of the study was to determine what kinds of wishes and expectations the caregivers had pertaining the home of elderly care, where their care recipients are being taken care of during statutory holidays. Furthermore, we wanted to know whether the caregivers were familiar with our partner Kaislakoti Oy as a care center. The research method was qualitative. The data was collected by interviewing six caregivers using a thematic interview method. The interviewees were recruited at the events organized by the Association of Caregivers of Hiiden’s Region. We held the interviews at the beginning of the year 2013. We also handed out 30 semi-structured questionnaires to be filled out by the caregivers. Eleven of the questionnaires were returned. The results of the study indicated that caregivers wish their care recipient refreshing activi-ties so that the care recipient’s performance would not deteriorate during the course of treatment. Rehabilitative activities and the versatility of services were also viewed as im-portant, and both should be flexible in order to meet every care recipient’s personal needs. The most important criteria of a home for elderly care were, according to the interviewees, homeliness, safety, and comfort. The caregivers expect full care where their care recipients would be comprehensively tak-en into consideration. The results showed that factors supporting the caregiver’s endur-ance are for example vacation and the fact that it’s fast and easy to get a reliable and safe substitute home of elderly care for their care recipient. Our partner Kaislakoti was not well-known amongst the caregivers as only two of them recognized it. Based on the results of our study Kaislakoti can develop it’s recognition in the future and is able to coordinate its actions to meet the expectations of the caregivers. Keywords Caring, Wishes of the Caregivers, Home of Elderly Car

Guest Editorial: Game Based Learning for 21st Century Transferable Skills: Challenges and Opportunities

Digital serious games (SGs) (Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2003) offer a high potential to foster and support learning in educational and training settings. SGs aim at improving learning processes by providing attractive, motivating and effective tools. So far, effectiveness of SGs has been shown by recent studies (e.g., Connolly et al., 2012; Wouters et al., 2013), but the potential of SGs in education is still far to be fulfilled, in particular concerning higher-order learning goals (Connolly et al., 2012) and there is a growing need for educational technology research in this field. Moreover, education, cognitive and engineering methods and tools are needed for efficiently building and evaluating games as means that can provide effective learning experiences (Marfisi-Schottman, Labat & Carron, 2013; Bellotti et al., 2012). This special issue focuses on analysing how digital SGs can contribute to the knowledge society’s higher demand towards acquiring transferable, transversal skills, that can be applied in different contexts, dealing with various scientific disciplines and subjects. Examples of such skills, often referred to as 21st century transferable skills, include, for example, collaboration, critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, reasoning abilities, learning to learn, decision taking, digital literacy (Voogt & Pareja Roblin, 2010). This special issue explores particularly the challenges and opportunities presented by the use of digital SGs in formal learning contexts. The idea is to look not only to the tools (namely, the SGs) but also to the definition of meaningfu

Using Game Learning Analytics for Validating the Design of a Learning Game for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities.

Serious Games, defined as a game in which education (in its various forms) is the primary goal rather than entertainment, have been proven as an effective educational tool for engaging and motivating students (Michael & Chen, 2006). However, more research is needed to sustain the suitability of these games to train users with cognitive impairments. This empirical study addresses the use of a Serious Game for training students with Intellectual Disabilities in traveling around the subway as a complement to traditional training. Fifty-one (51) adult people with Down Syndrome, mild cognitive disability or certain types of Autism Spectrum Disorder, all conditions classified as intellectual disabilities, played the learning game Downtown, A Subway Adventure which was designed ad-hoc considering their needs and cognitive skills. We used standards-based Game Learning Analytics techniques (i.e. Experience API –xAPI), to collect and analyze learning data both off-line and in near-real time while the users were playing the videogame. This article analyzes and assesses the evidence data collected using analytics during the game sessions, like time completing tasks, inactivity times or the number of correct/incorrect stations while traveling. Based on a multiple baseline design, the results validated both the game design and the tasks and activities proposed in Downtown as a supplementary tool to train skills in transportation. Differences between High-Functioning and Medium-Functioning users were found and explained in this paper, but the fact that almost all of the students completed at least one route without mistakes, the general improvement trough sessions and the low-mistake ratio are good indicators about the appropriateness of the game design.pre-print311 K

Game Analytics Evidence-Based Evaluation of a Learning Game for Intellectual Disabled Users.

