Advances in Web-Based Learning – ICWL 2016

Enabling teachers to define or portray efficient teaching ideas for sharing, reuse or adaptation has attracted the interest of Learning Design researchers and has led to the development of a variety of learning design tools. In this paper, we introduce a multi-dimensional framework for the analysis of learning design tools and use it to review twenty-nine tools currently available to researchers and practitioners. Lastly, we categorise these tools according to the main functionality that they offer.

Over the last fifteen years, the field of Learning Design has gained considerable attention among researchers aiming to promote pedagogy informed learning design, and technology-enhanced learning. From the pedagogical perspective, various learning design approaches have been developed within the field. In this paper, we investigate learning design approaches by conducting a systematic literature review, and present key theoretical concepts that underpin their development. Also, we link these approaches with key learning theories, including behaviorism, constructivism, cognitivism, and connectivism. The findings of this study can inform future research in the field of Learning Design.

This paper introduces a novel solution for visualized knowledge and workflow management, which can significantly improve usability of learning environments. The motivation is that in traditional LMS, learner cannot navigate through learning materials of several courses simultaneously, which would be very beneficial. First we present an analysis of three basic organization structures - matrix, hierarchy and network. Then an analysis of types of learning content and data formats for selected computer science courses is performed. The most versatile structure was finally enhanced to support well-arranged simultaneous display of learning content of several learning courses, organized by the course, content type and sequence.

Assessment is an essential component of educational environment. Assessment for Learning is a teaching approach which enables personalization of learning, sets targets for individual learners and thus helps our bachelor students progress to desired outcomes. Introducing technology as a mediational tool in the process of assessment was an essential step that we have taken in an effort to improve the on-line course of Professional English Language in the university Blackboard LMS. Computer-based formative self-assessment of English language was taken by bachelor students of Tourism Management to periodically test the development of language competencies, to know what skills have been learned and how far have the students progressed in achieving their targets in mastering English as a second language. In evaluating our students’ responses regarding the course quality we found out that targeting test questions at ability level in the on-line course is very motivating for the students. Moreover, for teachers is computer-adaptive testing really useful tool for getting precise, individual information about students’ ability level, whilst providing the added benefits of keeping them engaged and motivated by assessment activity.

Open Badges as a method for assessment and recognition of learning originates from the context of informal learning. Thus, it cannot be introduced into formal higher education without reconsidering the existing assessment processes. This paper presents experiences from three years of using Open Badges in a master level course. In each iteration, the badge system was revised based on learners’ feedback. Special attention was given to supporting learners with different learning styles. To summarize our findings, this paper proposes a set of design patterns for developing badge systems in higher education. While the learning styles proved to be useful as generic design guidelines for separating two alternative learning pathways for the course, more research is needed on advanced learning-style-based learning pathways.

Demands on the quality of teaching/learning materials in the sense of targeting studentsʼ individualized learning styles and needs make educators know, carefully consider, and then choose from many different digital tools in order to make their teaching more effective, appealing and engaging for students in the learning process. An online component to different paper-printed English learning materials – MyEnglishLab provides a smart solution to fulfill both teachersʼ and studentsʼ needs. The research being carried out at the Faculty of Science, University of Hradec Kralove, tests and verifies the effectiveness of blended learning using the online component MyEnglishLab in the distant form, and the tools of smartboard used in the present form of the blended learning model. In the paper we present MyEnglishLab component itself, its contribution to blended learning, then we introduce our pedagogical experiment having been going on within the Faculty of Science and students studying different scientific areas. We also present the first results coming out from testing two groups of students – one using MyEnglishLab component and the other using only paper-based materials, while both groups of students are exposed to the use of smartboard in face-to-face form.

This study explores best cases how schools use and make benefit of technology investment in Georgia. We consider schools as learning ecosystem of three types of services - Internal, External and Trade-off - in three educational domains of digital infrastructure, learning facilitation and change management. Multiple case study strategy was used in 15 schools of Georgia with purposive sampling. K-means cluster analysis was applied to group schools based on the grid of services. We built Bayesian Dependency model to find probabilistic dependencies of the services in digitally enhanced schools. The model is explained on the case studies of 3 Georgian schools. The findings suggest that trade-off type of services and change management services are the biggest determinant of the schools belonging to the innovative technology-enhanced learning ecosystems.

