edmedia – e-Learning Blog

Juli 4, 2022Mai 6, 2022

[publication] Making of an Open Makerspace in a Secondary Vocational School in Austria: Development, Activities, User Behaviour and Gender Balance #makereducation #making #edil21

Our contribuation to this year ED-Media 2021 conference about „Making of an Open Makerspace in a Secondary Vocational School in Austria: Development, Activities, User Behaviour and Gender Balance“ got published. The slides are already here online.

Abstract:
This research shows the development process of an open makerspace on the premises of a higher secondary vocational school (HTL) in Austria from 2017 till today. It illustrates the need for this space, the acquisition of initial funding and the legal framework. User policy and machinery are presented, as well as safety and security systems. An insight on the organizational structure is given. We present regular dedicated maker classes and curricular integration of the makerspace for K-12 students. Makerspace activities like maker challenges and holiday camps for divergent participants like primary school children and girls are discussed and the role of females in engineering education and makerspaces is reviewed. Qualitative observations of different stakeholders are reproduced and supplemented by statistical data. We also show setbacks and difficulties due to the Corona crisis and give an overview of future maker initiatives.

[draft @ ResearchGate]
[final publication @ lerntechlib]

Reference: Sagbauer, N.N., Stocker, K., Pollak, M. & Ebner, M. (2021). Making of an Open Makerspace in a Secondary Vocational School in Austria: Development, Activities, User Behaviour and Gender Balance. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 467-479). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 1, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219695/.

Juni 24, 2022Juni 20, 2022

[presentation] How Activities Related to Maker Education Contribute to Overcome Entry Barriers for Girls into Formal Technical Education Pathways – Case Study of Holiday Camps at a Technical Secondary Vocational School in Austria #edil22 #research #makereducation #tugraz

We are happy to present our research about „How Activities Related to Maker Education Contribute to Overcome Entry Barriers for Girls into Formal Technical Education Pathways – Case Study of Holiday Camps at a Technical Secondary Vocational School in Austria“ at EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2022 conference.

Find here our slides of the talk:

Juni 23, 2022Juni 20, 2022

[presentation] The ReDesign Canvas as a tool for the didactic-methodological redesign of courses and a case study #edil22 #tugraz #research #canvas

We are happy to present our research about „The ReDesign Canvas as a tool for the didactic-methodological redesign of courses and a case study“ at EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2022 conference.

Find here our slides as well as the recording of the talk:

Juni 22, 2022Juni 20, 2022

[presentation] Patterns of quiz attempts in a MOOC. The full-points-pattern and other patterns on the way to a successful MOOC in a lecture setting #edil22 #tugraz #research #mooc #imoox

We are happy to present our research about „Patterns of quiz attempts in a MOOC. The full-points-pattern and other patterns on the way to a successful MOOC in a lecture setting“ at EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2022 conference.

Find here our slides as well as the recording of the talk:

Juni 21, 2022Juni 20, 2022

[presentation] A decade of first-semester students surveys concerning IT equipment and communication applications and effect of Covid-19 related experiences for first-year students in 2021#covid19 #edil22 #tugraz #research

We are happy to present our research about „A decade of first-semester students surveys concerning IT equipment and communication applications and effect of Covid-19 related experiences for first-year students in 2021“ at EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2022 conference.

Find here our slides as well as the recording of the talk:

Januar 20, 2022November 12, 2021

[publication] The relation of prior IT usage, IT skills and field of study: A multiple correspondence analysis of first-year students at a University of Technology #edil21 #tugraz #research

Our contribuation to this year ED-Media 2021 conference about „The relation of prior IT usage, IT skills and field of study: A multiple correspondence analysis of first-year students at a University of Technology“ got published. The slides are already here online.

Abstract:
Starting from the question of whether the students in the different fields of study differ in terms of several variables related to IT and learning with IT, namely their general extent of IT usage, the extent of IT usage for learning, the IT skills of the students, their participation in online courses, if they learned coding basics at school and the extent of IT usage in class at school, a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was chosen to find answers. The MCA resulted in four clusters of fields of study. The inclusion of the variables in the biplot shows that for one dimension the IT skills of the students are crucial, and for the second dimension a further variable, the type of school added as supplementary points, explains the differences between subjects. Finally, the article discusses that these insights might change drastically – especially due to the changed conditions of first-year students with regard to their experiences with the use of IT in learning as a result of the school closures during COVID-19 pandemic. The data for this analysis come from the survey of first-year students at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in 2020 (N=955) which is subjected to a secondary analysis in this article.

[article @ learntechlib]
[preprint @ ResearchGate]

Refrence: Mair, B., Ebner, M., Nagler, W., Edelsbrunner, S. & Schön, S. (2021). The relation of prior IT usage, IT skills and field of study: A multiple correspondence analysis of first-year students at a University of Technology. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 304-312). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 15, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219673/.

Oktober 8, 2021August 15, 2021

[publication] Change of IT equipment and communication applications used by first-semester students from 2011 to 2020 and possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of a long-term #tugraz #research #edil21

Our contribuation to this year ED-Media 2021 conference about „Change of IT equipment and communication applications used by first-semester students from 2011 to 2020 and possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of a long-term“ got published. The slides are already here online.

