Experiences from Using Gamification and IoT-based Educational Tools in High Schools towards Energy Savings

Raising awareness among young people, and especially students, on the relevance of behavior change for achieving energy savings is increasingly being considered as a key enabler towards long-term and cost-effective energy efficiency policies. However, the way to successfully apply educational interventions focused on such targets inside schools is still an open question. In this paper, we present our approach for enabling IoT-based energy savings and sustainability awareness lectures and promoting data-driven energy-saving behaviors focused on a high school audience. We present our experiences toward the successful application of sets of educational tools and software over a real-world Internet of Things (IoT) deployment. We discuss the use of gamification and competition as a very effective end-user engagement mechanism for school audiences. We also present the design of an IoT-based hands-on lab activity, integrated within a high school computer science curricula utilizing IoT devices and data produced inside the school building, along with the Node-RED platform. We describe the tools used, the organization of the educational activities and related goals. We report on the experience carried out in both directions in a high school in Italy and conclude by discussing the results in terms of achieved energy savings within an observation period.Comment: to be presented at 2019 European Conference on Ambient Intelligenc

An Exploratory Study on the Influence of Cognitive and Affective Characteristics in Programming-Based Making Activities

© 2017 IEEE. Programming-based making activities are at the core of teaching strategies to engage young students in learning programming for developing computational thinking skills. Despite the initial evidences of enthusiastic participation in such activities, more systematic studies are needed to better understand drivers of students' intentions to participate in programming-based making activities. In this paper, we present an exploratory study which aim to address this issue by examining the interrelations among cognitive (i.e., perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use) and affective (i.e., enjoyment) characteristics for both boys and girls. To this end, we build on complexity theory and configuration theory, present a conceptual model, and employ fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 105 young students, to identify such interrelations. The findings provide insights on how the examined factors may have a different influence for boys and girls, an outcome that can be used to re-design educational programs targeting maximizing engagement regardless gender

Games for artificial intelligence and machine learning education: Review and perspectives

Digital games have gained significance as a new paradigm in education. Digital games are accessible and affordable to anyone and provide opportunities for at-scale teaching and learning. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in digital games to support computational thinking and programming in pre-college (K–12) schools. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are a rapidly developing field, attracting an increasing number of learners in the past few years. Although the confluence of digital games and AI/ML is an important and challenging field for teaching and learning researchers, a literature review has not yet been conducted in this area. The purpose of this work is to present a review of recent research into games to support AI and ML education. After a thorough search, relevant papers and games were selected and included in our qualitative content analysis. Based on this review, we present an overview of the relevant research papers and games, as well as showcased how different games provide a unique opportunity to teach a number of different concepts and topics in AI and ML. © 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd

An Introduction to Non-formal and Informal Science Learning in the ICT Era

This chapter provides an overview of this edited volume on Non-Formal and Informal Science Learning in the 21st Century. The goal of this volume is to introduce the reader to evidence-based non-formal and informal science learning considerations (including technological and pedagogical innovations) that have emerged in and empowered the information and communications technology (ICT) era. The contributions come from diverse countries and contexts (e.g., hackerspaces, museums, makerspaces, after-school activities) to support a wide range of educators, practitioners, and researchers (e.g., K-12 teachers, learning scientists, museum curators, librarians, parents, hobbyists). The documented considerations, lessons learned, and concepts have been extracted using diverse methods, ranging from experience reports and conceptual methods to quantitative studies and field observation using qualitative methods. This volume attempts to support the preparation, set-up, implementation, but also evaluation of informal learning activities to enhance science education. In this first chapter, we introduce the reader to the volume, present the contributions, and conclude by highlighting the potential emerging technologies and practices connected with constructionism (e.g., the maker movement), coding, and joyful activities that are currently taking place under different spaces such as hackerspaces, makerspaces, TechShops, FabLabs, museums, libraries, and so o

Patterns in informal and non-formal science learning activities for children:a Europe-wide survey study