This paper proposes the adoption of Web technologies in order to bring the approach known as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) into primary school. CLIL is a form of language immersion where the learners’ foreign language represents the medium for classroom instruction regarding other school subjects. The idea is to design and implement ad hoc Web interfaces oriented to bi- and multi-lingualism. In this context, we will propose two educational environments: the first one uses standard Web technologies such as HTML5 and JavaScript, whereas the second one adopts in addition IEEE 1599, a format originally designed for the representation and synchronization of music and media contents, whose multi-layer structure – suitably adapted – can foster abilities and reinforcement techniques typical of CLIL.

For the past three years, seventeen (17) specially selected schools reflecting the urban, peri-urban and rural settlements in Ghana have been part of an on-going study; to explore the integration of ICT in schools. Findings from previous studies informed this current investigation. This paper reports a study that explored digitally divide (DD) in Learning Services (LS) in the basic schools. The results indicated that external LS informed DD in two school clusters. Digital challenges in schools have constrained the maximization of LS, resulting in few schools to display proactive transaction of external LS. There is the need for Stakeholders in education adopt a collaborative approach to tackle the issue of DD.

The resources proposed in the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) are passive and not motivating (pdf, video). In order to increase the learners’ motivation, the integration of complex resources (serious game, remote laboratory) in the MOOCs platforms becomes crucial. In fact, following a course in a video or in a pdf is associated to the theorical learning while performing a remote laboratory or a serious game is associated to a practical, dynamic and playful learning. However, these resources have a complex use. In this work, we propose an approach of integration of this type of resources based on structural integration and behavioral integration. This approach was tested in a MOOC platform (Claroline Connect) for the integration of both a remote laboratory and serious game.

The MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are durably modifying the learning methods in initial trainings. However, the registered learners in a MOOC are very heterogeneous. Moreover, their initial motivations and profiles may vary. The high dropout rate by learners shows that the concept of proposing a sequential or poorly structured learning path is not attractive enough. To address this problem, we propose in this work, an approach favoring the attractiveness of learners based on an adaptive approach within MOOCs. The federating element of our approach is defined on an overall learner model which aggregates its competencies and practices in social networks. Our proposals are implemented in a new platform MOOC: Claroline Connect.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a unique form of online education enabled by web-based learning technologies, allow learners from anywhere in the world with any level of educational background to enjoy online education experience provided by many top universities all around the world. However, the forms of learning activities in MOOC settings are usually limited to watching lecture or tutorial videos, joining formative or summative assessments, discussing with peer students, etc. These modes of learning could greatly limit the learning experience of the learners particularly in appreciating and acquiring certain tacit knowledge that the course content aim to deliver, for example in courses that deal with the vast expanse of the environment or the spiritual aspect of a culture, etc. In this paper, we present the design, production and delivery techniques for smart phone enabled Virtual Reality (VR) educational content that can provide impactful immersive learning experience to MOOC learners. Specifically, we have applied the techniques in the production of a MOOC entitled “Virtual Hong Kong: New World, Old Traditions”, led by AIMtech Centre, which, to our knowledge, is the first MOOC that delivers immersive learning content for distant learners to appreciate and experience how the traditional culture and folklores of Hong Kong impact upon the lives of its inhabitants in the 21st Century.

MOOCs have opened a new door in promoting lifelong learning and quality education around the globe. Besides learning specific knowledge and skills, MOOCs may be useful for English language learners by providing similar opportunities to “studying abroad.” By using MOOCs, learners may be able to enhance Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) beyond Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS), which is indispensable to be active in a globalized world. The aim of this study was to find out dimensions of learning with MOOCs for English learners which have an effect on English proficiency. After a pilot study, the main study found that there are three dimensions of MOOCs for English learners: Open Learning, Academic Self-efficacy, and Intercultural Communication. These dimensions will be useful in measuring the effects of English language learning with MOOCs.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Informatics and e-learning (IIE), have offered distance education courses for more than twenty years. In the years 2014–2016 we tried out a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) model for course delivery.We compared the two models of delivering the courses. A total of thirty success factors for sustainability were used to evaluate the Distance Education in three time frames and the new MOOC package. The result indicates that sustainability can be achieved if institutions are willing or able to implement more flexibility in organising their course packages.

