Application of sensors in Augmented Reality based interactive learning environments

Growing evidence in recent years has led to an agreement on the importance and benefits that inclusive education has for students with special educational needs (SEN). However, the extension and universalization of an inclusive approach will also be enhanced with more evidence on the benefits that inclusion has for all students, including those without SEN. Based on the existing knowledge that learning interactions among diverse students are a key component of educational inclusion, the aim of this study is to identify the impact on students without SEN of being educated with students with SEN in shared, inclusive, interactive learning environments. Data were collected in three schools using a qualitative approach with a communicative orientation. Semistructured interviews were held with teachers as well as community volunteers participating in the schools. Further, focus groups were conducted with students and teachers. The results show that students without SEN benefit from participating in interactive learning activities with peers with SEN in different ways: (1) they learn to respect others, accept differences, and acknowledge different abilities, thereby creating opportunities for new friendships to develop; (2) they learn about abilities related to helping others participate and learn, to be patient and to gain the satisfaction in helping others learn and behave better; and (3) they benefit from the cognitive effort required to explain themselves and from the contributions of peers with SEN from which they can learn.

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Augmented Reality in STEM Education: Bibliometric Analysis

International Journal of Technology in Education ◽

10.46328/ijte.136 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 605-623

Author(s):

Tarık Talan

Keyword(s):

Augmented Reality ◽

Learning Environments ◽

Bibliometric Analysis ◽

Stem Education ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Mixed Reality ◽

Interactive Learning Environments ◽

Science Technology ◽

Number Of Publications ◽

Number Of Citations

Augmented reality applications in STEM education have increasing importance in recent years and it draws attention that scientific studies on this subject have gained momentum in the literature. The purpose of this research is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of studies on the use of augmented reality applications in STEM education in the literature. The Web of Science database has been used to collect the data. A total of 741 studies were accessed by going through various screening processes for the research. Content analysis and bibliometric analysis have been used in the analysis of the data. In the research, the distribution of publications by years and countries and the most published authors, journals, and countries were accessed. As a result of the research, in terms of the institutions with which the authors work, "National Taiwan University of Science Technology" ranked near the top for the number of citations and "National Taiwan Normal University" ranked near the top for the number of publications as the most productive institutions. It has been detected that "Wu, H. –K." and "Chang, H. –Y" are the most effective and productive researchers. According to the analysis conducted in the context of journals, "Computers Education" and "Interactive Learning Environments" have been the journals that contributed the most to this subject. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the co-authorship network structure is predominant in England and Spain. Concepts that become apparent in clusters in co-occurrences analysis are "augmented reality", "virtual reality", "mobile learning", "science education" and "mixed reality".

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The Impact of Evidence-Based Dialogic Training of Special Education Teachers on the Creation of More Inclusive and Interactive Learning Environments

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.641426 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Alfonso Rodríguez-Oramas ◽

Pilar Alvarez ◽

Mimar Ramis-Salas ◽

Laura Ruiz-Eugenio

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Special Needs ◽

Learning Environments ◽

Inclusive Education ◽

Special Education Teachers ◽

Interactive Learning ◽

Interactive Learning Environments ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Students With Special Needs ◽

The Impact

In the international context of a progress toward more inclusive educational systems and practices, the role of Special Education teachers is being transformed. From an inclusive perspective, these professionals increasingly support students and their teachers in the mainstream classroom, avoiding segregation. However, Special Education teachers often struggle to reach and support all students with special needs and their teachers to provide quality inclusive education. For this reason, more research is still needed on in-service training strategies for the inclusion of students with special needs that effectively translate into evidence-based school practices that improve the education of all students. This article analyses the impact of two evidence-based dialogic training programs of Special Education teachers working in mainstream schools carried out in Mexico during the 2018–2019 school year. Through in-depth interviews with participants, it was identified how, after the training, teachers increasingly grounded their actions on scientific evidence and promoted interactive learning environments that improved the educational inclusion of their students with special needs. This training also became the venue to make evidence-based educational actions available to other students without special needs, improving the quality of education provided to all students.

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