Virtual exchanges in higher education: developing intercultural skills of students across borders through online collaboration

Virtual exchange has been defined as a form of virtual mobility which aims to expand the reach and scope of traditional intercultural learning programs. This paper presents an example of a virtual exchange called InterCult - Intercultural Competences - which aimed to give an opportunity for students from Germany, France, and Brazil to explore intercultural aspects through online collaboration, i. e. to learn differences between own culture and other cultures by communicating and working on tasks together by using digital media. The research path was divided into three phases: project design, virtual exchange, and evaluation. The data collected during the virtual exchange involved the analysis of online conversations in international groups, face-to-face discussions during the classes at the end of each activity in national groups, the videos produced and shared in the online community, online meetings between the teachers, and the results of the online survey. Data were analyzed based on three perspectives: technology; engagement and collaborative work; intercultural competences. Results showed this type of experience is extremely important for a generation who will have to work in multicultural teams and contexts.El intercambio virtual se ha definido como una forma de movilidad virtual cuyo objetivo es ampliar el alcance y ámbito de los programas tradicionales de aprendizaje intercultural. Este artículo presenta un ejemplo de un intercambio virtual llamado InterCult - Competencias Interculturales - que pretendía dar la oportunidad a los estudiantes de Alemania, Francia y Brasil de explorar aspectos interculturales a través de la colaboración en línea, es decir, aprender las diferencias entre la propia cultura y otras culturas mediante la comunicación y el trabajo conjunto en tareas mediante el uso de medios digitales. El trabajo de investigación se dividió en tres fases: diseño del proyecto, intercambio virtual y evaluación. Los datos recogidos durante el intercambio virtual incluyeron el análisis de conversaciones en línea en grupos internacionales, discusiones cara a cara durante las clases al final de cada actividad en grupos nacionales, los videos producidos y compartidos en la comunidad en línea, reuniones en línea entre los profesores, y los resultados de la encuesta en línea. Los datos se analizaron desde tres perspectivas: tecnología; implicación y trabajo colaborativo; competencias interculturales. Los resultados mostraron que este tipo de experiencia es extremadamente importante para una generación que tendrá que trabajar en equipos y contextos multiculturales

Apprendimento fortuito: riconoscere e promuovere le potenzialità del microblogging

Il presente contributo introduce il concetto di apprendimento fortuito nel contesto di microblogging e discute le potenzialità di scoperte impreviste e inattese per l'apprendimento. L’apprendimento fortuito, come sottoinsieme dell’apprendimento incidentale, fa riferimento a un apprendimento che avviene tramite l’acquisizione di nuove intuizioni, con la scoperta di aspetti sconosciuti e il riconoscimento di connessioni apparentemente non correlate.Questo tipo di apprendimento può avvenire per caso e in quanto sottoprodotto di altre attività come lo scorrimento tra le informazioni ottenute tramite il flusso di aggiornamenti del proprio stato sociale sul microblog. Si sostiene che il coinvolgimento nel microblogging, in una rete sociale aperta di utenti che generano frequentemente nuove informazioni, aumenta le possibilità di scoperta fortuita. Il contributo esamina i possibili elementi che facilitano l'apprendimento fortuito e termina con alcune raccomandazioni per la ricerca futura

Culture, Identity and Learning: A Mediation Model in the Context of Blogging in Teacher Education

National culture has been an influential framework for comparative and international research. However, current theories suggest that people and societies are rather more complex constructs than their cultural layer. This work is based on a previous study in which, when students from Spain were compared to German students, the former showed higher levels of identity with their blogs and learning impact. The current study is a step forward as it presents the differences in identity and learning impact in blogging between Spanish and Israeli student teachers and offers a mediation model in which the relationship between culture and learning is mediated by the identity factor. The results show that Spanish student teachers feel more identified with their blogs and thus perceive a greater learning impact. Accordingly, this work suggests that blogging could act as learning spaces that may raise students’ identity with their learning products and their self-perceived learning impact

Usability and Acceptance of Exergames Using Different Types of Training among Older Hypertensive Patients in a Simulated Mixed Reality

Virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) exergames are promising tools for increasing training motivation. However, the use of exergames with mixed reality (MR) headsets remains under-researched. Older adults with hypertension could also benefit from the increased training adherence associated with MR. Endurance and strength endurance exercises are recommended for this group to lower blood pressure. The aim of the preliminary study (n = 22) was to compare the usability and acceptance of two exergames, which represent two different training types-strength endurance training (SET) and endurance training (ET). The developed exergame prototypes were applied in "simulated MR" using a VR head-mounted display. We examined the following outcomes: usability (TUI), intention to use (TUI), subjective task load (NASA-TLX), frustration (NASA-TLX), and presence (PQ). The results showed that frustration was significantly greater in the ET than in the SET (p = 0.038). Presence was significantly higher in the SET (p = 0.002). No significant differences in usability and acceptance were found in the exergames. The results indicate that usability and acceptance are not related to the type of training when utilizing MR exergames. Whether the results are transferable with a real MR headset must be determined in further research

Digitale Auszeichnungen "Gute Lehre mit digitalen Medien". Ein Praxisbeispiel zur Anwendung von Open Badges zur Anerkennung von Lehrleistungen an der Beuth Hochschule für Technik Berlin

Lehrpreise und Auszeichnungen sind ein etabliertes Mittel, um Bewertungskriterien und Methoden der Ermittlung der guten Lehre an Hochschulen zu etablieren. Angesichts der Digitalisierung scheinen auch die digitalen Formate zur Auszeichnung der guten Lehre angemessen. Das Konzept der digitalen Auszeichnung "Gute Lehre mit digitalen Medien" an der Beuth Hochschule für Technik Berlin wird als Fallbeispiel in diesem Beitrag vorgestellt. (DIPF/Orig.

