The paper by Mar Pérez-Sanagustín, Patricia Santos, Davinia Hernández-Leo and Josep Blat, 4SPPIces: a case study of factors in a scripted collaborative-learning blended course across spatial locations, has been accepted for publication at the International Journal of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Journal (http://ijcscl.org/). The paper presents a conceptual model that defines four factors to be considered when addressing the desing of Computer Supported Collaborative Blended Learning (CSCBL) Scripts and of the technological systems for supporting their enactment. The four factors are: the space, the pedagogical method, the participants and the history (what we called the 4SPPIces factors). This paper presents a CSCBL script called Discovering Barcelona that was designed according to the 4SPPIces factors and evaluated at the High School IES Duc de Montblanc (http://www.ducdemontblanc.cat/) (Rubí, Spain).

The research described in this paper has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in the Learn3 project (http://gti.upf.edu/learn3/) (TIN2008-05163/TSI). Also, all these work was possible thank to the enthusiastic and motivated practitioners from the IES Duc de Montblanc Pilar Sanagustín Viu, Francesc Santolaria and Tònia Boqué.

Here you have the he abstract of the paper:

Computer-Supported Collaborative Blended Learning (CSCBL) scripts are complex learning situations in which formal and informal activities happening in different spatial locations are coordinated and integrated into one unique learning setting through the use of technology. We define a conceptual model identifying four factors to be considered when addressing the design of these CSCBL scripts and of the technological system for supporting their enactment: the space, the pedagogical method, the participants and the history (4SPPIces factors). This paper presents and evaluates a CSCBL script designed according to the 4SPPIces factors. The script is proposed for extending the learning of geographic fieldwork in a geography course at a high school. In this script, students reflect about the urbanism and the socio-geographic characteristics of a Barcelona neighborhood. The script blends individual and collaborative activities supported by mobile and computer-based technologies conducted in the classroom, home and city. The script is evaluated in a case study involving 34 students and two teachers. The case study reports: (1) the CSCBL script designed with the teachers, considering the 4SPPIces factors and the associated technological environment and (2) the results of enacting the script in the actual learning context and analyzing whether it fulfils the targeted learning objectives. The results from this case study show the impact of considering the 4SPPIces factors to enhance a real practice providing new learning and motivational benefits. The CSCBL script presented is an example that can encourage other practitioners and researchers to adopt the 4SPPices factors in similar educational situations.

Citation:

Pérez-Sanagustín M.; Santos P.; Hernández-Leo D.; Blat J.; 4SPPIces: A case study of factors in a scripted collaborative-learning blended course across spatial locations. International Journal of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, (In press, 10.1007/s11412-011-9139-3).

The paper by Valeria Righi, Sergio Sayago and Josep Blat, Towards understanding e-government with older people and designing an inclusive platform with them – preliminary results of a rapid ethnographical study, has been accepted for publication at the International Journal of Public Information Systems. The paper describes the results of a rapid ethnographical study conducted in Àgora, an adult association in Barcelona, and points out the attitudes of older people towards e-government services.

The work described in this paper has been conducted whithin the Life 2.0 EU-project.

The abstract of the paper:

The ageing population and the growing importance of e-government reinforce the need for further e-government research with older people. We have conducted a rapid ethnographical study aimed at understanding attitudes of older people towards e-government related activities and Information and Communication Technologies. We present initial results derived from our study and discuss a potential scenario for supporting information sharing and promoting a more active and dynamic participation of older people in their neighborhood, which we consider a relevant aspect of e-government with older people. Our initial findings suggest that a variety of inclusive aspects, such as socialization, face-to-face contact, or mutual support impact the use and adoption of e-services by older people.

Citation: V. Righi, S. Sayago, J. Blat. 2011. Towards understanding e-government with older people and designing an inclusive platform with them: preliminary results of a rapid ethnographical study. International Journal of Public Information Systems, 3: 131-142

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The last 20th of December, Patricia Santos, a member of the Technology-Enhanced Learning section of the GTI, presented her PhD thesis entitled “Computing-Based Testing: conceptual model, implementations and experiments extending IMS QTI”, she obtained the qualification of Suma cum Laude. It has been co-directed by Davinia Hernández-Leo and Josep Blat.

Her work is framed in the research domain of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL), and more specifically of Computing-Based Testing (CBT), in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are applied to enhance the assessment of higher-order skills. In particular, the activities and results of her thesis contribute to the design and implementation of advanced scenarios and tools, extending the scope of the IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification.

A number of publications related to the work presented in this dissertation has been reviewed and accepted by the research community: two international JCR journal papers published and one conditionally accepted, two book chapters and five international conference papers, a nomination to the BDigital for Digital Innovation 2011 award, and collaborations with international research projects such as the TENCompetence project (where an IMS award was received in the category of “Most Innovative New Realization of Standards” by the contribution done in the TENCompetence Learning Design Toolkit) and Learn3. Moreover, the QTIMaps case was selected by the ICOPER project as one of its top best practices for assessment and evaluation specifications and standards. These are indicators of the relevance of this research and show the importance of the future work derived from this research.

