key: cord-0696031-w6x2aio7 authors: Fonseca, David; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José; Camba, Jorge D. title: New methods and technologies for enhancing usability and accessibility of educational data date: 2020-11-11 journal: Univers Access Inf Soc DOI: 10.1007/s10209-020-00776-x sha: 1861466e5f23ad3168a6a5532918f48fc9083daf doc_id: 696031 cord_uid: w6x2aio7 nan This special issue focuses on how to improve universal access to educational data, with emphasis on (a) new technologies and associated data in educational contexts: artificial intelligence systems [70] , robotics [71] [72] [73] , augmented [74] [75] [76] and virtual reality (VR) [77] [78] [79] [80] [81] , and educational data integration and management [82] ; (b) the role of data in the digital transformation and future of higher education: Personal Learning Environments (PLE) [83, 84] , mobile PLE [85, 86] , stealth assessment [87] , technology-supported collaboration and teamwork in educational environments [88] , and student's engagement and interactions [89, 90] ; (c) user and case studies on ICTs in Education [91, 92] ; (d) educational data in serious games and gamification: gamification design [93] [94] [95] [96] , serious game mechanics for education [97, 98] , ubiquitous/pervasive gaming [99] , and game-based learning and teaching programming [100, 101] ; and (e) educational data visualization and data mining [102] : learning analytics [103] , knowledge discovery [104] , user experience [105, 106] , social impact [107] , good practices [108] , and accessibility [109, 110] . The special issue comprises the following 11 accepted papers. Collaborative learning systems are a niche for analyzing educational data. For example, virtual reality and 3D modeling applications can leverage the integration of collaborative approaches in Medicine [111] , Architecture [112] , or Urbanism [113] . Huang et al. developed a study devoted to construct a 3D modeling practice field based on virtual reality technology, in which students can learn 3D modeling through a new VR design collaboration framework and complete design goals. The proposed design collaboration model includes the concept of a learning community. The results of this study indicate that the system usability of the VR modeling practice field is superior to that of the traditional modeling learning field and learners are more creative and motivated. The authors emphasize that through the new design collaboration model, students can effectively learn 3D modeling in VR. Conde et al. explore the assessment of instant messaging tools for the acquisition of teamwork competence throughout a case study about the use of the instant messaging app WhatsApp. From the results, the authors conclude that students prefer instant messaging tools in teamwork activities over other interaction tools such as forums; and that the use of those tools has a positive impact on students' grades. In an effort to demonstrate the potential of virtual worlds in education [114] , especially in distance education [115] , Krassmann et al. introduce a framework to prepare the implementation of virtual worlds. Their approach emphasizes requirements that distance education students need to meet in order to have a successful learning experience. The authors present an exploratory study and propose eight guidelines to harness the potential of the technology of virtual worlds for distance education. Pervasive games [116] enhance the gaming experience and level of engagement by including real-world aspects into the game space. Arango-López et al. propose GeoPGD a methodology that integrates the design of geolocated narrative as the core of the game experience. This methodology guides designers and developers through the different stages of building a pervasive game by providing tools for defining the narrative components, places, and interactions between the user and the game. Gallego-Durán et al. tackle the challenges of learning programming as a universal ability [117, 118] . The authors propose a radically different perspective to this issue, teaching students with a bottom-up approach, starting from machine code and assembly programming. Their results suggest that such a small intervention could have a limited positive influence on the students' programming skills. Pazmiño et al. [119] did a systematic literature review to answer the question: What is the baseline of scientific documents on learning analytics in Ecuador? The selected documents were analyzed using Statistical Implicative Analysis after removing duplicates and applying inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria. The outcome of this research has allowed building up a baseline of scientific knowledge about learning analytics in Ecuador. User experience analysis in the educational realm is directly linked to the levels of user acceptance and satisfaction [120] of the new wave of educational technological ecosystems and the personalization of learning [121] . Barneche-Naya and Hernández-Ibañez describe the results of a case study intended to compare three different user movement paradigms (metaphoric, symbolic and natural) designed to control the visit to virtual environments for a NUI-based museum installation. The study evaluates the performance of each movement scheme with respect to the navigation of the environment, the degree of intuitiveness perceived by the users, and the overall user experience. The results show that the natural movement scheme stands out as the most adequate for the contemplation of the virtual environment and the most balanced at a general level for the three variables considered. The symbolic scheme proved to be the most efficient. The natural movement and symbolic schemes appear to be the most