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Describing and analysing learner behaviour using sequential data and analysis is becoming more and more popular in Learning Analytics. Nevertheless, we found a variety of definitions of learning sequences, as well as choices regarding data aggregation and the methods implemented for analysis. Furthermore, sequences are used to study different educational settings and serve as a base for various interventions. In this literature review, the authors aim to generate an overview of these aspects to describe the current state of using sequence analysis in educational support and learning analytics. The 74 included articles were selected based on the criteria that they conduct empirical research on an educational environment using sequences of learning actions as the main focus of their analysis. The results enable us to highlight different learning tasks where sequences are analysed, identify data mapping strategies for different types of sequence actions, differentiate techniques based on purpose and scope, and identify educational interventions based on the outcomes of sequence analysis., Comment: This version is for personal use and not for redistribution. The final version was published as part of the proceedings of the 14th Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK '24). March 18--22, 2024, Kyoto, Japan

One major challenge the educational community is facing relates to how to effectively integrate computational thinking (CT) concepts and ideas into a particular school curriculum. Acquiring CT-skills by means of STEM offers rich opportunities within students ́ education which may lead to learning gains. Previous research has shown that, to maximize the appeal and potential of CT learning environments, a precondition must be set first. The materials used must invite problem-based, inquiry-based and self-discovery learning, must be used without creating misconceptions and, above all, must give students the opportunity to acquire knowledge that can be directly transferred to everyday practice in an accessible manner. All the above puts demands on teachers who carry out learning and teaching in these environments. The EU funded TACTIDE project has tried to incorporate relevant curricular components into a coherent task, implementing assignments and challenges across different subjects and curricula of three different European countries. Based on the analysis of each national curricula, common topics have been identified and sub-scenarios have been developed. These sub-scenarios have been conceived to promote the integration between the topics mediated by CT. To achieve this objective, a greenhouse scenario has been conceptualized and designed towards teaching CT, by the use of microcontrollers such as the BBC micro :b it and the Calliope Mini, as an overarching STEM-topic. Using available sub-scenarios, a Moodle-course for teachers was developed for daily school activities to which other subjects in the core curriculum were interconnected in order to integrate CT skills and abilities. Scalability across different school levels and heterogeneous groups of learners, especially focusing prior knowledge, have been considered important design elements.

Our life is surrounded by digital devices. Engineering education is one of the cornerstones in higher education for future generations and computational thinking (CT) is deemed as a core component in various engineering curricula. The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), is the largest technical university in the Netherlands and computing; computational concepts and activities have been integrated into curriculum for years at TU Delft. However, there is not a comprehensive investigation on integration of CT into Engineering Curriculum, this paper presents a case study of Master’s level engineering curricula investigating: 1) to what extend CT components are integrated; 2) in what way CT is interpreted and integrated in the curriculum; 3) what educational and assessment methods have been used. The results show that CT has been largely integrated into the investigated curriculum mostly with lectures being the educational method and programming assignments as a method for the assessment. Our analysis shows that understanding the context and patterns in problems and solutions was important in different courses and engineering disciplines, indicating possible directions for integration of CT into curriculum.

One major challenge the educational community is facing relates to how to effectively integrate computational thinking (CT) concepts and ideas into a particular school curriculum. Acquiring CT-skills by means of STEM offers rich opportunities within students ́ education which may lead to learning gains. Previous research has shown that, to maximize the appeal and potential of CT learning environments, a precondition must be set first. The materials used must invite problem-based, inquiry-based and self-discovery learning, must be used without creating misconceptions and, above all, must give students the opportunity to acquire knowledge that can be directly transferred to everyday practice in an accessible manner. All the above puts demands on teachers who carry out learning and teaching in these environments. The EU funded TACTIDE project has tried to incorporate relevant curricular components into a coherent task, implementing assignments and challenges across different subjects and curricula of three different European countries. Based on the analysis of each national curricula, common topics have been identified and sub-scenarios have been developed. These sub-scenarios have been conceived to promote the integration between the topics mediated by CT. To achieve this objective, a greenhouse scenario has been conceptualized and designed towards teaching CT, by the use of microcontrollers such as the BBC micro :b it and the Calliope Mini, as an overarching STEM-topic. Using available sub-scenarios, a Moodle-course for teachers was developed for daily school activities to which other subjects in the core curriculum were interconnected in order to integrate CT skills and abilities. Scalability across different school levels and heterogeneous groups of learners, especially focusing prior knowledge, have been considered important design elements.

