[publication] Development of an Austrian OER Certification for Higher Education Institutions and Their Employees #OER #OpenEducation #research

Our chapter about “Development of an Austrian OER Certification for Higher Education Institutions and Their Employees” got published right now – enjoy the interesting read 🙂

The “Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria” (fnma) is responsible for the development and introduction of a procedure to attest open educational resources (OER) competences and OER activities in higher education. The aim is to develop and implement a convincing and recognized procedure that succeeds in sustainably promoting and making visible OER activities and OER competences at Austria’s higher education institutions. Within this paper, the development of the Austrian OER certification approach, in other words its framework, will be addressed. A working plan and first results will be presented; among others, the competence framework and its compatibility with existing frameworks.

[full chapter @ ResearchGate]
[full chapter @ Book’s homepage]

Reference: Schön, S., Ebner, M., Berger, E., Brandhofer, G., Edelsbrunner, S., Gröblinger, O., Hackl, C., Jadin, T., Kopp, M., Neuböck, K., Proinger, J., Schmölz, A. & Steinbacher, H.-P. (2023). Development of an Austrian OER Certification for Higher Education Institutions and Their Employees. In: Otto, D., Scharnberg, G., Kerres, M., Zawacki-Richter, O. (eds) Distributed Learning Ecosystems . Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-38703-7_9

[publication] Development of an Amazon Alexa App for a University Online Search #alexa #research #tugraz

Our chapter about “Development of an Amazon Alexa App for a University Online Search” for the HCII 2022 conference got published.

Abstract:
Today, our homes become smarter and smarter. We started to interact with our home with Intelligent Personal Assistants, like Amazon Alexa. In this paper we want to present and give a review on the Alexa skill developed for an online search for resources like rooms, courses, and persons. The goal is to provide the users an easy-to-use way to ask for information like phone numbers, e-mail addresses, room details, … and the Alexa Skill should provide this information also in an easy understandable way. We will describe how we solved to formulate suitable search queries from spoken Alexa commands and how we presented them to the user accordingly. Other obstacles like the presentation of the search results, due to the limited context and prioritization for individual search results, to the user will be discussed.

[full article @ book’s homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Rupitz, J., Ebner, M., Ebner, M. (2022). Development of an Amazon Alexa App for a University Online Search. In: Zaphiris, P., Ioannou, A. (eds) Learning and Collaboration Technologies. Designing the Learner and Teacher Experience. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13328. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05657-4_10

[publication] Supporting Learning and Teaching with Good Design: Report and Lessons Learned from Learning Experience Design in Higher Education #LXD #tugraz #research

Our chaper about “Supporting Learning and Teaching with Good Design: Report and Lessons Learned from Learning Experience Design in Higher Education” got published (online first) and is free available 🙂

Abstract:
Learning experience design (LXD), that is, the conscious design of learning experiences based on the principles and methods of the design discipline, is a term that is increasingly being used in the design of (digital) learning environments. The aim is to make learning a positive, exciting experience for the learner. This article will introduce the understanding of “learning experience design” and describe its application at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz). As creativity is a base for the design discipline, the organizational unit “educational technology” sees LXD as a chance to develop innovative, quality online teaching and learning materials. The article will show the application and results of LXD of several different projects and resources developed for teachers and students by the educational technology team at TU Graz: the student study progress dashboard, the TELucation website relaunch, and the development of a modifiable digital template for lecturer training.

[chapter @ book’s homepage]
[chapter @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Ebner, M., Edelsbrunner, S., & Schön, S. (2022). Supporting Learning and Teaching with Good Design: Report and Lessons Learned from Learning Experience Design in Higher Education. In K. Kang, & M. F. Namisango (Eds.), E-service Digital Innovation [Working Title]. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107489

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

Our research, we presented at EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2022, about “The ReDesign Canvas as a tool for the didactic-methodological redesign of courses and a case study” is now online available:

Abstract:
Initially, in March 2020, when COVID-19 forced conventional face-to-face to pure online teaching, didactic matters were only of secondary importance. At Graz University of Technology (TU Graz, Austria) both the support team for Educational Technology as well as the instructors were mostly concerned with solving technical challenges. Nevertheless, a special tool, the ReDesign Canvas, was available to support lecturers in their endeavor to also address the didactic aspects of their teaching systematically. The article presents the work of the Educational Technology team of TU Graz within the March 2020 COVID-19 crisis as well as the application of the canvas in a redesign of an exemplary lecture.