appropriate to navigate digital environments such as museum installations. In another paper related to user experience, Zardari et al. introduce an e-learning portal for higher education that was assessed from a user experience standpoint using an eye-tracking system. The results emphasize students' satisfaction with the learning portal. Finally, Toborda et al. analyze metrics to measure effectiveness and engagement levels in pervasive gaming experiences. Regarding the analytics of accessibility, Martins et al. [122] present a study that assesses accessibility in mobile applications, which may be applicable to education and tourism. Fourteen mobile applications were analyzed using a manual and automatic methodology through an evaluation model based on quantitative and qualitative requirements, as well as the use of features such as VoiceOver and TalkBack. The results show a high number of errors in most quantitative requirements as well as non-compliance with most qualitative requirements. Also, in the context of accessibility, Romero Yesa et al. [123] share a good practice in designing accessible educational resources. The authors developed a new virtual teaching unit for supporting classroom teaching based on usability and accessibility criteria. The goal is to help increase teaching quality by improving syllabus design. LearningQ: a largescale dataset for educational question generation Time-dependent performance prediction system for early insight in learning trends Exploration of youth's digital competencies: a dataset in the educational context of Vietnam Presenting the regression tree method and its application in a large-scale educational dataset Open PISA: dashboard for large educational dataset Understanding the implementation of personalized learning: a research synthesis Appraising research on personalized learning: definitions, theoretical alignment, advancements, and future directions Towards eLearning 2.0 University La sociedad del conocimiento y sus implicaciones en la formación universitaria docente An adaptive hybrid MOOC model: disrupting the MOOC concept in higher education Participantes heterogéneos en MOOCs y sus necesidades de aprendizaje adaptativo Innovation in the Instructional design of open mass courses (MOOCs) to develop entrepreneurship competencies in energy sustainability Massive open online courses in the initial training of social science teachers: experiences, methodological conceptions, and technological use for sustainable development A recommender system for videos suggestion in a SPOC: a proposed personalized learning method The construction of teaching interaction platform and teaching practice based on SPOC mode Exploration and practice of SPOC mixed teaching mode in data structure course Radical Solutions and Learning Analytics: Personalised Learning and Teaching Through Big Data Can we apply learning analytics tools in challenge based learning contexts? ECLECTIC as a learning ecosystem for higher education disruption An updated review of the concept of eLearning The current state of analytics: implications for learning management system (LMS) use in writing pedagogy Valoración y evaluación de los Aprendizajes Basados en Juegos (GBL) en contextos e-learning Engagement in the course of programming in higher education through the use of gamification Educational data mining and learning analytics: An updated survey Radical Solutions and Learning Analytics: Personalised Learning and Teaching Through Big Data. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology Automatic tutoring system to support cross-disciplinary training in big data How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom Improving the information society skills: is knowledge accessible for all? Smart teachers, successful students? A systematic review of the literature on teachers' cognitive abilities and teacher effectiveness Knowledge spirals in higher education teaching innovation Epistemological and ontological spirals: from individual experience in educational innovation to the organisational knowledge in the university sector Systematic review of how engineering schools around the world are deploying the 2030 agenda COVID-19 Impact on Education School closure and management practices during coronavirus outbreaks including COVID-19: a rapid systematic review Estudio exploratorio en Iberoamérica sobre procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje y propuesta de evaluación en tiempos de pandemia Impact of the Pandemic on Higher Education in Emerging Countries: Emerging Opportunities. SSRN, Challenges and Research Agenda COVID-19, school closures, and child poverty: a social crisis in the making COVID-19 and digital inequalities: reciprocal impacts and mitigation strategies Simulating the Potential Impacts of COVID-19 School Closures on Schooling and Learning Outcomes: A Set of Global Estimates The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning Education and the COVID-19 pandemic La evaluación online en la educación superior en tiempos de la COVID-19 La COVID-19: ¿enzima de la transformación digital de la docencia o reflejo de una crisis metodológica y competencial en la educación superior? Campus Virtuales A metamodel proposal for developing learning ecosystems Validation of the learning ecosystem metamodel using transformation rules Digital competence of early childhood education teachers: attitude, knowledge and use of ICT Modelo de referencia para la enseñanza no presencial en universidades presenciales. Campus Virtual User experience and access using augmented and multimedia technologies: special issue of UXeLATE Information society skills: is knowledge accessible for all? Part I Information society skills: Is knowledge accessible for all? Part II Interactive and