Monitoring Conceptual Development: Design Considerations of a Formative Feedback tool

This paper presents the design considerations of a tool aiming at providing formative feedback. The tool uses Latent Semantic Analysis, to automatically generate reference models and provide learners a means to compare their conceptual development against these models. The design of the tool considers a theoretical background which combines research on expertise development, knowledge creation, and conceptual development assessment. The paper also illustrates how the tool will work using a problem and solution scenario, and presents initial validations results. Finally the paper draws conclusions and future work

Learning networks for professional development:Current research approaches and future trends

Learning networks are technology supported communities through which learners share knowledge with each other and jointly develop new knowledge (Sloep & Berlanga, 2011). This way, learning networks enrich the experience of continuous professional development and lifelong learning. Examples of learning networks for professional development are communities of employees who want to improve customer services, lawyers who want exchange knowledge and experience, and communities of teachers who exchange their experiences and seek for collaboration. Learning networks that support activities for educational professionals is enjoying increasing interest, see for instance Cloudworks (http://cloudworks.ac.uk/), Tapped-In (http://tappedin.org), or eTwinning (www.etwinning.net). However, the full potential and added value of these networks could be maximised if new frameworks, tools and techniques would be developed (Schlager, et al., 2009). A case in point is the European project Teacher’s Lifelong Learning Networks (Tellnet). This project aims to study professional development networks by exploring analysis and visualisation techniques to identify relevant structures and patterns, and to specify performance indicators for facilitating collaboration, innovation and creativity of teachers. Tools are investigated to foster peer-support, collaboration, and increase social capital. Moreover, specific future scenarios on the role of teacher networks for learning are developed, bringing together the evidence found with emerging social and technical trends in Europe. The above mentioned eTwinning network is taken as study case. eTwinning promotes teacher and school collaboration through the use of ICT. It is a large online network (over 150.000 European teachers) in which teachers can work with each other and learn from each other. Through this network, collaborative cross-border school projects can be started on a wide variety of subjects, e.g. having multiple primary school students working together and learning about different cultures. Additionally, teachers can attend a variety of professional development activities, such as online Groups or Learning Labs to improving both personal and professional teaching skills. The aim of this symposium is to present current Tellnet efforts that aim to understand and enhance learning networks for professional development. This includes contributions that attempt to answer questions such as: how network learning can contribute to successful continuous professional development and competence building? How could learning analytics be used in order to identify benefits of learning networks, such as social capital? What will be the role of networks in the coming years? Answering these questions requires a holistic approach that considers pedagogical and technical underpinnings, as well as individual, social and organizational aspects

Using language technologies to support individual formative feedback

In modern educational environments for group learning it is often challenging for tutors to provide timely individual formative feedback to learners. Taking the case of undergraduate Medicine, we have found that formative feedback is generally provided to learners on an ad-hoc basis, usually at the group, rather than individual, level. Consequently, conceptual issues for individuals often remain undetected until summative assessment. In many subject domains, learners will typically produce written materials to record their study activities. One way for tutors to diagnose conceptual development issues for an individual learner would be to analyse the contents of the learning materials they produce, which would be a significant undertaking. CONSPECT is one of six core web-based services of the Language Technologies for Lifelong Learning (LTfLL) project. This European Union Framework 7-funded project seeks to make use of Language Technologies to provide semi-automated analysis of the large quantities of text generated by learners through the course of their learning. CONSPECT aims to provide formative feedback and monitoring of learners’ conceptual development. It uses a Natural Language Processing method, based on Latent Semantic Analysis, to compare learner materials to reference models generated from reference or learning materials. This paper provides a summary of the service development alongside results from validation of Version 1.0 of the service

Supporting Teachers' Networked Learning Skills for More Online Engagement

Rajagopal, K., Berlanga, A. J., & Sloep, P. B. (2012). Supporting Teachers' Networked Learning Skills for More Online Engagement. In V. Hodgson, C. Jones, M. de Laat, D. McConnell, T. Ryberg, & P. Sloep (Eds.), Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Networked Learning 2012 (pp. 422-428). April, 2-4, 2012, Maastricht, The Netherlands.This article looks into professional networks and their evolution into their current state as blended networks. The eTwinning network, a network of European schools, is described as an example of such a professional network for teachers, where studies from the TellNet project show that many teachers in the online network are isolated. As the eTwinning network wants to evolve into supporting more continuous professional development activities, the current disengagement of members needs to be resolved. Several potential underlying causes for the disengagement are described, as well as an approach to technical support that aims to engage the members in gaining the most from their participation in the network.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the Teachers’ Lifelong Learning Networks (Tellnet) project that is funded by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme. Ref. 505594-LLP-1-2009-1-BE-Ka4-KA4SRM [http://www.tellnet.eun.org

