Learning Science through Collaborative Visualization over the Internet
Ten years ago, we launched the Learning through Collaborative Visualization, or CoVis Project. "Collaborative visualization" refers to development of scientific knowledge that is mediated by scientific visualization tools in a collaborative learning context. Funded by the National Science Foundation as an advanced networking testbed, our partnership of Northwestern University, Bellcore, Ameritech, the Exploratorium Science Museum in San Francisco, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champai
To Unlock the Learning Value of Wireless Mobile Devices, Understand Coupling
Handheld computers will become an increasingly compelling choice of technology for K-12 classrooms because they will enable a transition from occasional, supplemental use to frequent, integral use [1, 2]. Early evaluations suggest teachers and students respond to handhelds favorably [3]. At the same time, these devices will become communication enabled, through wireless technologies such as infrared beaming or radio-based local area networks. The clarity with which we can see the potential has l
A walk on the WILD side How wireless handhelds may change computer-supported collaborative learning
Designs for CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) applications usually presume a desktop or laptop computer. Yet future classrooms arc likely to be organized around Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILD) that resemble graphing calculators, Palm, or Pocket-PC handhelds, connected by short-range wireless networking. WILD learning will have physical affordances that are different from today's computer lab, and different from classrooms with 5 students per computer. These differing aff
Transformative communication as a cultural tool for guiding inquiry science
Inquiry-based science instruction offers great promise as a means of actively engaging students in authentic scientific problem solving, including consideration of research design issues. At the same time, inquiry introduces some difficulties. In particular, familiar "cultural tools" for classroom discourse, such as Initiation-Reply-Evaluation sequences, are no longer appropriate because they are premised on known answers and teacher-driven activity. To help support productive open-ended science
Changing How and What Children Learn in School with Computer-Based Technologies
Schools today face ever-increasing demands in their attempts to ensure that students are well equipped to enter the workforce and navigate a complex world. Research indicates that computer technology can help support learning, and that it is especially useful in developing the higher-order skills of critical thinking, analysis, and scientific inquiry. But the mere presence of computers in the classroom does not ensure their effective use. Some computer applications have been shown to be more suc
Addressing the Challenges of Inquiry-Based Learning Through Technology and Curriculum Design
Inquiry experiences can provide valuable opportunities for students to improve their understanding of both science content and scientific practices. However, the implementation of inquiry learning in classrooms presents a number of significant challenges. We have been exploring these challenges through a program of research on the use of scientific visualization technologies to support inquiry-based learning in the geosciences. In this article, we describe 5 significant challenges to implementin
Learning and teaching with educational technologies.
This chapter considers what we have learned about learning and teaching with educational technologies over the past several decades. While there are compelling data and arguments on the positive effects of these tools, there are also well-documented difficulties with implementing such innovations. The social contexts of the uses of technology are crucial to understanding how technology may influence teaching and learning. The classroom influences, in particular the teacher, are seminal. Much mor
The Collaboratory Notebook
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Constructivism in the Collaboratory
Great attention has been paid recently to the capabilities of computers to provide environments in which active learners can construct their own understanding through open-ended interaction. Yet discussion of constructivist learning environments has commonly focused on the learner as an individual, learning in isolation from other learners. For example, Perkins (1991) characterizes a learning environment as being composed of five facets: information banks, symbol pads, construction kits, phenome
Using the WWW to Build Learning Communities in K-12 Settings - Part II: The Next Generation of Web S
In Part II, we will lay out a plan for an educational Web server that goes beyond what is currently available, providing a truly vital and useful resource for classroom learning. Finally, we will describe current plans for the CoVis Geosciences Web Server, an educational Web resource designed according to the plans outlined in this article.,web document
Using the WWW to Build Learning Communities in K-12 Settings - Part I. Global Network Navigator
The World Wide Web (WWW) can play a vital role in the formation and successful operation of learning communities. Just 18 months ago, there were but 100 WWW servers online worldwide, while today there are over 10,000 WWW servers. Current estimates predict 100,000 WWW servers a year from now, according to M.K. Gray's Measuring the Size and Growth of the Web. This decentralized development of information resources, which cover everything from scientific databases to corporate products to traffic a
The greenhouse effect visualizer: a tool for the science classroom
The Greenhouse Effect Visualizer (GEV) is designed to help students visualize data sets related to the earth's energy balance. This work was inspired by the benefits scientific visualization have provided to scientists in discovering patterns and presenting the results of their work to broad communities. The hope is that scientific visualization can provide equal assistance to students trying to learn science. The philosophy underlying this approach links learning with practice. Hence, students
‘Hole-In-The-Wall’ Computer Kiosks Foster Mathematics Achievement - A comparative study
Earlier work at unsupervised playground computer kiosks in rural India, popularly called 'hole-in-the-wall', showed that children exposed to these kiosks learn to use computers on their own and that they are able to clear school examinations in computer science, without any classroom teaching for it. Extending this, our recent research work examines the possible impact on attainments in other curricular subjects, arising from self-directed use of these kiosks. This paper investigates the impact
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
Learning Design and Run-Time Resource Binding in a Distributed e-Learning Environment
Nowadays, the need for e-learning systems supporting a rich set of pedagogical requirements has been identified as an important issue in the field of distance learning. Several initiatives take place in order to meet this need.
Maybe, the most important of these initiatives is IMS Learning Design [6] that provides a framework to depict pedagogies. Furthermore, we are aware that the provision of different learning paths tailored on learner's characteristics and preferences guarantees the learner
AstroGrid as an e-Learning Environment
We present the concept of the Virtual Observatory through the AstroGrid project, which is a Virtual Organization making intensive use of the Internet to produce a working data-grid for Astronomical applications.
AstroGrid has implemented a series of tools which facilitate collaborative work such as news, forum and discussion pages, all of them inspired by the open source and licensing philosophy.
Additionally we explore how such an Astronomical Grid project can be used in the future as an e-Le
The Service Architecture in the ACTIVEMATH Learning Environment
We discuss the usage of web-services in the ACTIVEMATH learning environment, describe the prototypes implemented and the experience gained. Requirements for an ideal web-service technology are described. They include the notion of event propagation as well as the consideration for stateful web-services. Finally we propose models to make the web-services of ACTIVEMATH available to client components without affecting privacy or security. Further work, within the LE ACTIVEMATH EU project is describ
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.
