The research and project presented in this paper outlines the design process followed during the development of a system of social features for EF English Live, a digital platform for English language learning targeted at busy, career-minded adults. Social features can help students to learn - research shows that students learn better when they are socially, cognitively and emotionally immersed in the learning process (Callaghan, 2008). For this project, research was conducted across Europe and China, leading to a set of design principles considered to be fundamental for a social online learning community. The interactions fostered by the social features must create a sense of presence, need to be relevant to learning, should be fun and provide variety in the school experience (through challenges and varied interactions). Moreover, the community needs to reward users for their contributions, stimulating reciprocity between users, providing meaningful feedback and delivering a sense of teaching presence in order to provide support when needed. Following ideation workshops and creative design cycles, this lead to a proposed design solution, in the form of social features for the current learning platform. These features include ways to facilitate discussion, connect students and enhance teacher-student interactions. These proposed features are high-level and need to be tested and further developed in order to achieve a final design that can be delivered on the platform.
La ricerca e il progetto presentati in questo elaborato raccontano il processo di design che è stato seguito durante la creazione di un sistema di funzionalità sociali (social features) per EF English Live, una piattaforma online per l’apprendimento della lingua inglese, indirizzato ad un target adulto che vuole imparare la lingua per motivi professionali. La possibilità di interagire e socializzare con altri studenti online può favorire l’apprendimento - la ricerca mostra che gli studenti imparano meglio quando sono socialmente, cognitivamente ed emotivamente immersi nel processo di apprendimento (Callaghan, 2008). Per questo progetto, la ricerca è stata condotta in Europa e in Cina, portando alla creazione di una serie di principi progettuali, considerati fondamentali nella creazione di una comunità sociale di apprendimento online (social online learning community). Le interazioni promosse dalle funzionalità sociali devono creare un senso di presenza online, devono essere rilevanti per l’apprendimento, divertenti e devono provvedere varietà durante l’esperienze scolastica (attraverso sfide e varie interazioni). In oltre, la comunità ha bisogno di premiare gli utenti per il loro contributo, stimolando la reciprocità, fornendo feedback significativi e con valore accademico, creando un senso di supporto e affidabilità. Dopo vari workshop di ideazione e cicli iterativi, un concept è stato delineato: un sistema di funzionalità sociali da integrare all’attuale piattaforma online. Queste funzionalità facilitano l’interazione tra studenti ed insegnati online, creando collegamenti e momenti di scambio e supporto reciproco. Le funzionalità presentate in questo progetto hanno bisogno di essere testate e prototipale ulteriormente prima di essere sviluppate.
Service design for the creation and management of an online learning community. Design a service for a social language learning community for EF English Live digital platform
COLOMBO, ALICE
2015/2016
Abstract
The research and project presented in this paper outlines the design process followed during the development of a system of social features for EF English Live, a digital platform for English language learning targeted at busy, career-minded adults. Social features can help students to learn - research shows that students learn better when they are socially, cognitively and emotionally immersed in the learning process (Callaghan, 2008). For this project, research was conducted across Europe and China, leading to a set of design principles considered to be fundamental for a social online learning community. The interactions fostered by the social features must create a sense of presence, need to be relevant to learning, should be fun and provide variety in the school experience (through challenges and varied interactions). Moreover, the community needs to reward users for their contributions, stimulating reciprocity between users, providing meaningful feedback and delivering a sense of teaching presence in order to provide support when needed. Following ideation workshops and creative design cycles, this lead to a proposed design solution, in the form of social features for the current learning platform. These features include ways to facilitate discussion, connect students and enhance teacher-student interactions. These proposed features are high-level and need to be tested and further developed in order to achieve a final design that can be delivered on the platform.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2016_07_Colombo.pdf
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/122667