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The Presentation Trainer is a multimodal tool designed to support the practice of public speaking skills, by giving the user real-time feedback about different aspects of her nonverbal communication. It tracks the user's voice and body to interpret her current performance. Based on this performance the Presentation Trainer selects the type of intervention that will be presented as feedback to the user. This feedback mechanism has been designed taking in consideration the results from previous studies that show how difficult it is for learners to perceive and correctly interpret realtime feedback while practicing their speeches. In this paper we present the user experience evaluation of participants who used the Presentation Trainer to practice for an elevator pitch, showing that the feedback provided by the Presentation Trainer has a significant influence on learning.

In recent years sensor components have been extending classical computer-based support systems in a variety of applications domains (sports, health, etc.). In this article we review the use of sensors for the application domain of learning. For that we analyzed 82 sensor-based prototypes exploring their learning support. To study this learning support we classified the prototypes according to the Bloom's taxonomy of learning domains and explored how they can be used to assist on the implementation of formative assessment, paying special attention to their use as feedback tools. The analysis leads to current research foci and gaps in the development of sensor-based learning support systems and concludes with a research agenda based on the findings.

Background. Programming is a challenging and highly important topic for introducing learners to our digital world. Research has shown that motivation plays a key role in programming performance. Gamification using digital badges has the potential to influence motivation, provide social recognition and encourage learner participation. More research is recommended to evaluate its motivational impact in different contexts. Intervention. This research explores the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of introductory programming students within a higher education institution. The course is offered during the first year of the programme. We report the results of a baseline study without badges and four subsequent badge experiments of different designs over a four-year period. Methods. This quasi-experimental study followed a pre-test/post-test design to measure the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of university-level introductory programming students. Badges were designed and implemented. Feedback via focus groups and a post-badge survey was collected. Results. Findings are inconclusive as the quantitative results suggest that badges did not increase intrinsic motivation scores. Contrastingly, badge survey and qualitative data indicate that badges were received more positively on average. Discussion. We analyse and discuss the results within the context of motivation and the programming discipline, and discuss external factors that may impact the relationship between gamification and motivation. Conclusion. Further research is necessary to investigate whether gamification, through the use of digital badges, can foster positive intrinsic motivational results, particularly in the well-known challenging domain of introductory programming.

The provision of lifelong learning facilities is considered to be a major new direction for higher and distance teaching educational institutes catering for the demands of industry and society. ICT networks will in future support seamless, ubiquitous access to lifelong learning facilities at home, at work, in schools and universities. This implies the development of new ways of organizing learning delivery that that goes beyond course and programmecentric models. It envisions a learner-centred, learner-controlled model of distributed lifelong learning. We present a conceptual model for the support of lifelong learning which is based on notions from self-organization theory, learning communities, agent technologies and learning technology specifications such as IMS Learning Design. An exploratory implementation has been developed and used in practice. We reflect on the findings and future directions. 2 Lifelong Learning NetworksBoth higher and distance education are currently exploring the new possibilities offered by eLearning. Today we find new, collaborative initiatives such as virtual universities, consortia and digital universities, which aspire to share learning resources, increase the quantity and quality of educational services, and explore new markets, particularly in the field of lifelong learning (Brookfield, 1987;Cross-Durrant, 1987;Jarvis, 1987;Smith, 1996Smith, , 2001.The underlying idea is that 'lifelong learning' will ultimately provide a major service catering for the needs and demands of industry and society as a whole (Tuijnman, 1992;Ragget, 1996;Schuetze, 2000). Lifelong learning is the concept that refers to the activities a person performs throughout their life to improve their knowledge, skills and competence in a particular field, given some personal, societal or employment related motives (Aspin & Chapman, 2000;Field, 2001;Griffin, 1999).To achieve these aims, educational institutions must offer facilities that meet the needs of learners at various levels of competence throughout their lives. People must be able to use lifelong learning facilities to upgrade their knowledge, skills and competence in a discipline as required. They can also contribute to the facilities by sharing knowledge and supporting other learners. Lifelong learners are not merely consumers of learning facilities, but can be asked to actively contribute to the facilities themselves (Fischer & Ostwald, 2002).A promising approach to lifelong learning is to use ICT networks to connect distributed learners and providers in a discipline to establish Learning Networks (LNs). ICT networks can support seamless, ubiquitous access to learning facilities at work, at home and in schools and universities. Learning resources from providers such as schools, companies, libraries and the learners themselves can be made available from a single point of access and learners can be helped to perform certain tasks more efficiently by including software support.The use of ICT networks implies the development of new ways of organizing...