[full article @ conference homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Schön, S., Braun, C., Hohla, K., Mütze, A. & Ebner, M. (2022). The ReDesign Canvas as a tool for the didactic-methodological redesign of courses and a case study. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 1048-1055). New York City, NY, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved July 13, 2022 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/221410/.

[publication] Die Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung – Rückblick und Analyse #zfhe #openaccess

Unser Artikel zur Geschichte der Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung (ZFHE) ist erschienen und wir haben versucht darzustellen, wie auch Open-Access selbst erfolgreich sein kann:

Die Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung hat einen langen und interessanten Werdegang. In diesem Artikel wollen wir diesen beschreiben und einer Analyse unterwerfen, um die Entwicklung über die Zeit darzustellen. Es wird gezeigt, wie sich Themen und Schwerpunkte verlagern und mit der Hochschul-Praxis einhergehen. Um die Vergleichbarkeit und den Impact der Zeitschrift vorzustellen, werden Überlegungen angestellt, die untermauern, wie wichtig die Rolle der Zeitschrift für die Hochschulen im deutschsprachigen Raum ist, aber auch darüber hinaus. 40 Jahre, davon beinahe 20 Jahre als Open Access, ist ein beachtlicher Zeitraum für ein solches Medium. Dies ist uns daher Anlass, die Entwicklung der Zeitschrift zu reflektieren.

[Artikel @ ZFHE]
[Artikel @ ResearchGate]

Zitation: Ebner, M., Krempkow, R., Zawacki-Richter, O. (2022) Die Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung – Rückblick und Analyse. Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung (ZHFE) Jg. 17/3 pp 201-223

[publication] Weitere österreichische Hochschulen veröffentlichen eine Policy zu offenen Bildungsressourcen – Zum Austausch der AG OER #fnma #OER

Im FNMA-Magazin 1/2022 haben wir die Ergebnisse des Webinars im Dezember 2021 nochmals zusammengefasst unter dem Titel “Weitere österreichische Hochschulen veröffentlichen eine Policy zu offenen Bildungsressourcen – Zum Austausch der AG OER“:

Bei der fnma-Arbeitsgruppe zu offenen Bildungsressourcen dreht sich alles um die bisherige Entwicklung und Förderung von OER. Anfang Dezember 2021 ging es um Erfahrungen mit der Erstellung von strategischen Bekenntnissen und Maßnahmen österreichischer Hochschulen.

[Artikel @ ResearchGate]
[FNMA-Magazin 1/2022]

Zitation: Ebner, Martin und Schön, Sandra (2022). Weitere österreichische Hochschulen veröffentlichen eine Policy zu offenen Bildungsressourcen – Zum Austausch der AG OER. In: fnma Magazin, 1/2022, S. 7-9.

[publication] 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 #edil22 #tugraz

One of our contributions to the EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2022 is 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

Abstract:
The technical equipment of first-year students and their preferred communication applications are changing, perhaps also influenced by their experiences in the Covid-19 pandemic concerning digital teaching and learning. This paper presents the 2021 survey of first-year students at Graz University of Technology (N=1,207) and compares the results concerning devices and applications with the results of the surveys conducted since 2011. It is striking that there are no striking changes in the endowment of the that can be interpreted as an effect of Covid-19 pandemic. A question introduced in 2021 about experiences with distance online instruction and experiences with online courses before and after Covid-19 shows clearly that new students’ prior experiences with online learning here have dramatically changed as a result of school closures in Austria.