This workshop is part of the ERASMUS+ project: RAPIDE: on Relevant Assessment and pedagogies for Inclusive Digital Education (https://rapide-project.eu) and is open to anyone who is interested in implementing or improving peer assessment in their courses. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to make an informed decision on a suitable form of Peer Assessment for their courses. Over the past few years, many of us have faced operating in a frequently changing teaching environment which has made evaluating and assessing students’ learning outcomes and more importantly giving students feedback on their learning much more complicated. One pedagogical tool that has been increasingly used is that of peer assessments where students give each other feedback and assess each other’s work. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to many different types of peer assessment that can be used in engineering education, such as peer reviewing (each other’s work), peer grading(continuous feedback on mastery), and peer evaluation (group work) whether face-to-face, hybrid or in a fully online environment and how to do so in an inclusive way thus maintaining the important safe place that education should be. Participants will then in small groups discuss what types of peer evaluations they use or want to use in their courses and brainstorm on ideas for implementation in their own specific case or for one of the general cases that the facilitators will have available. At the end of the workshop participants will present their main findings back to the whole group so that they may also learn from each other. We aim for participants to leave feeling inspired at the end of the workshop to implement or improve peer assessment in their own courses. The aggregated main findings and ideas contrived in the workshop on how to implement peer assessment will also be shared with a wider audience through the conference proceedings and the RAPIDE project website.

One major challenge the educational community is facing relates to how to effectively integrate computational thinking (CT) concepts and ideas into a particular school curriculum. Acquiring CT-skills by means of STEM offers rich opportunities within students ́ education which may lead to learning gains. Previous research has shown that, to maximize the appeal and potential of CT learning environments, a precondition must be set first. The materials used must invite problem-based, inquiry-based and self-discovery learning, must be used without creating misconceptions and, above all, must give students the opportunity to acquire knowledge that can be directly transferred to everyday practice in an accessible manner. All the above puts demands on teachers who carry out learning and teaching in these environments. The EU funded TACTIDE project has tried to incorporate relevant curricular components into a coherent task, implementing assignments and challenges across different subjects and curricula of three different European countries. Based on the analysis of each national curricula, common topics have been identified and sub-scenarios have been developed. These sub-scenarios have been conceived to promote the integration between the topics mediated by CT. To achieve this objective, a greenhouse scenario has been conceptualized and designed towards teaching CT, by the use of microcontrollers such as the BBC micro :b it and the Calliope Mini, as an overarching STEM-topic. Using available sub-scenarios, a Moodle-course for teachers was developed for daily school activities to which other subjects in the core curriculum were interconnected in order to integrate CT skills and abilities. Scalability across different school levels and heterogeneous groups of learners, especially focusing prior knowledge, have been considered important design elements.

To adequately prepare engineering students for their professional career, educational institutions offer projects in which students collaboratively solve engineering design problems. It is known from research these projects can lead to a variety of learning outcomes and student experiences. However, studies that provide insights in the influence of different features of an educational design are rare. In the current study we use Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as analytical framework to understand how different elements of an educational design affect students’ experience. Additionally, we use the notion of contradictions to identify opportunities for structural course improvement. Focus groups were conducted with 12 Master students in Aerospace Engineering, that participated in a collaborative engineering design course. During the course, students applied Systems Engineering (SE) and Concurrent Engineering (CE) and worked in the Collaborative Design Laboratory (CDL), which is a state-of-the-art facility that holds a variety of industry relevant tools. It was found that students valued the guidance of their coach and experts, co-located collaboration and the freedom to structure their own process. However, they perceived challenges with regard to adoption of tools in the CDL, sharing their progress with their supervisor, coordination of collaborative efforts and scheduling issues. An analysis using CHAT revealed what contradictions caused these challenges. Finally, recommendations are given on how course structure can be structurally improved.

