José Alberto Lencastre

Pedagogical and Organizational Concerns for the Deployment of Interactive Public Displays at Schools

The integration of digital technology into schools is facing substantial challenges. In this study, we address the roles that public displays in communal spaces at the school can play as an additional vehicle for learning practices and, particularly, as a medium for sharing educational videos created by students themselves. Using a participatory design methodology, three hands-on workshops were conducted with teachers of a secondary school from the north of Portugal in order to elicit expectations towards the system design and its integration into school practices. Based on recorded video, direct observations, paper prototypes and open ended questionnaires created during the workshops, we conducted a systematic content analysis of teachers’ concerns associated with the deployment of public displays at schools. Findings suggest that teachers are receptive to the technology and were able to generate scenarios that take advantage of the possibilities offered by digital public displays to stimulate learning processes. However, to accommodate the constraints of learning practices and organizational realities, the design of the system needs to take into account a broad range of sensitivities.

Reducing attrition and dropout in e-learning: the development of a course design model

Worldwide, the e-Learning market has been growing faster and faster [1], but not without some disappointments [2]. One of the biggest setbacks regarding e-Learning is that related to the high rates of attrition [3] that leads to frustration [4] [5] [6] and, eventually, to dropout. Student dropout rates for eLearning are 15–20% higher than traditional face-to-face courses [7]. For all reasons that might have an influence in attrition and dropouts in e-Learning we argue that course design is the key. Therefore, the main question is how to design e-Learning courses with lower attrition and dropout rates? The primary objective of this Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for adult education research project, is to produce a model to assist e-Learning course developer’s decisions based on scientific literature that will lead to the development of an implementation prototype. The specific objectives are: (i) to understand the relationship between course design in e-Learning with attrition and dropout; (ii) to identify dropout reasons in relations to course design in e-Learning; (iii) to validate course design as a problem affecting dropout in e-Learning; and (iv) to propose a decision-making course design model for a future prototype. As a methodological approach, we will use Development Research [8]. This methodology involves an interrelationship between theory and practice to create an effective intervention to a specific problem, which requires not only its analysis but also the construction of a particular process or product. We see the Development Research as a cyclical process of designing, testing, and redesigning, always incorporating feedback provided by all the actors. This process leads to new theoretical and empirically founded products, whereby the researchers get new insights, ultimately bringing the state of the art a step forward. Outgoing from the creation of our e-Learning prototype, we will collect information in a participatory manner, justifying the choices that will be integrated into the development process/product, and creating the conditions for permanent feedback to improve the product as well as the educational process. Thus, the research process is less driven on obtaining a descriptive knowledge; instead, it is more focused on the need to get, from the feedback on the tasks and the product development, information about how different aspects of the problem can be solved. According to our research plan, we firstly review the state of the art, following a systematic review [9], which is “designed to locate, appraise and synthesize the best available evidence relating to a specific research question to provide informative and evidence-based answers” [10]. Secondly, and after accessing the relationship between course design in e-Learning with attrition and dropout in previous step, we propose a decision-making model for an implementation prototype. Third, the prototype is tested and improved based on data collected, including attrition and dropout. Fourth, a functional product is released, providing the necessary mechanics for improvement based on continuous data collection.

Adoption concerns for the deployment of interactive public displays at schools

JuxtaLearn is a research project focused on ‘performance’ as a means of provoking students’ understanding of science and technology through the creation and sharing of educational videos. As the videos will be shared in public displays, the Portuguese research team developed three workshops with twelve teachers from a Portuguese Secondary School representing different school departments and sharing organizational responsibilities. The aim was to generate scenarios of possible features and interaction for the curricular integration of the technological device. Our findings suggest that teachers are not motivated to use, on their own, technologies in the classroom, but receptive to new and challenging technologies when properly stimulated. They were able to generate scenarios that take advantage of the possibilities offered by digital public displays to stimulate learning processes. However, there are pedagogical, organizational and ethical concerns in the management and control of content that need to be resolved before they feel confortable to deal with change and technological innovation.

The VideoM@T Project - Engaging Students on Learning Tricky Topics in Mathematics Through Creative Skills.

This work is funded by CIEd - Research Centre on Education, projects UID/CED/1661/2013 and UID/CED/1661/2016, Institute of Education, University of Minho, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT. The VideoM@t project received funding from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, through a contest promoted by the School Libraries Network (Portugal).

The JuxtaLearn Process in the learning of Maths’ Tricky Topics: practices, results and teacher’s perceptions

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Communitys Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 317964 JUXTALEARN.

Empathic technologies for distance/mobile learning: An empirical research based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT)

Purpose This paper examines the acceptance, of a group of 79 students, of an educational forum, used for mobile and distance learning, that has been modified to include empathic characteristics and affective principles. Design/methodology/approach With this study is proposed that the introduction of empathic and affective principles in educational forums is a useful and effective way to increase students’ participation and motivation in educational contexts. After an analysis of existing literature and research on the subject of empathic technology, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) was used as a framework for the research model. The analysis of their acceptance is done via an extended version of the UTAUT that focuses on the use of the variable attitude toward technology and uses gender, age and experience as moderators. A partial least square technique has been used to test the nine hypotheses. Findings The results confirmed three of the nine hypotheses: performance expectancy and effort expectancy had a positive influence on the students attitudes towards empathic forums, while the effect of social influence and facilitating conditions was considered insignificant; social influence had a positive influence on the students’ behavioral intention to use emphatic forums, while attitude toward technology, performance expectancy, facilitating conditions and effort expectancy were considered not relevant. Originality/value The focus of this study was the influence of attitude toward empathic forums, used for mobile and distance learning, and the results establish the grounds for future research on attitude as an important determinant of technology acceptance.