„Open Educational Resources“ (OER) – Ein medienpädagogischer Bildungsstandard im Web-2.0-Zeitalter? Zur diskursiven Verortung eines emergierenden Paradigmas

Open Educational Resources (OER) sind per definitionem Lernmaterialien, die für den Gebrauch, die Überarbeitung und Weitergabe frei verfügbar sind. Der Beitrag geht der Frage nach, ob gegenwärtige Entwicklungen in der Domäne der Open Educational Resources neue Modelle für Lernmaterialien etablieren und wie OER als richtungweisender medienpädagogischer Bildungsstandard reüssieren könnten? Die Autoren analysieren drängende Probleme und wichtige Dispositionen der Konzeption, Distribution und Evaluation von Open Educational Resources. Auf dieser Grundlage vertiefen sie die Diskussion, indem sie die Nutzung, Technik, Ökonomie und Didaktik von OER problembezogen herausarbeiten. Die Autoren gelangen zu der Schluss, dass die Debatte um Medienpädagogik und Bildungsstandards nicht nur eine fundamentale Neuorientierung erfahren könnte, sondern zudem einen nachhaltigen Paradigmenwechsel in der Bildungspolitik und der Erziehungswissenschaft auslösen könnte – vom individuellen Aneignen von Wissen zum kollaborativen Erzeugen von Wissen

The reader's feeling and text-based emotions : the relationship between subjective self-reports, lexical ratings, and sentiment analysis

In this study, we examined how precisely a sentiment analysis and a word list-based lexical analysis predict the emotional valence (as positive or negative emotional states) of 63 emotional short stories. Both the sentiment analysis and the word list-based analysis predicted subjective valence, which however was predicted even more precisely when both analysis methods were combined. These results can, for example, contribute to the development of new technology-based teaching designs, in that positive or negative emotions in the texts or online-contributions of students can be assessed in automated form and transferred into instructional measures. Such instructional actions can, for example, be hints, learning support or feedback adapted to the students' emotional state

Predictive learning analytics in online education: A deeper understanding through explaining algorithmic errors

Existing Predictive Learning Analytics (PLA) systems utilising machine learning models show they can improve teacher practice and, at the same time, student outcomes. The accuracy, and related errors, of these systems can negatively influence their adoption. However, little effort has been made to investigate the errors made by the underlying models. This study focused on errors of models predicting students at risk of not submitting their assignments. We analysed two groups of error when the model was confident about the prediction: (a) students predicted to submit their assignment, yet they did not (False Negative; FN), and (b) students predicted not to submit their assignment yet they did (False Positive; FP). We followed the principles of thematic analysis to analyse interview data from 27 students whose predictions presented FN or FP errors. Findings revealed the significance of unexpected events occurring during studies that can affect students' behaviour and cannot be foreseen and accounted for in PLA, such as changes in family and work responsibilities, unexpected health issues and computer problems. Interview data helped identify new data sources, which could be integrated into predictions to mitigate some of the errors, such as study loan application information. Some other sources, e.g. capturing student knowledge at the start of the course, would require changes in the learning design of courses. Our insights showcase the importance of complimenting AI-based systems with human intelligence. In our case, these were both the interviewed students providing insights, as well potential users of these systems, e.g. teachers, who are aware of contextual factors, invisible to ML algorithms. We discuss the implications for improving predictions, learning design and teacher training in using PLA in their practice

Blended learning environments to foster self-directed learning

This book on blended learning environments to foster self-directed learning highlights the focus on research conducted in several teaching and learning contexts where blended learning had been implemented and focused on the fostering of self-directed learning. Several authors have contributed to the book, and each chapter provides a unique perspective on blended learning and self-directed learning research. From each chapter, it becomes evident that coherence on the topics mentioned is established. One of the main aspects drawn in this book, and addressed by several authors in the book, is the use of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework when implementing teaching and learning strategies in blended learning environments to foster self-directed learning. This notion of focusing on the CoI framework is particularly evident in both theoretical and empirical dissemination presented in this book. What makes this book unique is the fact that researchers and peers in varied fields would benefit from the findings presented by each chapter, albeit theoretical, methodological or empirical in nature – this, in turn, provides opportunities for future research endeavours to further the narrative of how blended learning environments can be used to foster self-directed learning

