Modular learning environment

University of Westminster
MA Design for Interaction

Designers: Simone Nogueira, Rodrigo Zuniga Andrighetti

May 2006

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Introduction

This project explores concepts of interaction on information environments during the

learning process. We have defined three different scenarios for our research. The first
scenario shows the user studying alone - an individual interaction with information; the
second scenario presents the user asking for help from a classmate by phone - a social
interaction supported by a virtual environment; finally we present a third scenario defined by
users studying in groups - an understanding of social interaction between students during the
learning process in the real environment (in situ).

I. Analysis

> First scenario

Daniel is a 19 years old university student. The semester is finishing and he is
preparing for the final exams. He is studying marketing, alone in his room. For
this, Daniel has a table close to his bed where he has spread out all the relevant
information related to the topic that he is studying. The information is
displayed in class notes, books, photocopies, and other texts from the contents
of the course. He has also brought to his table a paper with notes from last
semester’s course that has some issues related to this module. He has some
exercises that are difficult to solve. Now he is dealing with a problem and he is
unable to find the correct result, he is not able to understand why. Daniel tries
to find a similar exercise among his notes that was successfully solved, to see if
there is a way to associate the formulas and understand the problem he also
checks the book, looking for something similar to use as a guide. He reads the
explanation that the course book gives and follows all the instructions, step by
step, but he is still not able to understand. Finally he gives up, and leaves it
until later.

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Design observations
Creating a personalized knowledge environment

One important issue that we have realized in this scenario is that the user spreads around him
something that we call the “user defined knowledge environment”. Daniel creates this
environment of knowledge around him in a natural way. Every time he needs some notes, a
book or text, he brings it to his table, uses it, and leaves it there, ready to be used again. This
knowledge environment acts as a support for his studies. At the beginning we thought of this
environment of things spread out around him as something confusing and disorganised, but
after analysing it, we discovered that it makes sense, and it becomes for our understanding
now, one of the main elements of the study activity. The main characteristic of this
knowledge environment is that it is defined by the user; remains always present and ready to
be used; is extensible and navigable; affords manipulation and reconfiguration in order to
create associations and comparison.

> Second scenario

Daniel is stuck on chapter 8 of the course book. The exercise that he was not
able to solve before is affecting his further study. So he gives up trying it alone
and calls her friend Sophie, to avoid wasting more time. She is at University
studying with other friends, so she is able to give him some help. Daniel
explains to her the problem that he has tried to solve. Sophie checks the same
book that Daniel has and they solve the exercise together step by step. Daniel
stops Sophie at the point where he has had problems, and asks her why she has
operated the exercise in this way. Sophie explains the reasons to him, while he
takes some notes. Sophie also gives the page numbers of the explanation in the
book. They hang up, and Daniel checks the information and the notes, solving
some more exercises. Now the results are correct, and he is able to keep
studying alone.

Design observations
Meeting in virtual environments

During this phone conversation, Daniel and Sophie needed to define ‘what’ they are talking
about. The ‘what’ becomes the virtual environment. Language becomes the main tool to

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create it. From this scenario, we realised that designing virtual environments for social
interaction are not about graphic interfaces or the Internet. The design of virtual
environments for social interaction is, in our understanding, about linguistic affordances of
mentally shared places. In this sense, graphic representation becomes an important part of
the communication process, but it is not t the virtual environment. The virtual environment
is the multidimensional space that lives in the user’s mind, which includes memory and time
as important dimensions. The understanding of an interactive virtual environment that
enables the activity of study and learning has given us a better approach in taking design
decisions about our project.

> Third scenario

A group of students are checking some exercises that they have done alone
before. They are comparing the results and looking at the different possibilities
to reach the correct result in each exercise. In one of the exercises, three of the
four student of the group have an incorrect answer. The one who achieved the
correct result takes his exercise, and does it again in front of the others,
showing the formulas and similar exercises that he has used to understand this
problem. The three students pay attention and take notes. When the explanation
is finished, the whole group is able to continue with the next exercises.