One major challenge the educational community is facing relates to how to effectively integrate computational thinking (CT) concepts and ideas into a particular school curriculum. Acquiring CT-skills by means of STEM offers rich opportunities within students ́ education which may lead to learning gains. Previous research has shown that, to maximize the appeal and potential of CT learning environments, a precondition must be set first. The materials used must invite problem-based, inquiry-based and self-discovery learning, must be used without creating misconceptions and, above all, must give students the opportunity to acquire knowledge that can be directly transferred to everyday practice in an accessible manner. All the above puts demands on teachers who carry out learning and teaching in these environments. The EU funded TACTIDE project has tried to incorporate relevant curricular components into a coherent task, implementing assignments and challenges across different subjects and curricula of three different European countries. Based on the analysis of each national curricula, common topics have been identified and sub-scenarios have been developed. These sub-scenarios have been conceived to promote the integration between the topics mediated by CT. To achieve this objective, a greenhouse scenario has been conceptualized and designed towards teaching CT, by the use of microcontrollers such as the BBC micro :b it and the Calliope Mini, as an overarching STEM-topic. Using available sub-scenarios, a Moodle-course for teachers was developed for daily school activities to which other subjects in the core curriculum were interconnected in order to integrate CT skills and abilities. Scalability across different school levels and heterogeneous groups of learners, especially focusing prior knowledge, have been considered important design elements.

One major challenge the educational community is facing relates to how to effectively integrate computational thinking (CT) concepts and ideas into a particular school curriculum. Acquiring CT-skills by means of STEM offers rich opportunities within students ́ education which may lead to learning gains. Previous research has shown that, to maximize the appeal and potential of CT learning environments, a precondition must be set first. The materials used must invite problem-based, inquiry-based and self-discovery learning, must be used without creating misconceptions and, above all, must give students the opportunity to acquire knowledge that can be directly transferred to everyday practice in an accessible manner. All the above puts demands on teachers who carry out learning and teaching in these environments. The EU funded TACTIDE project has tried to incorporate relevant curricular components into a coherent task, implementing assignments and challenges across different subjects and curricula of three different European countries. Based on the analysis of each national curricula, common topics have been identified and sub-scenarios have been developed. These sub-scenarios have been conceived to promote the integration between the topics mediated by CT. To achieve this objective, a greenhouse scenario has been conceptualized and designed towards teaching CT, by the use of microcontrollers such as the BBC micro :b it and the Calliope Mini, as an overarching STEM-topic. Using available sub-scenarios, a Moodle-course for teachers was developed for daily school activities to which other subjects in the core curriculum were interconnected in order to integrate CT skills and abilities. Scalability across different school levels and heterogeneous groups of learners, especially focusing prior knowledge, have been considered important design elements.

Collaboration is an important 21st Century skill. Co-located (or face-to-face) collaboration (CC) analytics gained momentum with the advent of sensor technology. Most of these works have used the audio modality to detect the quality of CC. The CC quality can be detected from simple indicators of collaboration such as total speaking time or complex indicators like synchrony in the rise and fall of the average pitch. Most studies in the past focused on “how group members talk” (i.e., spectral, temporal features of audio like pitch) and not “what they talk”. The “what” of the conversations is more overt contrary to the “how” of the conversations. Very few studies studied “what” group members talk about, and these studies were lab based showing a representative overview of specific words as topic clusters instead of analysing the richness of the content of the conversations by understanding the linkage between these words. To overcome this, we made a starting step in this technical paper based on field trials to prototype a tool to move towards automatic collaboration analytics. We designed a technical setup to collect, process and visualize audio data automatically. The data collection took place while a board game was played among the university staff with pre-assigned roles to create awareness of the connection between learning analytics and learning design. We not only did a word-level analysis of the conversations, but also analysed the richness of these conversations by visualizing the strength of the linkage between these words and phrases interactively. In this visualization, we used a network graph to visualize turn taking exchange between different roles along with the word-level and phrase-level analysis. We also used centrality measures to understand the network graph further based on how much words have hold over the network of words and how influential are certain words. Finally, we found that this approach had certain limitations in terms of automation in

