What do we mean by making learning and teaching more attractive, effective or efficient?
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Attractiveness: Educational Technologies are more attractive when they arouse interest or engage the learners’ thought processes. Learning and teaching can be made more attractive by using mobile devices, to NOT learn at school but rather outside of school and in an authentic environment of a learning subject. On the other hand, attractiveness can also be improved in the classroom by using Virtual- and Augmented Reality and taking learners virtually to fascinating locations, and experience a learning subject with multiple senses.
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Efficiency: Educational Technologies are efficient if they are achieving maximum productivity with minimum effort or expense. But learning is actually about providing time for deep thoughts and personal development. So how do the concepts of efficiency and learning align? By making learning more efficient, we mainly focus on improving the environment and the infrastructure for learning and teaching. Many processes can be made easier and less time-consuming in educational organizations. We aim to reduce teachers’ efforts spent on tasks that can be taken over by a machine. A good example is that correcting assessments of learning can be assisted by using automated e-assessment technologies. Currently, teachers invest up to 50% of their time in assessment corrections, and can therefore spend less time on actual teaching and learner support. We also work on feedback systems for students and teachers that can provide valuable information on demand on personal teaching and learning processes.
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Effectiveness: Educational Technologies are effective when they support the production of an intended result successfully. In order to make learning more effective, we aim to provide tangible learning outcomes. A good example here is the use of 3D printing in the classroom that can be a very powerful experience for pupils who learn that they can design a 3D object in a web browser, print it overnight and have their own product the day after. Another example is data visualization, where students design meaningful visualization about their personal learning data while also developing digital literacy skills.