Learning and Collaboration Technologies

The purpose of this study is to examine spatial contiguity effect on multimedia learning with an instructional animation using eye-tracking. The research method was experimental method and the study was conducted with a user group consisting of 12 participants (6 female and 6 male). The data collection tools were a demographic survey, a prior knowledge test, a retention test and an eye-tracker. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric statistics including Mann-Whitney U Test. According to the results there were no statistically significant difference in terms of learning outcomes, total fixation time on relevant texts and images, fixation count on relevant texts and images, and mean fixation duration on relevant images between spatial and non-spatial group according to the research results. However, mean fixation duration on relevant texts was significantly higher for spatial group than non-spatial group. According to mean ranks on all measures of eye tracking data, there may be tendency that participants in spatial group spent more time and attention on relevant text as non-spatial group spent more time and attention on narration and relevant images.

Multimedia content is increasingly being used in the context of e-learning. In the absence of classroom-like active interventions by instructors, multimedia-based learning leads to disengagement and shorter attention spans. In this paper, we present a framework for using audio cues interspersed with the content to improve student engagement and learning outcomes. The proposed framework is based on insights from cognitive theory of multimedia learning, modeling of working memory and successful use of audio in the film industry. On a set of 20 freshmen engineering students, we demonstrate that the systematic use of audio cues led to 37.6 % relative improvement in learning outcome and 44 % relative improvement in long-term retention. Post-study interviews establish that the associated students improved recall and engagement to the presence of audio cues.

Motivation is the most important part in childhood education. Many schools have invested a lot in information technology with the hope that it will create some motivation in learning but there is no significant proof that it worked. Augmented Reality may be the answer, since it provides children to interact with virtual object while still in the real world environment. In this research, we have created 3 AR experiments to prove the concept that AR can motivate children in learning English. These AR experiments will concentrate on writing, reading and conversation. Different AR techniques were used for this purpose i.e. marker-marker interaction and user-defined target. The results agree with the prediction that children really enjoy and eager to learn more.

This study aimed to apply gesture-based cognition learning technology to develop an educational training support system (G-NETS) for physical assessment practicum. The processes of G-NETS system development can be divided into two stages: user-centered design (UCD) development and system verification. Eventually, the quantitative and qualitative analysis is conducted to evaluate nursing students learning performance, attitude, cognitive load, and technology acceptance. Results reveal that G-NETS can help the clinical nursing instructors to access the learners’ information easily, to monitor the student’s learning behavior in clinical courses, and to give them timely support and feedbacks accordingly. That in turn can reduce the percentage of mistakes and increase the quality of clinical practicum learning process. In the future, this study can be applied to clinical education, the training of new clinical nursing staff, other subjects of clinical practicum training, which expand the beneficial results of practical training and clinical teaching.

This paper aims at developing a Chinese PCS Editing Processor with Picture Communication Symbols (PCS), Chinese Text-to-Speech Engine and recording engine to improve Chinese characters learners and learning environment for the children of elementary school. The design of Chinese PCS Editing Processor could reduce the complexity of making PCS teaching materials and time for the elementary school teachers and parents. This assistive technology design may have a range of convenient and efficient functions to support the children throughout learning process.

This paper presents four categories of learning analytics tools: dashboards, ad hoc tools, tools for analysis of specific issues, and learning analytics frameworks, and details the characteristics of a selection of tools within each category: (1) Moodle Dashboard and Moodle default reporting tool; (2) Interactions and Teamwork Assessment Tool; (3) SNAPP, GraphFES and Moodle Engagement Analytics; and (4) VeLA and GISMO. The study investigates how these tools can be applied to the analysis of courses by using real data from a course that made intensive use of forums, wikis, web resources, videos, quizzes and assignments. The discussion that follows points out how the different tools complement each other, and suggests the implementation of basic dashboards in learning platforms and the use of external frameworks for learning analytics.

This paper presents the evaluation criteria and process of the User Centered Design (UCD) framework for m-learning application development. Based on the proposed UCD framework we have designed and developed five mobile learning applications for various sectors. The main aim of this paper is to argue how the UCD framework as development methodology has been successful in developing robust mobile learning applications. The UCD framework for m-learning application assessments criteria is based on three evaluation processes. 1. The acceptance of the application by target group (usability assessments) 2. The user experience assessment of the target m-learning application based on education components. 3. Qualitative research e.g. semi-structured interview with developers, designers and the owner of the application. The analysis of these assessments demonstrates varies aspect of the proposed UCD framework functionalities and performance.

Rapid increase in the use of wearable technologies, especially Optical Head-Mounted Display (OHMD) devices (e.g. Google Glass), suggests potentials for education and requires more scientific studies investigating such potentials. The issue of information access and delivery in classrooms can be of interest where multiple screens and objects of attention exist and can cause distraction, lack of focus and reduced efficiency. This study explores the usability of a single OHMD device, as an alternative to individual and big projection screens in a classroom situation. We developed OHMD-based prototypes that allowed presentation and practice of lesson material through three displays and two control options. We conducted user studies to compare various feasible combinations of display/control mechanism using a series of evaluation criteria, including enjoyment, ability to focus, motivation, perceived efficiency, physical comfort, understandability, and relaxation. Our results suggest that improved OHMD technology will have the potential ability to be effective in classroom learning.

