A Talk on the Wild Side: The Direct and Indirect Impact of Speech Recognition on Learning Gains

Research in the learning sciences and mathematics education has suggested that ‘thinking aloud’ (verbalization) can be important for learning. In a technology-mediated learning environment, speech might also help to promote learning by enabling the system to infer the students’ cognitive and affective state so that they can be provided a sequence of tasks and formative feedback, both of which are adapted to their needs. For these and associated reasons, we developed the iTalk2Learn platform that includes speech production and speech recognition for children learning about fractions. We investigated the impact of iTalk2Learn’s speech functionality in classrooms in the UK and Germany, with our results indicating that a speech-enabled learning environment has the potential to enhance student learning gains and engagement, both directly and indirectly

Developing an embodied pedagogical agent with and for young people with autism spectrum disorder

This paper describes how we developed an embodied pedagogical agent (EPA) with and for young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is characterised by impairments in social communication, imagination, and perspective-taking, which can compromise design and collaboration. However, if an ASD preference for visual processing can be supported by providing images of design ideas as they develop, these difficulties may be overcome. We describe a methodology that successfully supports the visualisation and development of EPAs using our prototype visualisation tool (EPA DK), enabling ASD users to function as active design participants. © 2012 Springer-Verlag

Developing an embodied pedagogical agent with and for young people with autism spectrum disorder

Belgium Herbarium image of Meise Botanic Garden

Simple Nudges for Better Password Creation

Recent security breaches have highlighted the consequences of reusing passwords across online accounts. Recent guidance on password policies by the UK government recommend an emphasis on password length over an extended character set for generating secure but memorable passwords without cognitive overload. This paper explores the role of three nudges in creating website-specific passwords: financial incentive (present vs absent), length instruction (long password vs no instruction) and stimulus (picture present vs not present). Mechanical Turk workers were asked to create a password in one of these conditions and the resulting passwords were evaluated based on character length, resistance to automated guessing attacks, and time taken to create the password. We found that users created longer passwords when asked to do so or when given a financial incentive and these longer passwords were harder to guess than passwords created with no instruction. Using a picture nudge to support password creation did not lead to passwords that were either longer or more resistant to attacks but did lead to account-specific passwords

Fractions Lab Goes East: Learning and Interaction with an Exploratory Learning Environment in China

In a bid to better understand cultural differences and feed into the design of an exploratory learning environment for learning fractions in China, we conducted a study in three schools in Beijing. A mixed methods protocol was followed involving 186 children. In this paper, we report several results, including a paired t-test suggesting a significant difference between pre- and post-tests and effect sizes warranting further research. Beyond learning gains, we also report preliminary results from analysis of student interaction data that points to similarities as well as differences between UK and China. This is important because it helps us determine next steps in terms of the design, implementation and integration of the technology in the two contexts, and raises future hypothesis