Entwicklung eines E-Learning-Konzepts zur digitalen Souveränität von Senioren im Kontext der elektronischen Patientenakte

Ältere Generationen haben meist kaum Erfahrungen mit digitalen Technologien, jedoch wird deren digitale Souveränität zunehmend relevanter für deren Teilhabe in der heutigen Gesellschaft. Seit Einführung der digitalen Patientenakte (ePA) in 2021 sind Angebote für Seniorinnen und Senioren zum Aufbau digitaler Kompetenzen demnach noch wichtiger, damit auch diese Personengruppe souverän auf ihre Gesundheitsdaten zugreifen und mit diesen umgehen kann. Das ePA-Coach-Projekt zielt auf die Entwicklung einer E-Learning-Plattform für ältere Menschen ab und soll zum kompetenten und selbstbestimmten Umgang mit der ePA befähigen. In diesem Kurzbeitrag stellen wir den aktuellen Stand des zielgruppengerechten E-Learning-Konzepts vor, das mithilfe des DO-ID-Modells entwickelt wurde und unter anderem einen Gamification-Ansatz sowie eine personalisierte virtuelle Lernbegleitung umfasst. (DIPF/Orig.

Integrating Social Robot in a Jigsaw Cooperative Activity: Insights from an International Workshop with Students from Universities in Germany and Israel

A Jigsaw activity represents an educational approach providing students opportunities to exercise collaborative learning targeting topics from across domains and levels including those addressing innovative technologies. This paper presents our efforts targeting a Jigsaw workshop addressing educational activities enhanced by Social Robots (SR). SR includes AI-enabled features becoming accessible through software affording to develop motivating and engaging cooperative learning processes. In light of these trends, we present a Jigsaw learning activity we conducted and supported by a Social Robot (SR). We conducted the activity as part of a mutual effort exercised by the authors of this paper in the framework of an Erasmus+ project in Social Robotics involving German and Israeli higher education Institutions. We examined this activity while focusing on various aspects corresponding to its interrelated phases and the educational interactions exercised by students. Results reveal a high potential for applying Jigsaw learning activities in groups of international students. The positive effects seem to be enhanced by choosing to focus the collaboration on an innovative learning environment such as social robots, designing the activity to maximize creativity, autonomy, and ownership, and addressing authentic application contexts to enhance the quality of the educational experience

Digital Sovereignty of Older Citizens for a Self-Determined Use of Personal Health Records: E-Learning Design and Study Results from the EPA-Coach Project

Promoting digital literacy and digital sovereignty has become one of the key policies in Europe. Digital sovereignty has been defined as the ability to act and exercise freedom of choice in the digital world. While digital services and applications offer great opportunities for the older generations to live independently and communicate with family and friends, the digital sovereignty of citizens including older adults has become a concern of policy-makers. Hence fostering digital sovereignty has been seen as an important objective for a self-determined use of digital media including control over own data. This paper presents an approach to designing an e-learning application for senior learners, which is aimed at fostering the digital sovereignty of older citizens in using Personal Health Records (PHR) in Germany. This e-learning application, called ePA-Coach, is designed in a research project funded by the Federal German Ministry of Education and Research to offer an opportunity for citizens 65+ to acquire digital skills needed for the self-determined use of PHR. The paper presents the digital literacy framework for exercising digital sovereignty related to PHR, which was developed in the ePA-Coach project based on the European Digital Competence Framework. We describe how this framework was applied in the design of micro-learning units and combined with gamification techniques from the Octalysis framework. Finally, we outline results from two exploratory studies with older citizens which revealed strong preferences for design elements related to digital sovereignty such as choice and control of the learning progress

Diversität und Spaltung. Digitale Medien in der Gesellschaft

Die Verbreitung und Nutzung von digitalen Medien in der Gesellschaft befindet sich im Spannungsfeld zwischen Diversität und Spaltung. Digitale Medien bringen neue Chancen und eröffnen neue Wege. Lernende erhalten einen Zugang zu diversen Wissensressourcen, vielfältige Möglichkeiten der sozialen Vernetzung und eine große Bandbreite an digitalen Werkzeugen, die das Lernen unterstützen können. Gleichzeitig sind mit der Nutzung von digitalen Medien verschiedene Risiken und Probleme verbunden. Mit der Nutzung von digitalen Medien entstehen neue Formen der Gewalt, die Kluft zwischen den Nutzenden und Nicht-Nutzenden wird immer größer, und die sozialen Ungleichheiten werden durch die Nutzung von digitalen Medien vertieft. Dieses Kapitel diskutiert den Einsatz von digitalen Medien (unter anderem Internet, soziale Medien und Web 2.0, mobile Technologien) im Bildungskontext aus der Perspektive der Diversität und Spaltung. Es werden verschiedene Formen und Aspekte von Diversität und Spaltung im Kontext der digitalen Medien diskutiert und Beispiele aus der Praxis als Anregungen für eine diversity-orientierte Medienpraxis vorgestellt. (DIPF/Orig.