Jun
5
Coventry University, through the Research Impact Case, has invested in two Exploitation Events for the BEACONING project. The first BEACONING Showcase for Gamified and Pervasive Learning was held at Coventry University’s London Campus on 11th April 2019 and the second at Coventry University’s Brussels Office on 17th May 2019, with over 55 attendees across the two events, including business representatives, specialist teaching staff, European Commission staff, Advisory Board members.
Through these two events we engaged directly with over 35 new key stakeholders: representatives of industry, education, the NHS, European regions for trade and investment, many of whom said that they would be following up on the event by presenting information on BEACONING within their own organisation. The audience also included potential clients for the BEACONING consortium partners.
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May
31
The results of the three experiments carried out to validate the Beaconing Learning Analytics System have been accepted for publication at the Computer in Human Behavior journal (journal ranking Q1, Impact Factor 3.536).
The three pilots included on the article are:
Conectado: game designed as a tool to be used by the teachers in the classroom to address bullying and cyberbullying. GLA was used in Conectado to improve validation and deployment in schools. DownTown: game designed for promoting independence in users with intellectual disabilities; and its use of GLA illustrates how to
validate a game design in situations where information cannot be directly gathered from the users. First Aid Game: game designed to teach first-aid maneuvers to teenagers, and had already been formally validated. The use of GLA for the First Aid Game focuses on improving the evaluation and deployment of games by applying data mining models to predict students’ knowledge after playing based on interaction data. The abstract of the article is as follows:
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May
28
On May 17, 2019 a team from Coventry University, BIBA, ORT, ATS, Hands Free Computing and Geomotion, has been organised a workshop on Gamified and Pervasive Learning : “DG Education and Culture” at Brussels, presenting hybrid learning solutions in education, introducing the results of the BEACONING project. The event, which attracted nearly 30 participants, included an introduction to the EU Framework for Innovation in Learning by a representative of DG EAC, European Commission, and finished with a networking lunch with a demonstration of the different solutions available through the BEACONING platform.
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May
2
How much do you know about one of the most remarkable women from Romania and Europe, Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu? Highlighting the contributions of women to STEM, this video aims to enable a better understanding of the life and of the significance of the work of Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu. Through her pioneering research in geology and chemistry, she serves as a role model and an inspiration to the next generation of female innovators. Her love of science led her to apply to do a degree at the School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest, but she was rejected because of her gender. Determined to follow her dreams at a time when women were not accepted in technical schools, Elisa enrolls at the Royal Technical Academy in Berlin. As the first female candidate in the history of the academy, she has faced a lot of adversity and many have tried to convince her to quit. History says one of the teachers, seeing her in the hall, cried out: “In the kitchen, there’s the women’s place, not the Polytechnic!” Even the Dean tried to use the argument that women should concentrate on “Kirche, Kinder, Küche” (church, children, cooking) to discourage her. Despite all, she graduates three years later in 1912, becoming a chemist engineer - the first female engineer in Romania, and the first female engineering graduating in Germany. She researched the production of copper sulphate, which would be used to destroy harmful fungi on cultivated plants, and developed an effective method of manufacturing it from copper ore. She also studied mineral waters in Romania, and the composition of water for industrial consumption. Another study looked at the use of bentonite in wine filtration - bentonite is still used to clarify wine today. Her personal life can be compared to the one of Marie and Pierre Curie in terms of profession, modesty, and also because she had two daughters: Măriuca and Ancuţa Zoe. During the First World War, Elisa joined the Red Cross as a volunteer nurse and led several camp hospitals in the Mărășești area. For her work, her dedication, abnegation and courage she has received several distinctions, including, the “Medal of War of the French Republic”. What a life! And what can be better than games to create engaging learning experiences? Through a location-based game, the video presents in an interactive way information on her career and on her research. Following Elisa’s steps, join us in this challenge and discover her contributions to the field of engineering and the institutions where she worked.
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Apr
8
What happens when Primary and Secondary School Teachers from different countries get together to apply the BEACONING solution to their own educational contexts and then collaborate?
In the BEACONING training event at Coventry University’s Disruptive Media Learning Lab on 4th and 5th April 2019, we found out!
10 teachers representing Primary and Secondary Schools in Coventry UK, Malta, Norway, Poland and Greece took part in a ‘Special Request’ training as part of their participation in the 3-year Erasmus+ FIND Project - Future Inventors, New Discoveries. The aim of the FIND Project is to develop innovative teaching methods in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths subjects and to help children to develop a lifelong interest in these subjects. Coventry University’s team were asked to provide training on the BEACONING solution for visiting teachers during their final exchange visit, so that they can use it in their own schools and share their knowledge of BEACONING with colleagues.
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