Ann-Louise Davidson

Intergenerational Learning Through a Participatory Video Game Design Workshop

ABSTRACT This article presents a program evaluation for intergenerational video game design workshop using Scratch, a visual programming language developed at the MIT. We relied on a framework inspired by participatory game design, intergenerational interactions, and maker culture to create a workshop that valued the interactions of participants from various age groups, genders, and backgrounds to learn together about game design. We used a mixed methodology, which exploited an action research technique called the Socratic Wheel and a post-questionnaire. Results show that participants generally felt positive about the workshop, despite some criticisms about the thoroughness of the learning experience for some individuals. We outline the limitations of both the workshop design and the research design.

Characteristics of effective e-textbooks: Lessons from the literature

Among the most recent new media on which to deliver content is e-books. At their simplest, e-books are digital versions of books that users read on a digital device, such as a computer or a tablet. One particular area of interest in this arena is e-textbooks. For professional communicators who develop e-textbooks, what does the research suggest about the appropriateness of e-texts, design considerations, and effective strategies for presenting content? This preliminary integrative literature review addresses that question.

Une analyse des représentations des enseignants réfléchissant sur une expérience d’implantation d’un portfolio électronique / An Analysis of the Perceptions of Teachers Reflecting on an Experience of e-Portfolio Implementation

Cet article rend compte d’une analyse des representations avec des enseignants, qui a eu lieu a la fin d’une experience d’implantation d’un portfolio electronique favorisant l’autoregulation des apprentissages des eleves et la professionnalisation des enseignants. Le texte s’appuie sur le contexte educatif quebecois actuel. Ensuite, il presente une revue de litterature entourant les competences technologiques, les portfolios electroniques et l’autoregulation des apprentissages. La methodologie presente le design de la recherche, les instruments utilises pour les entretiens et pour animer le groupe de discussion. Les resultats montrent que pour une enseignante qui avait deja adopte la pedagogie sous-jacente au renouveau pedagogique Quebecois, le portfolio electronique etait une experience fort utile. Toutefois, pour les deux autres enseignants, l’implantation du portfolio electronique etait beaucoup trop exigeante. Finalement, nous discutons des implications des resultats, autant au point de vue de l’experience d’implantation des portfolios electroniques que du point de vue de la contribution methodologique. This article presents an analysis of the perceptions of teachers, which took place in 2010 at the end of an experiment implementing an e-portfolio that facilitates student self-regulation of learning. The article is based on the current Quebec educational context. It presents a review of literature on technology skills, e-portfolios and the self-regulation of learning. The methodology describes the research design, the tools used in the individual interviews and in the group discussion. The results indicate that the e-portfolio was a valuable experience for a teacher who had already adopted the pedagogy underlying the education reform in Quebec. However the implementation of the e-portfolio was difficult for the other two teachers due to challenges in terms of technology and managing students. Finally, this article discusses the implications of the results, both in terms of the experience of implementing e-portfolios and the methodological contribution.