Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown) | The Open University (original) (raw)

Papers by Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown)

Personalisation of learning is a recurring trend in our society, referred to in government speech... more Personalisation of learning is a recurring trend in our society, referred to in government speeches, popular media, conference and research papers and technological innovations. This latter aspect—of using personalisation in technology-enhanced learning (TEL)—has promised much but has not always lived up to the claims made. Personalisation is often perceived to be a positive phenomenon, but it is often difficult to know how to implement it effectively within educational technology.

In order to address this problem, we propose a framework for the analysis and creation of personalised TEL. This article outlines and explains this framework with examples from a series of case studies. The framework serves as a valuable resource in order to change or consolidate existing practice and suggests design guidelines for effective implementations of future personalised TEL.

IEEE Transactions on …, Jan 1, 2009

Proceedings of the 15th …, Jan 1, 2006

In this paper we will describe AnswerTree, a collaborative mobile location-based educational game... more In this paper we will describe AnswerTree, a collaborative mobile location-based educational game designed to teach 8-12 year olds about trees within the University of campus. The activity is designed around collecting cards (similar to Top Trumps) with information about notable trees. Each player begins by collecting one card then other players gain further cards by answering questions using the knowledge shared by a current cardholder. This allows each player to be a subject expert at the start of the game and requires interaction in order that the game is successfully completed. In this initial paper we will outline the structure and background of the game. The game is based on the Hyperplace framework and is a first implementation of a wider process to develop a flexible, multi-purpose platform for location-based mobile learning (both individual and collaborative).

Proceedings of mLearn …, Jan 1, 2009

Proceedings of the 18th conference on Hypertext and hypermedia - HT '07, 2007

This paper describes the design and initial testing of AnswerPro, a mobile academic peer support ... more This paper describes the design and initial testing of AnswerPro, a mobile academic peer support system for UK Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils (11-16 year olds). AnswerPro is a web application that enables pupils to seek support from their knowledgeable peers on various subjects. This paper correlates the findings from a previous requirements-gathering exercise, and from research into academic motivation, to propose design elements embedded within AnswerPro. A pilot study was conducted with 7 school pupils over 3 weeks. Participants then engaged in a focus group which discussed their experience using AnswerPro and the motivational elements embedded within it. Findings from their use of AnswerPro, and from the subsequent discussion, highlighted some problems with the embedded motivational features. As a result, suggestions for potential solutions and their merits are proposed for the next version of AnswerPro.

The idea behind Situ8 is a simple one: enable learners to browse and/or create their own content ... more The idea behind Situ8 is a simple one: enable learners to browse and/or create their own content that is geolocated, i.e. somehow related to a physical place in the “real world” (FitzGerald, 2012a). It was inspired by the popular mScape platform (Stenton et al., 2007), that enabled users to attach multimedia content to a map and deploy it through a mobile device, with such media being ‘triggered’ by a user’s geographical position, as measured by GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. However, unlike mScape, Situ8 allows both the creation and delivery of geolocated media i.e. it is a two-process.

International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, Dec 2013

In this paper, we examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Pre... more In this paper, we examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Previous work in the field of mobile learning has included AR as a component of a wider toolkit but little has been done to discuss the phenomenon in detail or to examine in a balanced fashion its potential for learning, identifying both positive and negative aspects. We seek to provide a working definition of AR and to examine how it can be embedded within situated learning in outdoor settings. We classify it according to key aspects (device/technology, mode of interaction/learning design, type of media, personal or shared experiences, whether the experience is portable or static, and the learning activities/outcomes). We discuss the technical and pedagogical challenges presented by AR, before looking at ways in which it can be used for learning. Finally, the paper looks ahead to AR technologies that may be employed in the future.

The Open University has published the second in its influential series of Innovating Pedagogy rep... more The Open University has published the second in its influential series of Innovating Pedagogy reports that explore new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers. The 2013 report updates four previous areas of innovation and introduces six new ones: Crowd Learning, Learning from Gaming, Maker Culture, Geo-Learning, Digital Scholarship and Citizen Inquiry. The report can be downloaded from www.open.ac.uk/innovating.

This position paper gives exemplars of location-based ‘in the wild’ learning and their relationsh... more This position paper gives exemplars of location-based ‘in the wild’ learning and their relationship to GeoHCI, and also describes the challenges and research questions inherent in doing so. We present several projects that encompass both formal and informal learning experiences. We discuss the issues arising from the use of outdoor in the wild ‘blended spaces’ to change geoscience practices, together with a suggestion that we should also be considering a more responsible and scalable approach when designing these interventions.

Researchers designing and deploying technologies in the wild can find it difficult to balance pur... more Researchers designing and deploying technologies in the wild can find it difficult to balance pure innovation with scalable solutions. Tensions often relate to expectations around current and future roles of the technology development. We propose a catwalk technology metaphor where researchers as boundary creatures focus on innovation whilst providing links to prêt-à-porter (ready to wear) developments. Evidence from 140 participants, within three ‘in-the-wild’ field-based learning case studies (for mobile, distributed, sensor and augmented reality systems), conceptualise the researchers’ ‘boundary creature’ role in managing design process tensions. Stakeholders, including participants, expected the research projects to produce ready to wear (prêt-à-porter) boundary objects for current practices even when researchers sought to take catwalk approaches by innovating technologies and changing practices. The researcher design role (RDR) model articulates researchers’ narratives with the design team, stakeholders and users around what is innovated (e.g. technology, activities) and how the intervention changes or sustains current practices.

