The use of Collaborative Virtual Environments to provide student’s contextualisation in programmin
Experience has shown that one of the biggest difficulties that students find while learning programming languages is the understanding of its abstract concepts, and this difficulty translates into a lack of motivation for learning. We propose the use of a collaborative virtual environment to allow students to program within the context of a business-like professional programming environment, akin to that found in a software house, in order to make abstract concepts and requirements more concrete
Developing Interactive Learning Environments that can be used by all the classes having access to co
Our research team has developed and experimented software for the learning of algebra, named Aplusix, with the idea of being usable and useful for all the classes having access to computers, and of helping teachers to teach the curriculum. In this paper, we list 19 principles that we consider relevant to this goal and we briefly describe the Aplusix system. This system is distributed in France since early 2005 and will be distributed in many countries from 2006. It has proven to be efficient (st
Learning Design Engines as Remote Control to Learning Support Environments.
Context:
Chapter 5 of the Learning Design book describes the operational model of a learning design
engine based on the concept of finite automata with output alphabet. We rely on this event
concept to include pre-existing learning tools in flexibe and rich learning designs.
Contribution:
We sketch an approach for the integration of complex learning environments in learning
designs. Interactive learning support environments, such as argumentation or modelling
tools are pre-existent and have a hi
The Metaphor of Networks in Learning: Communities, Collaboration and Practice
This paper explores the use of the network metaphor and the way in which it relates to Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and Communities of Practice. The idea of networked learning stresses the interactopn of learners, tutors and their resources through networks. The arguments put in this article are firstly that learning technology needs to take account of the wider debate about networks and secondly that research in this field needs to address the theoretical and practical issue
Design approaches in technology enhanced learning
Design is a critical to the successful development of any interactive learning environment (ILE). Moreover, in technology enhanced learning (TEL), the design process requires input from many diverse areas of expertise. As such, anyone undertaking tool development is required to directly address the design challenge from multiple perspectives. We provide a motivation and rationale for design approaches for learning technologies that draws upon Simon's seminal proposition of Design Science (Simon,
Interdisciplinary approach for the design of a learning environment
This paper presents our interdisciplinary approach for the design of a technology-based learning environment for orthopaedic surgery. We present how the didactical analysis of teaching and learning in workplace gives a framework to build the computational representation of knowledge. This analysis is shown within the context of the apprenticeship of concepts of anatomy and orthopaedic surgery.
Quantitative and Qualitative Research: Conflicting Paradigms or Perfect Partners?
This paper will examine the use of quantitative and qualitative methods as complementary research methods. It asks the fundamental question wether these two approaches can be used jointly in a principled manner. The pressure in educational research has been towards using the two methods alongside each other. In applied research the use of the two approaches in the same project is accepted yet we still find serious objections raised to such work when it is presented in a more formal context. Eval
Clustering Students to help Evaluate Learning
In this paper we show how clustering techniques can be applied to
student answers generated from a web-based tutoring tool. In particular we
are interested in extracting clusters of students based on the mistakes
they made using the tool, with the aim of obtaining pedagogically
relevant information and providing this feedback to the teacher. The data we used comes from the Logic-ITA, a web-based tutoring tool to practice formal proofs currently in use in the School of Information Technologies at
Progression in Multiple Representations: Supporting students' learning with multiple representations
Relating multiple representations and translating between them is important to acquire deeper knowledge about a domain. To relate representations, learners have to mentally search for similarities and differences. To translate between representations, learners need to interpret the effects that changes in one representation have on corresponding representations. The question is how presenting representations may improve or hinder the processes of relation and translation. In this study we examin
Internal and external cooperation scripts in web-based collaborative inquiry learning
Cooperation scripts are a powerful means to improve collaborative learning. Scripts can be
designed to support argumentative knowledge construction. However, not only externally induced
cooperation scripts but also the learners internal scripts on argumentative knowledge construction
influence argumentative processes and what kind of knowledge is acquired during collaboration. In this
study, 98 students (49 dyads) of two German secondary schools participated. We implemented two
versions (high
Academic Use of Digital Resources: Disciplinary Differences and the Issue of Progression
This paper examines the use of digital resources by academics in UK Higher education. The explosive growth of the Internet and in particular the Web has led to a growth in speculation about networked and e-learning (Steeples and Jones 2003, Brown and Duguid 2000). Increasingly researchers have become aware of the ways the university resists such changes and provides a 'resourceful constraint' to the changes surrounding the introduction of networked learning (Brown and Duguid 2000, Cornford 2002)
Role-based integration of evaluation and regulation in collaborative learning environments
Interaction analysis has become a basic function in the field of
collaborative learning, as a means for supporting both self-regulation for the
students and formative evaluation for the teachers. In spite of the fact that these
processes rely on the same basic functionalities, there is a lack of proposals or
systems that integrate them. This paper presents a research proposal that argues for a
role-based approach for the integration of these functions. The experience of
awareness systems in CSCW
Exploring the mathematics of motion through construction and collaboration.