The native language of a foreign language learner can have an effect on the errors they make because of similarities or differences between the two languages. In order to provide effective error prediction and correction for non-native English language learners it is important to identify their specific characteristic error patterns that are influenced by their native language. In this paper, we examine analyzing error detection scores to predict the native language of an English language learner. 15 categories of error detection scores are combined to create an error prediction score vector representation of each sentence. The native language is predicted by training an SVM classifier with the error vectors. The results are compared to an SVM classifier trained with just word representations of the learner writing sentences.

The Open Academic Environment (OAE) is a new platform that aims to support academic collaboration and academic networking. It allows students, researchers and faculty to create knowledge, collaborate and connect with the world.

Since authoring plays an essential part in academic activity, one of the most powerful tools OAE provides is the collaborative authoring. It enables students and faculty to create, share and collaboratively work on cloud based documents. The features provided include coworker managing, real-time collaborative text documentation, basic format editing and commenting.

The current OAE system is web based and it enables mobile accessibility through responsive web design. More and more students and research work with mobile devices these days. However the current mobile interface of for collaborative interfaces such as OAE has much room for improvement. The interface has not been optimized for mobile device usability and loses some of the essential features in both text editing and collaborative support when accessed through a mobile device. Even basic documentation may require the use of many different editing features. Collaboration support requires the availability of features that enable tracking of others’ activity and that support communication.

However mobile interface design for complex tasks has always been tricky work. The smaller screen and limited input methods of the mobile device make it difficult to fit in as many features as in desktop software or a full website. Therefore, it is important to identify user needs and understand user activities so that a designer can prioritize needed features and optimize their arrangements. Better support for mobile devices will enable participation in academic collaboration whenever and wherever a person might be. This paper presents research on user needs and user activities in mobile collaborative systems, and efforts to design an alternative interface for OAE system.

Tablets, such as the iPad and Kindle, provide a portable platform for children of all ages to explore various content through apps and interactive books. The use of gestures provides a means of interaction that is intuitive to children as a means of navigating apps or activating media-based content. The tablet as a programming platform is unique in that the gesture-based skills used in other apps are extrapolated and applied to computational thinking skills and interaction with a robot, which maneuvers based on the child’s creation. This paper describes the workflow and user interface design to facilitate Lego Mindstorms NXT programming by children.

This paper examines the effects of an asynchronous blog system on speaking proficiency for EFL learners in Japan. The novelty of the system is its incorporation of Web Speech API, which leads to higher performance compared with the use of web applications for classroom purposes. On the basis of a questionnaire survey conducted as pilot research, we demonstrate that the system has potential to improve speaking proficiency and increases the motivation of less motivated learners.

The difficulty of students in learning logic and programming languages leads the research of technological solutions to assist in the teaching-learning process. Among these solutions, two common approaches are robotics and graphical-based programming languages. Researches indicate that these tools can aid learners to think systematically and develop computational thinking. Therefore, this work proposes the Coffee Platform, which is composed by a Web-based block programming environment and a smartphone as a robot controller unit. This platform can be expanded to work with various mobile devices and robotic kits. The Coffee Platform was applied in a classroom with the aim of assessing the tool and its effects over students’ motivation. Results indicate that the proposed solution can serve as a stimulus for students and assist in understanding programming concepts.

The importance of an appropriate training is widely recognized in the domain of emergency management. The goal of an efficient and effective humanitarian emergency response can be better pursued, if responders are appropriately prepared to address health, security and managerial concerns. In this paper we propose the adoption of augmented reality mobile interfaces to enhance the training efficacy for on-site crisis preparedness activities. The system we propose originated from the idea to allow trainees to exploit AR interaction and become quickly familiar with the mobile technology adopted today in emergency response activities.

Previous research has found that in many cases, paper-based materials are better tools than digital-based products for learning and memorizing words. However, the advantage of digital media is that functions can be easily added. In this paper, we demonstrate a new digital system for memorizing words that is connected to the real world for each word. The use of this system is based on taking photos in daily life. The system detects the squares in the photo taken, and the square becomes the space for a word. We present a design and an evaluation using a mock-up of the system.

The increasing popularity of distance education courses, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), creates a demand for the production of quality video-based educational material. In order to reduce the costs involved in the production of video lectures, several researchers have investigated alternatives for capture and access systems which automatically capture lecture contents to generate corresponding video lectures. We also developed a system for this purpose; however our system generates Interactive Multimedia Learning Objects (iMLO) instead of a traditional (linear) video lecture. The iMLO’s features and its interface are important issues for the development of the capture and access system. Interface aspects, such as which are proper ways to present content for users and which navigation facilities are more useful, are distinctive requirements and may impact the user experience. In this paper we present a novel design for the iMLOs which results from an evolution process supported by feedbacks from the main stakeholders: students and lecturers. The feedbacks have been acquired by analyzing the interaction of students with the iMLOs in real scenarios. Based on these feedbacks, we have identified several design implications. We present the proposed interfaces and proof-of-concepts implementations and report lessons learned during the development of the final design solution, which can guide other designers in the conception of new iMLOs. The whole process is documented by means of Design Rationale.

This paper describes a new method of automatic error detection in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CAPT) system. The method combines linguistic knowledge and modern speech technology. Our HMM classifier trained from annotations of linguists is not only capable of classifying correct and wrong phonemes, but also can tell how wrong an error phoneme is pronounced. Phone errors in L2’s speech, like phoneme substitution or distortion are detected with high accuracy, and at the same time, corrective feedback with multimedia support, which demonstrates how exactly error phonemes should be pronounced, is also generated.