This paper describes and compares two audio guides used to inform the general public about local ... more This paper describes and compares two audio guides used to inform the general public about local historical events, specifically the 1831 Reform Riot as it happened in and around Nottingham in the UK. One audio guide consisted of a guided walk, organised and produced by a local community history group, where members of the group performed spoken narratives at specific points of interest around Nottingham city centre, delivered to a large group of participants. The other guide was a trail of geolocated audio files, created by the same community history group and delivered via location-aware smartphones to a smaller group of participants. This second guide provided similar historical information at the same points of interest as the guided walk, authored using a third party software app that employed a mapping facility to trigger audio events at specified locations. Our central research question was to examine how these experiences differed, or were similar; whether they provided an effective means of learning by the general public about local historical events; and how these kinds of techniques can be used in the future or by other community groups.

Educational field trips are a part of the curriculum for many subject areas and with different ag... more Educational field trips are a part of the curriculum for many subject areas and with different age groups. The purpose of the field trip is generally to remove students from their normal, everyday, classroom setting and put them into an environment that enables them to have experiences which they otherwise might not. Some broad objectives of field trips include the acquisition of knowledge through observing, interpreting and modelling; the development of technical skills such as the use of specific equipment through recording, testing and analysis; the creation of new perspectives though experiencing, interpreting, reflection and evaluation; and the development of transferrable skills suited to the workplace (Clark, 1996).

"Museums are designed as social spaces. They are places where people can talk, share experiences,... more "Museums are designed as social spaces. They are places where people can talk, share experiences, and create collective memories. The spatial layout of exhibits allows groups of visitors to view and converse. Talk is encouraged and staff are employed to support families, school groups and tours. Yet much of the computer technology that has been introduced into museums is for individual rather than collaborative use. Handheld guides have been designed to be held up to the ear and multimedia museum displays usually have a single small screen. Recent developments such as museum guide applications for mobile phones continue the theme of supporting the solitary museum visitor. It is not surprising that some curators regard computer technologies as barriers to social engagement with the museum (Tallon & Walker, 2008).

Since the 1960s attempts have been made to design more social museum technology, including dual earpieces for audio guides (Tallon, 2008), quiz questions for pairs of museum users equipped with communicating handheld devices (Yatani, Onuma, Sugimoto & Kusunoki, 2004), multimedia displays that allow visitors to leave opinions and arguments relating to museum exhibits for others to view and respond (Hsi, 1997), and the use of social media to provoke conversations around museum collections (Johnson, et al., 2010). While these have had varying success in connecting and engaging visitors, they can create a fragmented experience where the visitor’s attention is divided between the museum environment, the technology and the social interaction. In this chapter we explore how narrative structures can create threads of experience that connect visitors with museum exhibits and with the narratives woven by other groups of visitors through their conversations and interactions. Computer technology can be designed to anchor these narratives to locations and enhance them through social interactions to create memorable experiences that can be replayed and shared.

The chapter draws on the model of ‘explicit interactivity’ proposed by the US game designer Eric Zimmerman (Zimmerman, 2004), where interactive objects in the environment combine to tell a story, presenting individuals or groups (who may variously be termed audience, players, readers or users) with opportunities to affect the content of the story as it is being delivered. The human participants, computer applications, and locations intermingle to form narratives that unfold through a combination of human-computer interactions and physical movements around the space."

This short paper is aimed at inspiring dialogue and debate around the theoretical perspectives un... more This short paper is aimed at inspiring dialogue and debate around the theoretical perspectives underpinning research into learning in technology-enhanced augmented places, and the engagement by such learners with blended environments/spaces. The author argues that current theories do not fully model or explain our interactions with technology-enhanced physical environments and that a new theory that combines aspects of these may be required in order to fully understand the way in which we move, interact and learn within such surroundings.

In this paper, we examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Pre... more In this paper, we examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Previous work in the field of mobile learning has included AR as a component of a wider toolkit for mobile learning but, to date, little has been done that discusses the phenomenon in detail or that examines its potential for learning, in a balanced fashion that identifies both positive and negative aspects of AR. We seek to provide a working definition of AR and examine how it is embedded within situated learning in outdoor settings. We also attempt to classify AR according to several key aspects (device/technology; mode of interaction; type of media involved; personal or shared experiences; if the experience is portable or static; and the learning activities/outcomes). We discuss the technical and pedagogical challenges presented by AR before looking at ways in which AR can be used for learning. Lastly, the paper looks ahead to what AR technologies may be on the horizon in the near future.

IEEE Transactions on …, Jan 1, 2009

Proceedings of the 15th …, Jan 1, 2006

Proceedings of mLearn …, Jan 1, 2009

Proceedings of the 18th conference on Hypertext and hypermedia - HT '07, 2007

International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, Dec 2013

In this paper, we examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Pre... more In this paper, we examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Previous work in the field of mobile learning has included AR as a component of a wider toolkit for mobile learning but, to date, little has been done that discusses the phenomenon in detail or that examines its potential for learning, in a balanced fashion that identifies both positive and negative aspects of AR. We seek to provide a working definition of AR and examine how it is embedded within situated learning in outdoor settings. We also attempt to classify AR according to several key aspects (device/technology; mode of interaction; type of media involved; personal or shared experiences; if the experience is portable or static; and the learning activities/outcomes). We discuss the technical and pedagogical challenges presented by AR before looking at ways in which AR can be used for learning. Lastly, the paper looks ahead to what AR technologies may be on the horizon in the near future.