In this paper we give a detailed account of the design principles and construction of activities designed for learning about the relationships between position, velocity and acceleration, and corresponding kinematics graphs. Our approach is model-based, that is, it focuses attention on the idea that students constructed their own models – in the form of programs – to formalise and thus extend their existing knowledge. In these activities, students controlled the movement of objects in a prog
The role of roles in the analysis of interactions in collaborative environments
Analysis of interactions has become a basic function in the field of collaborative learning, as a means for supporting both students' self-regulation as well as formative evaluation processes. However, we observe a lack of methods and tools for the analysis of interactions in CSCL that considerer the different roles implied in collaboration management processes, both from the point of view of the actors that take part in a typical CSCL scenario:
teachers, students or the system
Understanding and analysing activity and learning in virtual communities
The purpose of this study is to provide a preliminary framework
to observe, analyse and evaluate both activity and learning in virtual
communities. So various types of virtual communities will be studied by
examining their relationship to socialisation and learning. After a
presentation of the main ideas of Wenger’s social learning theory, the
principal components of the social context of the emergence and evolution
of virtual communities will be described. It will show how taking this
context
For a renewed academy industry research partnership
The joint venture between the academic research on learning technology and industry along the past decade shares similarity with the gold rush: great effort for a too small outcome. From all the energy spent, “acadustry” has emerged; a chimerical community of practice, merging academic and industry objectives and traditions. The relevance and fruitfulness of this new community is questionable. This presentation will suggest revisiting the orientation of the eLearning research policy, taking
COW, une plate-forme de support d'exécution de scénarios pédagogiques.
Cet article présente un service de support d'exécution de scénarios pédagogiques conçu
pour être intégré dans des plates-formes de formation existantes. Dans un premier temps nous prenons un
point de vue ingénierie des plates-formes afin d'identifier les processus de conception et d'utilisation ainsi
que les acteurs qui y sont associés. Dans un deuxième temps nous présentons les caractéristiques
nécessaires que doit offrir notre service afin que les différents acteurs puissent gé
e-COMODE Services for the Implementation of Collaborative Modelling Environments in Schools.
e-COMODE is an open digital learning environment, which assists young
students (10-17 year old) in creating models. e-COMODE services aim to offer a
collaborative modelling environment, including pedagogical, technical and
implementation support services. The market validation of the different services has
been performed in different environments, private and state schools, from different
geographical areas; Greece, Spain and North Ireland in the UK, in order to confirm
the business model develo
Implementing Learning Design to support web-based learning.
In this paper we consider an initial implementation of a system for managing and using
IMS Learning Design (LD) to represent online learning activities. LD has been suggested
(Koper & Olivier, 2004) as a flexible way to represent and encode learning materials,
especially suited to online and web-based learning while neutral to the pedagogy that is
being applied. As such it offers a chance to address a gap in the preparation of learning
materials and their eventual use by students by providing a
An analysis of learner arguments in a collective
This contribution analyses the arguments of students in a learning activity entitled "Argue Graph".
This activity is intended to make students understand the relationship between learning theories and design
choices in courseware development. The analysis of arguments is centered on the effects of discussion and
opinion conflict on the elaboration of arguments. We then use an adaptation of a collective intelligence model
to describe the knowledge flow among people and artifacts during the learni
