Mentoring, Metacognition and Music: Interaction Analyses and Implications for Intelligent Learning E
This paper reports on an empirical study of the interactive means by which a human teacher supported higher-order, musical thinking in learners. The aim of the work presented here was to create guidelines on how to make practical use of empirical research in teaching agent development. The research overview given in the introduction is followed by an illustrative example of mentoring interactions in musical learning. An elaboration of a musical education problem is then given and a description o
Cognitive tools for discovery learning
Cognitive tools, defined here as instruments that support or perform cognitive processes for learners in order to support learning, can bridge the difference between open learning environments, like discovery learning environments and traditional supportive instructional environments. This article discusses a definition of the concept of cognitive tool and its use in learning. Two examples of cognitive tools for discovery environments are presented, and it is made clear how these tools can serve
Using text messaging to support administrative communication in higher education
To be effective in higher education, text messaging must be effectively integrated into both the student and staff experience. These user groups provided input into the design of StudyLink, an email to text message service. A small-scale trial was conducted over a period of two academic terms to investigate the feasibility of using this system in a real educational setting. Students reported high satisfaction with the quantity and content of the text messages and tutors reported changes in behav
Challenges of implementing CSCL designs in the Greek classrooms
not available,Paper presented at the 10th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), 2003, Padova, Italy.
Internet Scout Project
The United States Geological Survey's Learning Web site Working with Maps contains a complete Web-based lesson for students between grades 5 and 8. The site introduces the basic concepts related to cartography, including the definition of a map, various map types, and information that you can find on them. Printable activity sheets are available for download, covering four lessons: Introduction to Maps, Some Things You Need to Know to Read a Map, What You Can Learn From a Map, and How to Read a
Internet Scout Project
Created by the Stevens Institute of Technology, the Wonderful World of Weather is a standard-based real time data module for elementary students to explore weather phenomena locally and globally. Teachers can find many fun classroom activities divided into three sections: introductory activities, real time data activities, and language arts activities related to weather. The website features an abundance of links to real time weather data. Students can learn how to have their work published on t
Co-Lab, design considerations for a collaborative inquiry learning environment
Co-Lab is a learning environment for collaborative inquiry learning in which learners can experiment, make models, consult background information and discuss their findings. The complex learning processes in such an environment need to be supported by appropriate features in the software. In this paper we report on how, based on existing literature and specific user and usability studies, we developed a set of design guidelines that were implemented in the software.
Problems and Opportunities of Learning together in a Virtual Learning Environment
This chapter explores new ways of collaborative learning in a virtual learning environment based on our acquisition of knowledge from previous experience. We identify both the problems faced in real collaborative learning practices and the ways these problems can be overcome and become opportunities for more efficient learning. These issues concern pedagogical, organisational and technical elements and constraints that influence the successful application of collaborative learning in distance ed
A Framework for Assessing Self, Peer and Group Performance in e-Learning
In this chapter we propose a framework that supports the analysis and assessment of collaborative learning of online groups of students working on a complex task (software project, or case study) in a real web-based, distance learning context. On the one hand, our approach is based on principled evaluation criteria that involve and measure a variety of elements and factors as well as on a combination of a basic qualitative process and a quantitative method that provide a grounded and holistic fr
Open Distance Inter-University Synergies Between Europe, Africa and the Middle East (ODISEAME)
The challenge facing new technologies is whether they can contribute to a qualitative step up and to education for all as a process of facilitating the development of creative people with the ability to think critically and to engage in socially relevant decision making. In this paper, we describe a project whose purpose is to develop a learning environment that takes into account current expertise in learning theory in order to facilitate productive collaboration in a way that leads to active c
Sharing solutions: persistence and grounding in multi-modal collaborative problem solving
This article reports on an exploratory study of the relationship between grounding and problem solving in multimodal computer-mediated collaboration. This article examines two different media, a shared whiteboard and a MOO environment that includes a text chat facility. A study was done on how the acknowledgment rate (how often partners give feedback of having perceived, understood, and accepted partner's contributions) varies according to the media and the content of interactions. It was expect
Towards an Open Grid Marketplace Framework for Resources Trade
A challenge of Grid computing is to provide automated support for the creation and exploitation of virtual organisations (VOs), involving individuals and different autonomous organizations, to which resources are pooled from potentially diverse origins. In the context of the presented work, virtual organizations trade grid resources and services according to economic models in electronic marketplaces. Thus in this paper we propose GRIMP (Grid Marketplace), a generic framework that provides servi
An Experimental Study on Peer Selection in a P2P Network over PlanetLab
Peer selection is an important aspect in many P2P applications
requiring efficient assignment and execution of
jobs to peer nodes and search and file transfer, among others.
