Desenvolvimento de um ambiente virtual de aprendizagem em regime de b-learning num curso de educação e formação de operadores de informática

Trabalho de projeto de mestrado, Educação (Área de Especialização em Educação e Tecnologias Digitais), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2014

Virtual Infants in Zoo Indigo’s Under the Covers This is Now, This is Live…

The article This is Live this is now (2011), contextualises the performance Under the Covers (2009) by Zoo Indigo. The journal article is written by Ildiko Rippel on behalf of Zoo Indigo theatre company (Rosie Garton and Ildiko Rippel) and it is published in the online Body, Space and Technology Journal:

A rentabilização pedagógica de um grupo fechado no Facebook na disciplina de inglês

Trabalho de projeto de mestrado, Educação (Área de Especialização em Educação e Tecnologias Digitais), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2014

Protecting children from sex offenders online: when strangers become 'virtual friends'

This article describes findings from research funded by the Metropolitan Police and Crimestoppers which aimed to explore children's online experiences. A non-random, stratified sample of 200 London school children aged 10- 13 participated in focus groups. Preliminary findings are also presented from unpublished ongoing PhD research, which seeks to explore sex offender behaviour online and the policing of the internet (Martellozzo, 2005 ongoing). The findings are discussed in the context of sex offender's use of the internet. This research indicates that children do have some basic knowledge about 'stranger danger' but are not necessarily applying these lessons to cyberspace. The children in this study had sufficient awareness to not give personal details to strangers on the internet, and would not arrange to meet them. However, they made a distinction between 'strangers' and 'virtual friends' and this is an important point. Preliminary findings also highlight the difficulty of policing the internet and serve to illustrate the manner in which the Sexual Offences Act 2003 is applied to internet sexual offending in practice.

O quadro interativo como mediador do desenvolvimento da comunicação matemática no 1º ciclo do ensino básico

Trabalho de projeto de mestrado, Educação (Educação e Tecnologias Digitais), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2015

Beyond Robotic Wastelands of Time: Abandoned Pedagogical Agents and New Pedalled Pedagogies

Chatbots, known as pedagogical agents in educational settings, have a long history of use, beginning with Alan Turing’s work. Since then online chatbots have become embedded into the fabric of technology. Yet understandings of these technologies are inchoate and often untheorised. Integration of chatbots into educational settings over the past five years suggests an increase in interest in the ways in which chatbots might be adopted and adapted for teaching and learning. This article draws on historical literature and theories that to date have largely been ignored in order to (re)contextualise two studies that used responsive evaluation to examine the use of pedagogical agents in education. Findings suggest that emotional interactions with pedagogical agents are intrinsic to a user’s sense of trust, and that truthfulness, personalisation and emotional engagement are vital when using pedagogical agents to enhance online learning. Such findings need to be considered in the light of ways in which notions of learning are being redefined in the academy and the extent to which new literacies and new technologies are being pedalled as pedagogies in ways that undermine what higher education is, is for, and what learning means.

A atividade artística como vetor de inclusão : uma investigação-ação no âmbito das necessidades educativas específicas

Tese de doutoramento, Belas-Artes (Educação Artística), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Belas-Artes, 2015

Blog on virtual worlds for children

A series of blog posts giving ideas on virtual worlds for children and emerging industry activity and practices.

Networked learning ten years on: the rise of the virtual graduate school

The aim of this paper is to reflect on how conceptions of networked learning have changed, particularly in relation to educational practices and uses of technology, that can nurture new ideas of networked learning to sustain multiple and diverse communities of practice in institutional settings. Our work is framed using two theoretical frameworks: Giddens's (1984) structuration theory and Callon & Latour's (1981) Actor Network Theory as critiqued by Fox (2005) in relation to networked learning. We use these frameworks to analyse and critique ideas of networked learning embodied in both cases. We investigate three questions: (a) the role of individual agency in the development of networked learning; (b) the impact of technological developments on approaches to supporting students within institutional infrastructures; and (c) designing networked learning to incorporate Web 2.0 practices that sustain multiple communities and foster engagement with knowledge in new ways. We use an interpretivist approach by drawing on experiential knowledge of the Masters programme in Networked Collaborative Learning and the decision making process of designing the virtual graduate schools. At this early stage, we have limited empirical data related to the student experience of networked learning in current and earlier projects. Our findings indicate that the use of two different theoretical frameworks provided an essential tool in illuminating, situating and informing the process of designing networked learning that involves supporting multiple and diverse communities of practice in institutional settings. These theoretical frameworks have also helped us to analyze our existing projects as case studies and to problematize and begin to understand the challenges we face in facilitating the participation of research students in networked learning communities of practice and the barriers to that participation. We have also found that this process of theorizing has given us a way of reconceptualizing communities of practice within research settings that have the potential to lead to new ideas of networked learning.

Four years on: a longitudinal study assessing the impact of a virtual community of practice

This paper explores the long term impact of a virtual learning community (VLC) from the perspective of community members and their employing organization. It argues that membership potentially has a significant impact on individual identities and careers, and that managed communities provide an important means for strategic workforce development. The study evaluates the impact of membership of a VLC over a four year period within the context of the theoretical frameworks of communities of practice and identity theory. The concept of boundary crossing is also explored in relation to VLCs. The paper considers the benefits to host organisations in supporting structured VLCs as a means of enabling workforce development and supporting change and innovation.

High level student autonomy in a virtual learning environment

This case study explores the experiences of a group of students (the authors) working as a tutor-less group (TLG) that developed during a web-based MEd programme. We describe the development and life cycle of the TLG, the experiences of the students and the effects on those who continued to work in a tutored environment. Members of the TLG demonstrated high levels of autonomy and group work. The relationship between the TLG and communities of practice is considered.