Blended learning environments to foster self-directed learning

This book on blended learning environments to foster self-directed learning highlights the focus on research conducted in several teaching and learning contexts where blended learning had been implemented and focused on the fostering of self-directed learning. Several authors have contributed to the book, and each chapter provides a unique perspective on blended learning and self-directed learning research. From each chapter, it becomes evident that coherence on the topics mentioned is established. One of the main aspects drawn in this book, and addressed by several authors in the book, is the use of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework when implementing teaching and learning strategies in blended learning environments to foster self-directed learning. This notion of focusing on the CoI framework is particularly evident in both theoretical and empirical dissemination presented in this book. What makes this book unique is the fact that researchers and peers in varied fields would benefit from the findings presented by each chapter, albeit theoretical, methodological or empirical in nature – this, in turn, provides opportunities for future research endeavours to further the narrative of how blended learning environments can be used to foster self-directed learning

A machine learning resource allocation solution to improve video quality in remote education

The current global pandemic crisis has unquestionably disrupted the higher education sector, forcing educational institutions to rapidly embrace technology-enhanced learning. However, the COVID-19 containment measures that forced people to work or stay at home, have determined a significant increase in the Internet traffic that puts tremendous pressure on the underlying network infrastructure. This affects negatively content delivery and consequently user perceived quality, especially for video-based services. Focusing on this problem, this paper proposes a machine learning-based resource allocation solution that improves the quality of video services for increased number of viewers. The solution is deployed and tested in an educational context, demonstrating its benefit in terms of major quality of service parameters for various video content, in comparison with existing state of the art. Moreover, a discussion on how the technology is helping to mitigate the effects of massively increasing internet traffic on the video quality in an educational context is also presented

IDEST: International Database of Emotional Short Texts

We introduce a database (IDEST) of 250 short stories rated for valence, arousal, and comprehensibility in two languages. The texts, with a narrative structure telling a story in the first person and controlled for length, were originally written in six different languages (Finnish, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish), and rated for arousal, valence, and comprehensibility in the original language. The stories were translated into English, and the same ratings for the English translations were collected via an internet survey tool (N = 573). In addition to the rating data, we also report readability indexes for the original and English texts. The texts have been categorized into different story types based on their emotional arc. The texts score high on comprehensibility and represent a wide range of emotional valence and arousal levels. The comparative analysis of the ratings of the original texts and English translations showed that valence ratings were very similar across languages, whereas correlations between the two pairs of language versions for arousal and comprehensibility were modest. Comprehensibility ratings correlated with only some of the readability indexes. The database is published in osf.io/9tga3, and it is freely available for academic research.This project was conducted as a part of E-READ COST action (IS1404). The first author received project funding from the Academy of Finland (decision number 334266). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Self-Directed Learning

This book on self-directed learning (SDL) is devoted to original academic scholarship within the field of education, and is the 6th volume in the North-West University (NWU) SDL book series. In this book the authors explore how self-directed learning can be considered an imperative for education in a complex modern society. Although each chapter represents independent research in the field of self-directed learning, the chapters form a coherent contribution concerning the scholarship of self-directed learning, and specifically the effect of environmental and praxis contexts on the enhancement of self-directed learning in a complex society. The publication as a whole provides diverse perspectives on the importance of self-directed learning in varied contexts. Scholars working in a wide range of fields are drawn together in this scholarly work to present a comprehensive dialogue regarding self-directed learning and how this concept functions in a complex and dynamic higher education context. This book presents a combination of theory and practice, which reflects selected conceptual dimensions of self-directed learning in society, as well as research-based findings pertaining to current topical issues relating to implementing self-directed learning in the modern world. The varied methodologies provide the reader with different and balanced perspectives, as well as varied and innovative ideas on how to conduct research in the field of self-directed learning

Self-Directed Learning

This book on self-directed learning (SDL) is devoted to original academic scholarship within the field of education, and is the 6th volume in the North-West University (NWU) SDL book series. In this book the authors explore how self-directed learning can be considered an imperative for education in a complex modern society. Although each chapter represents independent research in the field of self-directed learning, the chapters form a coherent contribution concerning the scholarship of self-directed learning, and specifically the effect of environmental and praxis contexts on the enhancement of self-directed learning in a complex society. The publication as a whole provides diverse perspectives on the importance of self-directed learning in varied contexts. Scholars working in a wide range of fields are drawn together in this scholarly work to present a comprehensive dialogue regarding self-directed learning and how this concept functions in a complex and dynamic higher education context. This book presents a combination of theory and practice, which reflects selected conceptual dimensions of self-directed learning in society, as well as research-based findings pertaining to current topical issues relating to implementing self-directed learning in the modern world. The varied methodologies provide the reader with different and balanced perspectives, as well as varied and innovative ideas on how to conduct research in the field of self-directed learning