Christine Evain

Enhancing the Reading Experience through User-Generated Serious Games on the MyGame-4u Platform

The characteristics of generation Z, or the digital generation, have led us to rethink our pedagogy for bringing challenging literature into the classroom. Our research is based on creating a serious game platform in collaboration with a team of students who were involved both in the programming and testing of our platform called MyGame-4u. This platform allows students to share contributor-generated games in the field of literature. Using the Bloom taxonomy of learning objectives, our team of researchers developed a bank of question templates for the platform corresponding to the five levels of learning in the taxonomy. This paper also refers to the findings of techno-culture theorists in relation to the generation Z profile as well as Csikszentmihalyi’s eight dimensions of the flow experience. Having tested MyGame-4u, we believe that such tools can help students break down the reading activity into achievable tasks and thus allow them to develop their capacity to read and to appreciate long novels.

Extracting Domain Ontologies from Reference Books

Encyclopedic knowledge bases can be powerful tools for the acquisition of fundamental knowledge for learners. However, the structure and the very nature of these documents can impede learning processes. By extracting domain ontologies from reference books and using this same material to populate an intelligent learning system, we propose a methodology for lifelong learners.

Towards Augmented Learning in Science and Engineering in Higher Education

Reference books and encyclopedic knowledge bases present learners with an important source of fundamental concepts. However, the resulting knowledge acquisition process is often hindered by the linearity that is inherent to these resources, making it difficult for learners to realize the many links that exist between these concepts. This research project aims at establishing and implementing a rich semantic model for the identification and classification of knowledge in a core-periphery structure at the service of graduate level students of engineering sciences. This model will allow learners to obtain a global view of knowledge domains and to identify roadmaps for the knowledge acquisition process.

The eZoomBook Tool: A Blended and Eclectic Approach to Digital Pedagogy

This article is a comparative study of five pedagogical experiments that involved the use of the digital eZoomBook tool. An “eZoomBook” is a customized multi-level document incorporating links among the different layers that are accessible by tabs in a menu. eZoomBooks include a zooming in and out function allowing readers to navigate easily among the different layers. Each of the five experiments is examined in light of six classroom variables. We aim to demonstrate that the eZoomBook editor facilitates a blended, eclectic approach adaptable to a variety of pedagogical contexts and highly motivating for its users.

Making Teaching Visible to Learners through the eZoomBook Platform

The eZoomBook (eZB) platform was designed to create a learner-friendly experience in reading by allowing contributors to collaboratively create and share multi-level books called “eZoomBooks” where readers can access abridged versions of the original by a zooming function. This paper focuses on John Hattie’s “visible learning” principles and their application to eZB. Our objective is to show that the eZB framework and pedagogical applications are especially appropriate for a visible learning methodology. We will also highlight aspects of teacher collaboration to further enrich and expand the applications of the ZB platform. We will deal with three areas of Hattie’s research: the first is the primacy of reading; the second is micro-tutoring, a concept that we will define in relation to Hattie’s micro-teaching and to other well-known concepts of “Personalized System of Instruction” and use of peers as co-teachers. The third is the value of feedback. Finally, we will show that improving the self-image of the reader as a successful learner is a key value that we will continue to incorporate into the eZB methodology.

Preparing for Generation Z: The Hippocampus Experiment at Ecole Centrale de Nantes

Although social researchers who have written about Generation Z have found it difficult to classify the generation precisely, “Gen Z” is generally defined as the younger children of Generation X — in other words, Gen Z starts with today’s teenagers.For the last fifteen years, technoculture theorists have been exploring the consequences of the wide availability of internet connectivity to the first generation of people born to it, who are referred to as “Digital Natives”. Their purpose is to address issues such as shifts in the concept of identity, privacy, content creation, activism, and piracy.Our objective will be to apply the findings of generational experts to highlight possible avenues for pedagogical innovation in our University of science and engineering. We cover a range of questions:What are the online behavioral differences between generation X, Y and Z?What is our experience at ECN in terms of blended teacher and student driven pedagogies?What is the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education?What are the expectations and contributions of the “Digital Natives” likely to be?Our purpose will be to define the type pedagogical approach which has the potential to appeal to Gen Z and help them face the challenges of their generation.This paper will be based on the research and testimonies of a wide range of experts: it will include the work of technoculture theorists such as John Palfrey, Urs Gasser and Cathy Davidson as well as our own practical experience at ECN, mainly the Hippocampus project.Our purpose will be to determine how we — researchers and pedagogues — can draw on our present pedagogical experiences to prepare for generation Z1.Copyright