Ulrich Hoppe

Computer supported interaction analysis of group problem solving

Collaboration is widely regarded as beneficial for learning. Collaboration is the mutual engagement of participants in a coordinated effort to solve a problem together. It has been conclusively argued that a focus on the process of collaboration is necessary in order to understand the value of working together with peers for learning.In accordance with the approach of open distributed learning environments (ODLEs), we have developed a framework system for computer-supported cooperative learning and working. This distributed shared workspace system is well suited for monitoring and assessing group interaction in co-located and distant scenarios. It provides adaptable mechanisms for the automated micro-analysis of processes of collaboration as well as for visualization and feedback.The system has been used in determining conflicts in focus setting as well as initiative shifts in aggregation and revision phases during a sample of collaborative sessions on puzzle problem solving.

Computer supported moderation of e-discussions: the ARGUNAUT approach

Despite their potential value for learning purposes, e-discussions do not necessarily lead to desirable results, even when moderated. The study of the moderators role, especially in synchronous, graphical e-discussions, and the development of appropriate tools to assist moderators are the objectives of the ARGUNAUT project. This project aims at unifying awareness and feedback mechanisms in e-discussion environments, presently implemented on two existing platforms. This system is primarily directed to a human moderator and facilitating moderation, but might also help the students monitor their own interactions. At the heart of system are the inter-relations between an off-line AI analysis mechanism and an on-line monitoring module. This is done through a collaboration of technological and pedagogical teams, showing promising preliminary results.

Implementing Technology-Enhanced Learning

In this chapter, we look at the implementation perspective from the start- ing point of the fundamental educational aims that unite the academic community. We argue that interactive and cooperative digital media have an inherent educational value as a new means of intellectual expression. Our primary concern is not the op- timisation of knowledge transmission but the use of digital technologies to enhance intellectual expressiveness and creativity: helping the students in their appropriation of the world with a special emphasis on their intellectual development, it is essential for the education system to incorporate new digital media as tools for intellectual ex- pression and production. We outline the main issues relevant to the implementation of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) - the link to overall educational aims, the relationship between innovation and practice, the importance of user engagement, the nature of TEL research, and the characteristics of the local context, and the nature of TEL as a catalyst for change. The chapter concludes with some of the key lessons learned in recent research and development projects that will help to develop more successful ways of ensuring that the technology achieves its potential to enhance learning.

AudioBattleship: blind learners collaboration through sound

A growing number of audio-based applications for blind learners have being produced in the last few years. Many of them focus on the development of 3D audio interfaces to map the entire surrounding space. Other studies center on the impact of sound interaction on cognition by evaluating the usability of these applications. No previous work has centered on using spatialized sound to develop collaborative skills in blind learners. This ongoing research study introduces AudioBattleShip, an interactive audio-based environment to enhance collaboration and cognition in blind learners. AudioBattleship mimics the traditional game battleship for sighted people but without visual cues. A preliminary pilot study has been implemented showing that blind children collaboration can be enhanced through the interaction with spatialized sound.

C-notes: designing a mobile and wireless application to support collaborative knowledge building

In order to support rich forms of collaborative learning, learners need appropriate tools to share, exchange, and negotiate their ideas. The use of wireless networked handheld computers in education is rapidly increasing, thus providing new opportunities to engage students in collaborative activities independent of time and space. In this paper, we describe our work in progress related to the design and implementation of a mobile and wireless application to support collaborative knowledge building. The paper presents an innovative approach for supporting the exchange and discovery of key ideas among students by using wireless optical readers, handheld devices and an application we have developed using Java and XML.

An interactive maze scenario with physical robots and other smart devices

This paper describes an educational application that combines handhelds (PDAs) and programmable Lego bricks in a classroom scenario that deals with the problem of letting a robot escape from a maze. It is specific to our setting that the problem can be solved both in the physical world by steering a Lego robot and in a simulated software environment on a PDA or on a PC. This approach enables the students to generate successful sets of rules in the simulation and to test these sets of rules later in physical mazes, or to create new types of mazes as challenges for known rule sets. In this paper we describe the technical setting for this scenario, different pedagogical scenarios and we will report an evaluation with a group of students in a school environment.

Computational Modelling and Simulation Fostering New Approaches in Learning Probability

Discovery learning in mathematics in the domain of probability based on hands‐on experiments is normally limited because of the difficulty in providing sufficient materials and data volume in terms of repetitions of the experiments. Our cooperative, computational modelling and simulation environment engages students and teachers in composing and simulating stochastic experiments, e.g. throwing dice or drawing balls, playing lottery games. It also facilitates validation and presentation. Engaging teachers in the design process led to the complementary development and evaluation of several learning activities in German secondary schools. Evaluating the results of our action research work indicated the potential of our approach for expanding traditional mathematics instruction when assisting students to develop a sustainable conceptual basis of probability principles, offering them a higher degree of responsibility for their learning.

Learning Activity Spaces: Towards Flexibility in Learning Design?

Designing a computer-supported learning scenario involving a constructivist approach of learning lays on a paradox. On the one hand, learning flows must be precisely described – including role distribution, required resources, tools, and scaffolds – to be realized in computer-supported environments. On the other hand, a fine-grained formalization of learning flows diverges from the constructivist notion of learning that learners are responsible for their knowledge (co-)construction. This paper draws upon the fundaments of a new concept so called “Learning Activity Space” (LAS) aiming at realizing some necessary flexibility when designing learning scenarios. LAS is the basis of a graphical scenario modeling language intelligible for non-computer scientists but still rich enough in detail to describe a large set of computer-supported learning scenarios.

Technologies and Educational Activities for Supporting and Implementing Challenge-Based Learning

Our Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) method can be described as a special form of problem-based learning, in which the problems are of realistic, open-ended nature. Additionally, CBL contains features of experiential and project-based learning approaches. CBL is supported by the provision of Digital Experimentation Toolkits (DExTs) which comprise materials, initial instructions, references to web resources and specific software tools. Technological challenges lie in the ease of use in accessing these data and in communicating the learners’ requests and specifications to the remote sites. Within this article we describe several classroom scenarios for the usage of DexTs in schools. Examples are the calculation of the epicenter of an earthquake, the calculation of lunar heights and the definition of strategies for navigation in a maze. The activities described in this paper were conducted within the framework of our COLDEX project (Collaborative Learning and Distributed Experimentation, http://www.coldex.info).

Interactive processing of astronomical observations in a cooperative modelling environment

The astronomy domain provides rich opportunities for learning about natural phenomena. It can involve and motivate a variety of mathematical and physical knowledge and skills. However it is difficult to connect astronomic observations to modelling and calculation tools and to embed them into educational scenarios. It is particularly this challenge which is focused in this paper. Concretely, we build on an existing collaborative modelling framework (Cool Modes) and extend it with specific representations to support learning activities in astronomy. A first field test has been conducted with these extensions.