Mobile Learning

Mobile learning extends the media dissemination of knowledge and learning in extremely varying educational contexts with mobility and independence of location. The chapter describes possibilities of mobile learning for situation-oriented, personalised and collaborative learning. It explains on the one hand existing conceptions and application scenarios with regard to learning theory backgrounds, and on the other thematises possibilities of Web 2.0 for mobile learning. In doing this, it presents in particular didactical scenarios for mobile learning situations in the context of learning on the job.

Virtual Experiments in University Education

A university curriculum in natural and engineering sciences should provide students enough time and adequate facilities to design and carry out experiments and to analyze and interpret experimental results. However, laboratory facilities require considerable investments, and the experiments themselves can also be very expensive. Furthermore, in many universities, scheduling laboratory practice can be quite constrained. It is often difficult to realize learning scenarios in which experimentation is an integral component. Finally, alignment of actual laboratory classes and assessment is seldom satisfactory. This chapter discusses potential benefits of and limitations to virtual experiment environments or virtual laboratories in university education. In addition, we aim to identify feasible objectives for faculty-based projects on design, realization and use of virtual experiments in university education.

Virtual Learning Environment (ClassSim) Examined Under the Frame of Andragogy

ClassSim, an online simulation, was developed to support existing teacher education programs by providing pre-service teachers with access to additional classroom experience. This research reports on how pre-service teachers make use of the virtual learning environment to link knowledge from university coursework with field experiences and through this, we are able to examine affordances the virtual environment offers pre-service teacher learning. Andragogy provides a theoretical framework to review and make assumptions about the nature of learning for the participants. A comparative case study approach allows for in-depth comparison of two cohorts of pre-service teachers (first and final year) as they interact with the ClassSim environment.

Physical Education 2.0

Thinking of subjects at school and integrating digital media and technology, one might not think of looking at physical education first. But the pedagogical potentials of digital media integrated in physical education can easily be outlined. Therefore, the concept of Physical Education 2.0 is developed that posits a framework for designing pedagogical scenarios after informing about the old-fashioned Physical Education 1.0, technical devices, software and internet offers, and categorizing pedagogical scenarios by literature review. The imagination of future pedagogical scenarios leads to a deeper awareness of possible physical education developments. Moreover, implementation premises for Physical Education 2.0 in different areas are displayed. Furthermore, future research directions in this special research field with almost tabula rasa character are given. Shortly, the aim of the paper is to give an introduction and overview of the wide scope of digital media within physical education.

Supporting the Comprehension of Complex Systems with Video Narratives

Complex systems are difficult to understand, and without extended training and experience, people tend to misperceive these systems. Although current simulation tools illustrate what is happening in complex systems, they lack the means to represent the narrative aspects of the exhibited behaviours, in order to provide an account for the behaviours. The goal of this research is to provide visualizations of complex dynamic system behaviours with multimedia, focusing on video narratives, and to study the implications and added values of the video clips. The target users are primarily university students in System Dynamics. The method could also be of value both to lower level school students as well as to policy makers and general population who must deal with challenging complex problems. A pilot study was conducted and the findings confirmed our prior expectations; namely, that providing the users with video clips facilitates their learning process.

Principles of Effective Learning Environment Design

New thinking on the design and purpose of learning solutions is needed where the focus is not only on what to learn, but also the strategies and tools that enhance students’ capacity to learn and construct knowledge. The vision underpinning this chapter is to extend the notion of advanced learning environments that support learners’ to construct and apply knowledge to include the capacity to understand how and why they learn as individuals. Whenever conceptual change occurs as a result of active cognitive processing, higher order thinking emerges, which is further enhanced through discursive interaction with other individuals and groups. A shift in the focus of learning from the passive accumulation of information and knowledge to learning as a life changing experience that is augmented by active, collaborative engagement in the learning process provides direction as to how the complex tasks of learning and creative knowledge construction can be supported in the design of advanced learning environments. The purpose of this chapter is not to argue the need for ‘virtual’ learning environments – the literature abounds with positive endorsement for such applications. Instead, the strategies and factors that afford learners greater opportunities to engage in rewarding, productive learning experiences are examined with a view to laying down the groundwork and design principles to inform the development of a model for devising educationally effective, multi-modal (face-to-face and online) learning environments.

