Christina Brodersen

eBag: a ubiquitous Web infrastructure for nomadic learning

This paper describes the eBag infrastructure, which is a generic infrastructure inspired from work with school children who could benefit from a electronic schoolbag for collaborative handling of their digital material. The eBag infrastructure is utilizing the Context-aware HyCon framework and collaborative web services based on WebDAV. A ubiquitous login and logout mechanism has been built based on BlueTooth sensor networks. The eBag infrastructure has been tried out in field tests with school kids. In this paper we discuss experiences and design issues for ubiquitous Web integration in interactive school environments with multiple interactive whiteboards and workstations. This includes proposals for specialized and adaptive XLink structures for organizing school materials as well as issues in login/logout based on proximity of different display surfaces.

Tools of contextualization: extending the classroom to the field

Project based education is growing in importance in elementary schools though it is still quite poorly technologically supported, particularly with respect to actively taking advantage of contextual information. Based on an empirical study of teaching and in particular project based education in Danish elementary schools, we present the HyConExplorer, a geospatial hypermedia system supporting project based education and learning outside of the classroom through contextualization of information. More specifically, the HyCon-Explorer provides means for: browsing with your feet, annotating the world, and overview at a glance.

Building a BRIDGE between children and users: a socio-cultural approach to child–computer interaction

The field of child–computer interaction has received growing attention as a result of the penetration of IT into children’s everyday lives. Consequently, the involvement of children in the design of children’s technology has been widely discussed. So far, literature on children’s involvement in design has mainly treated design with children as a distinct design discipline regarding children as “cognitive incomplete” in comparison with adult users. With a point of departure in the framework of socio-cultural activity theory, this paper provides a new perspective on design with children, based on understanding children as participants in meaningful communities of practices. Thus, we argue that children could and should be involved in design on the same terms as adult users; children are treated as experts in their everyday lives and we cannot design future IT for children without involving these experts. The paper introduces the BRIDGE method including a palette of design techniques as a practice-based method for designing with children based on this perspective.

Staging imaginative places for participatory prototyping

When we stage participatory prototyping, we arrange constraints and possibilities and envision a place of co-creation for designers and users. We argue that the activity of participatory prototyping can benefit from unfolding in imaginative places that are radically distant from the places of current practice. Our work with participatory prototyping indicates that a radicalisation towards an imaginative place of co-creation provides participants with an extended space for imagining future practices. Departing from the Scandinavian participatory prototyping heritage, our research is an inquiry into staging the places of participatory prototyping. Staging imaginative places is carried out by a careful selection and coordination of anchoring elements that maintain references to current practice and elements of transcendence that afford the imaginative place. As such, we supplement the qualities of the prototype and the process of prototyping with a concern for the place in which prototyping unfolds. We present two cases of participatory prototyping sessions that outline our work with staging imaginative places for participatory prototyping.

Quality of learning in ubiquitous interaction

Motivation -- Ubiquitous computing places the user in dynamic configurations of technology. As a result, learning in use has new complexities. Research approach -- We develop concepts to understand and design for learning in ubiquitous settings based on empirical examples and a foundation in activity theory. Findings/Design -- Specifically, we point to core concepts: Quality of an action; functional organs; and routines and strategies as being pivotal in analysing and designing for learning in ubiquitous settings. Research limitations/Implications -- The concepts will ultimately need to be evaluated in use by ourselves and others Originality/Value -- Our approach moves beyond understanding and designing one-off interfaces. Take away message -- We argue that by focusing on general, high-quality routines we can better support learning in dynamically changing webs of technology.

A comparative study of map use

We present a study comparing the handling of three kinds of maps, each on a physical device: a paper map, a tablet-PC based map, and a cellular phone based one. Six groups of users were asked to locate eight landmarks, looking out a window, and using a particular map. We have begun analyzing video recordings of the situations, and this paper will give examples of the handling of the three kinds of physical devices.

eCell: spatial IT design for group collaboration in school environments

In this paper we present the eCell; a temporary, collaborative niche for group work in school environments. The eCell consists of a private inner display and a public outer display located in unused public spaces e.g. in corridors and libraries throughout the school premises. The inner display is a large touch-sensitive screen connected to a standard computer. The outer display consists of a projection on a large semitransparent surface. Combined, the two displays comprise an IT-supported, collaborative environment especially suited for project based education. Through three iterations of design, we describe the technological, the spatial and the educational aspects of the eCell and outline its potential for supporting collaborative activities in a temporary niche, in which the architecture of the school itself reflects ongoing work. Thus, the eCell stimulates knowledge sharing, awareness and social interaction among pupils and teachers who are part of the school community.

Dressing up for school work: Supporting a collaborative environment with heterogeneous technologies

This paper approaches heterogeneity and heterogeneous technology as assets, rather than limitations, in the development of computer supported cooperative work. We demonstrate how heterogeneous technologies sustain teachers’ and students’ school work by presenting four different prototypes (the HyConExplorer, the eCell, the iGameFloor and the eBag) that complement one another because they offer different functionalities and are, at the same time, designed with the wholeness of school activities, particularly group-based ones, in mind. Thus, they provide teachers and students with a broad range of IT support to aid them in and outside of the classroom. We take the school domain as our point of departure, but argue that the focus on heterogeneous technologies is applicable for the general area of CSCW.