Design observations
A map of knowledge

As in the other scenarios, the study group works in a knowledge environment. They choose
different strategies to understand the content and spread it in their study space, exploring
every part separately. After they have explored the content alone, they present to each other
the parts that they are able to understand and the parts that they are not. Then, the users
study together and one of them acts as a guide for the others. The result is a group map that
represents the whole land of knowledge that they need to learn. And having this map, the
students can check easily where they are, how much they have learnt, and what has been left
to study.

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II. Project Development

Intention
The design intention is to create a device that affords user manipulation of the learning
environment through a flexible and engaging interface. The main characteristic for this
environment is the affordability of communication during the learning process. For this, we
have defined the following requirements:

- Natural manipulation of the environment and the contents

- Representation of the whole ‘knowledge environment’ at the same time
- Affordability of virtual and physical connection of a modular system
- Engagement of the user

Concepts for development

The visual possibilities of bubbles on a surface was our first idea for the development of a
“modular learning environment” but this was discarded because of the complex relations of
their geometry, although the structural concept of an organic system interacting and relating
to each other in a fluid context remained as a design concept. Finally, we found in the work
of Piet Mondrian a more appropriate system that contains the main characteristics of our first
idea of bubbles. We decided to use it because of the visual sophistication and geometric
simplicity.

Organic and geometric modular systems

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Manipulation of the environment

In our intention to create a natural way to manipulate the interface of the environment, we
have defined that the rectangular containers of information will react to the cursor like
liquid. This means that to expand and contract the files or menu it is not necessary to ‘hold’
the border or to click buttons. The concept works by manipulating the environment with the
cursor in the middle of the area, and moving it to the side, expanding the size like dragging a
liquid.

Concept for the expansion of the modules

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III. Project proposal

Product Design

Sketches and storyboards – Graphic Interface

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First interface prototype

The device is articulated in two spaces, one for the manipulation of the information (left)
and one for the operation of contents (right). This duality enables the user to associate what
he is reading on the left with what he is operating on the right.

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> New scenario 1, step by step

Daniel is studying for his final exam.

1. He opens his device.
2. He goes to the menu and opens 3 files:
- One formula with the explanation and some exercises
- Some notes that he took last night
- A text that is related to the subject he is studying.
3. He starts solving the first exercise.
4. He has a problem, and goes to look at the explanation related
to that exercise.
5. The explanation is not clear enough to him, so he goes to the
menu and opens another text.
6. He checks the information, and now is able to solve the
exercise.
7. He checks the answer and is correct.
8. He goes again to the menu and opens another group of
exercises that correspond to last year’s exams.
9. He starts solving the exercises.
10. He has some problems again, and now uses the first
exercise that he had solved, to find common patterns to help
him to understand.
11. He needs to check some information again in the first text,
so he expands it.
12. Now, he keeps solving exercises, revisiting things that are
already open.

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> New scenario 2, step by step
Daniel
1.logs in, into the shared space
3. sends an invitation to
Sophie to meet him on the
shared space (the shared space
appears)
5. Sophie and Daniel’s cursors
appear on Daniel’s screen
7. chooses the problematic
exercise in the left screen, and
display it on the shared space
(right screen), in the shared
“Users Defined Knowledge
Context”
12. Daniel shows the line were
he has problems (the cursor
points it out but it doesn’t
operate, only Sophie’s cursor)
14. Daniel saves the shared
screen on his menu, and logs
out.
Sophie
2. logs in, into the shared space
4. accepts the invitation
6. Daniel and Sophie’s cursors
appear on Sophie’s screen
8. the exercise is displayed on
the screen
9. Sophie sees the exercise on
her right screen.
10. she displays the formula
that she has on her left screen
on the shared space, on the
right.
11. Sophie brings the exercise
from her “Users Defined
Knowledge Context” and starts
explaining step by step, doing
draws and notes on the screen.
13. She finishes the
explanation, and logs out.
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> New scenario 3, step by step

1. The four students are studying together in the Library.

2. They connect their devices.
3. The environment becomes an “in situ” shared environment.
4. Erica goes to the menu, and opens some exercises from her menu.
5. Daniel and John do the same.
6. Steve is going to explain to his study group how to solve an exercise.
7. Steve opens the exercise.
8. He changes a screen from “display model” to “operational model” to be able to work on the exercise.
9. Steve starts to operate the exercise.

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