Abstract:
The technical equipment of first-year students and their preferred communication applications are changing. This paper presents the two latest, unpublished surveys of first-year students at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) from 2019 (N=824) and 2020 (N=955) and compares the results concerning devices and applications with the results of the surveys conducted since 2011. The analysis shows that laptops, desktop computers and smartphones are among the most important and widespread multifunctional devices, while the MP3 player in particular or the social media application Facebook have lost most of their former importance. The increasing importance of photo-based social media applications, first and foremost Instagram, is striking. If comparing the data from 2019 to those from 2020, the first academic year start that took place within the COVID-19 pandemic, the same applies to the use of Facebook and Facebook Messenger, which now only have the same minor significance as Telegram, Signal, Skype, or others. Concerning effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the equipment and communication tools used, the authors see a major impact on the prevalence of portable powerpacks.

[article @ learntechlib]
[preprint @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Nagler, W., Mair, B., Ebner, M., Edelsbrunner, S. & Schön, S. (2021). Change of IT equipment and communication applications used by first-semester students from 2011 to 2020 and possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of a long-term survey. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 107-114). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 15, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219645/.

September 29, 2021Juli 28, 2021

[publication] Effects of Remote Learning on Practitioner Integration #tugraz #research #edil21

Our contribuation to this year ED-Media 2021 conference about „Effects of Remote Learning on Practitioner Integration“ got published. The slides are already here online.

Abstract:
The widespread inclusion of experts and practitioners in educational settings to teach and collaboratively learn can help alleviate a multitude of systemic problems. A new, inclusive path to teach youth the skills needed to utilise the problem solving approach named computational thinking is explored in this case study. During 2020 remote learning became ubiquitous and after a successful face to face workshop the consequences of a virtual environment were evaluated. This publication answers three questions based on an action research approach: What effect has remote learning on practitioner integration? What learning outcomes does a flipped classroom approach lead to? What lessons can be learned for a post-social-distancing world? Data was gathered during an expert driven virtual workshop, in an Austrian technical school with predominantly male students aged 17 to 18 (K-12). Analysis revealed the benefits of remote expert integration as relatively little overhead can establish practical knowledge and differentiated perspectives in an almost uninterrupted virtual workflow. The integration of practitioners should be made possible within virtual environments to minimise distraction and overhead if applicable. Despite its clear benefits a blended environment with additional face to face settings led to more interaction and excitement from the learners. Easy access to experts and practitioners is key to offer young people the tools necessary to face the challenges of the future.

[draft @ ResearchGate]
[final publication @ learntechlib]

Reference: Pollak, M., Sagbauer, N.N. & Ebner, M. (2021). Effects of Remote Learning on Practitioner Integration. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 389-400). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved July 28, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219684/

September 28, 2021Juli 27, 2021

[publication] Speech-based Learning with Amazon Alexa #tugraz #research #edil21

Our contribuation to this year ED-Media 2021 conference about „Speech-based Learning with Amazon Alexa“ got published. The slides are already here online.

Abstract:
Almost every child and adult today have access to the Internet and different technologies like smartphones, tablets and co. Scientists recognized this very quickly and started to create a whole new way of learning. Therefore, learning applications have been developed to increase student and adult interest in studying and training. This paper describes the development of a speech-based Alexa Skill for educational purposes. The main goal is to help students as well as adults to learn and train mathematical basic calculation types. The skill was designed in a way that young students as well as adults can interact with Alexa in their own words. Therefore, the skill „Mathe Rätsel“ (Eng.: „Math riddle“) offers two difficulties to meet the needs of young and old users.

[draft @ ResearchGate]
[article @ proceeding’s homepage]

Reference: Weiss, M., Ebner, M. & Ebner, M. (2021). Speech-based Learning with Amazon Alexa. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 156-163). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved July 27, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219651/.

September 27, 2021Juli 26, 2021

[publication] School Start Screening Tool #edil21 #research #app

Our contribuation to this year ED-Media 2021 conference about „School Start Screening Tool“ got published. The slides are already here online.

Abstract:
This paper concentrates on the implementation of a new screening method in Austrian schools to assess children and find out if they have any special educational needs in educational areas like phonology, counting, knowledge of letters and numbers and others. The underlying structure of the assignments was developed by developmental psychologists from the University of Graz and the University of Vienna and then implemented as a mobile application for Android tablets. For testing and evaluation purposes, the app’s prototype was first used voluntary by multiple Austrian schools. Furthermore, the mobile application had to be fully functional when offline as well as a central web application had to be developed to give the developmental psychologists access to the screening results. However, the main goal was to develop the application in a way that especially children without sufficient skills in reading and writing are able to understand the assignment’s tasks and to perform input.

[Draft @ ResearchGate]
[article @ LearnTechLib]

Reference: Krassnig, P., Ebner, M. & Ebner, M. (2021). School Start Screening Tool. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 213-226). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved July 26, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219660/.