Due to increasing interest of using P2P systems for distributed
computing, peer selection is taking relevance and
several models have been proposed in the P2P literature.
Yet, there are very few experimental studies for peer selection
in P2P networks deployed in real large scale networks.
In this work we present an experimen
Semantic Description of Grid Based Learning Services
Grid technology has emerged as a powerful tool to increase the
capabilities of e-learning frameworks. Learning services are fundamental
components representing functionalities that can be easily reused without
knowing the details of how services have been implemented. On the one hand, a
problem that still remains unsolved is how to use and integrate low-level
learning services to compose more complex high-level services or tools that
make sense to both tutors and learners. On the other hand, the
Collaboration Activity Function: An interaction analysisÂ’ tool for Computer Supported Collaborative
During the last years, an increased interest has been observed on tools analyzing collaborative interactions that could be useful for researchers, teachers, or even students. The paper presents such a tool, based on the formally defined collaborative activity function (CAF). The empirical evaluation of CAF is also presented. The evaluation is focused on teachers using CAF during and after sessions of synchronous collaborative problem solving among students.
Internet Scout Project
Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) sponsors the Clay Mathematics Research Academy to "inspire young people with the thrill of working on the frontiers of mathematical research." Each year, twelve high school students are recruited and a Colloquium is held at CMI headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After the intense 8-day seminar, participants continue their work using iResearch, a web-based collaborative tool suite designed by the Academy. The 2004 Academy Colloqium Series was held March 19
Ontology development for computersupported collaborative learning scripts
This paper presents an ongoing effort to develop an ontology for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) Scripts. Our work merges the field of collaborative learning with the field of semantic web and provides a framework for the formalization of collaboration scripts using the OWL language. Collaboration scripts are didactic scenarios that prescribe learnersÂ’ interactions in collaborative settings. A script comprises a number of phases and each phase specifies the activity that learne
An Approach to Analyzing the Role and Structure of Reflective Dialogue
Several intelligent tutoring systems contain modules that support reflection after practice exercises. However, there is very little research on reflective dialogue and its relation to dialogue during problem solving that can guide this effort. The approach to analyzing educational dialogue described in this paper was developed to address this problem. Using statistical and machine learning methods, we compared the frequency and structure of speech acts by avionics students and experts during pr
The “Blakkat” Software for Tagging Online Language Learner Corpora: Issues in SLA Assessment and R
This paper aims at showing, through a case study, one possible application of Computer Learner Corpus (CLC) to Network Based Language Teaching (NBLT). Research has shown how CLC can be used both for Second Language Acquisiton (SLA) research and Foreign Language Teaching (FLT), especially if they are tagged, that is, if interpretative annotations are added to the corpus (e.g. error annotations). Online learning generally takes place inside virtual environments where learners exchange mainly writt
Learning a New Game: Usability, Gender and Education
This research study aims to investigate the usability issues of a computer game; regarding how people learn a new game. Because the user characteristic and the strategies they use while learning a new tool are important factors for usability, they were also taken into account in the study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study. 16 participants played the computer game. They were also observed and their eye-movements were recorded by an eye tracking device. Results show