Feedback is a core aspect of all the known psychological perspectives about cognition and learning and it has been an important aspect in machine-mediated education since the days of Sydney Pressey’s teaching machines. This article reviews four computer-based concept mapping tools, that claim to provide feedback to the learners, w.r.t three research questions: (a) what type of feedback does the software use?; (b) does the feedback provided adheres to a specific model found in the literature and if so which one?; (c) are there any controlled experiments or in-class studies that give account of the efficiency of the feedback provided by the software?

From a previous review of state of art regarding to

formative e-assessment

is determined that researches are mainly addressed to learning environments and intended learning outcomes. Formative type takes advantage of both, peer review and teacher feedback. Teacher feedback when students are solving the assigned tasks has not been sufficiently explored because research has focused in contexts based on asynchronous learning technologies. Thus, in this paper is proposed a model aimed to enhance teacher feedback by means of synchronous detection of student difficulties during evaluation execution. The research experiment—composed by the model implementation and an evaluation questionnaire design—is focused on proving model capability for detecting difficulties. According to attained results is concluded that this model is able to detect early students difficulties when formative assessment is executed. The future work will be mainly addressed to propose a research for determining if the model can complement formative e-assessment environments.

Ontologies represent an efficient way of semantic web application on e-learning and offer great opportunity by bringing great advantages to e-learning systems. Nevertheless, despite the many advantages that we get from using ontologies, in terms of structuring the data, there are still many unresolved problems related to the difficulties about getting proper information about a learner’s behavior. Consequently, there is a need of developing tools that enable analysis of the learner’s interaction with the e-learning environment. In this paper, we propose a framework for the application of Business Intelligence (BI) and OLAP technologies in SMEUS e-learning environment. Hence, on one hand, the proposed framework will enable and support the decision-making by answering some questions related to learner’s performance, and on the other hand, will present a case study model for implementing these technologies into a semantic e-learning environment.

T

his paper is based on the principal bases defined in the theory of communication of McLuhan and the principles of David Ausubel. We want to propose a system that allows teachers to perform a methodology based on meaningful learning and a continuous evaluation system. We take McLuhan’s theory of communication as a process of creating curricular programs and turn the theory of knowledge into one based on meaningful learning. Therefore we perform a methodology to be explored by students, and teachers could develop their work through exploration within the teaching-learning process.

One of the most important discussions in artificial intelligence is the modeling of human behaviors in virtual environments. The factors such as personality, emotion, and mood are important to model human behaviors. In this paper, we propose a computational model to calculate a user’s desirability as one of the most important factors which in determining the user’s emotions. The main purpose of this research is to find a relationship between personality and emotion in virtual learning environments. The model has been evaluated in a simulated virtual learning environment and the results show that the proposed model formulates the relationship between personality and emotions with high precision.

This paper presents a recommendation engine I have developed for an online drill system. The engine provides suitable quizzes for users, helping users learn effectively. The paper describes the features and effects of the recommendation engine.

This paper describes a project that reviewed the usability of existing Educational Technology Application Programming Interfaces (EdTech APIs). The focus was on web-based APIs and the portals through which these are offered to developers. After analysing the state of art with regard to existing EdTech APIs and after conducting a literature review on API usability, a survey was circulated among developers and CTOs of EdTech organisations. The results of the aforementioned three steps were triangulated and resulted in usability guidelines for EdTech APIs. The contribution of this project is twofold: firstly, the production of a concrete set of EdTech API usability guidelines and, secondly, their implementation in a proof-of-concept a portal for two different EdTech offerings.

This paper discusses Ontological Design (OD) to support creative and insightful thinking in the increasingly customised modern world, specialised for augmented reality interfaces. The motivation was built upon IBM’s suggestion that capitalising complexity enables creativity, and the latter is the single most important leadership competency to deal with the increasing world complexity. Thus, OD simplifies the customisation processes and reduces anxiety when comes to challenging digital literacy for computer aided learning (CAL) skills. In a mixed reality modern world learners need to constantly adapt to changes into information, knowledge, signification and meaning, skills and competencies. This requires or enables cognitive plasticity bringing back the initial educational target, learning to learn. OI is based on the mediated ways the tools are used to enhance our senses and mind and the interaction as well as the influence our world view.

Sixteen students took a test that included a Flexilevel stage and a standard Computer Based Test (CBT) stage. The results were analysed using a Spearman’s Rank Order correlation and showed a significant positive correlation (rs = 0.58, p <=0.05). This was taken to provide support for the notion that it is possible to provide shorter Flexilevel objective tests that are as efficacious as CBTs. Implications that this finding may have for the use of the Flexilevel Test in mobile learning contexts is discussed.

Golf is a popular sport around the world. Since an accomplished golf swing is essential for succeeding in this sport, golf players spend a considerable amount of time perfecting their swing. In order to guide the design of future computer-based training systems that support swing instruction, this paper analyzes the data gathered during interviews with golf instructors and participant observations of actual swing coaching sessions. Based on our field work, we describe the characteristics of a proficient swing, how the instructional sessions are normally carried out and the challenges professional instructors face. Taking into account these challenges, we outline which desirable capabilities future computer-based training systems for professional golf instructors should have.

