Symeon Retalis

Eliciting design patterns for e-learning systems

Design pattern creation, especially in the e-learning domain, is a highly complex process that has not been sufficiently studied and formalized. In this paper, we propose a systematic pattern development cycle, whose most important aspects focus on reverse engineering of existing systems in order to elicit features that are cross-validated through the use of appropriate, authentic scenarios. However, an iterative pattern process is proposed that takes advantage of multiple data sources, thus emphasizing a holistic view of the teaching – learning processes. The proposed schema of pattern mining has been extensively validated for Asynchronous Network Supported Collaborative Learning (ANSCL) systems, as well as for other types of tools in a variety of scenarios, with promising results.

An architecture for open learning management systems

There exists an urgent demand on defining architectures for Learning Management Systems, so that high-level frameworks for understanding these systems can be discovered, and quality attributes like portability, interoperability, reusability and modifiability can be achieved. In this paper we propose a prototype architecture aimed to engineer Open Learning Management Systems, that professes state-of the-art software engineering techniques such as layered structure and component-based nature. Our work is based upon standards and practices from international standardization bodies, on the empirical results of designing, developing and evaluating Learning Management Systems and on the practices of well-established software engineering techniques.

Designing a Moodle course with the CADMOS learning design tool

CADMOS is a graphical learning design (LD) authoring tool that helps a teacher design a unit of learning in two layers: (i) the conceptual layer, which seems like a concept map and contains the learning activities with their associated learning resources and (ii) the flow layer, which contains the orchestration of these activities. One of CADMOS’ main innovative features is that it can bridge the gap between the design of a unit of learning and its enactment into Moodle. This paper presents how one can create a LD using CADMOS and deploy it into Moodle. Also, the paper shows the findings from a case study which was organized in order to evaluate the usability of the tool, its pedagogical flexibility and the usefulness of its innovative feature of deploying a LD into Moodle. CADMOS seems to be an easy-to-use tool, which offers guidance and flexibility during the design process.

Modelling Web-Based Instructional Systems

Introduction Instructional systems aim to support and partially automate the instructional process on a subject field, which might concern, for example, a course, a seminar or even a series of lectures (Gagne et al., 1984). From a different perspective, these systems intend to satisfy certain instructional needs for a subject domain, which have surfaced mainly because of the advances in research and technology, the emergence of the information society and the globalisation of markets (Hodgson, 1997). Nowadays, instructional systems make extensive use of network technologies, especially the Internet and the World Wide Web, because of their potential, in advancing interactivity between learners and tutors, in offering flexibility concerning the way of learning, and in providing easy, one-stop maintenance and reusability of resources (McCormack & Jones, 1997, Lowe & Hall 1999). This trend entails the construction of complex instructional systems, i.e. the Web-based Instructional Systems (WbIS), that incorporate a variety of organisational, administrative, instructional, and technological components (Moore & Kearsley, 1996, Carlson, 1998). The pursuance of quality in such complex systems is of paramount importance, although building high quality WbIS within specific time and fund limits is definitely quite a challenging task. There is no standard process to achieve this goal but the most promising approach seems to be the adoption, on behalf of the instructional designers, of a design and development model so as to reap several benefits (Tennyson & Breuer, 1997), such as: * To mitigate risks and improve the possibility of concluding the development process on schedule and within the estimated budget. * To assure that the quality of the development process per se and the quality of the end product is guaranteed. * To standardise the construction of new systems and consequently maintain and upgrade them more easily than ad hoc developments. * To put emphasis on reusing parts of previously developed compliant systems, on a design or implementation level, thus reducing the development time and costs. This paper describes a way of modelling web-based instructional systems and portrays the realization of this model into practice by showing a complete case study. The underlying idea of modelling web-based instructional systems is an explicit division of the instructional system under development into specific subsystems. Each one of these subsystems elucidates on how: a) the human agents (learners, teachers, tutors, administrators), b) the web-based learning resources, c) the other learning resources (e.g. material in printed or other analogue format), and d) the technological infrastructure, should accordingly participate in the instructional process. It is emphasized that the proposed model focuses on WbISs from an Information Technology perspective and does not represent current theories of learning. This work accords with the philosophy of the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (http://ltsc.ieee.org), the CEN/ISSS Learning Technology Workshop (http://www.cenorm.be/isss/workshop/lt), the PROMETEUS Special Interest Group on the Design of Electronic Learning Environments (http://www.igd.fhg.de/~lindner/PROMETEUS/SIGDESIGN/ Mission.html), and the work on Educational Modelling Language (EML) (http://eml.ou.nl). All these are major players in the development of technical standards, recommended practices, tools, and design methods that facilitate the development, deployment, maintenance and interoperation of computer implementations of education and training components and systems. The structure of this paper is as follows: Section 2 will analyse the model and its philosophy while section 3 will show the realization of the model in practice. Several web-based systems have been developed with the aid of the proposed model, in an effort to enrich/enhance the traditional classroom-based teaching process. …