Abstract There is a growing number of informal and non-formal learning activities worldwide related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curricular subject areas—particularly those involving coding and making. To better understand the general aim and content of such activities, we conducted a survey addressing highly experienced instructional designers and instructors of informal and non-formal science learning activities in nine European countries (N = 128). The goal of this paper is to investigate the relation between the gender of the activity leader experts, the target audience, the covered curricular subjects, the main goal, and the place of the activity. The results show that the gender and age of the participants are related to the covered curricular subjects and to the goal of the activity, and that the place of the activity is associated with all of the investigated dimensions. We introduce the patterns we identified that describe typical goals and the covered curricular subjects in relation to the participants’ gender and age along with patterns between the activity leader experts’ gender, the covered curricular subjects, and the main goal of the activity, as well as relationships between the studied dimensions and the place of the activity. Furthermore, we discuss the best practices and the bottlenecks of the activities, as well as detailed study findings regarding the revealed patterns, in addition to their implications and value for the informal and non-formal learning communities

Let Me Hack It : Teachers’ Perceptions About ‘Making’ in Education

Making in education is an emergent practice focusing on learners as creators of things in a collaborative fashion while promoting knowledge construction through technology, design, and creative self-expression. Teachers’ (n=33) opinions about making were studied using an online questionnaire after they had attended an online course for professional development about making in education. The results suggest that there exists a group of educators who consider making as a promising approach in education and want to promote its use in schools.peerReviewe

Looking at the Design of Making-Based Coding Activities Through the Lens of the ADDIE Model

Making has received growing interest in formal and informal learning environments. However, there is an acute need to investigate and get a deep understanding of the characteristics of making-based coding activities for children and how to appropriately design them. Over 3 years, we conducted empirical studies to investigate children’s learning experience during making-based coding workshops, in which children used a block-based programming environment (i.e., Scratch) and collaboratively created a socially meaningful artifact (i.e., a game). This chapter aims to illustrate and discuss the learning design, using the ADDIE instructional model, and lessons learned based on a making-based coding workshop in Norway, named Kodeløypa

The role of age and gender on implementing informal and non-formal science learning activities for children

Abstract There is a growing number of informal and non-formal learning activities worldwide related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subject areas — particularly, those related to coding and making. To understand the general aim and content of such activities, we conducted a survey addressing highly experienced instructional designers and instructors of informal and non-formal science learning activities in nine European countries (N=128). The goal of this paper is to investigate the relation between (1) the targeted age-group and (2) the gender of the participants in these activities, and (3) the gender of the activity leader experts and (I) the content and (II) the main goal of the activity. The results show that the gender and age of the participants and the gender of the activity leader experts are associated with regards to the underlined content and the goal of the activity. We introduce the revealed patterns that describe typical goals and content in association with the participant’s gender and age along with patterns between the activity leader experts’ gender and the content and the main goal of the activity. We discuss the study findings in detail, their implications and their value for the informal and non-formal learning communities

Obstacles and challenges identified by practitioners of non-formal science learning activities in Europe

Abstract Despite the increasing demand for non-formal science learning activities, few studies report on practitioners’ perspectives and experiences with designing and implementing such activities worldwide. This paper focuses on their challenges by drawing upon twenty-two interviews with practitioners involved in diverse science learning activities in various non-formal settings in seven European countries. By including diverse activities and settings, this study contributes to the existing knowledge base, addresses the aforementioned gap in the literature, and informs future practices. Our findings suggest that despite the existing and celebrated diversity, practitioners face similar challenges related to (a) the activities’ organisation and management, (b) the competencies required to run such activities, and (c) the attitudes held by the parties involved in them. Direct interview quotes exemplify each theme, further pinpointing the interconnection of multiple factors that inform the organisation and implementation of non-formal science learning activities. The findings allowed for a deeper understanding of challenges reported in the literature and shed light on the challenges voiced by the practitioners including the multiple competencies required and the workload. We conclude with a discussion foregrounding the need to build a knowledge base of shared practices in the field of non-formal science learning

A literature review of the practice of educating children about technology making

Abstract Inspired by the Maker Movement and attempts of integrating Making into formal education of children, we have examined how practice-oriented the research on Making and education is in Child-Computer Interaction field. Our results show that despite the growing interest practice-orientation is still weak. Making efforts rarely aim for longitudinal durable patterns and practices even though practice-driven research has started to gain prominence in the whole Human-Computer Interaction field. General ideas of what Making integrated with education can be and should be seem to be well shared among practitioners, however. We demonstrate what aspects should be considered when doing practice-oriented Making research and point out gaps in our current understanding of the practice. We also provide guidelines for how to study Making in order to develop sustainable practices