Educational Recommender Systems aim to provide students with search relevant results adapted to their needs or preferences and delivering those educational contents such as Learning Objects (LOs) that could be closer than expected. LOs can be defined as a digital entity involving educational design characteristics. Each LO can be used, reused, or referenced during computer-supported learning processes, aiming at generating knowledge, skills, attitudes, and competences based on the student profile. The aim of this paper is to present a student-centered LO recommender system based on a hybrid recommendation technique that combines three following approaches: content-based, collaborative and knowledge-based. In addition, those LOs adapted to the student profile are retrieved from LO repositories using the stored descriptive metadata of these objects. A testing phase with a case study is performed in order to validate the proposed hybrid recommender system that demonstrates the effectiveness of using this kind of approaches in virtual learning environments.

In the last decade, some useful contributions have occurred to e-learning system development such as adaptation, ubiquity, personalization, as well as context-awareness services. The aim of this paper is to present the advantages brought by the integration of ubiquitous computing along with distributed artificial intelligence techniques in order to build an adaptive and personalized context-aware learning system by using mobile devices. Based on this model we propose a multi-agent context-aware u-learning system that offers several functionalities such as context-aware learning planning, personalized course evaluation, selection of learning objects according to student profile, search of learning objects in repository federations, search of thematic learning assistants, and access of current context-aware collaborative learning activities involved. In addition, several context-awareness services are incorporated within the adaptive e-learning system that can be used from mobile devices. In order to validate the model a prototype was built and tested through a case study. Results obtained demonstrate the effectiveness of using this kind of approaches in virtual learning environments which constitutes an attempt to improve learning processes.

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “Math and Motion” presents a different way for the interaction with Mathematical knowledge. In this course, digital technologies are integrated during the process of Mathematical teaching. These technologies are mixed with Mathematical contents to create a didactic scenario. In this scenario, numeric, algebraic and graphical representations are incorporated to the real-life context of linear motion. This scenario offers learning with a real meaning for the Mathematics knowledge. Assessment in this new way of interaction with Mathematics considers new challenges besides its online feature. In Math and Motion, lectures are available in weekly videos, and each week includes an assessment of multiple responses items executed in platform COURSERA. In this paper we describe the didactic design of Math and Motion MOOC and its assessment, as well as the findings during its first delivery in fall semester 2013.

This research presents an information system design theory (ISDT) to integrate a notification and recommendation system (NARS) into online discussion forums on mobile devices. The artifact is designed with respect to awareness and information overload as kernel theories. Furthermore, the design includes an intuitive way to improve the accuracy of short-text clustering used to extract semantic topics from posts. The paper describes a prototype of the design artifact, experiments to evaluate the proposed short-text clustering method, and a survey to evaluate the quality of the artifact prototype.

In intelligent tutoring systems (ITS), creating large amounts of educational content requires a large-scale and multi-domain knowledge base. However, most knowledge bases for ITSs are still manually developed. Aiming at reducing the cost of developing educational contents, this study proposes a method to generate multiple-choice history quizzes using Wikipedia articles. We also propose a method for assigning an importance measure to each relevant article based on hierarchical categories and the number of incoming links to the article. This is indispensable in generating quizzes that test basic knowledge of history. Finally, the results of evaluating these methods show that the proposed methods are useful in automatically creating quizzes for history exercise.

In this paper, based on Seymour Papert’s learning theory, logo creator, we create a theory based on the knowledge of learning objects, which allows teachers and students a dynamic development of content and allows continuous assessment of the student. In this way, we use the cloud system and educational systems, which enables the development of learning objects as independent and modifiable elements from any location and makes it easy to integrate with other systems.

In this paper, we examine the impact of metaphoric gestures performed by Pedagogical Conversational Agent (PCA) on learners’ memorization of technical terms, understanding of relationships between abstract concepts, learning experience, and perception of the PCA. The study employed a one-factor three-level between-participants design where we manipulated gesture factor (speech-gesture match vs. speech-gesture mismatch vs. no-gesture). The data of 97 students were acquired in on-line learning environment. As the results, while there was no effect found on memorization of technical terms, we found that students showed accurate schematic understanding of the relationship between abstract concepts when the PCA used metaphoric gestures matched to speech content than when used gestures mismatched, and no gesture. Contrary to the result, we also found that students judged the PCA useful, helpful, and felt the PCA looked like a teacher when performed mismatched gestures to speech content than when performed matched gesture.

The affective or emotional state of the learner is known to motivate learning, and this study specifically investigated the role of pedagogical agents with animated characteristics in an online tutoring task. Previous studies indicated that sensitivity to emotion typically varies depending on the gender of the learner and the gender of the teacher; therefore, we investigated how each type of emotion is influenced by the gender of the characters. We conducted three experiments with a total of 414 Japanese students. We found that both male and female learners felt more positive toward animated characters of the same gender, and the effects became stronger with childlike characteristics, such as big eyes. We conclude that deformed characters could be incorporated into designs of web-based tutoring systems for more effective teaching.

This paper describes the use of Virtual Worlds technology to implement a virtual museum for an interpretation center on the theme of the use of mosaics in ancient Roman villas. In order to foster the comprehension of the meaning of these archaeological remains, incomplete mosaics were completed digitally and placed in virtual rooms to recreate the atmosphere. A musealization of the virtual

domus

was then carried out. The environment was developed on an OpenSim based virtual world, which was prepared to hold groups of avatars characterized as Roman males and females, children and adults. Text chat and sound enable every visitor to share opinions with other remote users, and to perform guided tours. The system also permits to give lectures to remote audiences utilizing telepresence.

