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Smart learning objects for smart education in computer science : theory, methodology and robot-based implementation
Stuikys V., Springer International Publishing, New York, NY, 2015. 317 pp. Type: Book (978-3-319169-12-5)
Date Reviewed: Jun 22 2017

Explaining the motivation for this book, the author states in the preface that there is a shift observed in education from teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning. Among several signs of this paradigm shift, the author mentions “an extremely high interest in interdisciplinary teaching based on STEM concepts,” recognizing additionally that information and communication technologies (ICT) are “the main driver of progress in the modern society.” This trend is even more visible, the author notices, when one looks at the “big gap between technological capabilities and pedagogical approaches.” In other words, pedagogy lags far behind the technology. The book’s goal is to address this gap by “integrating different technologies with the known pedagogical approaches.” One of the key elements of this integration is the notion of a smart learning object, where “smart” is understood as “context aware.” Going further, the author introduces two new concepts: smart learning objects and smart educational environments. The author’s “vision is to combine the two concepts as seamlessly as possible and open the way for smart learning in [computer science]. [Presenting] this vision ... is the main task to be considered throughout the book.” While the book addresses several other issues of computing education, which naturally extends to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), this concept of smart learning objects and an approach to exploit it particularly interests me, so I was reading the book with this focus.

Part 1, composed of eight chapters, deals with, among other things, learning objects (LOs) taxonomies, reuse of LO domains, designing smart LOs, enhancing their features, and context-aware adaptation. The author notices the lack of a precise definition of a learning object and states that “the understanding of what is meant by LO in essence is still poor.” After reviewing the literature on LOs, he produces a taxonomy of LOs for systematization, realizing that the “LO domain is commonly recognized as the heart of e-learning in general.” Moving to smart learning objects, the author develops a concise description of an LO of any sort, stating that: “The implementation of the smart features is hidden from the user, [who] communicates with the environment containing the smart LO through the user-friendly interface.” The motivation for creating LOs and entire learning environments comes from the need to have reusable learning materials and for their use to be interoperable, concepts that the author borrows from software engineering. Learning variability, understood as differences in learners’ preparations, is another key concept being addressed by the LOs. Thus, simple and static LOs are insufficient and the author presents so-called generative learning objects (GLOs), introduced by Boyle [1], and extends this to smart learning objects (SLOs) of his own. Both GLOs and SLOs can be viewed as templates for generating LOs, essentially from specifications called meta-programs.

The second part of the book deals with the development of authoring tools for designing LOs, and with a robotics case study as an educational environment. This part is much less interesting to me, because it discusses just one of many ways of implementing an educational environment based on LOs. For example, the author advocates a robot-based educational environment using Lego NXT devices, because they are simple, reconfigurable, and extendable, and offer flexibility and ease of integration with external environments. While this is all true, students in STEM disciplines need much broader exposure to the practical aspects of using technologies in a modern society than a toy-based environment with Lego robots. This may include areas such as wireless networks, cyberphysical systems, and many other more specific topics.

While the book is a solid text on adopting LOs for use in computing (and STEM) education, well rooted in the current literature, the author realizes that there are still many open questions. It appears to me that the implementation of the learning environment, as presented in the book, is much too complicated, which the author admits, stating, for example, “the course designer or a group of designers should possess enough competence to cover the complexity issues in modeling.” Anything that goes beyond a simple solution, such as creating and using a library of LOs, may go beyond the skills of STEM teachers. There is no clear separation between creating the SLOs and using them. On a positive note, numerous relevant literature sources are reviewed and summarized. Overall, the book is an important contribution on the way to the standardization of e-learning. I would recommend it to instructors from all STEM disciplines who are interested in innovative teaching methods and e-learning.

Reviewer:  Janusz Zalewski Review #: CR145368 (1709-0604)
1) Boyle, T. Design principles for authoring dynamic, reusable learning objects. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 19, 1(2003), 46–58.
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