LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF A MASTER DEGREE IN ANIMATION AND ILLUSTRATION

This paper aims to describe the processes of teaching illustration and animation, together, in the context of a masters degree program. In Portugal, until very recently, illustration and animation higher education courses, were very scarce and only provided by a few private universities, which offered separated programs - either illustration or animation. The MA in Illustration and Animation (MIA) based in the Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e Ave in Portugal, dared to join these two creative areas in a common learning model and is already starting it’s third edition with encouraging results and will be supported by the first international conference on illustration and animation (CONFIA). This masters program integrates several approaches and techniques (in illustration and animation) and integrates and encourages creative writing and critique writing. This paper describes the iterative process of construction, and implementation of the program as well as the results obtained on the initial years of existence in terms of pedagogic and learning conclusions. In summary, we aim to compare pedagogic models of animation or illustration teaching in higher education opposed to a more contemporary and multidisciplinary model approach that integrates the two - on an earlier stage - and allows them to be developed separately – on the second part of the program. This is based on the differences and specificities of animation (from classic techniques to 3D) and illustration (drawing the illustration) and the intersection area of these two subjects within the program structure focused on the students learning and competencies acquired to use in professional or authorial projects.

Reasserting curriculum design through virtual learning environments : The case of MAPE

II European Conference on Curriculum Studies. "Curriculum studies: Policies, perspectives and practices”. Porto, FPCEUP, October 16th - 17th.

Remote and mobile experimentation: pushing the boundaries of an ubiquitous learning place

Concepts like E-learning and M-learning are changing the traditional learning place. No longer restricted to well-defined physical places, education on Automation and other Engineering areas is entering the so-called ubiquitous learning place, where even the more practical knowledge (acquired at lab classes) is now moving into, due to emergent concepts such as Remote Experimentation or Mobile Experimentation. While Remote Experimentation is traditionally regarded as the remote access to real-world experiments through a simple web browser running on a PC connected to the Internet, Mobile Experimentation may be seen as the access to those same (or others) experiments, through mobile devices, used in M-learning contexts. These two distinct client types (PCs versus mobile devices) pose specific requirements for the remote lab infrastructure, namely the ability to tune the experiment interface according to the characteristics (e.g. display size) of the accessing device. This paper addresses those requirements, namely by proposing a new architecture for the remote lab infrastructure able to accommodate both Remote and Mobile Experimentation scenarios.

Personal learning environments: integration of Web 2.0 applications and content management systems

This paper presents an ongoing project that implements a platform for creating personal learning environments controlled by students, integrating Web 2.0 applications and content management systems, enabling the safe use of content created in Web 2.0 applications, allowing its publication in the infrastructure controlled by the HEI. Using this platform, students can develop their personal learning environment (PLE) integrated with the Learning Management System (LMS) of the HEI, enabling the management of their learning and, simultaneously, creating their e-portfolio with digital content developed for Course Units (CU). All this can be maintained after the student completes his academic studies, since the platform will remain accessible to students even after they leave the HEI and lose access to its infrastructure. The platform will enable the safe use of content created in Web 2.0 applications, allowing its protected publication in the infrastructure controlled by HEI, thus contributing to the adaptation of the L&T paradigm to the Bologna process.

Personal Learning Environments – Um Ecossistema de Aprendizagem em e-Learning

Esta investigação tem como tema de estudo os ambientes pessoais de aprendizagem que se podem desenvolver em e-learning. Estes ambientes com características singulares, face ao atual estado de desenvolvimento tecnológico e social, têm sido designados na doutrina científica pela expressão anglo-saxónica Personal Learning Environments, da qual derivam os acrónimos PLE ou PLEs. Este estudo tem, como objetivo, compreender o papel dos PLEs na aprendizagem dos alunos da parte letiva do Mestrado em Gestão de Sistemas de e-Learning, da Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, nos biénios que decorreram de 2010-2011 a 2012-2013. Estes alunos, ao longo da sua aprendizagem, utilizaram várias ferramentas e/ou serviços associados com as TIC e Web 2.0. Esta utilização permitiu aos alunos criarem um ecossistema de aprendizagem próprio. A metodologia de investigação utilizada teve em consideração sobretudo aspetos qualitativos. A estratégia utilizada para a recolha de informações foi o inquérito por questionário. As informações recolhidas foram sujeitas a tratamento estatístico descritivo, e posterior triangulação dos resultados de algumas das variáveis.Dos resultados obtidos, é possível concluir que os alunos do Mestrado criaram os seus próprios PLEs e que estes facilitaram as suas aprendizagens. Que a sua utilização conferiu vantagens aos alunos. Que os PLEs foram fundamentais para poderem desenvolver atividades colaborativas, e que criaram um ecossistema próprio, uma rede de troca de conhecimentos.

