A Case Study in the Design of Educational Widgets to Support the Concept of an Adaptable Personal Learning Environment

Dr Voula Gkatzidou, Dr Elaine Pearson

Accessibility Research Centre

Teesside University, UK

Adaptable Personal Learning Environment

The WIDE Project Aims:

To identify appropriate learning designs (digital and non-digital) derived from practice that can be re-purposed as widgets

To extend the functionality and flexibility of VLEs to enable institutions to meet the needs of learners with disabilities

The WIDE Project

Agile Development Methodology

Lightweight approach suitable for collaborative project Based on iterative and incremental development

Requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration

Involved community of practice Staff involved directly in teaching or support of disabled students

Informal team approach:

Designs formulated Specification outlined Prototypes developed Feedback ilicited Amendments made Widget Released for evaluation, use & adaptation

The WIDE Project

Workshops:

(Leeder, D. 2009)

The WIDE Project Technical implementation:

Apache Wookie – Java server application to upload and deploy widgets

Based on the W3C Widget specification

Opera widgets

Windows applications

The WIDE Project Output:

A suite of bespoke learning tools specifically adapted to the needs of disable students

A number of templates that can be re-used and adapted to create new widgets.

A set of services and APIs to allow advanced features

A large Community of Practice drawn from the participants and evaluators

The WIDE Project Classification:

Type: tools, applications and learning objects

Purpose: Task management, time management, learning aids, independence tools,

assistive technology, social network tools, content free applications

Features: Self-contained, Access to DB, Access to web services, Media content, GPS,

Access to Operating System,…

Development platform: Wookie, Opera, Windows apps

Toward Mash-up PLEs

An open set of learning tools

Need for interaction between widgets

Framework for collaboration with the institutional system

Conclusion

Widgets can easily be adapted or re-purposed to meet specific needs and preferences

Widgets offer the level of granularity required to support personalisation

http://arc.tees.ac.uk/widgat/

A Case Study in the Design of Educational Widgets to Support the Concept of an Adaptable Personal Learning Environment

Dr Voula Gkatzidou, Dr Elaine Pearson

Accessibility Research Centre

Teesside University, UK