Computers in Education: New Developments in
e-Learning Technology
J.UCS Special Issue
Baltasar Fernández-Manjón
(Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
balta@sip.ucm.es)
Martín Llamas-Nistal
(University of Vigo, Spain
martin.llamas@det.uvigo.es)
Ramón-Ángel Fernández
(University of León, Spain
ramon.fernandez@unileon.es)
The huge impact of computers on modern society is widely acknowledged
as computers appear in almost every aspect of our lives. Nowadays, for
instance, databases store critical information related to financial or
health systems, and common activities such as turning the lights on at
home or using public transportation depend on computers that control
processes which remain hidden to the users. Moreover, the Internet's
repercussion in the world is driving the efforts of companies and
institutions, which try to offer added value services while fostering
other aspects such as content accessibility or ubiquity (e.g., by the
seamless integration of mobile devices). Also more companies are
providing new support for building the so called cybersociety —
e-mail accounts, blog services, social bookmarking... — or even
cyberdemocracy. Hence e-learning, or cybereducation, is commonly
recognized as a powerful technology to offer new educational services
and also to support and complement more traditional educational
approaches.
The field of education is so affected by computers and the Internet
that many research and development efforts have been instituted in
order to use them as a means of improving the outcomes of learning
processes. As computer programs have been used in many fields to make
processes easier, they can also be employed to support students and
teachers. E-learning provides different advantages such as increasing
technology awareness, simplifying communication or the possibility of
studying topics that might be unapproachable without the help of
computer programs that simulate study cases. But there are other open
issues concerning new educational software proposals, novel approaches
that take advantage of new technologies (e.g., mobile devices) or the
role that e-learning standardization plays in these innovative
experiences. Thus more effort is needed in order to produce more
successful cases and to generalize e-learning in industry,
universities and schools.
This special issue on new developments in e-learning is an attempt
to present several perspectives and efforts in the e-learning
field. The selection of the contributions has taken into account not
only the point of view of research but also practical
applications.
Daniel Burgos, Colin Tattersall, both from the Open
University of the Netherlands (The Netherlands), Martin Dougiamas from
Moodle (Australia), and Hubert Vogten and Rob Koper, both from the
Open University of the Netherlands (The Netherlands), have entitled
their paper A First Step
Mapping IMS Learning Design and Moodle. On the one hand, IMS
Learning Design provides a pedagogically flexible approach to the
creation of Units of Learning; on the other hand, Moodle provides a
well-known and easy-to-learn Course Management System. In this
contribution, the authors show how to achieve mutual understanding
between the two of them in order to allow the interoperability and
reusability of information packages/UoLs.
Luis Panizo, Ramón-Ángel Fernández and Lidia
Sánchez from the University of León (Spain) show their
experience using WebQuests as learning tools with first year Computer
Science students. In their paper A WebQuest Framework to
improve the study of Deadlock and Process Synchronization they
describe a project for helping students learn topics related to
Operating Systems. They also detail the observed learning outcomes of
using the WebQuest and point out its impact on the students both
technical writing/speaking and group-working abilities.
Iván Martínez-Ortiz, Pablo Moreno-Ger, José Luis
Sierra and Baltasar Fernández-Manjón from the
Complutense University of Madrid (Spain) have entitled their
contribution Supporting the Authoring
and Operationalization of Educational Modelling
Languages. They propose a general authoring and
operationalization architecture, <e-LD>, for modelling
educational processes (i.e., using IMS Learning Design), which
integrates authoring tools with a workflow-oriented execution
platform. An implementation of <e-LD> based on XML using BPEL4WS
as workflow language is also detailed.
Maximiliano Paredes from Rey Juan Carlos University (Spain), Pedro
Pablo Sánchez-Villalón, Manuel Ortega, both from the
University of Castilla — la Mancha (Spain) and J. Ángel
Velázquez-Iturbide from Rey Juan Carlos University (Spain)
present in their paper, entitled Collaborative
Composition in a Foreign Language with Handheld Computing and Web
Tools, a proposal to integrate computers with other activities
carried out in classrooms. Hence, they describe AULA, a new platform
of ubiquitous computing which gathers mobile devices together with
collaborative educational environments in order to improve the study
of English as a Foreign Language in the classroom.