In a world that is characterized by highly specialized industry sectors, the demand for well-educated engineers increases significantly. Thus, the education of engineering students has become a major field of interest for universities. However, not every university is able to provide the required number of industry demonstrators to impart the needed practical knowledge to students. Our aim is to fill this gap by establishing Remote Labs. These laboratory experiments are performed in Virtual Reality environments which represent real laboratories accessible from different places. Following the implementation of such Remote Labs described within our past publications the aim of this contribution is to examine and evaluate possibilities of controlling Remote Labs from arbitrary locations. These control mechanisms are based on the virtualization of two concurrently working six-axis robots in combination with a game pad remote controller. The evaluation of the virtual demonstrator is carried out in terms of a study that is based on practical tests and questionnaires to measure the learning success.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning effect of Augmented Reality (AR) in a computer-based simulation environment for training an operator to interact with a radar screen. The research team developed the AR training system for Anti-Air Warfare Coordinator (AAWC) and the training textbook for the same task. By using these, we compared the performance between a group trained by the AR method and another group trained by the textbook method. 24 undergraduate students in the Junior and Senior levels joined in this experiment. The experiment consisted of two sessions: training session and practice session. During the training session, 12 of the students completed the training lesson by using the AR training (Group A), and the other 12 students completed the training lesson using the AAWC training textbook. To evaluate the performance of AAWC task, we used Situational Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT). The ANOVA results indicate there was a significant performance difference between Group A and Group B, F (1,12) = 12.29,p < 0.01. Participants who were instructed by the AR training showed higher situation awareness compared to others. It supports the training, which is designed based on AR contents, can provide a positive learning effect in computer-based training simulation.

Learn to read and understand a music sheet, then play it on a musical instrument are difficult tasks to most beginner music learners. This motivates the authors to propose Virtual Music Teacher, a system to assist beginner music learners in their learning process. By applying our proposed lightweight Optical Music Recognition algorithm to scan and recognize a music sheet, then combine with sound classifying technique, the proposed system can learn what note to be played next, then help a music learner to play it correctly. The experimental results on the dataset consisting of 15 musical scores for beginners show that the proposed system can classify with precision up to 99.9 % using multiple SVM classifiers approach, whereas the sound classifying technique using Fast Fourier Transform can classify note’s pitch recorded from a piano with precision up to 95.71 %. The system is implemented as an application on mobile devices and can be used to assist a music learner to play not only piano but other musical instruments as well.

This paper outlines the design process and challenges of creating a character for our implementation of an embodied conversational agent (ECA), specifically integrating diverse views from focus groups consisting of individuals representing different levels of socio-economic status and health literacy. Initial focus groups consisting of members from both higher and lower socio-economic status and health literacy found the stylized ECA to be unappealing. Later focus groups conducted after completion of the educational intervention better accepted the ECA, reporting it to be acceptable.

The product of a multidisciplinary and iterative process, CyberPLAYce is an interactive, portable learning tool for children enhancing personal and computational expression, and particularly, playful storytelling. CyberPLAYce finds inspiration in the concept of embodied child-computer interaction, where meaning is constructed through spatially reconfiguring the physical environment. This paper briefly outlines the motivations for CyberPLAYce, and focuses on an iterative design, mixed-methodology and usability studies involving 8-10-year-old storytellers. The kinds of digital-physical-spatial activity afforded by CyberPLAYce promise to scaffold thinking, imagining, creating, and sharing in children. Lessons learned from this

research

-

through

-

design

case will aid members of the HCI International community as they design and test tools for our youngest learners.

In order to cope with the growth of information complexity, organizations have started to implement various forms of knowledge management applications. Approaches range from file-, data-, information-centric software to information retrieval, search engines, and decision support systems. Thereby, the data presentation plays often a crucial part in making knowledge available in organizational settings. We examine two visualizations and investigate their capabilities to support organizational knowledge and their usability. One is a document-keyword centric graph-based visualization, while the other is person-institute centric. Both were evaluated positively in supporting improvement of organizational knowledge.

This work is focused on the design of an educational experience involving the implementation of virtual and augmented 3D information in the architectural and urban design precesses. This process has two distinct educational parts: the first within a formal framework (regulated course where the student gets a qualification within their studies), and the second in an informal environment with the end-users feeback. The responses of the end-users are obtained using 3D visualization with mobile devices and in situ assessment using QR codes (Quick-Response) of the proposals. This social interaction contributes indirectly and unconsciously in a crucial training of students, validating environments and real situation proposals and providing them with experiences and professional skills.

This paper presents a real case of tracking conversations and participation in social networks like Twitter and Google+ from students enrolled in a MOOC course. This real case presented is related to a MOOC course developed between January 12 and February 8, 2015, in the iMOOC platform, created as result of the collaboration by Technical University of Madrid, University of Za-ragoza and University of Salamanca. The course had more than 400 students and more than 700 interactions (publications, replies, likes, reshares, etc.) retrieved from the social both social networks (about 200 interactions in Twitter and 500 in Google+). This tracking process of students’ conversations and students’ participation in the social networks allows the MOOC managers and teachers to understand the students’ knowledge sharing and knowledge acquisition within the social networks, allowing them to unlock the possibility of use this knowledge in order to enhance the MOOC contents and results, or even close the loop between the students’ participation in a MOOC course and the parallel students´ usage of social networks to learn, by the combination of both tools using adaptive layers (and other layers like the cooperation or gamification like in the iMOOC platform) in the eLearning platforms, that could lead the students to achieve better results in the Learning process.

