Technology Enhanced Learning

Paper published on the OneLearns program in Rwanda and Ethiopia

Olof Bälter2022-12-152022-12-15

Our paper A Web-Based Program About Sustainable Development Goals Focusing on Digital Learning, Digital Health Literacy, and Nutrition for Professional Development in Ethiopia and Rwanda: Development of a Pedagogical Method has been published in JMIR Formative Research.

Background:East African countries face significant societal challenges related to sustainable development goals but have limited resources to address these problems, including a shortage of nutrition experts and health care workers, limited access to physical and digital infrastructure, and a shortage of advanced educational programs and continuing professional development.

Objective:This study aimed to develop a web-based program for sustainable development with a focus on digital learning, digital health literacy, and child nutrition, targeting government officials and decision-makers at nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Ethiopia and Rwanda.

Methods:A web-based program—OneLearns (Online Education for Leaders in Nutrition and Sustainability)—uses a question-based learning methodology. This is a research-based pedagogical method developed within the open learning initiative at Carnegie Mellon University, United States. Participants were recruited during the fall of 2020 from ministries of health, education, and agriculture and NGOs that have public health, nutrition, and education in their missions. The program was conducted during the spring of 2021.

Results:Of the 70 applicants, 25 (36%) were selected and remained active throughout the entire program and filled out a pre- and postassessment questionnaire. After the program, of the 25 applicants, 20 (80%, 95% CI 64%-96%) participants reported that their capacity to drive change related to the sustainable development goals as well as child nutrition in their organizations had increased to large extent or to a very large extent. Furthermore, 17 (68%, 95% CI 50%-86%) and 18 (72%, 95% CI 54%-90%) participants reported that their capacity to drive change related to digital health literacy and digital learning had increased to a large extent and to a very large extent, respectively.

Conclusions:Digital learning based on a question-based learning methodology was perceived as a useful method for increasing the capacity to drive change regarding sustainable development among government officials and decision-makers at NGOs in Ethiopia and Rwanda.

Successful workshop on efficient and effective data-driven learning and teaching

Olof Bälter2022-12-02

Categories: engineering education, higher education, högre utbildning, ingenjörsutbildning, Learning Analytics, Open Learning Initiative, smart learning environments

On October 26-28, 2022, Carnegie Mellon University and KTH successfully held a joint 3-day Workshop on efficient and effective data-driven learning and teaching. There were 30 attendees, mostly from KTH, but also from two companies (NE and ImgPlay) as well as representatives from Uppsala and Mälardalen University. The workshop was structured with an Introduction to question-based learning block in the mornings and Advanced Topics in the afternoon, with Office Hours for the Intro group running simultaneously. The workshop had a focus on hands-on activities and included lecture components as well. The event was sponsored by STINT and IMG Play.

LearnLab summer school 2022

Olof Bälter2022-11-11

Categories: Uncategorized

The LearnLab summer school in Pittsburgh was a great opportunity for researchers to learn about a variety of topics related to learning and education. One of the tracks that was offered at the summer school was the OLI track, which focused on teaching courses using the OLI pedagogical methods (aka Question-Based Learning) and learning all the ins and outs of the OLI Torus course creation platform. Andreas Jemstedt, who was a part of the OLI track, found the summer school to be very helpful in learning how to construct courses using the OLI methods.

Another track that was offered at the summer school was the educational data mining track. Ric Glassey and Olle Bälter, who were part of this track, worked on analysing data from a programming course, using learning curves to spot issues in the course material, modifying the skills model, and integrating other student data to create a new data set. The educational data mining track was very beneficial for Ric and Olle, as it allowed them to learn about a variety of data mining techniques that can be used to improve courses.

One of the highlights of the summer school was the May the Feedback be with you talk, which was the first invited external talk ever at LearnLab. Olle and Ric presented their journey with OLI via the medium of the Star Wars movie franchise. In nine episodes they retold the story of how they overcome various challenges to adopt OLI at KTH and then how they moved forward towards the idea of Pure Question-based Learning. The May the Feedback be with you talk was very well-received by the audience and helped to raise awareness of OLI at the summer school.

The sightseeing in Pittsburgh was also great. We got to experience Pickleburgh, which is a pickle-themed festival that happens every year. We also explored the different bridges in the city, as well as the funicular. And of course, we tried out Primantis, which is a local sandwich chain that is famous for its massive sandwiches.

Digital Comptence for All

Olof Bälter2022-02-10

Categories: Uncategorized

Funded by ESF and in cooperation with the Swedish Public Employment Service (SPES) we will develop and evaluate online course modules to efficiently increase the digital competence of the learners. In this first project, we will start with the staff of SPES, but the needs of digital competence are substantial and we plan for more projects in the future. More information can be found at the TEL project page.

Special Issue “Effective and Efficient Digital Learning”

Olof Bälter2021-12-02

Categories: higher education, högre utbildning, Learning Analytics, online, smart learning environments, Uncategorized

We are guest editing an issue of Multimodal Technologies and Interaction with the theme “Effective and Efficient Digital Learning”.

Despite many promising initiatives to use digital technology to enhance teaching and learning, its impact on the vast majority of education has so far been slim.

There are several reasons for this: (1) Staff experience a lack of resources, digital competence, and incentives to change well-established habits; (2) Digital technologies are in abundant supply but it is difficult to predict the outcomes without evidence and experience from previous implementations; and (3) Institutions can unintentionally create explicit and implicit barriers to innovation and change, or at least hinder their progress.

At the same time, the funding of schools and universities is competing with many other important and pressing needs.

One possibility for improving this situation would be to gather initiatives in technology-enhanced learning that include both a pedagogical and an economical perspective that can be used in constructive dialogues and debates with both school management and teachers. This is also the aim of this Special Issue on effective and efficient digital teaching and learning.

We welcome contributions that take up both sides and that include practical or theoretical support for either pedagogical improvements while the resource demands are kept at bay or that reduce the resource demands while at least maintaining the pedagogical quality.

See

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mti/special_issues/digital_learning

for details.