Note-taking activities are encouraged in teaching as a mechanism for information retention, review and consolidation, as well as for promoting active engagement with the lecture. Traditional pen-and-paper approaches limit the possibility of note sharing and collaboration between students. An alternative is offered by mobile applications for note-taking, which capitalize on the wide availability of smartphones. In contrast to generic note-taking apps, in this paper we propose a mobile application specifically conceived for educational settings, called EduNotes. Students can write notes associated to a specific lecture slide and share them with peers; they can also tag, rate, add to favorites or comment on notes. Additional features include live notifications, as well as advanced search, filtering and privacy options, which help reduce the overhead of note management. The paper also reports on a successful pilot study involving the use of EduNotes in real classroom settings.

In mobile assisted language learning, devices are mostly used to provide digital, captivating versions of traditional exercises to teach the four language skills foreseen by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The goal of this paper is to introduce an innovative and novel approach to German learning, which goes beyond learning with the assistance of mobile devices. The idea is to create a mobile app, which includes exercises that require computational thinking to be applied. This allows us to reach two goals. First, learners can discover the grammatical structures and become able to apply them in other contexts, which shows competence acquisition. Second, the assessment of these exercises allows us to measure competencies (also partial ones), beside knowledge. Such a diagnostic assessment can be helpful both for learners (to understand where improvement is needed) and for teachers (to check the effectiveness of their activities). In this paper, we show sample applications to illustrate concretely the potentials of our approach.

We developed a range of vocabulary quizzes designed to help our students build their medical vocabulary using their mobile devices. We delivered medical vocabulary quizzes to 242 students, twice a week from July, 2013 to January, 2014. A survey conducted on the students’ perceptions of the materials showed that half of the students found them useful. However, the students’ actual use of the content averaged a mere 9.5 %, which illustrated that the students’ readiness for mobile learning was low while their mobile learning expectations were high. We carried out a second trial with 209 students from July, 2014 to February, 2015, after modifying the contents of the materials. Data analysis showed the average rate of participants who actually tried the quizzes in the second trial was 24.3 %, which was much higher than that of the previous year. This was probably due to our modification of the contents in the second trial.

This paper proposes a new approach for predicting final student grade with high accuracy. It builds an attribute dictionary (AD) automatically from students’ comments collected after every lesson. Furthermore, it combines white-box models: Decision Tree (DT) and Random Forest (RF), and a black-box model: Support Vector Machine (SVM) to construct an interpretable prediction model and carry out eclectic rule-extraction. First, the AD is built from students’ comments, which are converted to attribute vectors. Second, the output decision is generated by SVM using the attribute vectors in the training phase and then DT and RF are applied to the output decision to extract symbolic rules. Experimental results illustrate the validity of the AD constructed automatically and the superiority of the proposed approach compared to single machine learning techniques: DT, RF and SVM.

In this work we focus on immediate feedback during technology enhanced assessment. We distinguish two types of feedback: just after answering a test item or just after the completion of a test (cumulative feedback). We identified three challenges related to generation of formative feedback: (1) the lack of information about the user at beginning of the test; (2) the identification of features for the feedback generation on the item level, (3) generation of formative cumulative feedback from limited contextual information. We approach these challenges by creating a user model incrementally from observed user behavior. The conceptual model is validated in an e-learning platform EAGLE targeting information literacy, ICT literacy, and change management in an adult professional learning environment.

This work is performed in the scope of the TeSLA (An Adaptive Trust-based e-assessment System for Learning) project with the aim to investigate existing problems and solutions in e-assessment implemented in the engineering education, to present an overview of the best existing practice and to propose a blended assessment model consisting of offline and online assessment forms. The research outcomes are expected to facilitate the implementation of an e-assessment procedure in the Technical University of Sofia.

