Project R-12526

Connected collaborative learning environments (Education)

The project aims to realize connected collaborative learning environments to support innovative forms of education in hybrid environments, for both physical and online participants, with a focus on flexibility, inclusiveness and the comfort of students and teachers. The project consists of several parts: 1. Acquiring and realizing the necessary infrastructure for realizing a flexible support of a wide variety of educational concepts present at UHasselt. 2. Incorporating content, learning techniques and learning methods with this technological infrastructure. We aim at low-cost and off-the-shelf hardware that closely matches the tools and platforms, which the students and teaching staff already use. 3. Experimenting with the integration of high-tech solutions currently not yet offered mainstream by commercial partners. This builds on the work at the Expertise center for Digital Media of Hasselt University, which has extensive knowledge on the use of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) technology, omni-directional video display and networked platforms to facilitate collaboration and communication efficiently. 4. Supporting teachers and students in the use of digital tools and flexible learning environments. On the one hand, this includes support in the creation of teaching material, to match it to teaching digitally and/or innovative educational concepts. On the other hand, this also includes providing the necessary support with technical problems for students and/or actively thinking along for keeping the facilities up to date. 5. Invoking the developed learning environments for lifelong learning, initiatives and training aimed at continuous teacher education, as well as workshops and demonstrations for students in secondary schools.

01 October 2021 - 15 October 2023