Computational Mathetics: Towards a Science of Learning Systems Design
The aim of this report is simply to help put the design of computer-based systems to support learning on a more scientific footing. The aim is simply stated, but its achievement is more difficult. For one thing, it is not at all obvious what "more scientific" means in this context. However, it is essential for AI-ED research to take better account of the concepts of 'situation', 'context', 'community', 'discourse', 'social learning', and so on, but these terms need to be defined, not used as man
Multimedia and the learner's experience of narrative
This paper reports on research findings which show that the narrative structure of multimedia programs, or sometimes the lack of it, affects learners' comprehension, often adversely [1,2].
It also reports on initial findings from our current research which aims to develop a theoretical understanding of the forms and functions of narrative in interactive media, based on empirical
research, and capable of informing instructional design.
SCORM and the Learning Grid
The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a profile of several elearning specification to ensure the reusability and interoperability of elearning content in web based Learning Management Systems (LMSs). Learning grids - learning environments built on the technology of grid services - are a promising new approach to enhance quality of elearning by overcoming the page oriented structure of the web.
This paper investigates how SCORM can be used in conjunction with learning grids. Aft
Software Interoperability Problems and E-Learning
Grid applications are special cases of networking applications. In order to investigate potential applications of Grid technologies to e-learning we discuss in the following some current applications of network technologies in e-learning as they have occurred at the University Koblenz-Landau.
At the appropriate points we shall indicate demands that our e-learning applications pose to the underlying network services and mention, how they might benefit from resource sharing as potentially offered
Metacognition in joint discussion: an analysis of the patterns of interaction and the metacognitive
The aim of this study was to examine metacognition in computer-supported collaborative problem solving. The subjects of the study were 13-year-old Finnish secondary school students (N=16). The Knowledge Forum learning environment was used to support student pairs’ problem-solving task involving polygons in a geometry course. The data consist of the student pairs’ posted computer notes (n=95). To examine metacognition in a social context in the networked discussions, the features and patterns
Sustaining Interaction in a Mathematical Community of Practice
This paper focuses on an activity in which students explore sequences through a game, using ToonTalk programming and a web-based collaboration system. Our analytical framework combines theory of communities of practice with
domain epistemology. We note three factors which influence the length and quality of interactions: facilitation, reciprocation and audience-awareness.
Tidal Curiosities
This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site answers questions about irregularities in the tides.
Integrative theoretical framework
not available,Remath deliverable - report number D1- 61 pages
A Mule Spinner Tells the U.S. Senate about Late 19th century Unemployment
Fall River, Massachusetts, mill worker Thomas O'Donnell (who had immigrated to the U.S. from England eleven years earlier) appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor on October 18, 1883, to answer the panel's questions about working-class economic conditions. An unemployed mule spinner for more than half of the year, he described the introduction of new production methods at the Fall River, Massachusetts, textile factory where he worked as a mule spinner (a worker who tende
Internet safety in emerging educational contexts
Concern has arisen for the safety of children using the Internet to support their education outside the school context. Inappropriate material such as pornography, inflammatory and racist writings can be accessed both by accident and with deliberate intent to view. Children are also perceived to be at risk from approaches by strangers, particularly in web-based chat rooms.
A survey of the international literature in this area highlighted worldwide concern for the safety of young Internet users
The times they are a-changing: the subculture
of music and ICT in the classroom
This paper reports findings from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research project InterActive Education, which focused on the ways in which new technologies can improve teaching and learning in educational settings. We draw upon data which emanates from the work of seven music teachers working in English primary and secondary schools, who collaborated with university researchers to research their classrooms. Through our analyses of video data, teacher interviews and teach
Uncertainty-reducing cooperation scripts in online learning environments
Online learning courses can create new interaction situations for participants who have not previously worked with each other. Initially, there is some degree of uncertainty between participants in these interaction situations. According to the uncertainty reduction theory, low uncertainty increases theamount of discourse and decreases information seeking. Thus, uncertainty may influence online discourseand learning. However, the relation of uncertainty reduction to learning outcomes has not yet
Managing complexity of e-learning administration in
ARCADE
ARCADE (Architecture for Reusable Courseware Authoring and DElivery) is a Webbased
e-learning platform specially targeted to the needs of distant education in
universities and schools. This paper presents ARCADE in two aspects: as a system for
distance learning and as a virtual university. The authors put accent on the way of
organization of the education process as a whole while showing the power of the
ARCADE platform. Moreover, there is discussed in details the administration of courses
and s
Towards adaptable interaction analysis tools in CSCL
Interaction analysis has become a basic function in the field of
collaborative learning as a means for supporting evaluation processes. These
processes can benefit from the use of automatic or semi -automatic interaction
analysis tools . If these tools considered the different roles implied in the analysis
processes, this could permit to exploit the results of the analysis in function of who
is the user and what is his/her purpose. The experience of awareness systems in
CSCW that use roles to de
Futurelab: Social software and learning
This report explores the relationship between the emergence of social software and the personalisation of education. It suggests that there is a changing view of what education is for, with an emphasis on the need for young people to develop the skills necessary for today's evolving global knowledge economy. Alongside this development is the rapid growth of social software, characterised as software that supports group interaction, and by combining these two trends there is significant potential
Literature Review in Learning with Tangible Technologies
When we think of digital technologies in
schools, we tend to think of computers,
keyboards, sometimes laptops, and more
recently whiteboards and data projectors.
These tools are becoming part of the
familiar educational landscape. Outside
the walls of the classroom, however,
there are significant changes in how we
think about digital technologies - or, to be
more precise, how we don’t think about
them, as they disappear into our clothes,
our fridges, our cars and our city streets.
This disappe
What is Energy?
With an introduction to the ideas of energy, students discuss specific types of energy and the practical sources of energy. Hands-on activities help them identify types of energy in their surroundings and enhance their understanding of energy.
The Missing Teacher: Contradictions and Conflicts in the Experience of Online Learners
A nationwide Swedish distance education programme, SÄL, was offered to adults with previous higher
education studies working as teachers in K-12. A smaller study conducted among this group of students at
Göteborg University, Göteborg, revealed concerns regarding teacher performance online. A follow-up and
larger study using a questionnaire survey was used to reveal possible conflicts and contradictions in the
programme. An analysis suggests that there is a contradiction between how the progra
Networked Learning, a relational approach – weak and strong ties.
In this paper, we explore the idea of weak ties in networked learning. We go back to the original conception of
the strength of weak ties (Granovetter 1973) and relate this to a dialogic understanding of networked learning
(Koschmann 1999, Dysthe 2002). These theoretical ideas are applied to the examination of two networked
settings in which educational leaders exchange ideas and have the potential to create knowledge. We examine
these networks from the point of view of the overall pattern of in
Utopian Hope and Apocalyptic Religion
Editor's note: The original event recording started slightly after the beginning of the introduction by Professor Lord Meghnad Desai. Where does the utopian impulse in politics originate, and does it have a future? John Gray argues that though they often claimed to be rooted in a scientific analysis of history and society the revolutionary political movements of the past were informed by a utopian vision which derives from religion. Is the age of secular utopianism over, and if so how will relig
