Short report from the ISRII scientific meeting 2017

Fredrik Enoksson

, 2017-11-20

This meeting is organized by the the International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII) and was this time held at the Hilton hotel in Berlin. According to their webpage, this society “promotes the scientific study of information and communication technologies targeting behavioral, psychosocial, health and mental health outcomes“. Internet intervention commonly include elements that educates the user or aims to change their behavior. It is therefore not too different from what we would call Technology Enhanced Learning.

I (Fredrik) presented a poster with early results on two studies exploring the two constructs usefulness and ease of use of an platform used for ICBT (Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavior Therapy). These studies are a part of BIP, a project that has its home at the Karolinska Institute and SSL (Stockholm County Council) focusing on the development of ICBT for children and adolescent. The BIP-team also held their own symposium at the conference on “Making ICBT an evidence-based treatment for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and OCD: preparing for implementation in regular care”

Image of Berlin Hilton, the conference venue — The conference venue

One presentation I found particularly interested was called “Therapeutic alliance to the fully automated ‘counsellor’ Endre“. Marianne T. S. Holter (Oslo University, Norway) presented a grounded theory study carried out with a fully automated program for quitting smoking. The study meant to explore what therapeutic alliance would mean when the counsellor is a computer program. All study-participants were aware of the fact that they were “conversating” with a computer program. By being aware of that they felt that they did not need to consider expectations or feelings of a human counsellor, since the program would not “judge” them. So, it seems from the result presented that some kind of alliance could be formed with the users and the computer program. Looking forward to read the published paper and to see similar studies in the future.

The second presentation that caught my interest a bit more than the rest was “Towards Improved Application of Gamification for Internet Interventions“. Mark Floryan (University of Virginia, USA) presented a model for gamification of Internet Intervention. Mark pointed out why many attempts to gamify failed. The simple reason was that only one (or a few) gamification elements were used or used in the wrong way or combination. Unfortunately my memory fails me to remember the details. Though, the message I took home from this presentation was that in order to successfully implement and evaluate the impact of gamification in Internet Intervention it needs to be done more systematical way. And, the model that Mark presented would guide developers on how to do that, and would also make it easier to compare studies and designs that included gamification.

One of my many reflections from the meeting was that many of the symposiums brought up studies that had included, co-design and different approaches to participatory design and/or user-centered design. Thus, the user perspective seems to be an aspect considered more and more important in this community.

Kilowh.at – Increasing Energy Awareness Using an Interactive Energy Comparison Tool

Björn Hedin

, 2017-11-20

Reducing the use of energy is important for several reasons, such as saving money and reducing impact on the climate. However, the awareness among non-experts of how much energy is required by different activities is generally low, which can lead to wrong prioritizations. In this study, we have developed an interactive tool to increase “energy awareness”. A group of 58 students first did a test to benchmark their current energy awareness, then tried the tool for 10 min, and then did the same test immediately after trying the prototype and one week after trying the prototype. In addition, they answered questions regarding which, if any, of the energy requirement of different activities surprised them, any thoughts about their own energy use aroused after using the prototype and what they thought about using the tool compared to more conventional methods of learning. The results showed a significant learning effect in energy awareness with a very strong effect size of 1.689, that they were most surprised by the energy required to produce a hamburger, 39 of 58 explicitly said they intended to change one or more aspects in order to improve their energy use, where 24 actions involved changing habits and 18 actions was of a one-time investment character. The attitude towards using such a tool instead of more conventional learning was very good and the words most frequently used to describe the tool was good, simple and easy to use, fun, and interesting, but five users also said they were bored after a while. In total the results indicate that using an interactive tool like this even for a limited time is a good way to in an efficient and fun way increase energy awareness.

The paper is available at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-55134-0_14

Mobile collaborative language learning: State of the art

Olga Viberg

, 2017-11-13

This paper presents a review of mobile collaborative language learning studies published in 2012–16 with the aim to improve understanding of how mobile technologies have been used to support collaborative learning among second and foreign language students. We identify affordances, general pedagogical approaches, second- and foreign-language pedagogical approaches, second language acquisition (SLA) principles and affective designs. The results indicate that affordances such as flexible use, continuity of use, timely feedback, personalisation, socialisation, self-evaluation, active participation, peer coaching, sources of inspiration outdoors and cultural authenticity have been emphasised. These affordances were found to be particularly suited to promote social constructivism, which is often sustained by game-based, task based and seamless learning. In terms of second and foreign language pedagogical approaches, the combination of individualised and collaborative learning prevails, along with task based, situated and communicative language learning, and raising orthographic awareness. Among SLA principles, negotiation of meaning and opportunities for feedback are highlighted. Affective aspects include increases in motivation, engagement and enjoyment, mutual encouragement, reduction in nervousness and embarrassment, and a few negative reports of risk of distraction, safety concerns, feelings of uncertainty and technical problems. The reviewed studies present a convincing case for the benefits of collaboration in mobile language learning.

