Presentation about widgets and widgetstore.

1. http://itec.eun.org
Widgets in pilots
Dai Griffiths and Fernando Rui Campos
25/26 November 2013
Brussels

2. Extensive evaluation of the
Widget Store with users
 Evaluated in WP 8
– Usability evaluation day with authentic users
(UK)
– Evaluation following use of the store
• Austria (16 teachers)
• Norway (16 teachers)
• Turkey (70 teachers)
• Spain (30 children)
– Analysis of server data and contents

3. … and extensive evaluation
in pilots
 The Widget Store was evaluated extensively
in pilots, and reported on in WP5
– Smart, Promethean
– Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia,
Turkey
– Largely positively received
 Feedback from National Coordinators passed
to WP
 All analysed in D8.3

4. Widgets and WidgetStore
Portuguese approach
NTC
Local Support &
Technical Leadership
Teachers Guidance
WP6
Widgets community Blog
A case study from the Widget Store pilot

5. Widget & WidgetStore
Community
544 visits
1)
10 themes
1) – Categories developed by Lisbon University; 2) The letter size is proportional to the number of occurrences
Forum
categories
A case study from the Widget Store pilot

6. Widgets & WidgetStore C4
Thems
http://moodle.erte.dgidc.min-edu.pt/course/view.php?id=581
Nº Posts
Total:
2086 views
Max.:
810 views

7. Widget Blog
Context:
Classroom examples
http://itecwidgetsportugal.blogspot.pt/p/apresentacao.html

8. Widgets – What the teachers
say
T1- They are useful and easy to see by students. They allow the organization of a learning
sequence on a single page, using various elements, making them all accessible.
[Drivers]
T2-Because they are small applications that are compatible with various platforms,
widgets can become practical and easy to use resources when teaching different topics.
T3 -Widgets can be a great resource in helping aggregate information in several
formats, regardless of which platform is being used, facilitating the student
research/learning activities.
T4-I see this area of ​​work / exploration as a challenge to authorship but also and especially as a way
to collaborate and share. As a first "impression" I see widgets as easy use and easy to integrate in
different environments and contexts of learning, thanks to their format flexibility and granularity.
Naturally, their value will depend on the context and the pedagogical framework…
T5-The use of widgets can facilitate the use of technology in the teaching/learning
process, as they facilitate access to various applications. Its use with interactive
whiteboards is very easy because it reduces the use of keyboard, as users can access
applications through the widget link.
A case study from the Widget Store pilot

9. Widgets – What the teachers
say
T6-Our experience with widgets was not very good due to the numerous
problems that the school had with internet access.
T7- In the meantime, professional duties increased and I could not possible take on
yet another task.
[Barriers]
A case study from the Widget Store pilot

10. Portuguese Widgets in the
WidgetStore
(partial view)
A case study from the Widget Store pilot

11. Pilots and evaluation fed into
revision of the Widget Store
 iTEC Widget Store release 1.4 now
available
 Based on invaluable feedback from users
(WP8 and WP5 pilots)
 Thorough interface revision
 Store as a Widget:
– More store functionality accessible in the shell
– No login
– Easier integration into new platforms

12. Some features in release 1.4
 Opportunities for creating widgets
– Embedding, upload of designed widgets,
Flash import
– Serving websites as widgets
 Associate icons with widgets
 Facetted search, my favourites and others’
 Administrative tools: rate, featured, delete,
workflow

13. The wider implications of
evaluation
 We know that the Widget Store
– provides an effective service
– is usable
 We know that many national coordinators and
teachers think it is a good idea
 We also know that
– Use outside pilot sessions has been limited
– Attitudes to the store
 What can we do to
– Understand better the dynamics of adoption?
• pedagogic, institutional, technological
– Act to enhance the prospects for adoption?

14. A programme of actions to
understand use and adoption
 Carry out pilots of the Store
– Planned: Austria, Estonia, Portugal, Spain, Italy & Hungary
– All have coordinators in place who can support the pilot
– Varying needs, and perceptions of the Store give
opportunity to understand adoption
 Assess the positioning of the Store
– not only a system for teachers
– also for educational managers and pedagogic coordinators
 Provide demonstrators (hand in hand with pilots)
– Configurations and profiles of the store
– Content capabilities
– OMDL to deliver collections of widgets

15. Outputs for the final year
 Description of D8.4 (M48) focuses on standardisation
 Important, but not a sufficient focus for work in the final year
– The store demonstrates the capabilities of W3C widgets
– Deploys OMDL
– LTI profile of the store will be produced and demonstrated
– Wookie extensions to W3C widgets submitted to W3C
– We are maintaining a dialogue with IMS about their App Store
initiative (which uses LTI)
 Final year tasks for WP8
– maintenance of the Widget Store
– creation of demonstrators
– evaluation of their use.
 Tasks enable us to understand the mechanisms determining
use and adoption, a key outcome for iTEC.
 Task descriptions take priority over the deliverable description.

16. For further information
The work presented in this presentation is partially supported by the European
Commission’s FP7 programme – project iTEC: Innovative Technologies for an
Engaging Classroom (Grant agreement Nº 257566). The content of this presentation is
the sole responsibility of the consortium members and it does not represent the
opinion of the European Commission and the Commission is not responsible for any
use that might be made of information contained herein.
WEB:
http://itec.eun.org
EMAIL:
itec-contact@eun.org