Yishay Mor

Design approaches in technology enhanced learning

Design is critical to the successful development of any interactive learning environment (ILE). Moreover, in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) the design process requires input from many diverse areas of expertise. As such, anyone undertaking tool development is required to directly address the design challenge from multiple perspectives. We provide a motivation and rationale for design approaches for learning technologies that draws upon Simons seminal proposition of design science. We then review the application of design experiments and design patterns and argue that a patterns approach has the potential to address many of the critical challenges faced by learning technologists.

Augmented Reality and Mobile Learning: The State of the Art

In this paper, the authors examine the state of the art in augmented reality AR for mobile learning. Previous work in the field of mobile learning has included AR as a component of a wider toolkit but little has been done to discuss the phenomenon in detail or to examine in a balanced fashion its potential for learning, identifying both positive and negative aspects. The authors seek to provide a working definition of AR and to examine how it can be embedded within situated learning in outdoor settings. The authors classify it according to key aspects device/technology, mode of interaction/learning design, type of media, personal or shared experiences, whether the experience is portable or static, and the learning activities/outcomes. The authors discuss the technical and pedagogical challenges presented by AR, before looking at ways in which it can be used for learning. Finally, the paper looks ahead to AR technologies that may be employed in the future.

Learn Your Opponent's Strategy (in Polynominal Time)!

Agents that interact in a distributed environment might increase their utility by behaving optimally given the strategies of the other agents. To do so, agents need to learn about those with whom they share the same world.

Exploring formative e‐assessment: using case stories and design patterns

This article presents key findings from a Joint Information Systems Committee‐funded project, which aimed to identify existing practices where technologies contribute to formative assessment and identify processes that take place around formative assessment where technologies play a significant role. Using a design pattern methodology, the project developed a range of cases of formative e‐assessment with practitioners across a variety of settings through a series of participant workshops. From a selection of these cases, we identified key elements in how practitioners described the problems and solutions they addressed regarding assessment in relation to learning within their different contexts. The patterns were analysed to highlight aspects of them, which are considered critical in theoretical analyses of formative assessment. We provide an overview of the project and discuss an illustrative case and pattern, followed by an analysis which suggests the particular contribution of technologies to formative assessment. Ultimately, for assessment to have formative effects, tutors and students can be identified as appropriating both social and technological resources in learning situations and engaging with both to learn how to take control over learning experiences.

Participatory design in open education: a workshop model for developing a pattern language

Technologically enhanced learning environments raise complex challenges for their designers, developers and users. Design patterns and pattern languages have recently emerged as a potential framework for addressing some of these challenges. However, the uptake of design patterns has been slow outside of the computer science community. We argue that this is largely a consequence of a weak positioning of pattern languages, as a form of delivering expert knowledge to layperson, and suggest an alternative view: the development of a pattern language as a community endeavour. In terms of open education, the workshop model can be viewed as an open production process for developing educational resources, in our case design patterns. We propose a model of pattern elicitation workshops, in which collaborative development of a pattern language provides a framework for sharing design knowledge within interdisciplinary communities. This model was iteratively developed at five international conferences. It was then postulated as a design pattern itself, encompassing a series of practices and a set of supporting tools. We believe this model could be applied in a broad range of communities concerned with the development of open digital educational resources. Editor: Stephen Godwin (Open University, UK). Reviewers: Stephen Carson (MIT, USA) and Alexandra Okada (Open University, UK). Interactive elements: A video course demonstrating the workshop model is available at: http://lp.noe-kaleidoscope.org/outcomes/videos/

Practical Design Patterns for Teaching and Learning with Technology

These are challenging times in which to be an educator. The constant flow of innovation offers new opportunities to support learners in an environment of ever-shifting demands. Educators work as they have always done: making the most of the resources at hand, and dealing with constraints, to provide experiences which foster growth. This was John Dewey’s ideal of education 80 years ago and it is still relevant today. This view sees education as a practice that achieves its goals through creative processes involving both craft and design. Craft is visible in the resources that educators produce and in their interactions with learners. Design, though, is tacit, and educators are often unaware of their own design practices. The rapid pace of change is shifting the balance from craft to design, requiring that educators’ design work become visible, shareable and malleable. The participatory patterns workshop is a method for doing this through engaging practitioners in collaborative reflection leading to the production of structured representations of design knowledge. The editors have led many such workshops and this book is a record of that endeavour and its outcomes in the form of practical design narratives, patterns and scenarios that can be used to address challenges in teaching and learning with technology.In order to reduce guessing in multiple choice question tests and to reduce effort in test construction construct the test so that the ratio of correct answers is comparatively high (e.g. 50%) and distribute correct answers unevenly (that is a question may have zero, one, or more than one correct answer options).

Assessment-driven course design foundational patterns

Assessment is one of the most important areas in education yet many university teachers are not trained in assessment strategies and the underlying principles. Assessment should be fair and relevant for the targeted learning outcomes. While these are honorable goals, the principles do not state how to achieve them. This is where patterns come to the rescue as they capture tested ways to ensure constructive alignment, a learning outcome oriented course design, and a clearly stated and communicated list of assessment criteria. The patterns presented in this paper have been mined by a group of practicing educators during the first EduPLoP. They are foundational assessment patterns and can be considered as entry point for more specific patterns on different assessment types.

A set of patterns for the structured design of MOOCs

A design pattern approach, in the form of participatory pattern workshops, has been used to explore the design approaches that experts in the field of online learning have used to develop and deliver Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Over the course of 3 intensive workshops a total of 20 design patterns were developed from shared narratives of successful practice. These patterns describe solutions to problems that are contextualised to six design dimensions: structure; orientation; participation; learning; community and management. The validity of these patterns has been tested against novel design challenges. In this paper, we present the 20 design patterns as a scaffold for both novice and expert developers to build a MOOC and suggest that integrating design patterns into a simple iterative design cycle can provide a powerful course development approach.

Teachers’ Perceptions About the HANDSON MOOC: A Learning Design Studio Case

Recently, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been proposed as relevant instruments for professional development. This paper reports on two editions of the HANDSON MOOC for teacher professional development. The MOOCs use the Learning Design Studio methodology as a pedagogical framework, the Integrated Learning Design Environment (ILDE) as the design infrastructure, and Moodle and Canvas as delivery platforms. The paper summarizes the design of both MOOCs, including the supporting technologies, and presents an analysis of the evolution of teachers’ perceived level of conform with approach and tooling. Data is collected in weekly and final surveys. The results show a general satisfactory level of conform in both MOOCs, which is especially high the last two weeks.

Designing for constructionist web-based knowledge building

This paper describes the iterative design of a web-based collaborative workspace used in educational practice, called WebReports. The system’s unique feature is that it allows participants to discuss mathematical and scientific concepts using programmed animated and interactive models of their ideas. Rather than focusing on the specific features of the collaboration tool, we analyze it as part of a constructionist activity system. We describe the context in which the system was developed and used and compare our approach to previous research in the field. Further, we then present two scenarios which demonstrate the system in action. Following that, we attempt to map our cases to an activity theory framework. We highlight several issues in the process of the systems’ development, where the contradictions between the WebReports system and other elements in the activity system shaped its design, and comment on several issues which go beyond the activity theory framework.