collaborative technological ecosystems for improving academic motivation and engagement Learning and collaboration technologies. designing learning experiences Learning and collaboration technologies. designing learning experiences TEEM'19 Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality Visualizing artificial intelligence used in education over two decades RoboSTEAM project systematic mapping: challenge based learning and robotics Robotics from STEM areas in primary school: a systematic review Social STEAM learning at an early age with robotic platforms: a case study in four schools in Spain Augmented reality and pedestrian navigation through its implementation in m-learning and e-learning: evaluation of an educational program in Chile From reality to augmented reality: rapid strategies for developing marker-based AR content using image capturing and authoring tools Relationship between student profile, tool use, participation, and academic performance with the use of augmented reality technology for visualized architecture models Nextmed: automatic imaging segmentation, 3D reconstruction, and 3D model Virtual reality simulation-based learning Immersive visualization technologies to facilitate multidisciplinary design education Methodologies of learning served by virtual reality: a case study in urban interventions Virtual interactive innovations applied for digital urban transformations. Mixed approach Improvement of an online education model with the integration of machine learning and data analysis in an Modeling the personal adult learner: the concept of PLE re-interpreted Personal learning environments and online classrooms: an experience with university students. IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologías del Aprendizaje Entornos personales de aprendizaje móvil: Una revisión sistemática de la literatura Use of mobile technologies in personal learning environments of intercultural contexts: individual and group tasks DeepStealth: Game-based learning stealth assessment with deep neural networks Teamwork assessment in the educational web of data: a learning analytics approach towards ISO 10018. Telemat Mapping research in student engagement and educational technology in higher education: a systematic evidence map Facilitating student engagement through the flipped learning approach in K-12: a systematic review Technological ecosystems in citizen science: a framework to involve children and young people Web-based system for adaptable rubrics: case study on CAD assessment A literature review of gamification design frameworks Opening the black box of gameful experience: implications for gamification process design Immersive visualization technologies to facilitate multidisciplinary design education Methodology I'M IN applied to workshop: successful educational practice for consultants in user experience with gamification fields Serious gaming for climate adaptation-assessing the potential and challenges of a digital serious game for urban climate adaptation Designing productively negative experiences with serious game mechanics: qualitative analysis of game-play and game design in a randomized trial Exploring Features of the pervasive Game Pokémon GO that enable behavior change: qualitative study State of the art in the teaching of computational thinking and programming in childhood education Influence of problembased learning games on effective computer programming learning in higher education Urban data and urban design: a data mining approach to architecture education Implementing learning analytics for learning impact: taking tools to task A knowledge discovery education framework targeting the effective budget use and opinion explorations in designing specific high cost product Analysis of User satisfaction with online education platforms in China during the COVID-19 pandemic Analyzing the usability of the WYRED platform with undergraduate students to improve its features Peer social acceptance and academic achievement: a meta-analytic study Semantic spiral timelines used as support for e-Learning A systematic analysis of accessibility in computing education research A social-mediabased approach to assessing the effectiveness of equitable housing policy in mitigating education accessibility induced social inequalities in Virtual reality educational tool for human anatomy Motivation and academic improvement using augmented reality for 3D architectural visualization Evaluation of an interactive educational system in urban knowledge acquisition and representation based on students' profiles Retrieving objective indicators from student logs in virtual worlds Educación virtual para todos: una revisión sistemática Pervasive Games: Theory and Design Exploring the computational thinking effects in pre-university education Computational thinking unplugged Guidelines for Performing Systematic Literature Reviews in Software Engineering. Version 2.3. School of ArkaeVision VR game: user experience research between real and virtual paestum Measuring user experience on personalized online training system to support online learning Towards a social and context-aware mobile recommendation system for tourism. Pervasive Mobile Comput Bridging the accessibility gap in open educational resources The guest editors would like to thank the Universal Access in the Information Society journal Editors-on-Chief, Dr. Constantine Stephanidis and Dr. Margherita Antona, for their confidence in our responsibility to lead this special issue. We want to express our gratitude to all the researchers that have made this special issue a reality. This work was partially funded by the Spanish Government Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness throughout the DEFINES project (Ref. TIN2016-80172-R).