collaborative learning
Creativity in Collaborative Learning across the Life Span
The paper “Creativity in Collaborative Learning across the Life Span” discusses the outcome of a literature review on creativity in collaborative learning across the different stages of an individual’s development, with a specific focus on the use of ICT as a means of fostering the creative learning process.
Although much of the literature concerns creativity and critical thinking skills in children and adolescents, the authors of this article published in “Creative Education” in 2012 analyze the specific requirements and specificities of these competencies in advanced adulthood.
Researchers Romero, Hyvonen and Barbera aim specifically to characterize the capabilities of older adults to collaborate through Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). The paper also discusses means of promoting the development of creative skills at different ages, notably in elderly persons, and the use of collaborative learning technologies.
ALICE: Creative Intergenerational Learning
Intergenerational learning (IL) aims to improve dialogue among generations through civic participation in common social and institutional spaces, and carry out informal learning of key competences for lifelong learning, both by adults and children. IL has as its goal fostering social cohesion.
Contemporary European society needs social cohesion that is built on the basis of a new integrated and complex dimension of social tissue, where diversity (among cultures, age, gender) is considered an opportunity.
EuroSentiment Language Resource Pool
The main concept of the EU-funded project EuroSentiment is to provide a shared language resource pool for fostering sentiment analysis. Sentiment analysis has emerged as a new discipline whose aim is the computational treatment of opinion, sentiment and subjectivity in texts, often available in so-called social media.
Sentiment analysis, also called opinion mining, combines different techniques, in order to extract and identify subjective information in source materials. Some of the main business applications of sentiment analysis are brand and reputation management, social media monitoring, mood analysis, advertisement optimisation or product comparison.
The goal of the EuroSentiment project is to create a self-sustainable and profitable data pool for sharing language resources. The resource aims to be used by sentiment analysis systems, thereby extending the WordNet Domain to sentiment analysis, as well as specifying a schema for sentiment analysis and normalising the metrics used for sentiment strength.
In order to ensure not only the sustainability of the language resource pool but its business orientation, a community governance model will be defined and applied, following the successful community approach of (profitable) open source communities
Net Texts: an app for the classroom
Net Texts is a free app which organises and delivers the wealth of Open Educational Resources available on the Internet.
Net Texts helps schools replace or supplement printed textbooks with customized multimedia courses delivered to students' iPads, Android tablets and laptops.
- Teachers use the app’s Content Management Website to select existing courses or to create new courses by mixing and matching items from the library with their own educational material.
- Students use the Next Texts iPad or Android or web app to download and view these courses, filled with videos, slideshows, e-books, PDFs, text, audiobooks and links.
Stanford University collaborates with edX to develop a free, open source online learning platform
Stanford University will collaborate with edX, the non-profit online learning enterprise founded by Harvard and MIT, to advance the development of edX's open source learning platform and continue to provide free and open online learning tools for institutions around the world.
By 1 June, 2013 edX will release the source code for its entire online learning platform. In support of that move, Stanford will integrate features of its existing Class2Go open source online learning platform into the edX platform, use the integration as a platform for online coursework for on-campus and distance learners, and work collaboratively with edX and other institutions to further develop the open source platform.
The new open source platform “will help universities experiment with different ways to produce and share content, fostering continued innovation through a vibrant community of contributors", says John Mitchell, vice provost for online learning at Stanford. The university, however, will continue to provide a range of platforms for faculty to choose from in hosting their online coursework, including continued partnerships with Coursera, Venture Lab and other providers.
MIT professor Anant Agarwal, head of edX, said that the resulting open source software will help to promote a "planet-scale democratization of education." edX hopes that an open-source platform will help individual universities develop their own unique "delivery methods," which can vary widely based on unique institutional and cultural factors.
The nww learning platform source code, as well as platform developments from Stanford, edX and other contributors, will be available from June at the edX Platform Repository on Github..
Microsoft Mathematics 4.0
Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 is a free online algebra system with a friendly user interface and a step-by-step equation solver which aims to help students understand the path to a correct answer. Its powerful visualization tools also help to capture students’ imaginations and keep them engaged, allowing their comprehension to rise exponentially.
Mathematics 4.0 can help students understand mathematics, science, and tech-related concepts with powerful, easy-to use tools including a graphing calculator, unit converter, triangle solver, and equation solver.
Step-by-step solutions are provided for each problem, so students can learn problem solving skills fast and easy. An improved Computer Algebra System (CAS) helps teachers share and solve more complex equations and functions. It’s capable of handling many subjects, including pre-algebra, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, physics, and chemistry.
Handwriting recognition is also included, so all students can write out problems by hand.
Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 is part of the Microsoft Partners in Learning free online resources for educators and schools.