Learning games are becoming popular among teachers as educational tools. However, despite all the game development quality processes (e.g., beta testing), there is no total assurance about the game design appropriateness to the students' cognitive skills until the games are used in the classroom. Furthermore, games designed speci cally for Intellectual Disabled (ID) users are even harder to evaluate because of the communication issues that this type of players have. ID users' feedback about their learning experience is complex to obtain and not always fully reliable. To address this problem, we use an evidence-based approach for evaluating the game design of Downtown, A Subway Adventure, a game created to improve independent living in users with ID. In this paper we exemplify the whole process of applying Game Analytics techniques to gather actual users' gameplay interaction data in real settings for evaluating the design. Following this process, researchers were able to validate different game aspects (e.g., mechanics) and could also identify game aws that may be dif cult to detect using formative evaluation or other observational-based methods. Results showed that the proposed evidence-based approach using Game Analytics information is an effective way to evaluate both the game design and the implementation, especially in situations where other types of evaluations that require users' involvement are limited.post-print1129 K

Authoring Game-Based Adaptive Units of Learning with IMS Learning Design and <e-Adventure>

Burgos, D., Moreno-Ger, P., Sierra, J. L., Fernández Manjón, B., & Kooper, R. (2007). Authoring Game-Based Adaptive Units of Learning with IMS Learning Design and <e-Adventure>. International Journal of Learning Technology, 3(3), 252-268.Electronic games and simulations (eGames) are a valuable support for adaptive learning. This adaptation can be based on different inputs, such as the user´s performance, behaviour or cognitive load. Both adaptation and eGames can be modelled with IMS Learning Design or integrated from an external resource. In this article we show the relation between IMS Learning Design and the <e-Adventure> Project when it comes to authoring adaptive Units of Learning integrated with eGames. We first describe the challenges of this objective and the several different solutions on authoring and integration. We also describe the content-centered authoring approach in <e-Adventure>, and the need for a communication service with IMS LD that makes a bi-directional influence on the user’s adaptive learning experience. At the end, we describe a practical example that illustrates how an adaptive IMS LD Unit of Learning with an integrated <e-Adventure> eGame is developed.This paper is partially supported by the European projects TENCompetence (IST-TEL/2004-2.4.10, www.tencompetence.org) and ProLearn (IST 507310, www.prolearn-project.org), and the research group <e-Ucm> (www.e-ucm.es). The Education and Science Spanish Committee (projects MetaLearn TIN2004 08367 C02-02 and OdA Virtual TIN2005-08788-C04-01) and the Regional Government / Complutense University of Madrid (grant 4155/2005 and research group 910494) have also supported this work partially. Special thanks to Bruno Torijano Bueno for his participation in the creation and preliminary tests of the sample game

Enfoques Innovadores en Juegos Serios

International audienceThe field of Serious Games focus on the design, development, application and use of games for other purposes beyond entertainment. Education and training are the main application areas, but Serious Games have been successfully used in health, research, planning, emergency, and military advertising. Despite the evidence of efficacy, displayed also in this special edition, there is still limited use of Serious Games. This has mainly to do with social issues and stereotypes about the relationship of games and serious purposes. Initiatives like the SEGAN network that address the need to systematize the European approaches to Serious Games assume therefore great relevance. SEGAN is a Community of Practice to exchange ideas and experiences related to Serious Games. For instance, SEGAN can be the right place to extend the discussion on the high-quality articles that we present in this special edition about innovative approaches to Serious Games