Background. Programming is a challenging and highly important topic for introducing learners to our digital world. Research has shown that motivation plays a key role in programming performance. Gamification using digital badges has the potential to influence motivation, provide social recognition and encourage learner participation. More research is recommended to evaluate its motivational impact in different contexts. Intervention. This research explores the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of introductory programming students within a higher education institution. The course is offered during the first year of the programme. We report the results of a baseline study without badges and four subsequent badge experiments of different designs over a four-year period. Methods. This quasi-experimental study followed a pre-test/post-test design to measure the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of university-level introductory programming students. Badges were designed and implemented. Feedback via focus groups and a post-badge survey was collected. Results. Findings are inconclusive as the quantitative results suggest that badges did not increase intrinsic motivation scores. Contrastingly, badge survey and qualitative data indicate that badges were received more positively on average. Discussion. We analyse and discuss the results within the context of motivation and the programming discipline, and discuss external factors that may impact the relationship between gamification and motivation. Conclusion. Further research is necessary to investigate whether gamification, through the use of digital badges, can foster positive intrinsic motivational results, particularly in the well-known challenging domain of introductory programming.

Background. Programming is a challenging and highly important topic for introducing learners to our digital world. Research has shown that motivation plays a key role in programming performance. Gamification using digital badges has the potential to influence motivation, provide social recognition and encourage learner participation. More research is recommended to evaluate its motivational impact in different contexts. Intervention. This research explores the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of introductory programming students within a higher education institution. The course is offered during the first year of the programme. We report the results of a baseline study without badges and four subsequent badge experiments of different designs over a four-year period. Methods. This quasi-experimental study followed a pre-test/post-test design to measure the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of university-level introductory programming students. Badges were designed and implemented. Feedback via focus groups and a post-badge survey was collected. Results. Findings are inconclusive as the quantitative results suggest that badges did not increase intrinsic motivation scores. Contrastingly, badge survey and qualitative data indicate that badges were received more positively on average. Discussion. We analyse and discuss the results within the context of motivation and the programming discipline, and discuss external factors that may impact the relationship between gamification and motivation. Conclusion. Further research is necessary to investigate whether gamification, through the use of digital badges, can foster positive intrinsic motivational results, particularly in the well-known challenging domain of introductory programming.

Educational practitioners have stressed the relevance of providing learners with a set of 21th century skills that will allow them to face current life challenges. Among others this includes communication and social skills such as public speaking, argumentation, negotiation, etc. Besides the acquisition of knowledge and techniques, these skills have the special characteristic that their performance is usually conducted under emotionally charged and stressful situations. Recent advances in technology have allowed the creation of digital applications to support learners with the development of techniques for this type of skills. However, supporting learners on the preparation of a mindset that allows them to perform well under emotionally charged circumstances is an area that technology enhanced learning has practically overlooked. To examine this gap, we developed the Booth, an application designed to get learners into a powerful and resourceful emotional state. In this article we present a two-step user study. Results of the first evaluation show that the use of the Booth induced a positive emotional state on users. Results from the second step suggest that using the Booth helps learners to emotionally prepare for public speaking.

Educational practitioners have stressed the relevance of providing learners with a set of 21th century skills that will allow them to face current life challenges. Among others this includes communication and social skills such as public speaking, argumentation, negotiation, etc. Besides the acquisition of knowledge and techniques, these skills have the special characteristic that their performance is usually conducted under emotionally charged and stressful situations. Recent advances in technology have allowed the creation of digital applications to support learners with the development of techniques for this type of skills. However, supporting learners on the preparation of a mindset that allows them to perform well under emotionally charged circumstances is an area that technology enhanced learning has practically overlooked. To examine this gap, we developed the Booth, an application designed to get learners into a powerful and resourceful emotional state. In this article we present a two-step user study. Results of the first evaluation show that the use of the Booth induced a positive emotional state on users. Results from the second step suggest that using the Booth helps learners to emotionally prepare for public speaking.

