Studying in social isolation is a reality for many students that was further reinforced after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows that isolation can lead to decreased learning efficiency and is intensified by the increased asynchronous online teaching during the pandemic. This change is not only challenging for students, but also for teachers, as students do not have a direct communication and feedback channel when learning content is presented in form of pre-recorded videos in a learning management system. In this paper, we present VGather2Learn Analytics, which is an extension to the already existing collaborative learning system VGather2Learn, which makes it possible for teachers to analyse the learning behavior of students in asynchronous video-teaching. The information presented in a dashboard will allow teachers to better understand how students interact while watching learning videos collaboratively and can improve online-teaching.

The increase of social isolation amongst students due to remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic leads to decreased learning efficiency as well as extenuated satisfaction with students' learning experiences. In this paper we present an approach to tackle these problems by providing a tool that helps students organise collaborative learning with videos.

Teaching robotics is an attractive way of motivating students to learn computer science. However, it is also a challenging topic for students of all ages and only one teacher in a classroom is too little to support approximately 30 students at the same time. Therefore, intelligent tutoring systems might be a meaningful way to support students and teachers. In this paper we describe an approach to support computer science lessons in secondary schools by using a learner model. We are explaining how the three phases of our learner model (data collection - profile construction - profile application) can be implemented for teaching robotics by using different types of implicit and explicit data to generate feedback for the teacher concerning competencies and knowledge of the students on the one hand and by supporting collaboration and group formation amongst the students on the other hand. The model is derived from literature and supported by data from different studies.

Developing TEL systems that support specifically the acquisition of higher order skills, such as collaboration competencies, is challenging because of the inherent complexity of the skills and how to map this into proper system design. In this article we will present our experiences and approach how to use incremental design processes to support the specific 21stcentury skill Learning to Learn Together (L2L2). We will give a detailed description of one design iteration for collaborative editing and discuss the design method and evaluation aspects.

For applied research with practical CSCL scenarios there is no clear analytic-experimental approach to study changes in a changing context. We suggest and apply a method to map and visualise components that describe and measure impact and level of innovation of practical CSCL projects.

Representations of learning processes matter to participants of educational scenarios of completely opposite schools: both when reflecting on self-regulated processes and also when systems guide the learning activity with scripts or interventions, sound representations of the respective educational processes are needed. We will present in this paper our efforts on weaving together these two extreme positions using a visual language for self-regulated learning in groups and formal transformations: 1. We map to conceptual frameworks in the field to make interoperability and exchange possible. 2. We map to formal executable models to facilitate monitoring, feedback and potentially scripting educational scenarios to support students and teachers in following pre-planned educational processes.

In this paper we are focusing on the collaborative competencies associated with group learning and required by many of today's complex, fast-changing learning environments. Our pedagogical approach called Learning to learn together (L2L2) was implemented in the Metafora project's web-based environment and provides various tools to support collaboration, mutual engagement, and conflict management. Based on data from an earlier study, in this paper we present results on further investigations if the Metafora platform reaches its goal of providing opportunities for L2L2 behaviour, especially in creating mutual engagement.

In the Metafora project we designed a platform for collaborative learning and planning of learning challenges that make use of heterogeneous and multiple learning tools. These complex scenarios of up to 20 hours of learning require advanced awareness support functionality to allow effective collaboration. To evaluate the effectiveness of our awareness support features in Metafora we conducted an eye tracking study. In this study we applied synchronous eye tracking on dyads of learners in a controlled lab situation where awareness messages are sent to the dyad. We report about our results and discuss the method and its implications for future work.

Organising their own learning processes is a hard challenge for students. This is especially pronounced in self-regulated, collaborative and constructionist learning situations where students are supposed to jointly create artefacts, plan their work and learn how to learn together. In this paper we present our work on the support of the planning activities. The support happens both at the syntactic level, i.e. how to make correct plans, and the semantic level, i.e. how to make meaningful plans. We describe our concept of a visual language to specify plans, our different support functionalities and demonstrate its use with an extended practical example as well as some empirical evidence and consequences for experimentation plans gained from practical classroom experimentation.