Evaluating ubiquitous computing environments using 3D simulation

Human activity is very dynamic and subtle, and most physical environments are also highly dynamic and support a vast range of social practices that do not map directly into any immediate ubiquitous computing functionally. Identifying what is valuable to people is very hard and obviously leads to great uncertainty regarding the type of support needed and the type of resources needed to create such support. We have addressed the issues of system development through the adoption of a Crowdsourced software development model [13]. We have designed and developed Anywhere places, an open and flexible system support infrastructure for Ubiquitous Computing that is based on a balanced combination between global services and applications and situated devices. Evaluation, however, is still an open problem. The characteristics of ubiquitous computing environments make their evaluation very complex: there are no globally accepted metrics and it is very difficult to evaluate large-scale and long-term environments in real contexts. In this paper, we describe a first proposal of an hybrid 3D simulated prototype of Anywhere places that combines simulated and real components to generate a mixed reality which can be used to assess the envisaged ubiquitous computing environments [17].

Immersiveness of ubiquitous computing environments prototypes: A case study

The development of ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) environments raises several challenges in terms of their evaluation. Ubicomp virtual reality prototyping tools enable users to experience the system to be developed and are of great help to face those challenges, as they support developers in assessing the consequences of a design decision in the early phases of development. Given the situated nature of ubicomp environments, a particular issue to consider is the level of realism provided by the prototypes. This work presents a case study where two ubicomp prototypes, featuring different levels of immersion (desktop-based versus CAVE-based), were developed and compared. The goal was to determine the cost/benefits relation of both solutions, which provided better user experience results, and whether or not simpler solutions provide the same user experience results as more elaborate one.

A methodological approach to identify teacher's ICT competencies in online learning environments in Higher Education

Aquest article pretén descriure el procés metodològic d'identificació i mesurament de les competències TIC dels professors i com a formadors en les TIC en un entorn d'aprenentatge en línia en l'Educació Superior portat a terme en el marc del Projecte Europeu Elene-TLC.La revisió de la recerca en les competències en línia del professor demostra que, en primer lloc, el mètode més utilitzat per a identificar aquestes competències és el focus group. En segon lloc, la tècnica Delphi és la tècnica més utilitzada per reunir el consens d'experts sobre quines són les competències principals per al professor en línia entre els que s'indiquen.La proposta metodològica descrita en aquest document consisteix en la creació de 7 grups de discussió en línia, l'objectiu dels quals era identificar les competències formatives dels professors en línia i les dels professos en línia. La llista de competències obtingudes posteriorment es va oferir als experts europeus que participaven en l'aplicació de la tècnica Delphi. A aquests experts se'ls va demanar que ordenessin les competències d'acord amb el seu grau d'importància.Els resultats mostren que els grups de discussió en línia i el mètode Delphi són les metodologies apropiades per a identificar les competències TIC dels professors universitaris en els entorns d'aprenentatge en línia.

CRM and higher education : developing a monitoring system to improve relationships in e-learning environments

Peer-reviewed

Broadening the CRM domain of application to higher educational (e-learning) environments

In this paper, we reflect about the broadening of the field of application of CRM from the business domain to a wider context of relationships in which the inclusion of non-profit making organizations seems natural. In particular, we focus on analyzing the suitability of adopting CRM processes by universities and higher educational institutions dedicated to e-learning. This is an issue that, in our opinion, has much potential but has received little attention in research so far.

Lifelong learning teachers' needs in virtual learning environments

Peer-reviewed

Identifying pedagogical, technological and organizational barriers in virtual learning environments

Virtual learning environments are online spaces where learners interact with other learners, teachers, resources and the environment in itself. Although technology is meant to enhance the learning process, there are important issues regarding pedagogical and organizational aspects that must be addressed. In this paper we review the barriers detected in a virtual university which exclusively uses Internet as the main channel of communication, with no face-to-face requirements exceptthose related to final evaluation.

User Centered Desing in E-Learning Environments : from Usability to Learner Experience

The advent of the Internet had a great impact on distance education and rapidly e-learning has become a killer application. Education institutions worldwide are taking advantage of the available technology in order to facilitate education to a growing audience. Everyday, more and more people use e-learning systems, environments and contents for both training and learning. E-learning promotes educationamong people that due to different reasons could not have access to education: people who could nottravel, people with very little free time, or withdisabilities, etc. As e-learning systems grow and more people are accessing them, it is necessary to consider when designing virtual environments the diverse needs and characteristics that different users have. This allows building systems that people can use easily, efficiently and effectively, where the learning process leads to a good user experience and becomes a good learning experience.