[Full paper @ conference homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Nagler, W., Schön, S., Mair, B., Ebner, M. & Edelsbrunner, S. (2022). 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. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 1060-1067). New York City, NY, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved July 12, 2022 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/221412/

[publication] Teaching German as a Foreign Language with Open Educational Resources (OER) #OER #research

Our article about “Teaching German as a Foreign Language with Open Educational Resources (OER)” got published in the International Journal of Emerging Technologies:

Abstract:
The focus of this research is to find OER to be used in learning German as a foreign language levels A1 to B1 of the The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) standards and to implement in teaching at University of Malang (Indonesia). An overview of the OER will be given, which was categorized language learning level, themes, among others level and themes. From the implementation in university classes with about 19-21 years old, our interviews with five lecturers and their answers in an online questionnaire showed that the OER material in learning did provide many benefits for lecturers and students, including the variety of materials, the forms, and the economic aspect. However, the existing OER still have some downsides, like their suitability to the needs of lecturers and students, in terms of their themes, the technical requirements and levels of difficulty.

[full article @ ResearchGate]
[full article @ Journal’s Homepage]

Reference: Wijayati, P. H., Kharis, M., Hidayat, E., Ardiyani, D. K., Ebner, M., & Schön, S. (2022). Teaching German as a Foreign Language with Open Educational Resources (OER): Implementation in and Experiences from an Indonesian University. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET)17(04), pp. 225–238. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v17i04.23225

[publication] Evaluation of Mixed Reality Technologies in Remote Teaching #VirtualReality #tugraz #education

Our chapter for the HCII conference 2022 about “Evaluation of Mixed Reality Technologies in Remote Teaching” got published.

Abstract:
The trend towards remote teaching is steadily increasing and intensified by the current situation of the global pandemic. This is a particular challenge for subjects with a high practical relevance, such as mining engineering education, as practical experiences and on-site excursions are an integral part of the curriculum. In face-to-face teaching settings, mixed reality technologies are already considered a promising medium for the implementation of e.g., virtual field trips. Based on this, the current study addresses the question to what extent the integration of mixed reality technologies is suitable for remote teaching and which strengths and challenges are perceived by students and teachers. For this purpose, two 60-min remote lectures in the field of mining engineering were conducted, in which the use of mixed reality was tested on the basis of shared 360° experiences and 3D models and evaluated by students and teachers. Results reveal that the use of mixed reality in remote teaching was perceived as useful, enabled a realistic experience and improved students’ understanding of presented theory compared to traditional teaching methods. In this paper, we discuss possible potentials and risks of using mixed reality in remote teaching and derive directions for further research.

[full article @ book’s homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]

Reference: Daling, L.M., Khoadei, S., Kalkofen, D., Thurner, S., Sieger, J., Shepel, T., Abdelrazeq, A., Ebner, Markus, Ebner, Martin & Isenhardt, I (2022). Evaluation of Mixed Reality Technologies in Remote Teaching. In: Zaphiris, P., Ioannou, A. (eds) Learning and Collaboration Technologies. Novel Technological Environments. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13329. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05675-8_3

[publication] Potential Impact of Open Educational Resources and Practices for Good Teaching at Universities. The OER Impact Assessment at TU Graz #OER #tugraz #research

We contributed to the book “Learning with Technologies and Technologies in Learning” with a chapter named “Potential Impact of Open Educational Resources and Practices for Good Teaching at Universities. The OER Impact Assessment at TU Graz

Abstract:
Based on the increasing demand for and promotion of Open Educational Resources (OER, see (UNESCO (2019), this chapter describes the objectives of Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in Austria for good teaching. A description of how the impact of OER at TU Graz will be analysed and considerations around it is the central contribution. In addition, the effects, and potentials of selected OER initiatives of the university are described as examples and discussed as key potential for good teaching. For a better understanding of the role of OER at TU Graz, the national context of OER in the Austrian higher education landscape is described at the beginning of the chapter.

[draft @ ResearchGate]
[chapter @ book’s homepage]

Citation: Ebner, Martin; Schön, Sandra; Ebner, Markus; Edelsbrunner, Sarah; Hohla, Katharina (2022). Potential Impact of Open Educational Resources and Practices for Good Teaching at Universities. The OER Impact Assessment at TU Graz. In: Michael E. Auer, Andreas Pester, Dominik May (Eds.), Learning with Technologies and Technologies in Learning. Experience, Trends and Challenges in Higher Education, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, Volume 45, Cham: Springer, pp. 79-100.