Advent of technology in the education domain has led to the emergence of new pedagogical models. However, there is very little study on the relevance of these models in developing regions. In this paper, we present a technology-enabled learning framework called CATALYST, which caters to technology-lean classroom environments particularly in developing regions such as India. The CATALYST framework combines concepts from experiential learning, collaborative and cooperative learning in education. The CATALYST framework is compared with the traditional classroom teaching in the context of teaching a 10th grade science concept of the Doppler Effect. Our user study on a set of 30 students demonstrates that CATALYST is more effective in improving students’ understanding while generating higher student engagement as compared to the traditional approach. Additionally, the unique design of group activities in CATALYST leads to higher interaction among low and high performers as well as across the genders.

Living in the ICT society, not only adults but also children use ICT instruments. However, children usually cannot recognize what happens beyond the screen of ICT devices indeed. It is effective for such children to learn well designed concrete tasks in the classroom step by step. Using our original SNS that designed as closed system in a school, children can share information on the SNS and check classmates’ screen each other without considering danger in the real world. They can know what happened beyond the instruments and many people can look the same massage at the same time. It cultivates ICT literacy and critical thinking skill for children. In this paper, we will explain the result of one of our trials using our learning methods: an essay lesson with SNS.

We describe a new interactive system using a social learning platform to provide dormitory students with the ability to communicate with teachers/advisors in a timely manner to promote self-active awareness in the dormitory environment. Our system comprises tablet PCs, cloud computing services, and application and server software to enable collaboration over a high-speed wireless local area network (WLAN) that covers the campus, dormitory, and teachers’ homes.

To enable students to review their behavior in the dormitory, the dormitory staff records the evaluations of student activities related to acceptable and unacceptable behavior based on dormitory room inspections as objective information by capturing an image on a tablet computer. The information is stored as centralized time-series data on a cloud server using several front-end graphical user interface (GUI) tools via the WLAN in the dormitory. The students can access the high-speed WLAN with multipurpose pocket sized electronic devices provided to all students.

The purpose of this system is to facilitate the self-recognition of behavioral problems, raise awareness, and encourage student initiative in a natural manner.

The traditional way to develop contents for a subject is based on the faculty perception and experience, however students should be taken into account. This work proposes a methodology that promotes the creation, classification and organization both teachers’ and students’ learning resources within the same subject scope in a timeless manner. Teamwork process is monitored by a proactive method that makes possible the generation of resources collaboratively. A knowledge management system allows to Classify, Search, Organize, Relate and Adapt the generated resources and includes a semantic search engine, based on ontologies, which provides a final product for users’ needs. A first iteration of an action-research allows answering questions such as the types of resources created during the teamwork (with academic, social and service orientation), how to stablish a common organization of the created knowledge for all potential users and improve educational resources of an academic subject with these collaborative resources.

The use of videos, video streams, and user created videos has recently surged as consumer based websites are allowing increased access to high quality learning assets. You Tube, Let’s Play, MOOCs, and the Khan Academy are discussed in order to understand how they differ in their offerings of multi-media based assets. As these assets evolve, a new digital literacy in which a learner transforms into a reviewer, a commentator, a curator, and possibly a creator of new content emerges.

As the important way to achieve the trainer’s teaching function, the design of human-human interaction, especially the interaction between instruct pilot and student pilot should be addressed. For trainers human-human interaction is rather the task itself now than designed for the task. The paper adopts the basic theory of Task Technology Fit (TTF) model to establish human-human interaction model. This model discusses the advantage and disadvantage of three traditional interaction ways and features of three tasks and match the interaction ways with tasks and then get the design requirements and methods to strengthen human-human interaction in trainers. Text message is proposed as a new interaction style for the trainer. The new style is an important complementary for the traditional methods. The new interaction style can give more information to ensure more comprehensive communication between instruct pilot and student pilot and then ensure the teaching function of trainer more effective.

In this work we present MR-GREP, a platform that supports educators in the design and implementation of mixed reality educational games. More specifically the system allows the instructional designers to create game experiences that can be played simultaneously in an augmented reality environment as well as in a virtual space that replicates the physical space. This seeks to support the implementation of collaborative learning experiences that combine the flexibility provided by the virtual worlds with the realism and physical component that training in real scenarios allows. The development of this type of environments usually demand advanced technical knowledge that educators normally lack. The platform aims to overcome this problem by providing a set of authoring tools and applications, which does not require programming skills from the user.

In this paper, we explore the possibility of using games as a way of engaging youth in environmentally-oriented participatory art or other cooperative urban projects. Our approach was design-led, and youth participated in evaluating games that we proposed from the perspective of motivation and engagement, both in the environmental issues in the games themselves and in the likelihood of subsequent real life involvement stimulated by the games. The findings show that ultimately, personal passion for the cause that the game represents, and not the game itself, would be the central factor in a youth’s decision to engage in real life. Social embeddedness was also valued high, as well as the possibility to make a real difference.

