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L4ALL: a repository to foster mobile learning design
Alessandro Soriani, Luca Ferrari
Department of Education, University of Bologna, Italy
Learning for All (www.learningforall.it) aims at investigating how the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be adopted in Italian schools in order to create opportunities and stress new problems.
Our findings
• The elements measured (observations, interviews, focus groups, questionnaires) are almost never made available to "outsiders", but are merely summarized in general evaluations.
• Often this data is very qualitative and emphasizes above all the “customer satisfaction” (of teachers and students) or the quality of what is produced (various products: websites, multimedia products, on-line news sheets, etc.); details are however not available on how the educational experience was effectively implemented.
• Excessive emphasis on “best practices”, which are often bound to exceptional circumstances, which are therefore not easily replicated in other school situations.
• Self-referentiality of the initiatives (national/regional/local programmes/experiments, etc.): poor sharing of experiences, duplication of efforts, lack of vision "from the outside" of the activities.
• Insufficient methodology for measuring the "educational benefits" (often generic and imprecise) and specific factors (organisational, pedagogical, activity management, methods of using the technologies) which these benefits have generated.
Research method
Design Vs. Improvisation?
Could L4ALL be an effective tool for teachers and researchers who want to improve their understanding of an experience during its whole life cycle (from design to implementation)???
PortalThe “L4ALL” portal (http://hoc.elet.polimi.it/l4all/) is the operational tool which allows users to effectively and efficiently share the educational experiences collected.
A "state of the art" exploration technique offers a range of activities: targeted research, exploration of the impact of specific factors, correlation between different factors, comparison of importance of different factors, etc. The advanced explorative approach of the portal combines elements that can be traced back to various computer tools (search engines, data mining, data visualization, etc.) to create a unique and effective set that cannot be found in any tools available on the market or other research prototypes.
L4ALL Portal
L4ALL PORTAL
TOP-DOWN APPROACH BOTTOM-UP APPROACH
Bottom-up
- Run your experience
- Upload and share your experience
- An experience, if it’s remarkable, could become a FORMAT
EDUCATIONAL FORMATA FORMAT is a formalization (with a certain level of abstraction) of specific expericiences that could inspire or be used as a “starting kit” for the teacher.
WHAT’S INSIDE A FORMAT?Class SettingTechnologies
WorkflowAssessment strategies
Example: “Explore!”Explore implements the game-excursion teaching method
and is structured in a way similar to a treasure hunt; it is designed for teams of 3-5 students who’ll explore the
environment seeking places of historical importance.
Explore!
Three main phases are provided: – INTRODUCTION: the game is explained to
the class– GAME PHASE: the players try to accomplish
all the missions (usually identify some historical spots) while they explore the enviroment with the support of their cellular telephones.
– DEBRIEFING PHASE: reflection on the recent experience, using an application implemented on a notebook.
Top Down
The top-down use is the real
“killer application” of this project.
WHY?
- Over 150 experiences (and over…)
- Research engine that foster serendipity
SERENDIPITY
L4ALL stimulates the creativity of teachers by providing insights and ideas to create their own learning activities.
“Serendipity is looking in a haystack for a needle and discovering a farmer's daughter.” (Julius Comroe Jr., 1976)
What a teacher can do?
– Simply replicate experience or formats– Get ideas for their mobile learning
experiences– Think over the learning methodologies,
activities, educational benefits, pedagogical settings, strategies to overcome problems and to find solutions
– Create new mobile learning experiences– Share them in the portal
Searching in L4ALL for activities can help teachers to have more ideas (raising their awareness and increasing digital skills) to implement aspects of the projects they have in mind in order to design new and more original educational experiences.
Creativity in actionL4A
ll P
ortal
Involving pupils in the Projects
www.learningforall.it
Contacts:
