Papers by Donatella Persico
The Relationship Between Assessment and Evaluation in CSCL
IGI Global eBooks, Jan 18, 2011
In the educational field, evaluation is a very complex activity due to the intrinsically multidim... more In the educational field, evaluation is a very complex activity due to the intrinsically multidimensional nature of the processes to be evaluated. Several variables must be taken into consideration, and they interact and influence one another: the object and the goal of the evaluation determines the criteria, the methods, and the data to be used for the evaluation. In this chapter, we will focus on evaluation in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). In this field, a primary role is played by the monitoring process, which allows us to gather important information about the learning process while it takes place. Indeed, monitoring serves three purposes: it provides real-time data about group dynamics so that they can be used by tutors to facilitate learning and stimulate collaboration among trainees; it provides designers and evaluators with data about learning system usage that are needed to evaluate its effectiveness; finally, it supplies information about the learning process and its outcomes, thereby informing assessment. Hence, monitoring can be seen as a sort of common denominator between the methods used to foster collaborative learning and those that allow the gathering of data for the two types of evaluation.
Several decades of research in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) have clearly demonstrated the p... more Several decades of research in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) have clearly demonstrated the potential of digital technology to transform education. Yet the impact of TEL research on daily teaching-learning practices is still far from fulfilling this potential. Arguably, this is a gap in the capacity for learning design: educators need the tools and competencies which would allow them to identify educational challenges, describe the context in which they arise, identify the opportunities afforded by technology, project the insights derived from research, and devise new learning experiences. To address this gap, educators need tools and practices. Tools that would support them through the cycle of learning design -from conception to deployment and evaluation of techno-educational innovations. Professional practices that use such tools to ensure the robustness and effectiveness of their innovations and make learning design a daily habit and part of their professional identity. The METIS project (project.org/) aims to contribute to this aim, by providing educators with an Integrated Learning Design Environment (ILDE) and a workshop package for training educators in using the ILDE to support effective learning design. Work Package 3, led by the OU (UK), is concerned with the design and development of the workshop package. This deliverable is the final version of the METIS workshop package. It includes a meta-design for METIS workshops that provides a flexible reusable structure so that workshops can be customised to meet different needs , a description of the rationale and pedagogical methodology on which the metadesign is based guidance for instantiating the meta-design in different contexts and example workshop packages based on the meta-design for three different educational sectors. This document provides educators with a basis for delivering workshops about using the ILDE to support effective learning design. To create and run a workshop suitable for your own context, please proceed in the following way. Firstly, consider the meta-design; then choose one of the example workshop packages closest to your context; finally, use the guidelines to adapt it for your needs.
Journal on Educational Technology, Dec 31, 2012
Supporting Self-Regulated Learning with ICT
IGI Global eBooks, Jan 18, 2011
In this chapter we investigate whether ICT tools can support the practice and development of SRL ... more In this chapter we investigate whether ICT tools can support the practice and development of SRL and, if so, under what conditions. More specifically, we discuss what features of such environments are likely to favour SRL.
Task, Teams and Time
IGI Global eBooks, Jan 18, 2011
This chapter advocates the idea that the structuring techniques generally used to support student... more This chapter advocates the idea that the structuring techniques generally used to support students in online collaborative activities can be described in terms of three main dimensions, that we call the “three Ts”: Task, Teams and Time. The chapter presents an explorative study, aiming to investigate the differences between the behavior of three groups of students performing activities based on three techniques which differ as to the levels of structuredness of Task, Teams and Time. While the first group was not given instructions on how to structure the work, the second group was given some hints about the need to use some kind of structure and the third group had precise instructions as to how to proceed along the Task, Teams and Time dimensions. The chapter presents the authors’ reflections about the effects of these techniques based on qualitative analysis of students’ reactions to the way the three activities were structured.
Gamification and support to self-regulation as a means to promote practice sharing for teacher professional development (<i>Ludificación y fomento de la autorregulación para incentivar el intercambio de prácticas docentes en el desarrollo profesional del profesorado</i>)
Culture And Education, Sep 12, 2022
A Dashboard to Monitor Self-Regulated Learning Behaviours in Online Professional Development
International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, 2021
This paper reports on usage and impact on learning achievements of a dashboard developed to help ... more This paper reports on usage and impact on learning achievements of a dashboard developed to help monitor self-regulated learning behaviours in an online professional development path. The design of the path as well as of the dashboard were grounded on a pre-existing conceptual framework distinguishing between four different types of self-regulated learning behaviours taking place in professional learning networks and underpinning professional practice sharing. One of the objectives of the path was to promote such behaviours among participants, and the dashboard was designed to support their self-monitoring. Data were collected through usage log files analysis, a survey, and pretest and posttest. The results shed light on participants' actual usage of the dashboard, their opinion regarding its usefulness in relation of its capability to measure and support their SRL processes, and the dashboard's actual impact on their learning achievements. Moreover, some limitations in the current configuration of the dashboard emerged, which can guide further development.