Serious game is commonly used to support cultural heritage such as historical teaching and learning, and enhancing historic site visits. Nowadays most of in situ serious games have been supported by GPS but it is not suitable for a small-scale historic site. In this paper, we propose a location and object-based serious game application H-Treasure Hunt. H-Treasure hunt integrates location-based service with object-based sensors to find more exact location of artifacts at a historic site. In the game, the players wear Head Mounted Display (HMD) and explore a historic site interacting with artifacts to complete missions. In this way, H-Treasure Hunt will act as a tour guide helping users learn about the historic site and artifacts. The use of this application is to support cultural heritage teaching and learning as well as enhancing historical site visits.

The purpose of this study is to develop an educational game, which is used for opera or musical classes. In recent years, art education has been widely emphasized because it helped to develop students’ creativity and imagination. Also, many educators and researchers argue that STEM education, which aims to boosting students’ interest and competitiveness in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, should be amended to STEAM where the letter “A” refers to the field of Art. The opera consists of many dimensions which makes it unique as a whole such as the human voice, the orchestral music, the visual arts, the drama, and the dance. Hence all, the components of opera theater are included all STEAM fields. The use of a serious game for art education, especially, opera the Mozart’s Magic Flute has a number of advantages with respect to increasing student interest. Students play this game to learn and practice the characters of opera by following gesture recognition-based performance guidance for Mozart’s Magic Flute. The game is directed by student’s movements and gestures which are recognized the RGB-D camera. The context of the game consisted of acting, role playing, singing songs, dancing, doing art, and speaking. The player will be able to learn different activities and enjoy by following Mozart’s Magic Flute’s guidance in the game. The art education game was exhibited for four days at the 2014 Education Donation Fair. During playing the game, students were passionate to approach the game-based learning and students were thrilled by following most of the components of an art game. Additionally, the students are actively participating in the game-based leaning and the outcome was remarkable. This game doesn’t have the automatic evaluation system for students’ performance. So, we needed teaching artists for introduce this game-based learning class for opera to students. Their brief guidance and teaching is a component of game-based learning.

This paper analyses how multi-user mobile games can be beneficial to educational scenarios. It does so in several steps: Firstly, we introduce the field of logistics as a problem domain for an educational challenge. Secondly, we describe the design of an educational board game for the field of disruption handling in logistics processes, which aims to foster shared situational awareness (SSA). Thirdly, we introduce an open-source mobile serious games platform (ARLearn) and fourthly describe how the board game can be realized in this platform. The reader gets to know the problem situation of multi-stakeholder decision situations, learns about the design of a board game, and gets to know the open-source mobile serious game platform ARLearn.

This paper presents a conceptual model to the gamification process of e-learning environments. This model aims to help identify which elements are involved in the gamification process. To understand which game elements is commonly used by e-learning systems, we analyzed ten different gamified e-learning systems. As a proof of concept, our conceptual model was used in a existing adaptive e-learning system. As future work, we propose to extend the conceptual model, focusing on making it adapted to the students profile and preferences.

For several years now, game-based learning is deemed as one of the most innovative approaches in educational practice. Nevertheless, little research has been undertaken examining individual determinants of skill acquisition in video games. The presented paper offers empirical data from a nine-week training curriculum for novices in a racing simulation game. Regression analyses revealed that general video game experience and real-world driving experience significantly predicted both initial and later performance. Additionally, perceptual speed also became strongly influential after consistent training. Conversely, while achievement was affected at least occasionally by divided attention, focused attention and dispositions towards aggressive driving showed no effects. Although preliminary, these results provide evidence that those learners without certain beneficial skills may struggle with cutting-edge virtual learning scenarios. Thus, both individual assistance as well as early promotion of video game literacy might be needed to make full use of the potential of game-based learning.

Educational games are specific piece of slow technology that enables students to enhance their competences through fun and play. Taking into account their features, games are widely used in diverse educational settings, including programming. This paper discusses findings of the empirical study that was carried out with an objective to examine quality of two educational games meant for learning programming concepts. Participants in the study were students from two Croatian higher education institutions. Subjective data was collected with pre- and post-use online questionnaires whereas objective data was gathered with reports in the form of in-game progress screenshots. The analysis of collected data uncovered: (1) to what extent students with different background knowledge differ in their perception of programming and attitudes towards using games for educational purposes, and (2) which pragmatic and hedonic facets of quality are relevant for the assessment of games designed for learning programming.

The complexity of urban processes needs professionals trained in understanding and managing the design of its spaces and the implementation of urban policies. This paper discusses an educational methodology to complement the standard Project-Based Learning approach with an experience using serious games with gamification elements to stimulate critical thinking in urban planning and urban design students, to promote designing spaces more adaptable and usable for a wide range of users and situations of public life. The proposed methodology uses five “mini games” that place students in different situations: (1) finding an unknown landmark, (2) reaching goal avoiding obstacles, (3) navigating with artificial lighting, (4) simulating the point of view of a person with a disability, and (5) simulating group behaviour. As a secondary objective the experience will track the participants’ behaviour to extract data to be incorporated into an agent-based model rule set.