José Manuel Chaves, Miguel A. Vega-Rodríguez, Juan
A. Gómez-Pulido and Juan M. Sánchez Pérez, all
from the University of Extremadura (Spain), present a tool to help
Computer Science students and professors with the study of pipelining
scheduling, a common technique that improves processorsÂ
performance. In their paper Pipeline-scheduling
Simulator for Educational Purpose they describe the software
simulator and also their experience with graduate students, discussing
the impact of the simulator on the students by means of a survey among
the students.
Erla M. Morales, Francisco J. García and Ángela
Barrón, all from the University of Salamanca (Spain), examine
the different issues that should be considered in quality Learning
Objects instructional designs for e-learning systems. Moreover, they
propose an ontological knowledge model for improving instructional
design which involves a clear, easy way to structure LO elements with
quality characteristics. Their paper is called Improving LO Quality
through Instructional Design Based on an Ontological Model and
Metadata.
Manuel Caeiro, Martín Llamas and Luis Anido, from the
University of Vigo (Spain), and Maria Jose Marcelino and Antonio
José Mendes, from the University of Coimbra (Portugal), have
entitled their contribution Supporting the Modeling of
Flexible Educational Units. PoEML: A Separation of Concerns
Approach. They propose an educational modelling language that
separates the modelling in several issues which are as independent as
possible in order to provide the capacity to support flexibility of
models of educational practices. Therefore, an educational modelling
problem is no longer considered in a holistic way, since it can be
divided into separated issues instead. Moreover, the last part of
their paper presents, as a case study, the modelling of some parts of
a simulation course at the University of Coimbra (Portugal).
Davinia Hernández-Leo from the University of Valladolid
(Spain), Andreas Harrer from the University of Duisburg-Essen
(Germany), Juan Manuel Dodero from the University Carlos III of Madrid
(Spain), Juan I. Asensio-Pérez from the University of
Valladolid (Spain), and Daniel Burgos from the Open University of the
Netherlands (The Netherlands) present a create-by-reuse framework for
the creation of Units of Learning (UoLs) by reusing learning design
solutions. In their contribution, which they have entitled A Framework for the
Conceptualization of Approaches to "Create-by-Reuse" of
Learning Design Solutions, a comparison framework is
introduced for both conceptually analyzing and classifying reusable
learning design solutions and processes, which drive the creation of a
ready-to-run Unit of Learning (UoL).
Gregory L. Heileman, Chaouki T. Abdallah, Wei Shu, Christos
G. Christodoulou and Debby Knotts, all from the University of New
Mexico in Albuquerque (USA), describe in their contribution
Creating On-line
Graduate Engineering Degrees at the University of
New Mexico the motivation, strategies and implementation details
that led to the creation of on-line graduate-level degree programs
in the department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the
University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, USA). They also show the
benefits and challenges encountered during the process.
Maria Jose Marcelino from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) has
entitled her paper HME: a
Handheld Model Editor for Educational Contexts. She presents
Sim-H, a modular authoring-tool for handheld modelling and
simulation. In particular, she describes one of its modules, the HME
editor, which allows teachers and students to create and run models of
systems without previous knowledge of either programming languages or
mathematical formalisms.
César A. Collazos from the Universidad del Cauca (Colombia),
Luis A. Guerrero, José A. Pino, Sergio F. Ochoa, from the
Universidad de Chile (Chile), and Gerry Stahl from Drexel University
(USA), have entitled their paper Designing
Collaborative Learning Environments using Digital Games. They
propose a model for designing well-specified environments so as to
induce collaborative activities within a group. Based on that model,
they have also developed a game which requires collaboration among the
players if they want to win.
Raquel Morales and Patrick Carmichael from the University of
Cambridge, (UK) have entitled their contribution Mapping
Academic Collaboration Networks: Perspectives from the First Year of
the Reusable Learning Objects CETL. They describe the
experience of using a 'network mapping activity to improve academic
collaboration within the multi-institutional Centre for Excellence in
Teaching and Learning (CETL).
The editors wish to thank Professor Hermann Maurer (Managing Editor)
and Ms. Dana Kaiser (Assistant Editor) of the Journal of Universal
Computer Science (J.UCS) for all their kind help and for providing us
with the opportunity to edit this special issue on new developments in
e-learning technology. Finally, we would also like to express our
thanks to all our referees for their critical evaluation of the papers
within such a short stipulated time.
Baltasar Fernández-Manjón, UCM
Martín Llamas-Nistal, UVigo
Ramón-Ángel Fernández, ULE
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