The book departs from the approach of related titles by focusing on describing and reflecting upon the notion of seamless learning with regard to salient characteristics of learner mobility and bridging of learning experiences across learning spaces. It is the first such work that is solely dedicated to research on and the practice of seamless learning, uniquely combining interpretations, visions, and past research on and practices in seamless learning from diversified perspectives. The book also strikes a good balance between theoretical and practical perspectives, going beyond a collection of reports on specific research projects. Instead of thick descriptions of research processes and findings, readers will find significant insights and food for thought intended to inspire further advances in the research on and practice of seamless learning. © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2015.

Las tecnologías ubicuas y el Internet de las Cosas han sido identificados en varios reportes como tendencias a asimilar en los próximos años. El aprendizaje ubicuo es beneficiario directo de la rápida incorporación de los dispositivos móviles en tareas diarias de aprendizaje. Los dispositivos móviles están equipados con diferentes herramientas que proveen de buen soporte al estudiante permanente en su educación formal, informal y/o profesional. Este artículo presenta la evolución de las tecnologías ubicuas y el Internet de las Cosas en la última década. Se describe un modelo de representación de ecologías de aprendizaje ubicuo combinando mundo físico y digital. Se describen tecnologías relevantes y casos de aplicabilidad enfocando en el estudiante permanente como sujeto activo y en los dispositivos móviles como herramienta de aprendizaje. Finalmente, se presentan los resultados de una encuesta realizada a los directores de 21 repositorios de contenidos acerca de sus intenciones de soporte a tecnologías móviles en los próximos años.

Las tecnologías ubicuas y el Internet de las Cosas han sido identificados en varios reportes como tendencias a asimilar en los próximos años. El aprendizaje ubicuo es beneficiario directo de la rápida incorporación de los dispositivos móviles en tareas diarias de aprendizaje. Los dispositivos móviles están equipados con diferentes herramientas que proveen de buen soporte al estudiante permanente en su educación formal, informal y/o profesional. Este artículo presenta la evolución de las tecnologías ubicuas y el Internet de las Cosas en la última década. Se describe un modelo de representación de ecologías de aprendizaje ubicuo combinando mundo físico y digital. Se describen tecnologías relevantes y casos de aplicabilidad enfocando en el estudiante permanente como sujeto activo y en los dispositivos móviles como herramienta de aprendizaje. Finalmente, se presentan los resultados de una encuesta realizada a los directores de 21 repositorios de contenidos acerca de sus intenciones de soporte a tecnologías móviles en los próximos años.

In this paper we describe an information system designed to simplify the interactions which occur frequently between students and lecturers within a Higher Education environment. The concept focuses on utilizing both objects in the physical world and online services to create new experiences to support flexible learning for educational settings. With the opportunities offered by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) / Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies, tags can be used to identify and perform interactions between users. The system allows for the timetabling of meetings, delivery of messages and course announcements between the students and lecturers. The objective is to eliminate the problems which are encountered when arranging appointments or convening with students. By placing the responsibility of booking appointments in the hands of students using their mobile devices; the system aims to provide an interactive and ubiquitous support technology for both student and faculty members.

In this paper we describe an information system designed to simplify the interactions which occur frequently between students and lecturers within a Higher Education environment. The concept focuses on utilizing both objects in the physical world and online services to create new experiences to support flexible learning for educational settings. With the opportunities offered by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) / Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies, tags can be used to identify and perform interactions between users. The system allows for the timetabling of meetings, delivery of messages and course announcements between the students and lecturers. The objective is to eliminate the problems which are encountered when arranging appointments or convening with students. By placing the responsibility of booking appointments in the hands of students using their mobile devices; the system aims to provide an interactive and ubiquitous support technology for both student and faculty members.

