Over the last two decades, institutions for higher education such as universities and colleges have rapidly expanded and as a result have experienced profound changes in processes of research and organization. However, the rapid expansion and change has fuelled concerns about issues such as educators' technology professional development. Despite the educational value of emerging technologies in schools, the introduction has not yet enjoyed much success. Effective use of information and communication technologies requires a substantial change in pedagogical practice. Traditional training and learning approaches cannot cope with the rising demand on educators to make use of innovative technologies in their teaching. As a result, educational institutions as well as the public are more and more aware of the need for adequate technology professional development. The focus of this paper is to look at action research as a qualitative research methodology for studying technology professional development in HE in order to improve teaching and learning with ICTs at the tertiary level. The data discussed in this paper have been drawn from a cross institutional setting at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. The data were collected and analysed according to a qualitative approach.
Computational thinking (CT) has become a necessity in many professional domains. As such, scholars argue that the acquisition of CT and application should be embedded in existing school subjects. Within the CT literature, a tax-onomy distinguishes CT practices in STEM education into four categories: data related, systems thinking, modeling & simulation and computational problem solving (CPSP). Practical applications of these different categories are still limited. This paper presents three examples in which edu-cators of science teachers integrate CT within STEM con-tent knowledge using the above mentioned taxonomy. The first example applies to CPSP and data practices, the sec-ond to CPSP exclusively, the final to systems thinking and modeling & simulation. The examples provide practical insight that makes the use of CT in STEM education more tangible for practitioners.
We found out that 25 % of our students came to study at the Electrical & Electronic Engineering department (E&E) because they were active (as a hobby) in music. Because of this the E&E department offers their students to work in video and audio themes in all projects of their education. From our inquiries we found out what students interests are and we use these interests for new project themes. The study has been changed in such a way that it is possible to have these project themes twice in every semester. Amongst them are, besides music, e.g. medical, sports, automotive and mechatronics. Other inquiries show that 47 % of our students choose for ICT because they are interested in computers or programming or do this for their hobby. Inspired by this the ICT department defined four new fields of interest: game design, management & security, mobile computing and life style. Both E&E and ICT connect the projects in their courses directly to industry and in this way students and lecturers are intensively involved in industry. From two surveys we learned that working this way is an excellent way to get students motivated and gives them drive and enjoyment in their study.
My research investigates the concept of permacomputing, a blend of the words permaculture and computing, as a potential field of convergence of technology, arts, environmental research and activism, and as a subject of future school curricula in art and design. This concept originated in online subcultures, and is currently restricted to creative coding communities. I study in what way permacomputing principles may be used to redefine how art and design education is taught. More generally, I want to research the potential of permacomputing as a critical, sustainable, and practical alternative to the way digital technology is being taught in art education, where students mostly rely on tools and techniques geared towards maximising productivity and mass consumption. This situation is at odds with goals for sustainable production and consumption. I want to research to what degree the concept of permacomputing can be broadened and applied to critically revised, sustainable ways of making computing part of art and design education and professional practice. This research will be embedded in the design curriculum of Willem de Kooning Academy, focused on redefining the role of artists and designers to contribute to future modes of sustainable organisation and production. It is aligned with Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences sectorplan masters VH, in particular managing and directing sustainable transitions. This research builds upon twenty years of experience in the creative industries. It is an attempt to generalise, consolidate, and structure methods and practices for sustainable art and design production experimented with while I was course director of a master programme at WdKA. Throughout the research I will be exchanging with peers and confirmed interested parties, a.o.: Het Nieuwe Instituut (NL), RUAS Creating 010 kenniscentrum (NL), Bergen Centre for Electronic Arts (NO), Mikrolabs (NO), Varia (NL), Media Arts department at RHU (UK), Media Studies at UvA (NL).