Kukulska-Hulme, A., & Viberg, O.(2017). Mobile collaborative language learning: State of the art. British Journal of Educational Technology, DOI: 10.1111/bjet.12580

Students’ Experience and Use of Assessment

Emma Riese

, 2017-11-06

In this study, a phenomenographic research approached is used to categorize and capture students’ experience of assessment in an online introductory programming course. The results showed five different levels in which the assessment was experienced, ordered in a hierarchy, where a lower level is part of the higher ones. The two lower levels, 1. Grading is important to the teacher and 2. Grading is important to the student, had a summative focus (focus on the grade), while the three higher levels, 3. Assessment as guidance, 4. Assessment as an opportunity to learn and 5. Assessment as a way to communicate had a formative focus. The formative levels are viewed as more desirable since the assessment is of more use for the students and the value of the assessment goes beyond the grade. The paper was presented at the 2017 International Conference on Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering in Hong Kong and is available in the proceedings at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8064428/?reload=true.

The five assessment categories, organized in their hierarchy. — How the defined categories are related.

På svenska: I denna studie används en fenomenografisk forskningsansats för att kategorisera och fånga elevernas upplevelser av bedömningsstuationerna i en online introduktionskurs i programmering. Resultaten visade fem olika nivåer som bedömningen upplevdes på, ordnade i en hierarki, där en lägre nivå är en del av de högre. De två lägre nivåerna, 1. Betygsättningen är viktigt för läraren och 2. Betygsättningen är viktigt för studenten, hade ett summativt fokus (fokus på betyget), medan de tre högre nivåerna, 3. Bedömning som vägledning, 4. Bedömning som en möjlighet att lära sig och 5. Bedömning som ett sätt att kommunicera hade ett formativt fokus. De formativa nivåerna ses som mer önskvärda eftersom bedömningen då är mer användbar för studenterna och värdet av bedömningen går utöver betyget. Artikeln presenterades i Hongkong på 2017 International Conference on Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering och finns tillgängligt på http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8064428/?reload=true.

Towards a Reference Architecture for Smart and Personal Learning Environments

Erik Isaksson

, 2017-11-06

At the previous International Conference on Smart Learning Environments, I presented my paper Towards a Reference Architecture for Smart and Personal Learning Environments.

Supporting a learner to perform correct evaluation and execution during the experience of a simulated work task using the ‘ARgh!’ tool. (Image courtesy of Jaakko Karjalainen and Kaj Helin of VTT, Finland.)

Abstract: Personal learning environments (PLEs) evolved as a response to the limitations on self-regulated learning posed by institutional control of learning environments, such as Learning Management Systems. Smart learning environments (SLEs) have more recently come to refer to various technological enhancements of learning environments. However, there is a tension between ‘personal’ and ‘smart’, which this paper investigates through the experiences of the TELL ME project. The project focused on the learning of blue-collar workers in Europe’s manufacturing sector. The resulting aim was to support the awareness of ‘intentions’ and ‘realizations’ and the reciprocities between these across five phases, collectively referred to as MEMO-E: mix, enquire, match, optimize, and experience. Perspectives of the project on the themes, interactions, and philosophy of SLEs and PLEs are explained, a framework for intentions and realizations is introduced, and the characteristics of an evolvable reference architecture for smart and personal learning environments are presented.

The paper was coauthored with Ambjörn Naeve (co-supervisor in my PhD studies and now retired from KTH), Paul Lefrère of CCA Research, UK, and Fridolin Wild of Oxford Brookes University, also in the UK, in the context of the TELL ME project (Technology Enhanced Learning Livinglab for Manufacturing Environments).

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About KTH

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Short report from the ISRII scientific meeting 2017

Kilowh.at – Increasing Energy Awareness Using an Interactive Energy Comparison Tool

Mobile collaborative language learning: State of the art

Students’ Experience and Use of Assessment

Towards a Reference Architecture for Smart and Personal Learning Environments