design
M.I.T. Introduction to Design
This M.I.T. course on design is available for free through the web platform OER Commons, and provides an excellent resource for guiding the creative design process following the scientific method and peer review. Students learn to complete projects according to schedule and within a specific budget, as they create, design, build, and test their product ideas.
Designing and Developing Mobile Learning Applications in International Student Teams
This paper reports on an international collaboration in which students from different universities designed and developed mobile learning applications, working together in interdisciplinary teams using social and mobile media. We describe the concept, process and outcomes of this collaboration including the challenges of designing and developing mobile learning applications in virtual teams.
Workshop on Collaborative learning as design activity
The general themes are: interfaces supporting learning and empirical studies of active learners, and the specific theme is Wiki-inspired collaborative learning systems that combine the best ideas of visual models, end-user modifiable interfaces and collaborative inquiry environments.
Interactive learning environments invite a broad spectrum of participation. On one end of are interactive models of complex phenomena. For example in science learning, simulations of natural and artificial (mechanical, electrical, etc.) phenomena can be an effective way to represent complex relationships underlying a scientific law. On the other end, social learning environments stimulate discussion of ideas and clarification of issues by a process of collaborative inquiry, often guided by more knowledgeable people (e.g. teachers, mentors, and parents). Whereas individual learning refers to the difference between what a learner can perform independently compared to what he or she previously could perform only by guidance (“knowledge in the head”), social learning refers to what a group of learners can produce together as well as the process leading up to it (“knowledge in the world”).
Social media have enabled interactive learning environments to more fully reach the “social end” of the spectrum, whereas advances in user interface and interaction techniques for ubiquitous computing and mobile devices have improved access to and manipulation of models of scientific phenomena. It is when users become content producers and not merely consumers of information and the power and control are shifted from designated experts to a broader network of competent practitioners that the learning potential of social media will be fully realized. Thus, we feel that by combining interactive models with social sharing (or applying wiki principles to interactive learning environments) may prove invaluable in designing collaborative learning systems. In other words we aim for multiple perspectives on collaborative learning as a design activity.
Designs for Learning
The journal is at the crossroad of theoretical development and empirical examples related to learning resources, transformation processes, learning environments and digital resources. The subject areas covered include learning designs and resources, multimodal texts, didactic science and pedagogy.
Aalto University presented by CNBC Europe
Study on Knowledge Maturing in Europe
The MATURE Integrating Project is based on the concept of knowledge maturing (KM): goal-oriented learning on a collective level. The project investigates how KM takes place within and across organisations, what barriers are encountered and how socio-technical solutions overcome those barriers.
ARPLE11 - Awareness and Reflection in Personal Learning Environments
The workshop aims to attract participants from educational science, psychology, social science, computer science, and design to challenge the understanding of the research fields of awareness and reflection in Personal Learning Environments. We also aim to attract developers from academia and economy that implement personalizable learning environments. The workshop might attract researchers from the projects ROLE, MATURE, MIRROR, ImREAL, LTfLLL, STELLAR.
Atelier-D - Achieving Transformation, Enhanced Learning and Innovation through Educational Resources in Design
The project will look at the development of a virtual design studio space to support student learning throughout the design programme
Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development
Due to the development of social media and online environments, the content and form of educational systems change. At the same time, demands on the individual professional to ensure that he or she is continually updated and employable are on the rise. In this article, we develop an alternative to established education and forms of training in the shape of a supportive system.
Even today, new forms of social media and online environments constitute supportive systems for individual learning, but could be developed using institutional input. System development, whereby individuals’ qualifications can be developed qualitatively and in a sustainable manner, can guide and make things easier for people who are consciously aspiring to enhance their competence and proficiency through informal ways of working in online environments. In the article, we show how such an online system differs from previous educational forms, putting forward an outline of a supportive system. The purpose of the article is to outline the fundamental features of an online system that offers a continuous and supportive process for developing occupational groups’ qualifications, whereby qualifications stand for a combination of knowledge, proficiency and competence.
The interwoven individual development processes taking place in an online environment have a special feature, which constitutes an essential prerequisite for developing a supportive system. We highlight four differences between formal educational systems and supportive systems which have to be taken into account in order to design a system rooted in online environments and social media. These differences are: 1) from pre-produced to user-generated content, 2) from individual subject motives to joint qualification interests, 3) from limited duration to continuous and sustainable activity, 4) from subject and thematic areas to a broad perspective on the participants’ skills.
On the basis of the four prerequisites, some fundamental features of a supportive system are outlined. The system is based on existing forms of online environment but which are further developed and supported methodically and systematically. A supportive system can consist of a combination of individual PLEs (personal learning environments), which are coordinated via shared online learning communities (OLC) or a PLN (personal learning network). A developed methodology based on circular ways of working supports processes in the various media and works towards progressing the individual’s development.