Quantified Self Analytics Tools for Self-regulated Learning with myPAL

One of the major challenges in higher education is developing self-regulation skills for lifelong learning. We address this challenge within the myPAL project, in medical education context, utilising the vast amount of student assessment and feedback data collected throughout the programme. The underlying principle of myPAL is Quantified Self -- the use of personal data to enable students to become lifelong learners. myPAL is facilitating this with learning analytics combined with interactive nudges. This paper reviews the state of the art in Quantified Self analytics tools to identify what approaches can be adopted in myPAL and what gaps require further research. The paper contributes to awareness and reflection in technology-enhanced learning by: (i) identifying requirements for intelligent personal adaptive learning systems that foster self-regulation (using myPAL as an example); (ii) analysing the state of the art in text analytics and visualisation related to Quantified Self for self-regulated learning; and (iii) identifying open issues and suggesting possible ways to address them

Intelligent Mentoring Systems for Making Meaning from Work Experience

This position paper presents a forward-looking view on addressing a long standing professional learning challenge faced by higher educational institutions, namely assisting students to make meaning from work-based experience and develop as reflexive professionals. We suggest that a synergetic approach, building on existing research in professional lifelong learning and intelligent learning environments and taking advantage of new opportunities provided by emerging technologies, will underpin a new breed of intelligent mentoring systems for professional learning. They will foster the learners’ meaning making process, as well as assist tutors in their roles as coaches/mentors

Augmented Minds: Technology’s role in supporting 21st Century Doctors

The issue of preparedness of medical students to work as junior doctors has come under increasing scrutiny. One of the key challenge for tomorrow’s doctors is the capacity and engagement for continuing professional learning and development, as well as, appropriate decision making. consequently, medical schools are exploring various ways in which technology can support this and this includes preparing students for work-based learning as well as enhancing the work-based learning placements. This includes the augmentation of the learning process with the development and consumption of digital content and electronic resources of interactive character to support issues around complex problem solving, decision-making and clinical management. Virtual patients and scenario based learning activities as well as the concept of Living Labs may be used in the preparation for the workplace activity, and thus to enhance the effectiveness of medical student work-placements. Mobile learning, reflective learning and coaching tools are being used to support students’ reflections and action planning whilst on work-based learning placements. The scope of this paper is to provide a vision as to how related technologies and associated pedagogical models may be engaged to augment workplace learning and professional development and to digitally empower the medical professional. Emphasis is placed on technology enhanced self-regulation and decision-making for tomorrow’s medical professionals through innovative use cases practiced at the Leeds Institute of Medical Education, in the UK and the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. The expected institutional and societal impacts are considered in the relevant timescales of addressing the problem and in view of forthcoming technological innovations

Creating a place for learning - Bridging physical and virtual learning spaces at conferences

This paper presents a reflective case study of the introduction of Learning Toolbox as an ePoster solution for conferences. The Learning Toolbox ePoster platform is designed to overcome practical knowledge sharing and communication problems encountered in both the traditional paper poster and standard, screen-based ePoster approaches. Additionally it draws on the trialogic learning theory, by offering ePoster authors and viewers support for discussion and knowledge development focused on an object (the ePoster). As such it aims to support greater engagement, community building and knowledge creation within and beyond an academic conference. In this paper we describe the educational aims behind Learning Toolbox, the technological solution, the practical approach used to introduce it as the ePoster platform at a large international conference, a review of its use at the conference and then reflect on what contributed to its successful adoption. Finally open challenges and further work are identified (including evaluating the impact on learning and engagement beyond the conference and scaling up the numbers of ePosters whilst still allowing authors to present to and discuss their work directly with an audience) to which we propose possible solutions

'Cascades, torrents & drowning’ in information: Seeking help in the contemporary GP practice in the UK

