The implementation and evaluation of a new learning space: a pilot study

Abstract

A dramatic, pedagogical shift has occurred in recent years in educational environments in higher education, supported largely by the use of ubiquitous technologies. Increasingly, emphasis is being placed on the design of new learning spaces, often referred to as ''Next Generation Learning Spaces'' (NGLS) and their impact on pedagogy. The traditional idea of ''classroom'' now incorporates the use of both physical and virtual space. Increasing availability of digital technologies has enabled access by teachers and students to a wider range of communication and information that can now be incorporated into the formal learning process. This change has meant a greater focus on the design and use of flexible learning spaces, more use of blended learning approaches and more personalised, individualised learning opportunities for students. While many such classrooms have been built and used in universities globally, only a few formal studies have been reported on how these spaces are used by both teachers and students. This article focuses on a pilot study of the use by academic staff and students of a next generation learning space Á the Pod Room Á and makes recommendations for further research into the effectiveness of new learning spaces in universities.

Evaluating Moodle use via Smart Mobile Phones. A case study in a Greek University

“…Motivated by the above-mentioned studies, the novelty in this paper is that it is focused on the use of smartphones by the students. As many studies show, the success of web-based learning systems will not be achieved if students fail to use such systems [45]. Both the survey and interview data indicated that students used mobile phones to access Moodle for learning materials much more often than for other uses, which indicates that the use of mobile access to Moodle was still at the lowest level as suggested in [15].…”

“…During the years, various attempts to evaluate LMSs and especially Moodle as an effective learning tool have been successfully made. The majority of the studies concluded that LMSs -including Moodle -are inadequate in supporting the level of interaction, personalization, and engagement demanded by the tech-savvy students [4,7,43,45]. In fact, many studies have reported that if we want the LMSs to be used less as electronic document repositories and more as active learning tools it is necessary to provide to the new generations of students that were 'born with smartphones' and are very familiar with the latest technologies the right tools to access the educational content.…”

“…The design challenge is to optimize the LMS in such a way that the mobile site satisfies at least most of the mobile users' needs for the LMS [42]. Therefore, managers and developers of e-learning need to improve the content quality of their e-learning systems to encourage students to use them more extensively [45]. Furthermore, the findings of this study, like other studies, emphasize the importance of the LMS delivering quality content to its users, as well as the fact that it is up-to-date, easily available and relevant [1,31,43,45].…”

“…The global learning management system (LMS) market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24% during the 2016 to 2020 period [12]. Currently, there are many brands of web-based learning systems, for example, WebCT, Moodle, OLAT, and Sakai [45]. According to literature, there are three LMS generations (see Figure 1) [42].…”

“…A significant trend in universities has been to implement so-called learning management systems (LMS) (Moodle and other web-based learning systems), which are used as a common platform where students and teachers can interact digitally [8,43,45]. LMSs can offer a great variety of channels and workspaces to facilitate information sharing and communication among participants in a course [40].…”