De robot assistent is een nieuwe, veelbelovende technologie om docenten te ondersteunen en leerprestaties te verbeteren. Echter, een moreel kader voor een aanvaardbare inzet van zulke robots mist nog.Doel Het doel van dit project is, het creëren van een richtlijn, in samenwerking met stakeholders, voor het toepassen van robots in het basisonderwijs op een moreel verantwoorde manier. Resultaten Het hoofddoel van dit project is het creëren van een richtlijn voor het moreel verantwoord toepassen van sociale robots in het Nederlandse basisonderwijs. Deze richtlijn kan worden gebruikt door alle belangrijke belanghebbenden, zoals leraren, robotbedrijven en schoolbesturen, bij het nemen van beslissingen over het ontwerpen, bouwen en toepassen van sociale robots. Looptijd 01 november 2017 - 01 november 2021 Aanpak Dit project maakt gebruik van de Value Sensitive Design Methodology. Ten eerste voeren we een grootschalig systematisch literatuuronderzoek uit om de relevante morele waarden te identificeren. Daarna houden we focusgroepsessies met belanghebbenden om deze waarden verder te conceptualiseren. Op basis van de focusgroepsessies zullen we een enquête ontwikkelen om kwantitatieve gegevens over de stakeholderperspectieven te verkrijgen. Deze onderzoeken vormen de basis voor de richtlijnen. Extra informatie Stel je voor: een robot die de leerkracht helpt in de klas. Interview met Matthijs Smakman voor De Nationale Wetenschapsagenda (NWA) Relevantie Bijdrage aan de wetenschap Meerdere studies benadrukken de dringende behoefte aan ethische reflectie en richtlijnen voor robotleraren en theoretisch integratie van de tot dusver bekende, gefragmenteerde resultaten. Dit promotieonderzoek beoogt dit te doen door het ontwikkelen van een nieuwe moraaltheorie over de ethische opvattingen die verbonden zijn aan de implementatie van robotleraren, en test de theoretische aannames empirisch. De resultaten zullen worden verspreid op wetenschappelijke conferenties, debatten en in tijdschriftpublicaties. Bijdrage aan de samenleving De angst en implicaties van intelligente robots die banen overnemen, maakt deel uit van een internationaal debat (Brynjolfsson & McAfree, 2016) en zal een grote impact hebben op de taken van docenten. Robotleraren zijn een perfecte kandidaat om te helpen leraren in hun toenemende werkdruk. Er moet echter voorzichtig worden omgegaan met het introduceren van robotleraren in het klas. Dit doctoraatsonderzoek erkent de morele overwegingen en zorgt voor de nodige theoretische basis om een richtlijn te ontwikkelen voor de implementatie van robotleraren op een moreel gepaste manier. De resultaten wordt via websites, videoclips en maatschappelijke debatten aan het publiek getoond. Co-financiering Dit onderzoek is gefinancierd door NWO, Promotiebeurs voor Leraren, projectnumer: 023.00.066 Aanvullende documenten en doorverwijzingen Publicaties Smakman, M.H.J.; Konijn, E.A.; Vogt, P.; Pankowska, P. Attitudes towards Social Robots in Education: Enthusiast, Practical, Troubled, Sceptic, and Mindfully Positive. Robotics 2021, 10, 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics10010024 Smakman, M., Berket, J., Konijn, E. A. (2020, October). The Impact of Social Robots in Education: Moral Considerations of Dutch Educational Policymakers. In 2020 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) (pp. 647-652). IEEE. Van Ewijk, G., Smakman, M., & Konijn, E. A. (2020, June). Teacher's perspectives on social robots in education: an exploratory case study. In Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference (pp. 273-280). Konijn, E.A., Smakman, M. & van den Berghe, R. (2020). Use of Robots in Education. In: van den Bulck, J., Sharrer, E., Ewoldsen, D. & Mares, M-L. (Eds). The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology. Wiley Publisher Smakman, M., Jansen, B., Leunen, J., & Konijn, E. (2020) Acceptable Social Robots in Education: A Value Sensitive Parent Perspective. In INTED2020 Proceedings (pp 7946-7953). Smakman M., Konijn E.A. (2020) Robot Tutors: Welcome or Ethically Questionable?. In: Merdan M., Lepuschitz W., Koppensteiner G., Balogh R., Obdržálek D. (eds) Robotics in Education. RiE 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1023. Springer, Cham Goudzwaard, M., Smakman, M., & Konijn, E. A. (2019). Robots are Good for Profit: A Business Perspective on Robots in Education. 2019 Joint IEEE 9th International Conference on Development and Learning and Epigenetic Robotics (ICDL- EpiRob), 54–60. https://doi.org/10.1109/DEVLRN.2019.8850726 Video Stel je voor: een robot die de leerkracht helpt in de klas
An efficient and sustainable logistics process is essential for logistics companies to remain competitive and to manage the dynamic demands and service requirements. Specifically, the first- and last-mile hub-to-hub (inter) logistics is one of the most difficult operations to manage due to low volumes, repetitive operation and short-distance transport, and relatively high waiting times. With the advancements in Industry 4.0 technologies (Internet of Things, Big Data, Cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence), the consortium partners expect that the intelligent and connected technology is a viable solution to improve operational efficiency, coordination, and sustainability of this inter-hub logistics. Despite the promising potential, the impact of technology on inter- and intra-hub (inside hub) logistics operations (such as transportation, communication, and planning) is not well-established. The focus of STEERS is to explore the real-life challenges associated with the logistics operation in a small-to-medium size logistics hub and investigate the potential of intelligent and connected technology to address such challenges. This project will investigate the requirements for the application of automated vehicles in inter-hub transportation and simultaneously explore the potential of intelligent inter-hub corridors. Additionally, inter-hub communications will also provide the opportunity to explore their potential impact on the planning and coordination of intra-hub activities, with an explicit focus on the changing role of human planners. It combines the knowledge of education and research institutes (Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, The University of Twente and Hogeschool Rotterdam), logistics industry partners (Bolk Container Transport and Combi Terminal Twente) and public institutes (XL Business Park, Port of Twente and Regio Twente). The insights obtained in this exploratory study will serve as a foundation for the follow-up RAAK-PRO project, in which real-world demonstrators will be developed and tested inside XL Business Park.