This paper responds to the Alpine Rendez-Vous (ARV) ‘crisis’ in technology enhanced learning (TEL). It takes a contested area of policy, rapid change in the National Health Service (NHS), and documents the responses to ‘information overload’ by group of General Practitioners Practices in the North of England. Located between the spaces identified by Traxler and Lally as ‘competitive industrialisation’ and Web 1.0, and the consumer/ customer focus and ubiquitous ownership enabled by portable and devices and web 2.0, in this work we see the parallels of the responses of publicly funded bodies moving towards privatisation as part of a neo-liberal agenda. Interviews with health professionals revealed marginalized spaces for informal learning in their workplaces; and a desire to build a community that would enable them to overcome the time/space barriers to networking. The EU Learning Layers Integrating Project develops mobile and social technologies that unlock and enable peer production within and across traditional workplace boundaries. Through the health professional narratives, we capture insights into their daily life, enable the articulation of their needs for an online ‘Help-Seeking’ networking service, underpinned by their desire to consult what Vygotsky calls ‘the more capable peer’

Evaluation at scale: An approach to evaluate technology for informal workplace learning across contexts

The implicit, spontaneous and hidden nature of informal learning in addition to the large and less predictable number of application scenarios challenge the evaluation of learning technology. A further challenge for evaluation is added if a user-centred design method had been employed that already had involved users in large numbers and has led to a high level of expectations regarding the potential of the tool to fulfil their needs. We propose an evaluation approach based on the ideas of active involvement of stakeholders, an iterative planning process, a continuous, open and collaborative interpretation of the data collected on the basis of representations shared across cases plus a pluralism of methods for evaluating learning technology and is particularly intended for large scale evaluations in workplace settings. We present a case, in which we applied the proposed evaluation approach in the context of a large scale research project on technology-enhanced-learning

Technology enhanced assessment: Ottawa consensus statement and recommendations

INTRODUCTION In 2011, a consensus report was produced on technology-enhanced assessment (TEA), its good practices, and future perspectives. Since then, technological advances have enabled innovative practices and tools that have revolutionised how learners are assessed. In this updated consensus, we bring together the potential of technology and the ultimate goals of assessment on learner attainment, faculty development, and improved healthcare practices. METHODS As a material for the report, we used the scholarly publications on TEA in both HPE and general higher education, feedback from 2020 Ottawa Conference workshops, and scholarly publications on assessment technology practices during the Covid-19 pandemic. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION The group identified areas of consensus that remained to be resolved and issues that arose in the evolution of TEA. We adopted a three-stage approach (readiness to adopt technology, application of assessment technology, and evaluation/dissemination). The application stage adopted an assessment ‘lifecycle’ approach and targeted five key foci: (1) Advancing authenticity of assessment, (2) Engaging learners with assessment, (3) Enhancing design and scheduling, (4) Optimising assessment delivery and recording learner achievement, and (5) Tracking learner progress and faculty activity and thereby supporting longitudinal learning and continuous assessment.Peer reviewe

Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history

The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we generated a de novo genome assembly of the black rat, 67 ancient black rat mitogenomes and 36 ancient nuclear genomes from sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.- Results and Discussion -- The demographic history of Rattus rattus and its closely related species -- A global phylogeography of the black rat based on mitochondrial DNA -- Ancient genomes reveal the relationships of European black rats over space and time - Discussion - Method

Psychological resilience in sport performers: a review of stressors and protective factors

Psychological resilience is important in sport because athletes must utilize and optimize a range of mental qualities to withstand the pressures that they experience. In this paper, we discuss psychological resilience in sport performers via a review of the stressors athletes encounter and the protective factors that help them withstand these demands. It is hoped that synthesizing what is known in these areas will help researchers gain a deeper profundity of resilience in sport, and also provide a rigorous and robust foundation for the development of a sport-specific measure of resilience. With these points in mind, we divided the narrative into two main sections. In the first section, we review the different types of stressors encountered by sport performers under three main categories: competitive, organizational, and personal. Based on our recent research examining psychological resilience in Olympics champions (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012), in the second section we discuss the five main families of psychological factors (viz. positive personality, motivation, confidence, focus, perceived social support) that protect the best athletes from the potential negative effect of stressors. It is anticipated that this review will help sport psychology researchers examine the interplay between stressors and protective factors which will, in turn, focus the analytical lens on the processes underlying psychological resilience in athletes