Anne Adams

The Open University (UK) · Institute of Educational Technology

This study investigates the enablers and barriers of embedding technology for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of staff in the police sector. The research team developed an online game called "Child Witness Interview Simulation" (CWIS) to complement existing interview training for police officers and help them gain competency in interviewi...

Evidence-based practice is increasingly important in creating effective public services through the balance of high-quality research and valid practice. Yet even when academics and practitioners work together to use evidence in practice, barriers emerge. This paper describes research into equitable knowledge exchange between academia and practice,...

HCI often produces improved systems through co-creation with practitioners. However, evaluation methods are primarily researcher-led (i.e. not co-created with practitioners). As part of a games-based learning evaluation, we detail a novel co-creation method that produces evaluations on how technology influences learning. Based upon educational thre...

Digital games are an engaging medium that have previously been used for communicating research to a variety of audiences. However, there is an opportunity for engaging people more deeply by involving them in creating games. This article reports on a game design competition, based on participatory design principles and game jam practices, which chal...

Current radical changes in the Police service internationally and in England and Wales are being driven by movements to adopt an evidence-based practice (EBP) approach to policing. However this poses a challenge as early adopters have experienced resistance to EBP, a relatively unknown, and more importantly misunderstood approach for policing. This...

One of the most frequent arguments for deploying serious games is that they provide an engaging format for student learning. However, engagement is often equated with enjoyment, which may not be the most relevant conceptualization in safety-critical settings, such as law enforcement and healthcare. In these contexts, the term 'serious' does not onl...

One of the most frequent arguments for deploying serious games is that they provide an engaging format for student learning. However, engagement is often equated with enjoyment, which may not be the most relevant conceptualization in safety-critical settings, such as law enforcement and healthcare. In these contexts, the term ?serious? does not onl...

This study explored the use of a web-based tool entitled ‘Problem Distiller’ designed to support teachers in uncovering why their students have problems understanding Threshold Concepts. Data collected involved interviews with two math teachers, invited to experiment the Problem Distiller tool and Think Aloud protocol. Content analysis was used to...

This paper presents a study developed in the framework of a training course for teachers of STEM areas on the JuxtaLearn process. This process, divided into eight steps, aims to improve student understanding of threshold concepts by planning, editing and sharing creative videos in CLIPIT. CLIPIT is an online platform for collaborative learning desi...

Police officers when dealing with interviewing children have to cope with a complex set of emotions from a vulnerable witness. Triggers for recognising those emotions and how to build rapport are often the basis of learning exercises. However, current training pulls together the full complexity of emotions during role-playing which can be over-whel...

The use and availability of digital media is changing researchers' roles and simultaneously providing a route for a more engaging relationship with stakeholders throughout the research process. Although the digital realm has a profound influence on people's day-to-day lives, some researchers have not yet professionally embraced digital technologies...

This paper presents a study developed within the international project JuxtaLearn. This project aims to improve student understanding of threshold concepts by promoting student curiosity and creativity through video creation. The math concept of 'Division', widely referred in the literature as problematic for students, was recognised as a 'Tricky T...

Development and deployment of location-based systems is a key consideration in the design of new mobile technologies. Critical to the design process is to understand and manage the expectations of stakeholders (including funders, research partners and end users) for these systems. In particular, the way in which expectations impact upon technology...

The fourth in a series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation.

In this paper, the authors examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Previous work in the feld of mobile learning has included AR as a component of a wider toolkit but little has been done to discuss the phenomenon in detail or to examine in a balanced fashion its potential for learning, identifying both positive a...

This is the final report of the Open University’s RCUK-funded Public Engagement with Research Catalyst, ‘An open research university’, a project designed to create the conditions in which engaged research can flourish. The report describes an evidence-based strategy designed to embed engaged research within the University’s strategic planning for r...

This paper describes a threshold concept-driven e-assessment system that supports teachers in writing effective formative multiple-choice questions, creating quizzes tailored to students' learning pathways. The system, which has been co-designed with teachers, acts as the 'bun' on either side of an 'eassessment burger' pedagogically scaffolding qui...

This paper presents a study developed in the scope of a larger project that aims to understand how video editing and content sharing in public displays can be used at schools to promote the informal engagement of students with curricular contents that are essential to foster future learning. The study involved a video competition where students wer...

Notwithstanding that ‘public engagement’ is conceptualised differently internationally and in different academic disciplines, higher education institutions largely accept the importance of public engagement with research. However, there is limited evidence on how researchers conceptualise engagement, their views on what constitutes engagement and t...

Development and deployment of location-based systems is a key consideration in the design of new mobile technologies. Critical to the design process is to understand and manage the expectations of stakeholders (including funders, research partners and end users) for these systems. In particular, the way in which expectations impact upon technology...

