Interactive Learning

Active learning is a model of educational instruction that allows learners to be responsible for developing problem solving skills. Technology can enhance active learning strategies by fully engaging students in the learning process. While this type of active learning allows learners to work at their own pace in order to understand the material presented, they can also apply it to the activity at hand to assess their baseline understanding. Most of what we need to know about interactivity in an e-learning environment can be derived from careful consideration of how a student and a teacher interact in a face-face setting. The first chapter presents a review of interactivity in the online medium with a focus on the student point of view. Chapter two presents situated learning episodes with a focus on natural hazards that may strongly affect lives of many people around the world while being highly underestimated by formal education. Chapter three describes the development and implementation of simulation software activities to facilitate learning in a doctor of pharmacy program critical care pharmacotherapy elective course. Chapter four examines technology and learning processing in childhood. The final chapter proposes a learning strategy -- peer assessment by questions and answers -- to enhance the effectiveness of interactive learning in the flipped classroom.

Experts from a range of disciplines explore how humans and artificial agents can quickly learn completely new tasks through natural interactions with each other. Humans are not limited to a fixed set of innate or preprogrammed tasks. We learn quickly through language and other forms of natural interaction, and we improve our performance and teach others what we have learned. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the acquisition of new tasks through natural interaction is an ongoing challenge. Advances in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and robotics are leading us to future systems with human-like capabilities. A huge gap exists, however, between the highly specialized niche capabilities of current machine learning systems and the generality, flexibility, and in situ robustness of human instruction and learning. Drawing on expertise from multiple disciplines, this Strüngmann Forum Report explores how humans and artificial agents can quickly learn completely new tasks through natural interactions with each other. The contributors consider functional knowledge requirements, the ontology of interactive task learning, and the representation of task knowledge at multiple levels of abstraction. They explore natural forms of interactions among humans as well as the use of interaction to teach robots and software agents new tasks in complex, dynamic environments. They discuss research challenges and opportunities, including ethical considerations, and make proposals to further understanding of interactive task learning and create new capabilities in assistive robotics, healthcare, education, training, and gaming. Contributors Tony Belpaeme, Katrien Beuls, Maya Cakmak, Joyce Y. Chai, Franklin Chang, Ropafadzo Denga, Marc Destefano, Mark d'Inverno, Kenneth D. Forbus, Simon Garrod, Kevin A. Gluck, Wayne D. Gray, James Kirk, Kenneth R. Koedinger, Parisa Kordjamshidi, John E. Laird, Christian Lebiere, Stephen C. Levinson, Elena Lieven, John K. Lindstedt, Aaron Mininger, Tom Mitchell, Shiwali Mohan, Ana Paiva, Katerina Pastra, Peter Pirolli, Roussell Rahman, Charles Rich, Katharina J. Rohlfing, Paul S. Rosenbloom, Nele Russwinkel, Dario D. Salvucci, Matthew-Donald D. Sangster, Matthias Scheutz, Julie A. Shah, Candace L. Sidner, Catherine Sibert, Michael Spranger, Luc Steels, Suzanne Stevenson, Terrence C. Stewart, Arthur Still, Andrea Stocco, Niels Taatgen, Andrea L. Thomaz, J. Gregory Trafton, Han L. J. van der Maas, Paul Van Eecke, Kurt VanLehn, Anna-Lisa Vollmer, Janet Wiles, Robert E. Wray III, Matthew Yee-King

Shift Students’ Roles from Passive Observers to Active Participants. Preparing students for a world that did not exist when they were students themselves can be challenging for many teachers. Engaging students, particularly disinterested ones, in the learning process is no easy task, especially when easy access to information is at an all-time high. How then do educators simultaneously ensure knowledge acquisition and engagement? Ron Nash encourages teachers to embrace an interactive classroom by rethinking their role as information givers. The Interactive Classroom provides a framework for how to influence the learning process and increase student participation by sharing • Proven strategies for improving presentation and facilitation skills • Kinesthetic, interpersonal, and classroom management methods • Brain-based teaching strategies that promote active learning • Project-based learning and formative assessment techniques that promote a robust learning environment Intended to cultivate an interactive classroom in which students take an active role in learning, this book provides a blueprint for educators seeking to amplify student engagement while imparting critical twenty-first century skills.

3D technology is not new; research on 3D started back in early 1960s. But unlike in previous times, 3D technology has now rapidly entered our daily life from cinema to office to home. Using 3D for education is a new yet challenging task. This book will present several innovative efforts using 3D for immersive and interactive learning covering a wide spectrum of education including gifted program, normal (technical) stream, and special needs education. The book will also share experience on curriculum-based 3D learning in classroom setting and co-curriculum-based 3D student research projects. The book is organized as follows. Chapter 1 introduces the fundamentals of 3D educational technology and their applications in immersive and interactive learning. Chapter 2 discusses the use of virtual reality in teaching and learning of Molecular Biology. Chapter 3 presents the daVinci Lab @ River Valley High School. Chapter 4 describes the 3D education development process. Chapter 5 studies the adaption 3D system for learning gains in lower secondary normal (technical) stream. Chapter 6 investigates the effects of virtual reality technology on spatial visualization skills. Chapter 7 showcases a sabbatical program for students to use 3D for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning. Chapter 8 shares the use of 3D virtual pink dolphin to assist special education. The foreword of this book is written by Dr Cheah Horn Mun, Director, Education Technology Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore.

This book compares research findings on particular topic of interactive learning to identify areas of research, and discusses possibilities of research co-operation. It presents an argument that in the UK the emphasis on small group work using a microcomputer is the result of pedagogical opinion.

This volume highlights the importance of interactive, practice-based learning as a means to promote more thorough innovation dynamics in regional and national economies. Successful experiences in Scandanavia and southern European countries are examined, with insightful policy lessons extracted from each case.

The adoption of ICT for personal and business use has encouraged the growth of interactive learning as well as its application in a number of education and training scenarios. Designing effective syllabi for interactive learning projects helps to ensure that desired leaning outcomes are achieved without incurring a significant loss of time or money. Educational Stages and Interactive Learning: From Kindergarten to Workplace Training provides a record of current research and practical applications in interactive learning. This book reviews all aspects of interactive learning, investigates the history, status, and future trends of interactive learning, introduces emerging technologies for interactive learning, and analyzes interactive learning cases in various educational stages and learning situations. Readers interested in the technologies and pedagogical applications of interactive learning will find this book a comprehensive reference for the understanding of notions, theories, techniques, and methods related to the research and development of interactive learning.

Describes how to evaluate interactive learning systems, both in their initial development and later in regard to effectiveness and efficiency. These include web-based systems, computer-aided learning, etc.