One of the most popular forms of learning is through reading and for years we have used hard copy documents as the main material to learn. With the advent of the Internet and the fast development of new technologies, new tools have been developed to assist the learning process. However, reading is still the main learning method that is an individual activity. In this paper we propose a highlighting tool that enables the reading and learning process to become a collaborative and shared activity. In other words, the highlighting tool supports the so-called active-reading, a well-known and efficient means of learning. The highlighting tool brings to the digital environment the same metaphor of the traditional highlight marker and puts it in a social context. It enables users to emphasize certain portions of digital learning objects. Furthermore, it provides students, tutors, course coordinators and educational institutions new possibilities in the teaching and learning process. In this work we expose the first quantitative and qualitative results regarding the use of the highlight tool by over 750 students through 8 weeks of courses. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33642-3_6.

The main goal of this document is to survey the existing approaches for the authoring and engineering of personalisation and adaptation in e-learning systems. This document enables the comparison of various methods and techniques, and facilitates their integration or reuse. It offers a cohesive reference for people dealing with areas which rely on adaptive solutions.

Social software is used widely in organizational knowledge management and professional learning. The PROLEARN network of excellence appreciates the trend of lowering the barriers between knowledge and learning management strategies for organizations and individuals. But, companies should not underestimate the needs for systematic support based on sound theories and technologies. We illustrate the requirements by examples and research issues for collaborative adaptive learning platforms for workplace learning in organizations, QC 20120120

Informal learning plays an important role in language learning and mobile device ownership fuels its growth, thanks to the availability of educational apps, massive scale services delivered by network operators, and emerging designs for situated learning in authentic communication contexts beyond the traditional classroom. The chapter shows how connections between formal and informal language learning may be made through use of mobile technologies and it explores the mutual influence of these spheres, with particular reference to the role of language. Language is the focus of learning but also the means by which learning happens, which gives it a unique mediating and facilitative role. The potential for conversational language to act as a new bridge between formal and informal settings is explored. Motivations for language learning are changing and they will have an influence over what types of learning appeal to new generations of language learners of all ages. Faced with an abundance of resources on the internet and on their mobile phones, learners will often look for more structured environments and some degree of guidance. The opportunity is there to create learning environments and designs that incorporate effective use of mobile technologies but that also consider how new social contexts influence the language that is being used and learnt. An example of this is described with reference to the MASELTOV project which is creating innovative context-aware smartphone services for migrants and provides a fertile ground for imagining the future of language learning.

The chapter examines seamless learning, where the aim is to enable a continuous flow of meaning-making despite changes in the physical and social context. One way to achieve this is by inducing a flow state, such that learners are so engaged in a mobile learning activity that they lose awareness of their surroundings. Mobile educational games may be one way to achieve such flow, but this is neither easy to achieve, nor necessarily effective for learning. Another approach is to connect learning across contexts such as classroom and home. This approach requires careful orchestration of the learning, to enable the learning in one setting to be integrated into another. Seamless learning despite context is a fundamental skill that integrates self-directed learning, teacher guidance and the support of a mobile technology toolkit.

Many modern web-based systems provide a ‘responsive’ design that allows material and services to be accessed on mobile and desktop devices, with the aim of providing ubiquitous access. Besides offering access to learning materials such as podcasts and videos across multiple locations, mobile, wearable and ubiquitous technologies have some additional affordances that may enable new forms of learning on MOOCs. We can divide these into two categories: firstly, context-sensitive features including delivery of content for a specific location, enabling a seamless continuity of learning across settings, and linking people in a location with others in a virtual representation of that place; secondly social learning opportunities to connect people as they move within and across locations, to enable crowd-sourced learning. In this paper we explore these aspects of mobile and accessible learning for MOOCs, drawing on examples from MOOC courses, mobile toolkits, and crowd-sourced learning sites.