Implications of Identity Negotiation Research for the Design of the TRAILER e-Portfolio

Janssen, J., Berlanga, A. J., & Sloep, P. B. (2012). Implications of Identity Negotiation Research for the Design of the TRAILER e-Portfolio. In Proceedings of the ePortfolio and Identity Conference (ePIC) 2012 (pp. 78-82). July, 9-11, 2012, London, UK. For the presentation, please see also: http://hdl.handle.net/1820/4598This paper focuses on the question how to design an e-portfolio so that it optimally enables learners to gain credit (either literally or figuratively speaking) for competences attained through informal learning starting from the premise that this process can be considered an identity negotiation process. It provides a review of research findings in the area of identity negotiation and online identities in light of the implications they hold for the design of an e-portfolio that is meant to facilitate identity negotiation.Tagging, Recognition and Acknowledgment of Informal Learning ExpeRiences project (TRAILER) that is funded by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme. Ref. 519141-LLP-1-2011-1-ES-KA3-KA3MP [http:// trailerproject.eu]. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein

Using Ad Hoc Transient Communities to Strengthen Social Capital: Design Considerations

Fetter, S., Berlanga, A. J., & Sloep, P. B. (2010). Using Ad Hoc Transient Communities to Strengthen Social Capital: Design Considerations. In L. Dirckinck-Holmfeld, V. Hodgson, C. Jones, M. de Laat, D. McConnell, & T. Ryberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning (NLC-2010) (pp. 151-158). May, 3-4, 2010, Aalborg, Denmark.In this paper we argue that Ad Hoc Transient Communities (AHTCs) are a promising means to improve community sustainability by strengthening the social capital of the community. AHTCs are a means through which participants are brought together for a specific, learning-related goal (‘ad hoc’) and for only a limited amount of time (‘transience’). In this paper a first design for an AHTC service is presented which will be implemented in the eTwinning network (+ 70.000 users). Following a short theoretical introduction, a use case is presented outlining how a new participant would use the service. In this use case the participant initially does not know who to contact for asking a question. Using the system, the participant receives an answer from two participants whom were selected by the service. Over time and with more use, the participant has gained many connections with other participants, feels a sense of belonging to the community, as well as is answering questions from others. However, not only the participant that asked the question benefited, also the participants helping did. By working together the invited participants got to know each other as well. Following the use case, important design choices are elaborated upon. These design choices are: Finding the right participants with a matching system, participant accountability through ratings, showing participant’s previous activity and contacts to increase sense of belonging, and accessibility and Usability. Subsequently, related work on Question and Answer websites as well as Question and Answer services is described. Lessons learned from the related work concern the importance of a matching system, finding a balance between public and private questions, the value of ratings as well as the danger of providing paid tutors through the system. Finally, it is concluded that implementing an AHTC service as proposed in this paper should lead to the desired effects on social capital. These effects are decentralizing the social network structure, improving the sense of belong to the community, and increasing mutual support. Testing for these effects will be done with a combination of social network analyses, a questionnaire, and logging data. Based on the design a prototype can be built, while at the same time a user requirement analysis with stakeholders will be conducted, leading to a longitudinal study within the eTwinning network.European project: Tellnet Project Number - 505594-LLP-1-2009-1-BE-Ka4-KA4SRM

Evaluation of the Learning Path Specification

Janssen, J., Berlanga, A. J., & Koper, R. (2011). Evaluation of the Learning Path Specification. International Journal of Educational Technology and Society, 14(3), 218–230.Flexible lifelong learning requires that learners can compare and select learning paths that best meet individual needs, not just in terms of learning goals, but also in terms of planning, costs etc. To this end a learning path specification was developed, which enables to describe both the contents and the structure of any learning path, be it formal, non-formal, informal, or indeed a combination of these. This paper briefly explains the learning path specification and its purpose to then present a framework for the evaluation of the specification based on theories of model quality. A study of learner choice processes (n=15) was carried out to investigate the specification’s semantic and pragmatic quality (clarity, completeness and parsimony) with respect to the selection of a learning path. Results indicate that the specification does not contain any redundant information. Instead, the study has led to improvement of the specification’s (feasible) completeness by further refinement of scheduling information.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org