Online machine learning algorithms to predict link quality in community wireless mesh networks

Producción CientíficaAccurate link quality predictions are key in community wireless mesh networks (CWMNs) to improve the performance of routing protocols. Unlike other techniques, online machine learning algorithms can be used to build link quality predictors that are adaptive without requiring a predeployment effort. However, the use of these algorithms to make link quality predictions in a CWMN has not been previously explored. This paper analyses the performance of 4 well-known online machine learning algorithms for link quality prediction in a CWMN in terms of accuracy and computational load. Based on this study, a new hybrid online algorithm for link quality prediction is proposed. The evaluation of the proposed algorithm using data from a real large scale CWMN shows that it can achieve a high accuracy while generating a low computational load.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. VA082U16

A self-scalable distributed network simulation environment based on cloud computing

Producción CientíficaWhile parameter sweep simulations can help undergraduate students and researchers to understand computer networks, their usage in the academia is hindered by the significant computational load they convey. This paper proposes DNSE3, a service oriented computer network simulator that, deployed in a cloud computing infrastructure, leverages its elasticity and pay-per-use features to compute parameter sweeps. The performance and cost of using this application is evaluated in several experiments applying different scalability policies, with results that meet the demands of users in educational institutions. Additionally, the usability of the application has been measured following industry standards with real students, yielding a very satisfactory user experience.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Projects TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R and TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. VA082U16

Using virtual learning environments in bricolage mode for orchestrating learning situations across physical and virtual spaces

Producción CientíficaTeachers usually implement their pedagogical ideas in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in a continuous refinement approach also known as “bricolage”. Recently, different proposals have enabled the ubiquitous access to VLEs, thus extending the bricolage mode of operation to other learning spaces. However, such proposals tend to present several limitations for teachers to orchestrate learning situations conducted across different physical and virtual spaces. This paper presents an evaluation study that involved the across-spaces usage of Moodle in bricolage mode and learning buckets (configurable containers of learning artifacts) in multiple learning situations spanning five months in a course on Physical Education in the Natural Environment for pre-service teachers. The study followed a responsive evaluation model, in which we conducted an anticipatory data reduction using an existing orchestration framework (called “5 + 3 aspects”) for structuring data gathering and analysis. The results showed that learning buckets helped the teachers in the multiple aspects of orchestration, overcoming the limitations of alternative approaches in some specific orchestration aspects: helping the involved teachers to connect different physical and physical spaces, while supporting technologies and activities of their everyday practice, and transferring part of the orchestration load from teachers to students. The results also suggested lines of future improvement, including the awareness of outdoor activities.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project TIN2011-28308-C03-02 and TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. VA277U14 and VA082U16

Game of Blazons: Helping teachers conduct learning situations that integrate web tools and multiple types of augmented reality

Producción CientíficaSeveral studies have explored how to help teachers carry out learning situations involving Augmented Reality (AR), a technology that has shown different affordances for learning. However, these proposals tend to rely on specific types of AR, focus on particular types of spaces, and are generally disconnected from other technologies widely used in education, such as VLEs or Web 2.0 tools. These constraints limit the possible range of activities that can be conducted and their integration into the existing classroom practice. GLUEPS-AR is a system that can help overcome these limitations, aiding teachers in the creation and enactment of learning situations that may combine multiple types of AR with other common web tools. This paper presents an evaluation study conducted on Game of Blazons, a learning situation carried out by two university teachers using GLUEPS-AR, and framed within two days of outdoor activities in a village in Spain. The evaluation showed that GLUEPS-AR provided an affordable support to the participant teachers to integrate several activities that made use of multiple types of AR, common web tools and augmented paper, into a unique learning situation.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Projects TIN2011-28308-C03-02 and TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. VA082U16

Exploring teachers’ needs and the existing barriers to the adoption of Learning Design methods and tools: a literature survey

Producción CientíficaLearning Design (LD) is oriented to support teachers in designing their teaching with the aim to provide a sound pedagogical background and to make effective use of resources and technologies. In spite of the significant number of LD approaches and tools proposed so far, their adoption is still very limited and this represents an unsolved challenge in the field of LD. This paper presents a systematic review of the literature about learning design tools, tackling the issue of adoption from two points of view: teachers’ needs in relation to LD tools and methods and possible barriers to their adoption. The review includes only research papers where teachers’ behaviours and opinions are directly explored and not purely theoretical papers. The search included five main academic databases in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) plus a search on Google about project reports; the resulting corpus included 423 papers: 26 of these, plus 3 reports were included in the final list for the analysis. The review provides a systematic overview of the knowledge developed in the LD field, focusing on a set of research gaps that need further exploration in the future.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Projects TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R and TIN2017- 85179-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. VA082U16)European Commission (Proyect 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL-EPPKA2-KA