The growing popularity of e-books, e-book readers and tablet devices is forcing a reappraisal of the various functions of ‘the book’ in education. Furthermore, e-books are becoming a more salient element in the ecology of mobile learning, as new devices make reading a more comfortable and sociable experience. We report on the results of an 18-month project (2010-12) undertaken as part of The Open University’s Building Mobile Learning Capacity initiative. The project introduced a group of Associate Lecturers to interactive e-books produced by the university and to the iPads® on which they could be accessed. The proliferation of increasingly interactive e-books and e-book collections calls for an examination of their evolving pedagogical purposes; an important aim of the project was therefore to enable this group to form ideas of how these resources could be incorporated in distance education and professional development of academic staff/faculty. The project used surveys, focus group meetings, online forum postings, blog posts and wikis to enable participants to record their experiences and ideas. One project output has been the identification of a spiral of six key use case areas for e-books. In particular, the categories ‘situational reading’, ‘collaborative/group learning’ and ‘e-book production’ inspired a collaboratively designed group activity for a face-to-face outdoor tutorial, which was trialled and is described in this paper. The experience has relevance for the design of blended learning as well as for mobile learning activities in many other settings.

This study starts from several inputs that the partners have collected from previous and current running research projects and a workshop organised at the STELLAR Alpine Rendevous 2010. In the study, several steps have been taken, firstly a literature review and analysis of existing systems; secondly, mobile learning experts have been involved in a concept mapping study to identify the main challenges that can be solved via mobile learning; and thirdly, an identification of educational patterns based on these examples has been done. Out of this study the partners aim to develop an educational framework for contextual learning as a unifying approach in the field. Therefore one of our central research questions is: how can we investigate, theorise, model and support contextual learning?

The idea of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) seems to polarise the educational sphere into supporters and opponents. Both groups relate their enthusiasm or criticism to underlying competences motivated by or needed for building up, running, and maintaining a PLE. Within the following article, results of a qualitative study with multiple cases will be presented to shed light onto which competence and which of its building blocks are involved in running a (mash-up) PLE. Data about the involved skills, abilities, habits, attitudes and knowledge will be presented in a raster of the five dimensions 'plan', 'reflect', 'monitor', 'act', and 'interact' against the three stages 'start', 'trigger', and 'outcome'. The findings indicate that there is a continuum ranging from the ones needed right ahead to the ones ultimately sought.

weSPOT is a new European initiative proposing a novel approach for personal and social inquiry-based learning in secondary and higher education. weSPOT aims at enabling students to create their mash-ups out of cloud based tools and services in order to perform scientific investigations. Students will also be able to share their inquiry accomplishments in social networks and receive feedback from the learning environment and their peers. This paper presents the research framework of the weSPOT project, as well as the initial inquiry-based learning scenarios that will be piloted by the project in real-life educational settings.

Scientific inquiry is at the core of the curricula of schools and universities across Europe. weSPOT is a new European initiative proposing a cloud-based approach for personal and social inquiry. weSPOT aims at enabling students to create their mashups out of cloud-based tools in order to perform scientific investigations. Students will also be able to share their inquiry accomplishments in social networks and receive feedback from the learning environment and their peers.

Many modern web-based systems provide a ‘responsive’ design that allows material and services to be accessed on mobile and desktop devices, with the aim of providing ubiquitous access. Besides offering access to learning materials such as podcasts and videos across multiple locations, mobile, wearable and ubiquitous technologies have some additional affordances that may enable new forms of learning on MOOCs. We can divide these into two categories: firstly, context-sensitive features including delivery of content for a specific location, enabling a seamless continuity of learning across settings, and linking people in a location with others in a virtual representation of that place; secondly social learning opportunities to connect people as they move within and across locations, to enable crowd-sourced learning. In this paper we explore these aspects of mobile and accessible learning for MOOCs, drawing on examples from MOOC courses, mobile toolkits, and crowd-sourced learning sites.

Informal learning plays an important role in language learning and mobile device ownership fuels its growth, thanks to the availability of educational apps, massive scale services delivered by network operators, and emerging designs for situated learning in authentic communication contexts beyond the traditional classroom. The chapter shows how connections between formal and informal language learning may be made through use of mobile technologies and it explores the mutual influence of these spheres, with particular reference to the role of language. Language is the focus of learning but also the means by which learning happens, which gives it a unique mediating and facilitative role. The potential for conversational language to act as a new bridge between formal and informal settings is explored. Motivations for language learning are changing and they will have an influence over what types of learning appeal to new generations of language learners of all ages. Faced with an abundance of resources on the internet and on their mobile phones, learners will often look for more structured environments and some degree of guidance. The opportunity is there to create learning environments and designs that incorporate effective use of mobile technologies but that also consider how new social contexts influence the language that is being used and learnt. An example of this is described with reference to the MASELTOV project which is creating innovative context-aware smartphone services for migrants and provides a fertile ground for imagining the future of language learning.