This paper presents a scenario to enrich children's experiences during a museum visit by implicitly guiding them through the exhibition space via a collaboratively created, topic related questionnaire. At the end of the visit, a personalised virtual museum catalogue can be created. This allows children to access data about the subjects they were most interested in during their visit and re-use it either at home or in the classroom, e.g. to search for further information on-line.

Museums are increasingly being equipped with interactive technology. The main goal of using technology is to improve the museum-going experience of visitors. In this paper, we present the results of a study with an electronic quest through a museum aimed at children in the age of 10-12. We wanted to find out whether personalization of the quest effects enjoyment. For this purpose we involved an interactive multi-touch table in the experiment, which also offered the opportunity to add the element of collaboration. We compared a group that did the original non-personalized quest with a group that did the personalized quest. This last group interacted with the multi-touch table to personalize the quest before they started on it. No significant differences were found between the experimental groups. We did find many differences between the children of age 10-11 and those of age 11-12, on almost all measurements. On this aspect we present some methodical results about measuring enjoyment and intrinsic motivation with children of 10-12 years old.

Children are not necessarily motivated to collaborate if no common ground can be found. In this paper, we present t-vote, a system supporting children's decision making. To encourage collaboration in a museum's context, we employ tangible pawns on a tabletop interface and implicitly script the decision making process of children. We describe the system design, our design process, and rationale.

Analysis of computer supported collaboration is per-se a non-trivial task, particularly when it is completely dependent on dedicated log files and video capture without active support by the user. We present a scalable approach for analyzing childrens' interaction in a collaborative multi-touch setting using a tabletop interface.

Finding and understanding information is key for children's development. The Internet offers exciting new ways to meet people, learn about different cultures and develop their creative potential. However, children's ability to use the Internet is severely hampered by the lack of appropriate search tools. Most Information Retrieval (IR) systems are designed for adults and unsuitable for children. In this paper we present an approach to provide appropriate IR interfaces for children.

This article presents an interaction analysis tool and its usage for a collaborative learning situation that has been analysed manually before. We want to contrast and discuss the use of dedicated analysis tools compared to the current practice of evaluation using standard software or no computer tools at all.

Verbal communication is a key not only for learning but also for every day life. Since one goal of schools for pupils with cognitive disabilities is to prepare pupils to manage their every day life on their own, we expect that teaching pupils how to learn and work collaboratively by sharing tasks, give directions to each other and understand them, will support this process. In this paper we will present an environment which supports implicit scripted collaborative task solving without increasing cognitive load.

Designing learning software for a special target group should not only focus on the pupils but also on the teacher. A successful development of a computer supported learning environment for pupils with cognitive disabilities should not only fulfil the special needs of the pupils. Using computers for everyday teaching has also to take into account teacherspsila possible lack of technical competence. Thus, there are two gaps which have to be bridged: one for the pupils using a computer to learn and the other for the teacher preparing tasks within this learning platform. In this paper an approach will be introduced how to engage teachers into the design process in a meaningful way.

Software for supporting pupils in learning reading and writing skills is very often less productive than expected. A main reason for this is that pupils who are not able to read and write do not succeed in using complex software environments which are furthermore very often designed like old-fashioned tutoring systems. Taking the results from the EU founded project NIMIS as a starting point for a Ph.D. thesis (A. Lingnau, 2005), in this paper an approach to analyse writing products of German first graders who use a phonetic based method to learn reading and writing skills was presented. From these analysis results a learner model is build which maps the knowledge level a child has reached in the process of phonetic writing

We present an approach of enriching grown structures of teaching in German schools with innovative technology and collaborative software tools. Two applications for collaborative modelling and mind mapping will be introduced. Together with a community of secondary school teachers we have elaborated classroom experiments which give an added value but without redefining well suited pedagogic methods or changing the learning matters. We will present different experiences made by teachers and researchers in the domains of mathematics, biology and German language in secondary schools. We have found out that not only are teachers in science interested in computerised learning scenarios but there are several premises for a successful transfer of technology into schools.