4SPPIces model

Brief description: 4SPPIces is a conceptual model conceived for providing practitioners and technicians with a conversational framework to support and facilitate the creation of Computer Supported Collaborative Blended Learning (CSCBL) scripts.

4SPPIces is a conceptual model that provides practitioners and technicians with a common language to design CSCBL scripts and the technological setting for supporting their enactment. 4SPPIces combines four factors for the design of CSCBL scripts: the Space, the Pedagogical method, the Participants and the History. The Space factor (S) defines the space where the learning activity occurs and its elements (Pérez-Sanagustín et al., 2010).

• The Space defines the planned environment where the learning activity is going to take place. Spaces are divided into private/individual, group work or social (for socialization) areas. Areas of Physical spaces contain components. Components can be electronic or non-electronic and are characterized by their arrangement, mobility and affordance.

• The Pedagogical Method is any didactic description of a sequence of activities that defines: a learning flow with a set of phases, the activities composing each phase and its relations, the roles involved in each activity, the recommended groups and group formation policies and the data flow used and produced in each activity.

  • The Participants factor defines the people participating in the activity and their characteristics through their profile and their location. This factor also models the number of actual and potential students. This is particularly important since, usually, unexpected events occurring during the activity enactment force the pre-defined group distribution to be changed.

  • The History models those aspects from the other factors likely to be affected by the unpredictable variations usually produced during the scripts enactment.

These factors have been studied separately in the literature, with special emphasis on the pedagogical method and the participants. The novelty of 4SPPIces falls on: (1) combining these factors into one unique representation, (2) explicitly defining the space as a relevant factor to be considered during the design and (3) highlighting the role of the history to explicitly model the relations between the other factors that affect the script enactment.

Towards the Design of Computer Supported Collaborative Blended Learning Scripts on Prezi

Links to extended descriptions:

- Pérez-Sanagustín, M.; Santos, P.; Hernández-Leo, D.; Blat, J.; 4SPPIces: A case study of factors in a scripted collaborative-learning blended course across spatial locations, International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (in press, DOI 10.1007/s11412-011-9139-3)

- Pérez-Sanagustín, M.; Hernández-Leo, D.; 4SPPIces: Factors in the Design of Adaptive and Intelligent Systems for CL Scripts Blending Spaces, IEEE Learning Technology Newsletter, 14(1), 2012, p. 12-15

- A CSCBL script: Pérez-Sanagustín, M.; Ramírez-González, G.; Hernández-Leo, D.; Muñoz-Organiero, M.; Santos, P.; Blat, J.; Delgado-Kloos, C. Discovering the campus together: a mobile and computer-based learning experience, Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 35(1), 2012, p. 176-188 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnca.2011.02.011)

About: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid & Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Contact: Mar Pérez-Sanagustín (mmpsanag@it.uc3m.es)