The chapter examines seamless learning, where the aim is to enable a continuous flow of meaning-making despite changes in the physical and social context. One way to achieve this is by inducing a flow state, such that learners are so engaged in a mobile learning activity that they lose awareness of their surroundings. Mobile educational games may be one way to achieve such flow, but this is neither easy to achieve, nor necessarily effective for learning. Another approach is to connect learning across contexts such as classroom and home. This approach requires careful orchestration of the learning, to enable the learning in one setting to be integrated into another. Seamless learning despite context is a fundamental skill that integrates self-directed learning, teacher guidance and the support of a mobile technology toolkit.

Scientific inquiry is at the core of the curricula of schools and universities across Europe. weSPOT is a new European initiative proposing a cloud-based approach for personal and social inquiry. weSPOT aims at enabling students to create their mashups out of cloud-based tools in order to perform scientific investigations. Students will also be able to share their inquiry accomplishments in social networks and receive feedback from the learning environment and their peers.

weSPOT is a new European initiative proposing a novel approach for personal and social inquiry-based learning in secondary and higher education. weSPOT aims at enabling students to create their mash-ups out of cloud based tools and services in order to perform scientific investigations. Students will also be able to share their inquiry accomplishments in social networks and receive feedback from the learning environment and their peers. This paper presents the research framework of the weSPOT project, as well as the initial inquiry-based learning scenarios that will be piloted by the project in real-life educational settings.

The growing popularity of e-books, e-book readers and tablet devices is forcing a reappraisal of the various functions of ‘the book’ in education. Furthermore, e-books are becoming a more salient element in the ecology of mobile learning, as new devices make reading a more comfortable and sociable experience. We report on the results of an 18-month project (2010-12) undertaken as part of The Open University’s Building Mobile Learning Capacity initiative. The project introduced a group of Associate Lecturers to interactive e-books produced by the university and to the iPads® on which they could be accessed. The proliferation of increasingly interactive e-books and e-book collections calls for an examination of their evolving pedagogical purposes; an important aim of the project was therefore to enable this group to form ideas of how these resources could be incorporated in distance education and professional development of academic staff/faculty. The project used surveys, focus group meetings, online forum postings, blog posts and wikis to enable participants to record their experiences and ideas. One project output has been the identification of a spiral of six key use case areas for e-books. In particular, the categories ‘situational reading’, ‘collaborative/group learning’ and ‘e-book production’ inspired a collaboratively designed group activity for a face-to-face outdoor tutorial, which was trialled and is described in this paper. The experience has relevance for the design of blended learning as well as for mobile learning activities in many other settings.

This study starts from several inputs that the partners have collected from previous and current running research projects and a workshop organised at the STELLAR Alpine Rendevous 2010. In the study, several steps have been taken, firstly a literature review and analysis of existing systems; secondly, mobile learning experts have been involved in a concept mapping study to identify the main challenges that can be solved via mobile learning; and thirdly, an identification of educational patterns based on these examples has been done. Out of this study the partners aim to develop an educational framework for contextual learning as a unifying approach in the field. Therefore one of our central research questions is: how can we investigate, theorise, model and support contextual learning?

The idea of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) seems to polarise the educational sphere into supporters and opponents. Both groups relate their enthusiasm or criticism to underlying competences motivated by or needed for building up, running, and maintaining a PLE. Within the following article, results of a qualitative study with multiple cases will be presented to shed light onto which competence and which of its building blocks are involved in running a (mash-up) PLE. Data about the involved skills, abilities, habits, attitudes and knowledge will be presented in a raster of the five dimensions 'plan', 'reflect', 'monitor', 'act', and 'interact' against the three stages 'start', 'trigger', and 'outcome'. The findings indicate that there is a continuum ranging from the ones needed right ahead to the ones ultimately sought.