The abstract of the thesis:

The use of objective tests in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is based on the application of computers to support automatic assessment. Current research in this domain is mainly focused on the design of new question-items, being IMS Question and Test Interoperability (QTI) the recognized de-facto standard. This thesis claims that the domain can be extended with the design of advanced test-scenarios that integrate new interactive contexts for the visualization of question-items and tests, and that consider different types of devices and technologies that enable diverse activity settings. In this context, the dissertation proposes to term the domain as Computing-Based Testing (CBT) instead of Computer-Based Testing because it captures better the new technological support possibilities for testing. Advanced CBT scenarios can increase teachers’ choices in the design of more appropriate tests for their subject areas, enabling the assessment of higher-order skills.

With the aim of modelling an advanced CBT domain that extends the current possibilities of QTI and related work, this thesis provides a set of contributions around three objectives. The first objective deals with proposing a Conceptual Model for the CBT domain considering three main dimensions: the Question-item, the Test and the Activity. To tackle this objective, the thesis presents, on the one hand, a framework to assist in the categorization and design of advanced CBT scenarios and, on the other hand, two models that suggest elements for technologically representing the Test and Question-item dimensions. The models are platform-independent models (PIM) that extend QTI in order to support advanced CBT. Besides, the use of patterns is proposed to complement the modelling of the domain. The second objective seeks to show the relevance, value and applicability of the CBT Conceptual Model through exemplary challenging scenarios and case studies in authentic settings. To this end, the dissertation evaluates the design and implementation of a set of CBT systems and experiments. All the experiments use the proposed CBT Conceptual Model for designing an advanced CBT scenario. For each case the CBT-PIMs serve as the basis for developing a particular CBT-PSM and system. The evaluation results show that the implementations foster educational benefits, enable the assessment of higher-order skills and enhance the students’ motivation. Finally, the third objective is devoted to propose extension paths for QTI. The collection of models proposed in the thesis suggests different extension directions for QTI so as to enable the implementation of advanced questions, tests and activities. The proposed systems and scenarios also represent reference implementation and good practices of the proposed extension paths.

Ahir, 26 d’octubre,  es va celebrar a la seu del CosmoCaixa de Barcelona l’acte del lliurament de la IV edició dels premis ITWorldEDU 2011 que atorguen la Generalitat de Catalunya, l’Ajuntament de Barcelona i el CETEI-Fundació Joan XXIII, conjuntament amb les empreses promotores d’aquest gran punt de trobada cap a l’excel·lència educativa.

El Grup de Tecnologies Interactives (GTI) ha estat el guanyador del primer Premi ITWorldEdu 2011, per ” Descobreix el Campus!”, una experiència docent desenvolupada en el marc del projecte Learn3 que estan duent a terme en el GTI per Mar Pérez-Sanagustín, Davinia Hernández-Leo, Patricia Santos, tots ells dirigits per Josep Blat, cap d’aquest grup de recerca del DTIC de la UPF, amb la col·laboració del grup GAST de la Universitat Carlos III de Madrid.

Un entorn educatiu que combina diferents tecnologies

“Descobreix el campus!” combina un seguit d’activitats formals i informals que tenen lloc en diferents àrees del campus. Per a la integració d’aquestes activitats en una única unitat didàctica,  es desenvolupa un entorn tecnològic que barreja i integra l’ús de tecnologies mòbils amb tecnologies web.

Aquesta activitat didàctica forma part dels continguts de l’assignatura Introducció a les TIC’s, obligatòria en els tres graus d’Enginyeries que s’imparteixen a la UPF, i que té com a principal objectiu facilitar el trànsit dels alumnes de l’institut a la universitat, facilitant-los el primer contacte amb un campus universitari i motivant-los per a l’estudi i l’ús de les noves tecnologies, molts possiblement es mateixes que faran servir en la seva vida professional en acabar els estudis.

En una primera fase de l’experiència es fa servir la tecnologia mòbil NFC/RFID (Near Field Communication/Radio frequency Identification) per donar suport a una activitat d’exploració informal al voltant del campus. En una segona fase,  els estudiants treballen en grup mitjançant els seus ordinadors personals i l’entorn virtual Moodle,  l’entorn docent d’ús acadèmic a la UPF. Aleshores, els alumnes es distribueixen en grups, segons els llocs específics que hagin visitat, i després intercanvien la informació amb la resta de companys a través dels mòbils. (vegeu video Learn3 Project – ” Meet The Campus“).

El primer premi ITWorldEDU està dotat amb un equipament i software tecnològic de darrera generació per a ús educatiu i inclou una pissarra digital interactiva, una càmera de documents, un carro multimèdia amb projector i un pack d’aula robòtica.

Articles de recerca relacionats:

Pérez-Sanagustín, M.; Ramírez-González, G.; Hernández-Leo, D.; Muñoz-Organiero, M.; Santos, P.; Blat, J.; Delgado-Kloos, C. Discovering the campus together: a mobile and computer-based learning experience, Journal of Network and Computer Applications (in press).

De la Fuente-Valentín, L.; Pérez-Sanagustín, M.; Santos, P.; Henández-Leo, D.; Pardo, A; Blat, J.; Delgado-Kloos, C. System orchestration support for a flow of blended collaborative activities. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Intelligent Networking and Collaborative Systems. Thessaloniki: 2010.

Altres e-notícies relacionades:

“Coneix el campus”, una activitat per rebre els nous alumnes d’Enginyeries

Una Jornada organitzada pel GTI aplega professionals de l’ensenyament