Technological developments of industrial enterprises, require continuous staff training. Serious games are a good way for vocational training and are fully up to date with the concept of industry 4.0 based on simulation and connected objects. However creating a serious game is questionable and relatively inaccessible for SMEs/SMIs industrial. In this article we present an approach to facilitate the implementation of playful scenario dedicated to industrial field. This approach is based on muti-faceted modeling resources and is illustrated by an example in a steel manufacturing company.

Understanding play traces resulting from the learner’s activity in serious games is a challenged research area. Especially, when the serious game is characterized by a large state space and a large amount of free interactions, the play traces become complex and thus hard to analyze and to interpret by teachers. In this paper, we present a framework that assists designers to build a model of an expert’s solving process semi-automatically. Based on this model, we propose an algorithm that analyzes player’s traces in order to generate pedagogical labels about the learner’s behavior. We carried out an experimental study which aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the labeling algorithm. From a usability point of view, we also use the experiment to validate the acceptation and readability of pedagogical labels by the teachers.

Serious games have known an enormous outburst during the last decade. These games have the power to use the gamers’ immersion in order to foster their motivation and engagement in educational and professional trainings. Unfortunately, the development of serious game scenarios remains an expensive, time consuming business that is exclusively dedicated to computer scientists. Our work aims to solve this problem by introducing a new process capable of building generic reusable and interoperable scenarios. This process is based on MDA (Model Driven Architecture). Its starting point consists in enriching an e-learning standard to define a new meta-model (CIM). This meta-model will manage, assemble and index the scenario components. Starting from CIM model, we define a transformational mechanism to implement playful yet pedagogical scenarios and integrate them within two contexts. The first context focuses on the playful aspect (Unity 3d environment) whereas the second one is purely pedagogical (E-learning platform: claroline connect).

In recent years academic and educational publishers have started to convert printed textbooks and learning materials into digital formats. However, this current digitization “wave” leaves the wider socio-technical regime with its various components that accompanies the use of these resources untouched and misses an examination of current and evolving educational practices and their mediation with digital texts. We take a wider, comprehensive perspective on the digitization of textbooks by attempting to map current e-textbook research and identify its wider components as a new socio-technical regime. The analysis has shown that e-textbook related studies rarely have revealed the wider economical components and policies that regulate the e-textbook usage in certain cases. As a conclusion we propose to use the “translated” components of e-textbook socio-technical regime as a reference framework for comparing alternative approaches taken to introduce e-textbook initiatives in different countries.

Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns (e.g., Jigsaw) offer sound pedagogical strategies to foster fruitful social interactions among learners. The pedagogy behind the patterns involves a set of intrinsic constraints that need to be considered when orchestrating the learning flow. These constraints relate to the organization of the flow (e.g., Jigsaw pattern - a global problem is divided into sub-problems and a constraint is that there need to be at least one expert group working on each sub-problem) and group formation policies (e.g., groups solving the global problem need to have at least one member coming from a different previous expert group). Besides, characteristics of specific learning situations such as learners’ profile and technological tools used provide additional parameters that can be considered as context-related extrinsic constraints relevant to the orchestration (e.g., heterogeneous groups depending on experience or interests). This paper proposes a constraint framework that considers different constraints for orchestration services enabling adaptive computation of orchestration aspects. Substantiation of the framework with a case study demonstrated the feasibility, usefulness and the expressiveness of the framework.

The success of intelligent tutoring system depends on the retrieval of relevant learning material according to the learner’s requirements. Therefore, the ultimate goal is development of the intelligent tutoring system that provides learning materials considering the requirements and understanding capability of the specific learner. In our previous research, we implemented a tutoring system named Protus 2.1 (PROgramming TUtoring System) that is used for learning basic concepts of Java programming language. It directs the learner’s activities and recommends relevant actions during the learning process based on the personal profile of each learner. This paper presents the implementation of collaborative tagging technique for content recommendation in Protus 2.1. This technique can be applied in intelligent tutoring systems for providing tag-enabled recommendations of concepts and resources. We investigated and identified tagging practices of students and their evolution over time.