A Study on Teachers’ Design Choices Regarding Online Collaborative Learning
The paper deals with a gamified approach developed to support teachers' reflection and awareness ... more The paper deals with a gamified approach developed to support teachers' reflection and awareness on a set of specific behaviours that can support informal learning. The approach adopts a metaphor, vegetable gardens to be grown, to represent the teachers' participatory practice and is enriched with specific game mechanics (tasks, goals and badges). The metaphor was reified in two different modalities: paper-based and digital. The approach was preliminary tested with two groups of teachers.
Electronic Journal of e-Learning
According to the socio-constructivist theories of learning, collaborative learning allows negotia... more According to the socio-constructivist theories of learning, collaborative learning allows negotiation of shared meanings and co-construction of new knowledge among peers. This approach fits particularly well with healthcare professional education needs, as these professionals often face challenging issues that require the ability to fully understand the complexity of the patients’ health conditions through working with others. However, while collaborative learning approaches are widely used in face-to-face nurse education contexts, their online equivalent still seem to be understudied, in spite of their great potential for the field. This systematic literature review investigates: (1) to what extent are online collaborative learning activities being adopted and investigated in formal nurse education, (2) What kind of online collaborative learning activities/techniques are proposed and what team structures are employed, (3) what technologies are used to run these learning activities,...
A Systematic Literature Review on Collaborative Learning in Nurse and Midwifery Online Training
INTED2021 Proceedings
Supporting Teachers' Professional Development on Inclusive Learning Design: A Case Study of an Erasmus+ Project
INTED2023 Proceedings
Education Sciences
This study, focused on collaborative learning approaches, aims to contribute to our understanding... more This study, focused on collaborative learning approaches, aims to contribute to our understanding of whether and how teachers propose these kinds of activities in their daily practice. Particularly, this study aims to explore teachers’ behaviour when designing such activities for their learners with respect to different learning settings (i.e., face-to-face and/or blended settings vs. fully online settings). With reference to fully online settings, the Emergency Remote Teaching that took place during the COVID-19 outbreak is used as a reference case. The results of a self-reported survey of Italian teachers (N = 268) are presented. Our conclusions indicate that Italian teachers do propose collaborative learning activities to some extent in face-to-face and/or blended settings as well as in fully online settings, with statistically significant differences both in reference to the approaches adopted and to the (technological) tools used. Nonetheless, the data also indicate that teache...
Teacher Professional Development on Social Inclusion: The PLEIADE Approach
Communications in computer and information science, 2022
Smartness dimensions in designing collaborative learning activities
2022 IEEE 21st Mediterranean Electrotechnical Conference (MELECON)
Interaction Design and Architecture(s), 2020
The 4Cs framework, concerning self-regulated professional learning in knowledge intensive domains... more The 4Cs framework, concerning self-regulated professional learning in knowledge intensive domains, is the lens through which participatory practices in learning design are investigated in this paper. The framework identifies four types of participatory behaviours: Consuming, Creating, Connecting and Contributing. A survey involving 117 Italian practicing teachers reveals that they regard all the 4Cs as important, but self-reported behaviours do not align with such beliefs. This misalignment is most significant for Connecting and Contributing behaviours (herein called altruistic behaviours). As for Consuming and Creating (individualistic behaviours), the former is rather scant while the latter is the most practiced, despite a wealth of research addressing the need to make Learning Designs reusable. Besides, the majority of the interviewees do not know the most well-known learning design tools produced by academic research. These data reveal limited impact of learning design research ...
Gaming Horizons Stakeholder Interviews - Anonymised
Anonymised transcripts of interviews carried out between March and June 2017. The interviews invo... more Anonymised transcripts of interviews carried out between March and June 2017. The interviews involved representatives from 4 stakeholder groups: game developers, researchers, educators, young players, and policy makers. The interviews explored the cultural, educational and ethical implications associated with the design and the usage of video games in European society. A report based on the findings can be downloaded from https://www.gaminghorizons.eu/deliverables/ A CSV file called Interviews metadata reports basic information for each interviewee: stakeholder type, gender and provenance.
Fostering Reflection Through Automatic Feedback in Moocs: A Strategy Leveraging on Participants’ Self-Regulated Learning Skills
ICERI Proceedings, 2019
Games and Learning: Potential and Limitations from the Players' Point of View
In recent times, numerous researchers and educators have been exploring playful learning with dig... more In recent times, numerous researchers and educators have been exploring playful learning with digital games in both formal and informal contexts. This study explores the point of view of players on the relationship between digital games and learning, based on a set of semi-structured interviews and two workshops involving relevant stakeholder groups (players, teachers, trainee teachers, and parents). Analysis of the gathered qualitative and quantitative data reveals that both players and educators agree that games have educational potential, but the assumption of blanket learner enthusiasm for game based learning is not always accurate. In particular, players have some resistance towards serious games, which are seen as less appealing than “real” videogames. In addition, some players and some teachers feel that the use of games in formal learning contexts contradicts the fundamental freedom intrinsic to the act of playing. Players are aware of the risks video-gaming presents, but th...
Telematics and distance learning
Journal on Educational Technology, 1999
Review of a publication on telematics to support the processes of distance education: "Telem... more Review of a publication on telematics to support the processes of distance education: "Telematics and distance learning"
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Papers by Donatella Persico