Editorial: Using e-learning design patterns to augment learners' experiences

ion: case study generalisation as a method for eliciting design patterns” reflect on a 1-year interdisciplinary pan-European research project involving the development of almost 30 cases and over 150 patterns. They provide example cases, detailing the process by which their associated patterns emerged. They discuss the merits of the proposed approach and its implications for pattern development. 4. Benefits and potential drawbacks of a ‘‘pattern-based design approach’’ in e-learning, stimulating some reflections about the maturity of current e-learning design patterns Zitter, Kinkhorst, Simonsand and ten Cate, in their paper ‘‘a task ontology as prerequisite for designing (e)learning environments with design patterns” propose a conceptual framework using graphical and textual representations which have shown much promise in supporting the process of analysis and (re)design. In this way, they add innovative insights to the domain of facilitating the creation of design patterns. In a similar vein, van Diggelen and Overdijk with a paper called ‘‘grounded design: design patterns as the link between theory and practice” stress the importance of theory in the development of design patterns. They propose an approach to the development of design patterns based on classroom experiences of designing for networked learning. Design patterns have recently received increasing attention in the e-learning research community. Despite the interest in patterns among the academic community and the increasing volume of publications, the ‘‘real” success of design patterns in elearning (in terms of effective adoption and usage in ‘‘real” educational design settings) is still under investigation. The case for their practical utility is yet to be proven: particularly if compared to the popularity of patterns among professional designers in other domains such as software engineering. This special issue aims to give a better insight into the current state of the creation and use of elearning design patterns, taking a critical perspective, and providing and sharing evidence about relations between the complex phenomena of learning experiences and the associated processes of design.

A new approach to collaborative creativity support of new product designers

Effective collaborative creativity is crucial to contemporary professionals who have to continuously produce innovative products and services. The technological nature and complexity of the innovations require team work, among specialists from different disciplines. Often these teams work in a distributed fashion, across boundaries of time and place. Therefore, they need electronic |spaces| that support (|afford|) their creative collaboration. Co-creativity support is not only a matter of making appropriate groupware spaces available but also of providing concurrent support in all these dimensions. These considerations inspired the development of the idSpace platform. idSpace is a collaboration platform integrating a variety of creativity tools with pedagogy-based guidance. It aims to optimise both the use of creativity techniques themselves and of the supporting processes of team collaboration and knowledge creation. In this paper, we zoom in on knowledge-sharing strategies for collaborative creativity (KS4CC). We show how collaborative creativity can be enhanced via integration of pattern-based pedagogical flow support, including suggestions of optimal use of creativity techniques. The KS4CC strategies consist of a merger of learning and collaboration flow patterns with support for the application of creative techniques.

A Model for Interoperability in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning activities involve combination of complex software tools that often need to interoperate in a wider context of learning. This paper proposes a data model that accommodates requirements of typical collaborative learning situations and facilitates interoperability of tools and interchange of products of collaboration and evaluation data. The model has been tested against various typical tools used for both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration of groups of students.

Enhancing primary school children collaborative learning experiences in maths via a 3D virtual environment

Over the last years there has been a growing use of 3D virtual environments for educational purposes. Many studies advocate the integration of these environments in the daily teaching practice of various subjects. This requires innovative design in order create the appropriate affective/ pedagogical conditions as well as the development and use of well-structured activities in order to achieve effective collaborative learning. This paper presents an exploratory study in which collaborative learning strategies and cognitive apprenticeship models act as the pedagogical framework to facilitate learning and collaboration. The context is the teaching of mathematics in primary education via a 3D virtual environment. Specifically, we focus on evaluating students’ engagement (behavioral, affective and cognitive) in the collaborative learning process as they learn fractional concepts in a meaningful way. The findings show that a 3D virtual environment can support collaborative learning in primary school through its ability to enhance students’ engagement (behavioral, affective and cognitive) in the collaborative learning process.

Giving More Adaptation Flexibility to Authors of Adaptive Assessments

In this paper, we present AthenaQTI, a tool for authoring personalized assessments, which gives the author significant flexibility in terms of the adaptation that s/he can incorporate in the assessments s/he builds. We focus on presenting the functionality of the authoring environment and the tool’s conformance to the IMS- QTI specification, a fact that gives it the advantage of interoperability. Furthermore, we briefly describe the user model and the philosophy of its manipulation.

Pilot use of digital educational comics in language teaching

This paper presents a case study about the use of digital comics in teaching modern Greek in high schools (aged 12–13). The ultimate goal of the educational use of digital comics is to promote students’ acquisition of language skills and to help them apply their imaginations and reuse their cultural experiences in creating multimodal comic‐like digital stories. The core idea of this case study, which was conducted at a high school in Greece, was to provide the opportunity to students become authors of their own digital comic stories using an innovative authoring tool called ComicLab.