It is important to discover informative users disseminating fresh and high-quality domain-specific contents over social media in order to keep up-to-date with and learn cutting-edge knowledge, but that is not easy, especially for new learners due to information abundance or even overload. We propose an efficient approach to discover potential informative users by matching real-world authors extracted from the latest domain-specific publications to corresponding social media user accounts. Mutually reinforcing methods are further applied to identify informative users and recommend domain-specific contents in social media. Our experiments on real data from arxiv and twitter are used to verify feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Successful teaching and learning in higher education is currently associated with the use of new information and communication technologies. Learning/learner-centered practice and research have put increased emphasis on active, self-regulated and, lately, social learning. Social constructivist theoreticians and practitioners have investigated how successful learning is supported and stimulated by discussing, sharing, collaborating and contributing knowledge in Web 2.0/social media environments where peers and teachers are just one click away. In 2015, the authors investigated students’ perceptions of extending the activity on Facebook, revealing that students active on Facebook perform better on the learning management platform, having superior learning outcomes. Consequently, a Facebook closed group was attached to the language learning course as a space of communication and informal learning where students may actively contribute and interact with their peers and teacher. The present research aims to find out whether this space allows for active and interactive learning, while triggering better engagement with course content. Students’ reported motivation, frequency and ease of use of their Facebook activity are compared with their real activity in the group. Data are collected by means of the questionnaire validated in the previous study and Facebook data. The results are expected to contribute to existing empirical data on the benefits and challenges of using social media for educational purposes, for active learning beyond the classroom and suggest possible changes in pedagogical design to ensure higher levels of engagement and correlation with academic success.

In this work we address the problem of automatically finding prerequisite relations among learning materials in order to help instructional designers to speed up the course building process. Ours is a data-driven approach, where a (machine) learner is trained to classify predecessor/successor relationships, given two didactic materials in a textual form. As the training set we use the learning materials extracted from Coursera. A first evaluation shows promising results.

In this work, we investigated the affordances of tabletops in order to begin testing them within a specialised and sensitive collaborative learning environment; namely, that with users in conflict. We utilised a bespoke prototype application named ‘IdeaSpace’ which makes use of multi-touch interactive tabletop technology and is specifically designed to encourage user collaboration. We tested the usability and interaction with a group of users as a pilot test, followed by a second test in a shared space with crowds of users serendipitously using the tabletop in an open, public space. From the tests we identified and isolated findings directly relating to collaboration elements needing attention before introducing IdeaSpace to participants in conflict.

The main objective of this study is to research the process of providing individual written feedback to students’ assignments written in the essay format within LMS. The feedback was made by the Pen&Paper method (i.e. handwriting) and by the ICT-enhanced method (i.e. typewriting, called e-feedback) in the English for Specific Purposes online course. The process was structured into three phases: (1) downloading the assignments from the online course, (2) writing the feedback and (3) uploading the assignments back to the online course in LMS. Both methods were identical in phases 1 and 3; however, the phase 2 differed. Totally 62 assignments were used for this research. Both the Pen&Paper method and e-feedback were applied on each assignment; and time periods spent on each assignment were measured and compared. Data were processed by the NCSS2010 statistic software. The results did not show any statistically significant differences in the total time periods.

Beginning researchers in general face various difficulties when initiating a process of scientific research due to the unavailability of proper tutoring or the minimum knowledge about research methodology and, this impacts the reliability of the process, the time and the results of the research in question. The purpose of this work is to support the acquisition of scientific skills by offering to beginning researchers learning analytics in each and every one of the phases and stages of the investigative process based on the actions and interactions that teachers/supervisors, experts and researchers make during this investigative process. Therefor, it is presented, as a detailed case study, the skill of formulating research questions by defining the process that was used, including the actors, the measurements, and the indicators, the formative process and the interactions managed with the Binnproject software. Finally the K-means algorithm is used in analyzing students’ behavior and creating clusters according to their performance during the process of formulating scientific questions, this way supporting the process of determining strategies able to strengthen scientific competences for both students and the teaching practice.

Small companies play a crucial role in developed economies. In order to address new challenges they have to fill promptly their competence gaps, when these appear. To achieve this, suitable forms of informal learning at the workplace are usually needed. As a possible solution we have developed a customized Personal Learning Environment for this purpose and evaluated it in the German Information Technology sector. Our experimental study has shown that although it is not easy to get small companies involved in this kind of piloting, the approach can be viable and has a potential for further improvements.