Iván D. Claros

Social Media Learning: An approach for composition of multimedia interactive object in a collaborative learning environment

Multimedia resources offer an opportunity to innovate and improve teaching and learning environments through the interactivity. However, the interactivity is weakly supported by current learning environments and there is a lack of tools to build this type of material. Therefore, this paper describes a new collaborative environment for composing multimedia-interactive learning objects, called Social Media Learning (SMLearning). This environment includes a methodological guideline and a Social Media platform. This article presents details about Authoring Tool and Multimedia Player, which have been tested in a blended learning experience with a postgraduate course at the University Autónoma of Madrid, where students and teachers have been worked together for generating multimedia-interactive educational material.

Integrating open services for building educational environments

The increasing popularity of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has raised the need for highly scalable, customizable, open learning environments. At the same time, there is a growing trend to open the services that the companies offer on the web with open APIs and in the form of REST services, facilitating their integration in customized applications. The goal of this work is to show how such open services can be used for the support of on-line educational systems. These services were not created for an education context, so it is necessary to complement it with functionalities for supporting aspects such as evaluations, monitoring or collaboration. This article discusses on the strategies for integrating services for education and presents two cases studies: first, SMLearning, a collaborative learning environment supported by social media platforms Facebook and YouTube, and second, an application for project-based programming courses, customized through a generative architecture, making heavy use of Google services.

Using collaborative learning scenarios to teach programming to non‐CS majors

This article presents a new approach based on “collaborative scenarios” to enhance teaching–learning programming in non‐Computer Science oriented curricula. In this context, a literature review of tools related to teaching programming since a collaborative approach is presented. The collaborative scenarios was supported by a platform called TASystem, and applied in a case study carried out with students from Topographic Engineering Department at the Universidad del Valle (Colombia). The students’ social interaction was analyzed with Social Network Analysis and Content Analysis techniques and so was the students’ performance. The results showed an improvement in the students’ performance and an increment in the social relationship among the students.

User interaction analysis in a CSCL environment supported by social media technologies

This paper presents a description of a collaborative learning environment for the composition of educational multimedia objects, called SMLearning. This environment was built with social media technologies and evaluated through a blended learning experience. The user interactions in this experience have analyzed based on three types of actions: individualistic, cooperatives, and social acceptation. Based on a correlation analysis, we found that these three types of actions are directly related; and that could be due to the collaboration phenomenon.

Towards MOOCs scenaries based on collaborative learning approaches

The MOOCs offers technologies which emerge as an alternative to support the blending of face-to-face pedagogies and virtual activities. However, a blended learning experience is influenced by several factors, such as: the students attitude to learn; a well-known learning script; and interactions and group dynamic. This article proposes MOOCs scenarios based on the experience of two collaborative approaches implemented by the authors. These experiences are gathered in three aspects: methodological; technological; and educational practice. In conclusion, this article highlights a lack of services related with social interaction, monitoring and intervention by the instructors; without such services, the MOOCs technologies hardly support blended learning experiences.

Towards a functional characterization of collaborative systems

In this paper we present major results of a detailed study about the functionalities that are present in different collaborative systems, realized as collaborative components. We have used this study to establish a methodology for the automatic generation of collaborative applications supporting group needs. The methodology is directed to any community of end users, who do not need to have any programming skills.

Exploring on e-Learning enhancement by mean of advanced interactive tools: The GHIA (Group of advanced interactive tools) proposals

This document introduces the GHIA research group, summarizes its main research areas regarding e-Learning systems and spot out some of its future work, exposing all this information within the context of the eMadrid network.

Project eMadrid: Learning methodologies, gamification and quality

This paper presents a set of research efforts about learning methodologies, gamification and quality, conducted with the support of the eMadrid project, of the Regional Government of Madrid. Firstly, works performed in the first two years of the Project are summarized. Later, lines of research foreseen for the two next years are presented.

Digital workbook: a mobile learning environment to support collaborative examinations

It is already known that some collaborative assessment processes can provide students not only the possibility to show how well they have understood knowledge content, but also the opportunity to enhance and increase such knowledge. Such learning activities also allow instructors to diagnose the quality of the instructional process. However there is evidence that this type of activities involve an important effort. This article presents a mobile learning environment named digital workbook, which was designed to support students and instructors when applying a Collaborative Examination Technique. The tool was evaluated in a Computer Science undergraduate course, and the obtained results are highly encouraging.