Eloy D. Villasclaras-Fernández

Free- and Open-Source Software for a Course on Network Management: Authoring and Enactment of Scripts Based on Collaborative Learning Strategies

This paper describes a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) case study in engineering education carried out within the context of a network management course. The case study shows that the use of two computing tools developed by the authors and based on free-and open-source software (FOSS) provide significant educational benefits over traditional engineering pedagogical approaches in terms of both concepts and engineering competencies acquisition. The Collage authoring tool guides and supports the course teacher in the process of authoring computer-interpretable representations (using the IMS learning design standard notation) of effective collaborative pedagogical designs. Besides, the Gridcole system supports the enactment of that design by guiding the students throughout the prescribed sequence of learning activities. The paper introduces the goals and context of the case study, elaborates on how Collage and Gridcole were employed, describes the applied evaluation methodology, and discusses the most significant findings derived from the case study.

A multicase study for the evaluation of a pattern-based visual design process for collaborative learning

Collage is a pattern-based visual design authoring tool for the creation of collaborative learning scripts computationally modelled with IMS Learning Design (LD). The pattern-based visual approach aims to provide teachers with design ideas that are based on broadly accepted practices. Besides, it seeks hiding the LD notation so that teachers can easily create their own designs. The use of visual representations supports both the understanding of the design ideas and the usability of the authoring tool. This paper presents a multicase study comprising three different cases that evaluate the approach from different perspectives. The first case includes workshops where teachers use Collage. A second case implies the design of a scenario proposed by a third-party using related approaches. The third case analyzes a situation where students follow a design created with Collage. The cross-case analysis provides a global understanding of the possibilities and limitations of the pattern-based visual design approach.

InstanceCollage: A Graphical Tool for the Particularization of Role/Group Structures in Pattern-Based IMS-LD Collaborative Scripts

Advances in educational technology have enabled new forms of organizing and managing collaborative learning environments. One of the currents trends in research on Technology Enhanced Learning is the application of computer-interpretable scenarios, such as those formalized with IMS Learning Design (IMSLD), for the description and deployment of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) scripts. The life-cycle of IMS-LD scripts involves several phases, from the conception to their enactment in actual learning situations. In the context of collaborative learning, group/roles management and composition have special relevance, and are in fact some of the tasks that the teacher must accomplish before students can follow the scripts. This paper presents a software tool (InstanceCollage) that implements a pattern-based approach, which has been previously validated for the task of script design. In this way, it aims at facilitating the population of roles and groups generally described in IMS-LD scripts.

Towards embedding assessment in CSCL scripts through selection and assembly of learning and assessment patterns

Assessment is one of the key elements of learning scenarios, both in individual and collaborative learning. Thus, embedding assessment in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) scripts can potentially enhance the enactment of collaborative learning sessions, by explicitly indicating how assessment is to be carried out. However, assessment design has also been recognized as a demanding task for non-expert instructional designers or practitioners. To tackle this problem, the use of learning and assessment patterns has already been reported as a way of supporting script design for non-experts. In this context, the combination of patterns of different nature (learning-oriented and assessment-oriented) can be regarded as an essential task of CSCL script design. This paper discusses how to support this task, focusing on the joint application of patterns, and describes an evaluation of the proposed approach.

Educational Patterns as a Guide to Create Units of Learning and Assessment

With the aim of facilitating teachers the design of units of learning and assessment, this paper proposes the use of different educational pattern types. Depending on the type of patterns, the resulting didactic materials are specified using IMS Learning Design or IMS Question and Test Interoperability extended with integrated Web2.0-like services.

Tuning IMS LD for Implementing a Collaborative Lifelong Learning Scenario

This paper describes an approach for modeling and implementing a collaborative learning situation, which is part of a real lifelong learning scenario in astronomy. We adopt and slightly adjust IMS Learning Design for computationally representing the script so that collaborative tools can be satisfactorily employed. We use Collage editor, which enables the re-use of general structures proposed by Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns, for authoring the script and Gridcole system for executing it. The paper also shows the log-files produced by the employed tools. The teacher can use these log-files to monitor the evolution of the process for evaluation and regulation purposes.

Linking Collaborative Learning Practice with IMS LD and Service-Oriented Technologies: an Approach Based on Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns

This paper proposes Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns (CLFPs), which represent best practices in collaborative learning structuring, as a central element of a kind of bi-directional linkage that facilitates that teachers can play the role of designers influencing in the behavior of CSCL (Computer- Supported Collaborative Learning) technological solutions. Additionally, this paper describes a technological approach for achieving such a scenario. That approach is based on the Collage authoring tool that provides CLFPs as IMS LD templates and the Gridcole system, capable of interpreting the resulting CLFP-based LDs and integrating the service-oriented tools needed to support the (collaborative) learning activities as prescribed in those LDs.