Serious Games is an emerging technology that can be used in a learning environment. This technology is an effective interaction design paradigm which can be embedded as a persuasive learning tool to attract learners’ attention. This article will explore the concept of game rhetoric as an element in game systems for persuading students to engage with the learning context. We identified three types of rhetorical concept that can be integrated with the current game rhetoric model to support attention elements: visual, procedural and digital rhetoric. Three interaction design elements have been used in the model to support learners’ attention: cognition, emotion and social interaction. In this paper, we propose a new interaction design model based on game rhetoric perspectives to support user interaction in Serious Games for persuasive learning.

This paper is an excerpt on the author’s doctoral study titled “Effects of Just-in-Time online training on knowledge and application of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP

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) Model among in-service teachers.” The specific focus of the report is on an aspect of the study, which sought to determine whether there was any statistically significant difference between learners who received Just-in-Time (JiT) versus those who received Just-in-Case (JiC) instruction. Results from the data analysis revealed no significant difference in knowledge or application skills between the JiT and JiC groups. However, there was an increase in learner application of SIOP

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Model principles in classroom teaching, for both groups. JiT training did not emerge as a better training strategy than JiC training. The main benefit of the training delivered through this study seemed to be in increasing application and not knowledge.

This research aims to determine which factors influence the Intention to Use Technologies in the education sphere, by using Technology Acceptance Model with university students across two technologies having similar characteristics: SIGA and SGDI. The results shows that the most important factor when determining Intention to Use of an educational technology is Perceived Usefulness. Subsequently, TAM is applied considering the moderating effect of intensity, finding that for intensive SGDI users, the influence of Perceived Usefulness is greater than in normal users, and conversely, the influence of Perceived Ease of Use in intensive users of SIGA is greater than that in normal users, whereas the impact of Perceived Usefulness decreases. Recommendations states that future investigations should focus on the study of the impact generated by the use of software in classrooms, both for students during their training process and for professors in their educational work.

Using free software has been one of the discussion topics for time to time. There are several desktop environments available for nowadays modern GNU/Linux (hereinafter: Linux) distributions with different usability levels. However it seems that some of the users are not satisfied with current graphical user interfaces. We present a qualitative analysis of four different Linux distributions using different desktop environments. We find that most usable desktop is XFCE, then comes Mate, KDE and last one is LXDE. The results are a bit surprising as the LXDE is very similar to famous and recently widely used MS Windows XP. Our findings lead us into understanding that Microsoft has designed the past user experience of computer use and its user interface design is affecting also other operating systems based on users perception.

This study represents findings from three continents (Asia, Africa and South America) regarding usage of ICT in six rural schools. Our goal was to analyze the current situation regarding digital technologies in these environments, describe similarities and differences relating to the digital divide, and provide a roadmap that could improve teaching and learning, maximizing the use of existing resources. Our case study was carried out with the help of innovative teachers who are supportive of technology integration in teaching, but have less options to utilize this knowledge in their classrooms because of various barriers. Our results show challenges, but also opportunities to embrace new ways of teaching; ways that might allow digital technologies to be employed in innovative ways to encourage student learning and community growth. Our study is based on participating teachers’ understanding of the issues and challenges within these countries and areas, relating to schooling.

This paper presents the main findings of a study exploring graduate student perceptions of online education, with a specific focus on their change over time, throughout an asynchronous web-based course. The study was conducted in the UK, and data collection methods included content analysis of online messages and interviews. Data analysis was based on systematically contrasting participant early- (at the beginning of the course) and late- (by the end of the course) course perceptions. Several inconsistencies were identified between early- and late- course perceptions, which were categorized according to three emerging themes: managerial, social and cognitive. The findings indicate negative perception change with respect to the managerial and social aspects, whereas positive change was evident in terms of the cognitive aspect. The implications drawn from the study are expected to inform and support the design and implementation of web-based courses.

Electronic textbooks have been a popular research topic for decades. Yet, research on student perspectives in this area has been conducted in hindsight and focused on the existing technology. Still, future features are decided by publishers, universities, and academics with limited input from the actual students who would use them. This article identifies the components that university students feel facilitate their studies without linking them to a specific form of hardware and presents a general overview of the perception of textbook components. An online survey was designed to collect students’ opinion on each component outside of the constraints of technology. The survey found that university students believe that future electronic textbooks should include text, highlighting tools, bookmarks, supplemental multimedia content, language translation capabilities, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. By including the input of students in the design of the textbooks, a better educational tool could be designed.

This article presents experiences and student perceptions on the introduction of the flipped classroom model in two consecutive semesters at Media Technology department of Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark. We introduced the flipped instruction model to a statistics course and a mathematics workshop. We collected data by two online survey studies, which show support for student perceptions that out-of-classroom instruction with online resources enhances learning, by providing visual and in depth explanations, and can engage the learner. However, students stated that they miss just-in-time explanations when learning with online resources and they questioned the quality and validity of some of them. Based on these findings and our own experience, we discuss requirements for resources and activities in flipped classrooms in order for the student to engage and learn. Finally, we present a framework for experienced-based learning in flipped classrooms to promote student reflection.

Nomophobia, or no mobile phone phobia, is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact and considered a modern age phobia particularly common among young smartphone users. This qualitative study sought to identify the dimensions of nomophobia as described by college students and adopted a phenomenological approach to qualitative exploration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university in the U.S. Based on the findings, four dimensions of nomophobia were identified: not being able to communicate, losing connectedness, not being able to access information and giving up convenience. Given the widespread adoption of smartphones and integration of smartphones into educational settings, findings of this study can help educators better understand learners’ inclination to use their smartphones at all times.