Category: Papers

Ferguson, R. & Sharples, M. (2014).  Innovative pedagogy at massive scale: Teaching and learning in MOOCs. In C. Rensing, S. de Freitas, T. Ley & P. J. Muñoz- Merino (Eds.) Open Learning and Teaching in Educational Communities, proceedings of 9th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2014), Graz, Austria, September 16-19. Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 98-111. Abstract. This paper looks at the implications for pedagogy of education at a massive scale. It begins by looking at educational approaches designed or adapted to be effective for large numbers of learners: direct instruction, networked learning, connectivism, supported open learning, and conversational learning at scale. It goes on to identify benefits and challenges of teaching and learning at scale. A grounded approach was used to analyse data from 18 MOOCs run on the UK-based…

Sharples, M., Taylor, J., & Vavoula, G. (2016). A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age. In C. Haythornthwaite, R. Andrews, J. Fransman & E.M. Meyers (eds.) The SAGE handbook of e-learning research, 2nd edition. SAGE, pp. 63-81. We propose a theory of learning for a world of global mobility, to complement theories of classroom, workplace and informal learning. We explore two layers of tool-mediated activity. The semiotic layer describes learning as a semiotic system in which the learner’s object-oriented actions are mediated by cultural tools and signs. The technological layer represents learning as an engagement with technology, in which tools such as computers and mobile phones function as interactive agents in the process of coming to know. Context is a central construct in understanding and designing mobile learning. Learning activity…

Sharples, M., Aristeidou, M., Villasclaras-Fernández, E., Herodotou, C., Scanlon, E. (2017) Sense-it: A Smartphone Toolkit for Citizen Inquiry Learning. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, 9, 2, 16-38. Abstract. We describe a toolkit for Android smartphones and tablets that enables a user to access all the sensors available on the device. Data from individual sensors can be viewed as dynamic graphs. Output from one or more sensors can be recorded to a spreadsheet, with the sampling rate set by the learner. As a tool for inquiry learning, the sensors can be linked to ‘missions’ on the nQuire-it website, allowing learners to sample and share data for collaborative crowd-sourced investigations. Four nQuire-it missions have employed the sensor toolkit for investigating environmental noise, sunlight levels, air pressure and rainfall, and the speed…

Sharples, M., Scanlon, E., Ainsworth, S., Anastopoulou, S., Collins, T., Crook, C., Jones, A., Kerawalla, L., Littleton, K., Mulholland, P. & O’Malley, C. (2015). Personal Inquiry: Orchestrating Science Investigations Within and Beyond the Classroom. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2(2), 308-341. Abstract. A central challenge for science educators is to enable young people to act as scientists by gathering and assessing evidence, conducting experiments and engaging in informed debate. We report the design of the nQuire toolkit, a system to support scripted personal inquiry learning, and a study of its use with school students aged 11-14. This differs from previous work on inquiry learning by its emphasis on learners investigating topics of personal significance supported by a computer-based toolkit to guide school pupils through an entire inquiry process that connects structured learning…

Sharples, M. & Domingue, J. (2016). The Blockchain and Kudos: A Distributed System for Educational Record, Reputation and Reward. In K. Verbert, M. Sharples & T. Klobučar (Eds.) Adaptive and Adaptable Learning: Proceedings of 11th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2015), Lyon, France, 13 - 16 September 2016. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 490-496. Abstract. The ‘blockchain’ is the core mechanism for the Bitcoin digital payment system. It embraces a set of inter-related technologies: the blockchain itself as a distributed record of digital events, the distributed consensus method to agree whether a new block is legitimate, automated smart contracts, and the data structure associated with each block. We propose a permanent distributed record of intellectual effort and associated reputational reward, based on the blockchain that instantiates and democratises…

Vavoula, G., Sharples, M., Rudman, P., Meek, J., & Lonsdale, P. (2009) Myartspace: Design and evaluation of support for learning with multimedia phones between classrooms and museums. Computers and Education, 53, 2, 286-299. Abstract. This paper presents a description and evaluation of Myartspace, a service on mobile phones for inquiry-led learning that allows students to gather information during a school field trip which is automatically sent to a website where they can view, share and present it, back in the classroom or at home. The evaluation focused on three levels: a micro level, concerned with issues of usability; a meso level, which examined educational effectiveness in terms of learning breakthroughs and breakdowns; and a macro level, which looked at the impact of the new technology on school museum visits practice. Issues…