In education, the metaverse serves as a platform that transforms the learning process into an engaging experience within a digital, immersive environment, enabling multisensory interactions through technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. It is important to recognize the potential of metaverse technologies to enhance learning while carefully considering the learning design that will ensure their effective integration into educational environments. This paper describes work in progress aimed at conceptualizing the metaverse as part of a framework to guide the implementation of seamless, personalized and collaborative learning in a three-dimensional learning space that integrates formal, non-formal and informal learning environments. Using the collaborative learning activities model (e-tivity model), pedagogical approaches to be included in the framework are identified. The paper emphasizes the importance of selecting an appropriate workspace for the successful use of metaverse technologies in collaborative learning contexts, particularly by identifying a combination of technologies that increases efficiency. In addition, the benefits of using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Facilitated Seamless Learning (FSL) frameworks to guide the design of learning activities are emphasized. Finally, this work emphasizes the importance of structuring collaborative processes by applying the “Design for Interaction” approach, which incorporates a certain degree of heterogeneity in the designs and stimulates group dynamics.

This work-in-progress research paper describes the results of research conducted as part of an ongoing project “Enhancing Motivation for Learning Through Gamification” on the attitudes of high school computer science teachers towards gamification. The main goal of the project is to develop a pedagogical-technological gamification framework to help high school teachers design and implement gamification activities. Teachers play a key role in introducing gamification into the classroom, but encouraging them to do so can be as much of a challenge as introducing any other educational innovation. Therefore, it is important to research teacher attitudes and use this knowledge to identify how to encourage greater use of gamification, particularly in schools where it is currently less prevalent compared to universities. The paper describes the research in this direction and focuses on investigating the attitudes of computer science teachers and the use of gamification in their classrooms, as they should be the most competent to introduce digital innovations. An anonymous survey was used as a quantitative research method. The research questions were formulated to find out to what extent teachers are familiar with gamification, whether they use game elements and/or digital tools for gamification in the classroom, and what teachers' attitudes towards gamification are. The last research question related to the comparison of knowledge, use and attitudes between the computer science teachers and the other high school teachers. The main finding was that computer science teachers use gamification to a greater extent compared to other teachers because they want to achieve a higher quality of teaching and believe that they know how to create gamified activities. These results will be helpful for further work as a focus group of computer science teachers will be formed to help design the gamification framework.

This innovative practice paper describes a work in progress on creating and applying educational games that develop mathematical and computational thinking within the project Science&Math educational games from preschool to university - SciMaG. Using educational games, especially in STEM fields, is an effective way to engage students and promote key skills across different age groups and environments. Such activities promote problem solving, logical thinking, strategic planning, and other important skills and can be used with students of different age groups in the classroom, in extracurricular activities, or at home. STEM science outreach activities organized as part of science festivals and similar events can be an excellent opportunity for a game-based approach. However, organizing events for large numbers of participants can pose a logistical challenge in terms of volunteer availability. This paper presents the results of a study in which game-based activities to develop mathematical and computational thinking were integrated into a science outreach event for primary school students on the occasion of Pi-Day. The innovative aspect of the approach is reflected in the use of a combination of games (commercial, newly developed games, and games inspired by commercial ones) which have an interesting math basis and require mathematical or computational thinking skills as well as in the introduction of peer teaching through attracting high-school students as volunteers for the organized event. In the evaluation of the approach, the perceptions of the primary school students (Ns=295), their teachers (NT=19), and the high-school students participating as volunteers in the organized event (Nv=11) were examined using a questionnaire-based study. All groups of participants responded positively and confirmed educational potential of the games. Results confirmed that the activities were well-received and that such events have the potential to enhance learning experiences in STEM. The results also provide valuable insights and motivation for further development of educational games within the SciMaG project.

The paper presents the work-in-progress with the aim to develop recommender system for personalization of activities in e-learning 2.0 environment. The main components of the proposed system are activity, student and group models, and recommender module. Activity model will be used for learning design representation and will include items that could be recommended to students: e-tivities, possible collaborators, tools, and advices. To provide recommendations tailored to the student's and group's characteristics, an important component of the system will include student and group models. The emphasis of the research is on the procedures for assessing the student's (group's) activity level based on the data collected from the third party services (Web 2.0 tools). Student's model will also represent knowledge level and preferences. The recommender module, as third component of the system, will include original pedagogical rules together with the algorithms that adapt known recommendations techniques to the educational context.