The CoVis Project: Building a Large-Scale Science Education Testbed
This paper describes the construction and research program of the Learning Through Collaborative Visualization (CoVis) Project. a testbed for exploring science education reform with telecommunications technology. The CoVis testbed is contrasted with other forms of cducational research in an "ecolo~yo f paradigms." which argues that testbeds are in fact a new setting for research with different requirements and challenges for the researcher. Two extended examples of telecommunications research ar
The Energy of Light
In this introduction to light energy, students learn about reflection and refraction as they learn that light travels in wave form. Through hands-on activities, they see how prisms, magnifying glasses and polarized lenses work. They also gain an understanding of the colors of the rainbow as the visible spectrum, each color corresponding to a different wavelength.
Web 2.0 for Content for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
The study will provide a set of recommendations for the JISC, institutions, and teachers on the effective use of Web 2.0 technologies for sharing content for teaching and learning. This will be achieved by desk research building on JISC funded and other work already undertaken, and widespread consultation across the community through an online workshop. The desk research will look at both existing practice and institutional policies which can facilitate or inhibit the use of Web 2.0 technologie
Reactive Learning Objects for Distributed e-Learning Environments
We present a concept of reactive learning objects that goes away from the hydraulic view of e-learning and gives to students activity a central place. First experimentations suggest that this concept should be enlarged to include distributed computation, distributed storage and Web services.
Cyclone in the classroom: bringing the atmospheric science community into the high school
There has been much discussion about the failure of traditional science education to prepare students for careers in science (Halloun & Hestenes, 1985; Rutherford & Ahlgren, 1990). Students may become adept at solving textbook problems, but they fail to apply the theories that are learned in school to the actual phenomena that the theories attempt to explain (Tinker, 1992). This is in large part due to the fact that students don't often experience phenomena in the classroom. They spend most of t
VCLab as an Example of GRIDifying Virtual Scientific Experiments
This paper describes and summarizes the current state of the development for making the Virtual Control Laboratory (VCLab) a GRID application within the ELeGI project. It introduces shortly into GRID techniques and shows how this GRIDifying process is performed to offer virtual scientific experiments (VSE) on the GRID.
The architecture and some technical details of the prototype implementation are presented. The next steps in the development are outlined concerning the collaboration aspects of
Technology and pedagogy for collaborative problem solving as a context for learning
This workshop, sponsored jointly by CSCW'92 and the Centre for Applied Cognitive Science at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), was organized to bring together researchers with interests in the emerging area of Computer Support for Collaborative Learning (CSCL). It was held at OISE on the weekend preceding CSCW'92 and was attended by 27 participants from academia and industry.
Logo Programming and Problem Solving
not available,technical report, 10 pages
Selected Papers from the Kaleidoscope Convergence Workshop
To foster synergy between research on collaborative, mobile and inquiry learning and between different scientific and methodological perspectives (namely, educational design, psychology and computer science) and to strengthen the cohesion of the community, the Kaleidoscope network has decided to organise a âConvergence Workshopâ in conjunction with the 2006 Contractors' General Assembly in Amsterdam, Dec. 4-6.
The two fields of collaborative and inquiry learning have bee
Italian Reading Comprehension 1
Journalistic passage dealing with some contemporary issues (poor job prospects, difficulties in finding accommodation, etc.) with questions to test comprehension skills.
Towards Collaborative Learning via Shared Artefacts over the Grid
The Web is the most pervasive collaborative technology in widespread use today; and its use to support eLearning has been highly successful.
There are many web-based Virtual Learning Environments such as WebCT, FirstClass, and BlackBoard as well as associated web-based Managed Learning Environments.
In the future, the Grid promises to provide an extremely powerful infrastructure allowing both learners and teachers to collaborate in various learning contexts and to share learning materials, lea
What is really learned at university?: The SOMUL Project - conceptualisation and design
The project is attempting to bring together psychological and sociological conceptions of university learning and relate both to conceptions derived from current higher education policy and practice, disciplinary cultures and students. The focus of the empirical part of the project will be on student conceptions of learning but at this stage we are concerned to explore the conceptual relationships between different theoretical approaches to ‘what is learned’.
Within a highly differentiated
Analyse de fichiers de traces d'étudiants : aspects didactiques
Users of a learning platforms are usually required to log in, that provides a great deal of data. The general question studied here is: how to exploit this data to help the different actors involved? At first let us introduce the platform and the experiments we conducted. Then we use a didactic model to produce a qualitative analysis from the quantitative data collected. A simple exercise classification emerges from the construction of two indicators. It is consistent with the different experim
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.
Formalisms for an Annotation-based Training Memory: Connecting Implicit and Explicit Semantics
This article aims at presenting the formalisms we defined for annotation-based training memories within the MICA project. It elaborates the objectives of the project and the requirements these objectives put on the tool to be implemented. A study of the literature is used to establish our formalism. Based on ontologies, they structure the annotation object and adapt the Alexander design pattern to annotation action.
MemoNote, an annotation-based personal knowledge management tool for teachers
This article aims to propose a personal knowledge management tool based on annotation, MemoNote, dedicated to teacher. The teacher is considered as a knowledge worker. MemoNote makes use of the teacher's annotation activity to memorize his/her personal conception about the document content, (in particular the domain and the pedagogy knowledge). This paper identifies three general requirements for the annotation object in such a tool to enable the teacher to manage his/her document-related person
An analysis of the SRL potential of a Technology Enhanced Learning Environment based on the software
This report presents an analysis of the potential support to Self-Regulated Learning granted by a multimedia environment aiming to lead students of junior high-school to reason consistently on environmental issues. The analysis is made by applying a check-list developed within the European project TELEPEERS.,research Report
What makes the subject matter matter? Contrasting probeware with Graphs & Tracks
Previous research has established probeware as an effective tool in science instruction. Less is known, however, about the reasons for its success. In this study, we investigate this issue further by contrasting the use of probeware with the use of a simulation called Graphs & Tracks. By carrying out an in-depth analysis of pre-service teachers interaction, we want to demonstrate that the two environments despite many structural similarities afforded different contexts for learning. When
Early career learning at work
Our paper will focus on three general theoretical frameworks developed within our project. Our typology of learning is based on two simple distinctions. The first is between learning processes, such as problem-solving, and learning activities, such as asking questions, which are located within many different types of learning process. The second is between learning that occurs as the by-product of a working process (e.g. working alongside a more experienced colleague), and learning as a separate
What Makes Airplanes Fly?
Students begin to explore the idea of a force. To further their understanding of drag, gravity and weight, they conduct activities that model the behavior of parachutes and helicopters. An associated literacy activity engages the class to recreate the Wright brothers' first flight in the style of the "You Are There" television series.