M-Learning in the Field

In subjects such as Civil Engineering, Architecture, Geology etc., education is mostly based on visual information. For example, in Civil Engineering every building can be seen as a unique object at a certain location. During the education of Civil Engineers many field based studies and excursions take place, however, not only the images but also geographical coordinates are essential. Wikis have been in use for collaborative learning for more than ten years. Mobile phones provide access to them from nearly everywhere. The availability of those technologies has led to rapid advances in the area of m-Learning and the possibility to apply challenging constructive educational concepts. Consequently, in this paper we describe the user centered design, development and evaluation of a combination of these technologies to support collaborative learning in the field: A Wiki-based mobile geospatial information system, the so-called TUGeoWiki. The primary objective of this geowiki is to provide a user-friendly tool for mobile collaborative learning for all areas where geo-tagged information could be useful. Moreover, TUGeoWiki was developed in order to provide the integration of external map material via map APIs including information such as that delivered by Google Maps. Subsequently, it is possible to provide both highly detailed maps and satellite images without having the need to license such material. Furthermore, the user interfaces used by such tools is well established, due to the increasing number of mapping related mashups. The evaluation during an extensive field test within a large civil engineering excursion to various large-scale construction sites in Austria demonstrated that collaborative learning can be successfully supported by the application of TUGeoWiki.

Authentic Tasks

Regardless of whether one thinks of today’s higher education students as “digital natives” or members of “Generation Me,” it is obvious that traditional instructional methods are failing to engage them adequately in developing the kinds of higher order learning outcomes necessary in the 21st Century. These outcomes should encompass the conative learning domain as well as the traditional cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. This chapter describes a set of ten authentic tasks learning design principles that can be used to create and support the kind of engaging learning experiences that today’s learners must have if they are to achieve a full range of cognitive, affective, conative, and psychomotor outcomes for the 21st Century. A case study of a graduate level online course that exemplifies these design principles is described. Responding to the needs of Generation Me learners requires far more of a pedagogical revolution than it does the widespread adoption of Web 2.0 technologies.

Lecturing Tomorrow

This chapter presents a survey methodology addressing learners’ requirements, their expectations and experiences regarding challenges in the implementation process of new educational technology in educational institutions. The presented methodology was devised and applied during the pilot use of a web conferencing system (in its educational form as a virtual classroom) in distance education, and combines the evaluation of usability, acceptance and expected benefits in order to generate statements and to substantiate decisions on educational technology at an early stage of its institutional introduction. The methodical procedure, survey instruments and results from its exemplary exertion are described. The overall objective of this chapter is to prove the appropriateness of this multi-perspective and user centered approach towards the examination of utility, resulting in a pragmatic and transferable tool for the evaluation of the three named factors.

Wikipedia in Academic Studies

Although Wikipedia has carved its way into the common vernacular, it faces resentments, particularly in higher education institutions, and many professors say students should think twice before turning to the free online encyclopedia for their academic work. “According to the criterion of scholarly standards, Wikipedia is citable on no account since authorship is not verifiable, and therefore an authentication of information is impossible.” (Haber, 2007, p. 500). In spite of perceived quality deficits, Wikipedia is a popular information resource among students. Instructors increasingly take advantage of this student attitude through actively integrating Wikipedia as a learning tool into university courses in accordance with a constructivist teaching and learning paradigm. The chapter raises the question if Wikipedia is suited to make complex research, editing and bibliographic processes through which scholarship is produced transparent to students, and effectively improve their research and writing skills.