Supporting and representing Learning Design with digital tools: in between guidance and flexibility

Producción CientíficaThe research field of Learning Design (LD) has been active for some time now, but several questions remain open for the scientific community. In particular, the article tackles issues that have been core concerns in LD over the years: (1) how to support the different phases of the LD process; (2) what representations should be used in the various steps; and (3) to what extent should digital LD tools be structured or flexible, either guiding the teacher/designer or leaving them free to pursue their own design path and style. The authors investigated these open questions through an LD tool called the Pedagogical Planner. This tool has been evaluated in authentic contexts with the goal of providing input for the ongoing debate. Evaluation has focused on the perceptions and actual usage by teachers, generating significant evaluative data to be used as a spur for further reflection on LD.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Project TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (Project VA257P18)European Commission (Project grant 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL-EPPKA2-KA

MATTER: Metadata Migration and Annotation. Tool of Teacher Education Resources

Despite ongoing research on learning repositories, share and reuse of Teacher Education (TE) resources remains scarce. One of the reasons is that TE communities use their own in-house resources and repositories in a rather isolated way, thus limiting resource exchange in different contexts. Further, current learning metadata specifications such as Dublin Core (DC) and LOM do not address the description of pedagogical characteristics of resources demanded by TE practitioners. To overcome these limitations, the Share.TEC project aims to provide a federated TE metadata repository based on the Common Metadata Model (CMM) as the shared reference metadata model. Key for the success of the Share.TEC project is the migration of existing TE metadata records to the federated repository, performing the necessary format conversions to CMM. Besides, practitioners should be able to make TE-based annotations of resources. These two functionalities are covered by the Metadata Migration and Annotation Tool of Teacher Education Resources (MATTER) that is the subject of this paper. Although MATTER is purposed for the Share.TEC project, it can be potentially used to support the federation of other learning repositories

Generating actionable predictions regarding MOOC learners’ engagement in peer reviews

Producción CientíficaPeer review is one approach to facilitate formative feedback exchange in MOOCs; however, it is often undermined by low participation. To support effective implementation of peer reviews in MOOCs, this research work proposes several predictive models to accurately classify learners according to their expected engagement levels in an upcoming peer-review activity, which offers various pedagogical utilities (e.g. improving peer reviews and collaborative learning activities). Two approaches were used for training the models: in situ learning (in which an engagement indicator available at the time of the predictions is used as a proxy label to train a model within the same course) and transfer across courses (in which a model is trained using labels obtained from past course data). These techniques allowed producing predictions that are actionable by the instructor while the course still continues, which is not possible with post-hoc approaches requiring the use of true labels. According to the results, both transfer across courses and in situ learning approaches have produced predictions that were actionable yet as accurate as those obtained with cross validation, suggesting that they deserve further attention to create impact in MOOCs with real-world interventions. Potential pedagogical uses of the predictions were illustrated with several examples.European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant 793317)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (projects TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R / TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (grant VA257P18)Comisión Europea (grant 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL-EPPKA2-KA

Understanding student behavior and perceptions toward earning badges in a gamified MOOC

Producción CientíficaDespite the advantages of MOOCs, such as the open and free access to education, these courses are criticized for students’ lack of motivation and their high dropout rates. Gamification is a technique used to increase student motivation and engagement in small-scale educational contexts. However, the effects of gamification on student engagement have been scarcely explored in MOOC environments, and the findings so far are inconsistent. To address this gap, this research work examines the students’ behavior toward earning badges and how it relates to their engagement in a gamified MOOC. According to the results, the behaviors toward badges of the active students were generally positive and significantly correlated with other variables measuring their engagement (e.g., pageviews, submitted tasks, forum posts), although this positive behavior seems to decrease throughout the course. Additionally, students that reported high motivation by badges at the end of the course showed a higher engagement level than those that were not appealed by badges.European Regional Development Fund, under project grants TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R and TIN2017-85179-C3-2-RJunta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. Project VA082U16 and VA257P18)European Commission, under project grant 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL-EPPKA2-KA

Towards the Enactment of Learning Situations Connecting Formal and Non-Formal Learning in SLEs

Producción CientíficaSmart Learning Environments hold promise of adapting learning processes to the individual context of students and connecting formal with non-formal learning. To do so, SLEs need to know the current context of the students, regardless of the physical or virtual space where learning takes place. This paper presents an architecture that assists in the deployment and enactment of learning situations across-spaces, able to sense and react to changes in the students’ context in order to adapt the learning process.ICSLE 2019: International Conference on Smart Learning EnvironmentsAgencia Estatal de Investigación - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (projects TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R / TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R)Comisión Europea (project 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL-EPPKA2-KA