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Aalto University Collaboration Design educational tool General Open Source Uncategorized

Learning Environments research group is hiring

%CODE1% The Learning Environments research group (LeGroup) at the Media Lab Helsinki of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture is looking for doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers interested in to work in several new research projects starting in Autumn 2012. For the doctoral students position(s) there is still a week to prepare […]

Categories
Aalto University Collaboration Design educational tool General Open Source Uncategorized

Learning Environments research group is hiring

%CODE1% The Learning Environments research group (LeGroup) at the Media Lab Helsinki of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture is looking for doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers interested in to work in several new research projects starting in Autumn 2012. For the doctoral students position(s) there is still a week to prepare […]

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Collaboration Conferences Design educational tool Social Software

Qualified Self and Learning Analytics: from Quantification to Qualification

I think the learning analytic research should move from the current practice of doing quantitative data analyses to include in it qualitative analyses. The quantified self should be expanded to be qualified self. In learning analytics research we should consider use of mixed methods that are combining quantitative and qualitative data analyses. Today the learning […]

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Collaboration Conferences Design educational tool Social Software Wikimedia Commons

How to learn and what to learn: reflect and regulate; humanities and arts

It looks that in the edu. tech. research field we constantly forget two things. These are: (1) learners are humans; (2) what is important for humans. For instance, in research related to e-learning and learning objects and later to massive open online courses and learning analytics there is very little consideration of these topics. Why […]

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Aalto University Collaboration Design educational tool Open Source Social Software

Tools (and Spaces) for Self Organised Learning Environment (SOLE)

We have designed some new (media) tools for self organized learning environment (SOLE) and for progressive inquiry. %CODE1% The self organized learning environment (SOLE) is a model to adapt school space to facilitate inquiry based learning. The idea is simple and powerful: “A teacher encourages their class to work as a community to answer questions […]

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Aalto University Collaboration Design educational tool Wikimedia Wikimedia Commons Wikipedia Wiktionary

Wikimedia: accessible (new) media for (almost) all

Two weeks ago at the Aalto University, we were having a symposium focusing on accessibility of media. In there I gave a talk about Wikipedia / Wikimedia. %CODE1% If we think the Wikimedia services from the accessibility point of view, there are some issues that make it pretty unique. Often one must go all the […]

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Aalto University Collaboration Design General

The Wisdom of Motivated Crowds

I have been lately thinking a lot the idea of motivated crowds and how the idea could be used in teaching and learning. Firstly, what is a motivated crowd? In an interview published in the Wikipedia Signpost Umberto Eco makes a difference between wisdom of crowds and wisdom of motivated crowds: “I don’t quite agree […]

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Design Open Source

Aakash $35 tablet: pedagogical affordances and investment advice

%CODE1% The Akash table, designed in India, is expected to be delivered for schools and other education institutions with a price tag of $35 per unit (this is the Indian government’s subsidised price). The Akash is naturally challenging the One Lap Top Per Child project’s XO-laptop and number of other netbooks provided for schools. I […]

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Design General Uncategorized

Education in Finland: smart, continuos development (a bit like agile software development)

New stories praising Finnish educational system are popping up almost weekly. Now CNN reports with focus on education in USA and how things are different in Finland. I agree with most of the points made in the story: teachers are essential and standardized testing is doing more harm than good. These are also interlinked issues. […]

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Design educational tool Social Software

TeamUp: a soft launch

For a couple of months now we have been designing and developing a tool called TeamUp. It is still in an alpha stage. However, we decided to do a public “soft launch” because it is a working prototype that can be already tested in schools and other contexts where people are aiming to work together […]