F UTURE L EARNING E NVIRONMENT h t t p : / / f l e . u i a h . f i

1. FUTURE LEARNINGENVIRONMENTh t t p : / / f l e . u i a h . f i Teemu Leinonen teemu.leinonen@mlab.uiah.fi UIAH Media Lab, University of Art and Design Helsinki

2. Future Learning Environment R&D Project Research Partners • UIAH Media Lab, University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland • Applied Cognitive Science Research Group, Dept. of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland • Media Education Centre, University of Helsinki, Finland • Savonlinna Dept. of Teacher Education, University of Joensuu, Finland Industrial Partners • Sonera Ltd (Telecom Finland) • Grey Interactive Ltd • WSOY Publishing Ltd • Apple Computer Finland Financing • TEKES (Finnish Technology Development Centre) • Finnish Ministry of Education • Industrial & Research Partners

3. The Aims of the FLE-Project • To research and develop innovative ways of using new media in the field of collaborative learning • To develop a www platform supporting collaborative learning and thinking • To build new ways of sharing educational www based multimedia material

4. FLE Design Principles • Problem-based and inquiry learning • Collaborative building of knowledge • Collaborative design process • Sharing of expertise

5. Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning • Shared knowledge advancement by members of a course • Questions and problems guide the process of progressive inquiry • New knowledge is constructed through solving problems of explanation and understanding

6. Collaborative Building of Knowledge • Questions and explanations derived from users’ own understanding and scientific information • Tools for working with knowledge objects like explanations, theories, hypothesis, and interpretations • Tools for monitoring the learning process

7. Collaborative Design Process • Engaging users to generate new design ideas • Collaboratively work to further develop their ideas • Tools for sharing conceptual and visual design ideas

8. Sharing of Expertise • Creating a learning community with shared goals • Support for expert-like processing of information • Multiple modules for representing user’s various fields of expertise • Tools for monitoring advancement of comprehension in scientific and design inquiry

9. Technical Background

10. What is FLE Server Software? • WWW-platform on the Internet for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) • FLE-software can be accessed through Internet (TCP/IP) with any HTML 3.2 compliant browser e.g. Netscape Navigator 3 (or later)

11. Technical Background • A Client/server system using www browsers, a www server, application • Server and a persistent storage (e.g. database) • Programmed in an object oriented language called Python • Scalable to a large number of concurrent users and transactions • Freely available for non-commercial educational use, commercial use licenses available for a fee • Available as pre-compiled self-containing installations for multiple platforms (1st quarter/2000) • Most of the source code available for modification under a request

12. Modules Presentation

13. FLE Modules • Virtual WebTop • Knowledge Building Module • Jam Session Module • Library • People • Administration

14. The Virtual WebTop

15. The Virtual WebTop • A personal desktop in the environment • To store and share digital materials with fellow users • Access to evaluation tools • Access to thinking tools • Viewing and sending personal short messages

16. The Knowledge Building (KB) Module

17. The Knowledge Building (KB) Module • Shared space for discussion and conferencing • The discussion is constructed around the “Deep Principles” of the field • Messages posted to the database labeled with a “Category of Inquiry” reflecting a step in inquiry • Categories of scientific and design inquiry are default sets, other sets can be defined by course administrator

18. The Jam Session Module

19. The Jam Session Module • Experimentation with representation of ideas, concepts and sketches • Collaborative construction of digital artifacts • Storing different versions of objects being developed • Representing the elaboration process graphically

20. The Library

21. The Library • Shared documents in various formats: text, graphics, audio, video, multimedia, or www-links • Space to publish and browse multimedia learning materials • Allows tutor to select relevant parts for course material

22. The People

23. The People • User-database, information entered by user • Defining user-groups: basic users, tutors and system administrators

24. The Administration

25. The Administration • Creating new, removing and editing courses • Uploading and removing course materials • Adding new users and tutors, removing and editing access rights

26. History & Milestones • Background work for FLE project at UIAH Media Lab is carried out (9/97) • FLE-project received funding from Tekes, OPM and industrial partners, such as Sonera, Apple Finland and Grey Interactive (2/98) • FLE project is started at UIAH Media lab in co-operation with industrial partners and Dept of Psychology and Dept. of Media Education, University of Helsinki • Development of the FLE software prototype (v.1.0) is started in close cooperation with the industrial partners (4/98)

27. FLE software (v.1.0) goes into limited testing at university level cases • FLE software (v.1.0) evaluated by Dept. of Psychology and Dept. of Media Education, University of Helsinki (9/98) • First learning evaluation results are presented at international conferences during 1999 • FLE software (v.2.0) development is started to make the software freely available for educational use in the future (6/99) • Development on a new freely available software code for FLE Modules started at UIAH Media Lab with the cooperation of GMD, Germany

28. FLE and Progressive Inquiry

29. Elements of Progressive Inquiry [Hakkarainen 1998] Constructing Working Theories Setting up Research Questions Critical Evaluation Creating the Context Distributed Expertise Developing New Working Theories Searching Deepening Knowledge Generating Subordinate Questions

30. Creating Context • Anchoring central conceptual principles of the domain of knowledge • Establishing the learning community • Joint planning and setting up of goals

31. Setting up Research Questions • Generating problems and questions to direct the inquiry • Studying is a problem solving process • Large initial questions get more defined in the process

32. Constructing Working Theories • Phenomena are explained with existing background knowledge • Creates a culture for writing about own thinking and reasoning • Intended to make gaps in own knowledge and understanding more explicit

33. Critical Evaluation • Assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of different explanations and approaches • Helps the learning community to direct and regulate joint cognitive efforts • Evaluation of what knowledge and skills are needed in the inquiry process

34. Searching Deepening Knowledge • The questions and working theories direct the search for more information and answers

35. Generating Subordinate Questions • Transformation of initial general and unspecific questions into more specific questions • Focusing inquiry to specific research questions

36. Constructing New Working Theories • New theories built on own explanations and deepening scientific knowledge • Summaries of own and shared learning

37. Shared Expertise • Relying on socially distributed cognitive resources • Diversity in expertise among course participants promotes knowledge advancement

38. FLE and Design Process

39. Design Process and Distributed Expertise [Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, 1998] Defining the Design Task Creating a Working Idea Critical Evaluation Design Context Distributed Expertise Searching Deepening Knowledge Developing New Working Ideas Redefining the Design Task

40. Design Context • Anchoring

41. Defining the Design Task • Generating

42. Creating a Working Idea • Phenomena

43. Critical Evaluation • Assessment

44. Searching Deepening Knowledge • The questions and working theories direct the search for more information and answers

45. Redefining Design Task • Transformation

46. Developing New Working Ideas • New theories

47. Shared Expertise • Relying on socially distributed cognitive resources • Diversity in expertise among course participants promotes knowledge advancement

48. Knowledge-Building in Design Process [Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, 1998] Constraints Composition Space Construction Space

49. Case: Prematurely Born Babies

50. Collaborative Cloth-Design Project’s Organization Co-ordinating teachers: • FLE-teacher Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Course Organizatior Päivi Aikasalo, Visual Art Teacher Tarja Salo Students: • 34 first-year textile students Partners: • The Association of The Friends of The University Children’s Hospital in Finland & Helsinki University Hospital (Department of Prematurely Born Babies) & Nanso co.