Open Discovery Space - Platform for Open Learning Materials

URL: portal.ou.nl/web/opening-up-education/“Do you have interesting ideas, a vision, a wish, or maybe an example of existing practice? “ In this workshop you will learn how you can now share your 'initial idea' within a community of peers participating from all around Europe. Participants will be invited to become members of a community of practice that will allow them to exchange and share ideas, experiences, concerns and educational resources with fellow teachers across Europe. Workshop participants will be informed about innovative school scenarios. A discussion and brainstorming session will follow where participants in teams will deposit their own practices and rate available ones.No particular experience is needed

PBL3.0:Integrating Learning Analytics and Semantics in Problem-Based Learning

This paper presents the PBL3.0 project that aims at enhancing Problem Based Learning (PBL) with Learning Analytics (LA) and Learning Semantics (LS) in order to produce a new educational paradigm and pilot it to produce relevant policy recommendations. To this end, the project will reach the following objectives and corresponding specific goals: 1) Construct a new educational approach that combines a well-established learning strategy like PBL with novel technologies in learning like LA in PBL respecting legal and ethical considerations (PBL_LA), 2) Design a semantic model for PBL_LA, which will enable the annotation of learning resources in order to easily integrate them to the PBL approach and enable their discoverability when setting personalized learning pathways, 3) Adapt a set of open source software tools for supporting PBL_LA and the semantic model based on existing Learning Management Systems, analytics tools, and an intuitive semantic annotation tool, 4) Create relevant, semantically annotated educational material and perform trials at various sites in order to draw evidence-based conclusions, 5) Produce relevant policy recommendations for PBL_LA that could raise the quality in education and training, 6) Create an organic ecosystem of among others organizations, researchers, educators, students with an interest in PBL_LA. Finally, the project will develop a Community of Practice, where institutions and individuals from across Europe will be able to exchange knowledge and expertise on LA, learning semantics, innovative learning tools and approaches. This aims to support transnational cooperation and mutual learning on forward-looking issues between key stakeholders to provide solutions to current challenges in education and training

What next for Universal Design for Learning? A systematic literature review of technology in UDL implementations at second level

In the last two decades, there has been a global movement towards pedagogies that create more inclusive school environments in order to meet the needs of diverse learners. One such approach is Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which foregrounds the design of flexible and accessible learning experiences for all, regardless of learner characteristics. Technology is a key enabler in this. To date, much of the research on UDL has focused on its impact in higher education, with less evidence available on the use of UDL within second-level education. This systematic literature review of n = 15 empirical studies selected from a wide-ranging search that returned an initial result of n = 1253 explores how the affordances of digital technology have been harnessed for UDL enactment at second level. The findings show that, to date, empirical research at second level has focused mostly on the easy wins within the UDL principle of Representation, where educators offer choice about how learners access content. However, there is a clear gap in UDL research on the use of technologies to support the Engagement and Action & Expression principles of UDL, supporting student self-regulation and self-assessment, and on technology-mediated communication and collaboration. The paper highlights the potential for future cross-pollination of research in educational technology with UDL. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic Universal Design for Learning has been extensively researched in higher education and special education contexts but much less so at K-12, in particular at second level. Technology offers many affordances that can provide choice and variation in the learning process, which can be harnessed in a UDL approach. The transformative potential of technology in educational contexts was not fully realised pre-COVID. The COVID pandemic saw an acceleration in technology adoption for learning, but it remains to be seen whether technology is being deployed to complement or transform existing practices. What this paper adds This paper clearly identifies which affordances of technology are commonly deployed in UDL implementations, particularly noting the provision of choice through multi-media options for Representation and expression. There is a clear gap in UDL research on the use of technologies to support self-regulation and self-assessment, (eg, peer, teacher and automated feedback tools) and on technology-mediated communication and collaboration. The UDL literature does not address the potential negative impacts of technology within the learning context or the short-lived nature of positive impacts (novelty effect). Implications for practice and/or policy While technology affords great opportunities for choice and Engagement, the design of the learning experience must take priority, availing of technology as needed. There are great opportunities for cross-pollination of research at the forefront of educational technology and universal design to address any gaps in technology use in UDL implementations

BigO: A public health decision support system for measuring obesogenic behaviors of children in relation to their local environment

Obesity is a complex disease and its prevalence depends on multiple factors related to the local socioeconomic, cultural and urban context of individuals. Many obesity prevention strategies and policies, however, are horizontal measures that do not depend on context-specific evidence. In this paper we present an overview of BigO (http://bigoprogram.eu), a system designed to collect objective behavioral data from children and adolescent populations as well as their environment in order to support public health authorities in formulating effective, context-specific policies and interventions addressing childhood obesity. We present an overview of the data acquisition, indicator extraction, data exploration and analysis components of the BigO system, as well as an account of its preliminary pilot application in 33 schools and 2 clinics in four European countries, involving over 4,200 participants.Comment: Accepted version to be published in 2020, 42nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Montreal, Canad

Designing an educational scenario using the principles of Universal Design for Learning

Grounded on new research in neuroscience Universal Design for Learning (UDL) constitutes an educational approach that promotes access, participation and progress in the general curriculum for all. UDL recognises the need to create opportunities for the inclusion of diverse learners by providing curricula and instructional activities that allow for multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. In the first decade of its development, the emphasis in the domain of UDL was on the use of technology to inclusive education and accessibility for the disabled. Although UDL has great potential it has been hard to implement on a large scale. UDL requires collaborative planning amongst teachers with different curriculum knowledge and skills. Complaints that are often raised include lack of time to co-plan and lack of resources to teach a differentiated curriculum. Open Discovery Space is a portal to browse and build educational content, lesson plans and scenarios. In order to bridge the gap between policies and practice in applying UDL, we present the adaptation of an educational scenario template so as to incorporate the UDL principles

BigO : A public health decision support system for measuring obesogenic behaviors of children in relation to their local environment

Obesity is a complex disease and its prevalence depends on multiple factors related to the local socioeconomic, cultural and urban context of individuals. Many obesity prevention strategies and policies, however, are horizontal measures that do not depend on context-specific evidence. In this paper we present an overview of BigO (http://bigoprogram.eu), a system designed to collect objective behavioral data from children and adolescent populations as well as their environment in order to support public health authorities in formulating effective, context-specific policies and interventions addressing childhood obesity. We present an overview of the data acquisition, indicator extraction, data exploration and analysis components of the BigO system, as well as an account of its preliminary pilot application in 33 schools and 2 clinics in four European countries, involving over 4,200 participants.</p