MOTEL: Designing a virtual geo-tagging framework for use in higher education

Higher Education students are highly mobile; they move between learning venues such as lecture halls, the field, labs, home, and excursions. In order to understand how students used technology to support them in their different learning venues, we carried out ethnographic flavored field studies where we followed biology students and faculty in their learning/research activities at the University of Bergen, Norway. We identified both a need for support in their activities and for data transfer between various learning venues. Based on these studies, we have designed MOTEL, a framework for a virtual geo-tagging. This paper discusses our views on mobile learning, describes our field studies and the resulting design decisions, and introduces the MOTEL framework.InterMedia and Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, Norwa

“Premierløytnant Bielke”: A Mobile Game for Teaching and Learning History

Developments in mobile phone technology, together with an increased research interest in utilizing computer games to facilitate teaching and learning, are an important catalyst for the emergence of the area of mobile, location-based computer games in schools. This article describes both the design process and an evaluation of Premierløytnant Bielke, a mobile, location-based game for teaching and learning history using mobile phones. We argue that by using the surroundings and milieu that are local to the students in a playful context, we can support the construction of meaning related to the subject of history in a way that is both engaging and worthwhile.publishedVersio

Dealing with abstraction: Case study generalisation as a method for eliciting design patterns

Developing a pattern language is a non-trivial problem. A critical requirement is a method to support pattern writers with abstraction, so as they can produce generalised patterns. In this paper, we address this issue by developing a structured process of generalisation. It is important that this process is initiated through engaging participants in identifying initial patterns, i.e. directly dealing with the 'cold-start' problem. We have found that short case study descriptions provide a productive 'way into' the process for participants. We reflect on a 1-year interdisciplinary pan-European research project involving the development of almost 30 cases and over 150 patterns. We provide example cases, detailing the process by which their associated patterns emerged. This was based on a foundation for generalisation from cases with common attributes. We discuss the merits of this approach and its implications for pattern development

IDR : a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary design in technology enhanced learning

One of the important themes that emerged from the CAL’07 conference was the failure of technology to bring about the expected disruptive effect to learning and teaching. We identify one of the causes as an inherent weakness in prevalent development methodologies. While the problem of designing technology for learning is irreducibly multi-dimensional, design processes often lack true interdisciplinarity. To address this problem we present IDR, a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary techno-pedagogical design, drawing on the design patterns tradition (Alexander, Silverstein & Ishikawa, 1977) and the design research paradigm (DiSessa & Cobb, 2004). We discuss the iterative development and use of our methodology by a pan-European project team of educational researchers, software developers and teachers. We reflect on our experiences of the participatory nature of pattern design and discuss how, as a distributed team, we developed a set of over 120 design patterns, created using our freely available open source web toolkit. Furthermore, we detail how our methodology is applicable to the wider community through a workshop model, which has been run and iteratively refined at five major international conferences, involving over 200 participants

A process model for developing learning design patterns with international scope

This paper investigates the process of identifying design patterns in international collaborative learning environments. In this context, design patterns are referred to as structured descriptions of best practice with pre-defined sections such as problem, solution and consequences. We pay special attention to how the scope of a design pattern is identified and articulated. Based on a review of the seminal design patterns literature and current practice in the area of learning design, the lack of a more specific process description for developing patterns with international scope is identified. The paper suggests a process model for developing patterns with international scope. This model is exemplified in a case study that links the analysis of observation in international learning environments to the articulation of design patterns by identifying culturally independent core values that constitute the foundations of a design pattern with international scope. These core values are linked to recurrent learning behaviors and specific artefacts that support learning in the articulation of a design pattern. The findings contribute to gaining a deeper understanding of the pattern scoping and abstraction process in international learning environments