We live immersed in a technological world. Learning is not an exception; most classrooms are equipped with multiple devices intended to improve the learning process for students. Especially for novice teachers, there is a need to provide usable technological tools that help them with their counterpart teaching tasks. This paper presents a set of te...

Education can be dramatically enhanced by social networks, a report from The Open University claims. The so-called ‘network effect’ comes from many thousands of people learning from each other, but it needs careful management to reach its full potential. The movement of education from the classroom and onto social networks is one of the key trends...

This paper uses theatre to frame reflexive discussions on the use of participatory video making for science engagement. The ‘JuxtaLearn’ research project is presented as a case-study that focuses on performance concepts such as audience, purpose, improvisation or final production as a lens for supporting technology-enabled creative exploration. Thr...

In this paper, we examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Previous work in the field of mobile learning has included AR as a component of a wider toolkit but little has been done to discuss the phenomenon in detail or to examine in a balanced fashion its potential for learning, identifying both positive and negat...

Researchers designing and deploying technologies in the wild can find it difficult to balance pure innovation with scalable solutions. We propose a catwalk technology metaphor where researchers as boundary creatures focus on innovation whilst providing links to prêt-à-porter (ready to wear) developments. Evidence from three ‘in-the-wild’ field-base...

We present an approach – evocative computing – that demonstrates how ‘at hand’ technologies can be ‘picked up’ and used by people to create meaningful and lasting experiences, through connecting and interacting with the past. The approach is instantiated here through a suite of interactive technologies configured for an indoor-outdoor setting that...

We present an approach – evocative computing – that demonstrates how ‘at hand’ technologies can be ‘picked up’ and used by people to create meaningful and lasting experiences, through connecting and interacting with the past. The approach is instantiated here through a suite of interactive technologies configured for an indoor-outdoor setting that...

The concept of design stakeholders is central to effective design of digital libraries. We report on research findings that identified the presence of a key subset of stakeholders which we term ‘design process champions’. Our findings have identified that these champions can change interaction patterns and the eventual output of the other stakehold...

This position paper gives exemplars of location-based ‘in the wild’ learning and their relationship to GeoHCI, and also describes the challenges and research questions inherent in doing so. We present several projects that encompass both formal and informal learning experiences. We discuss the issues arising from the use of outdoor in the wild ‘ble...

The ongoing EU project JuxtaLearn aims at facilitating the acquisition of science concepts through videos, especially also through creation of videos on the part of the learners. Learning Analytics techniques are used to extract and represent teachers’ and students’ concepts manifested in interactive work-shops based on textual artifacts. First res...

Previous research has highlighted the value of technology to enhance learning. However, digital inclusion research has argued that many issues such as skills, access, usability and choice impact on the effectiveness of technology to enhance learning. The findings in this paper add to the debate by highlighting the importance of value and context. I...

In this paper, we examine the state of the art in augmented reality (AR) for mobile learning. Previous work in the field of mobile learning has included AR as a component of a wider toolkit for mobile learning but, to date, little has been done that discusses the phenomenon in detail or that examines its potential for learning, in a balanced fashio...

A variety of computing technologies, in addition to the personal computer, are now commonly used in many settings. As networking infrastructures mature, it is increasingly feasible and affordable to consider closer integration and use of these heterogeneous devices in tandem. However, little is known about how best to design or evaluate such ‘devic...

This paper highlights the importance of sustainability in digital library design processes and frames these arguments within current digital library forums and literature. Sustainability of digital libraries is analysed through an empirical study of 10 best practice digital library projects across three African countries (Uganda, South Africa, Keny...

E-learning can free us from bound concepts of who we are. However, our digital identities relate back to varied real world situations within which we live. Situated implications of identity changes are frequently not understood by e-learning systems. This chapter provides a detailed review of situated learning concepts and identity reformation acco...

On Heritage aims to offer and promote a rich discussion at the intersection of art, performance, and culture that expands the boundaries of HCI while broadening our understanding of how things of the past come to matter in the present. Elisa Giaccardi, Editor

Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of institutional and national policies in the design process of educational digital libraries developed collaboratively with key stakeholders within the African higher education context. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research project based on three case studies of universities in Africa (Ugan...

This paper explores how field and indoor based students can be connected so that their contrasting circumstances and capabilities are used as a basis for learning. We describe the design of the 'Out There and In Here' system and activity. Using naturalistic evaluations in the context of higher education earth science, we find evidence that this app...

Situations shape how we learn and who we are. This chapter reviews two case-studies in order to identify key points of interplay between physical world and virtual world identities and how this impacts on identity reformation. The first study reviews findings of a study that explored the use of simulated language learning scenarios (i.e. a Spanish...

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a distributed information resource system (IRS) shared between field and laboratory settings for higher education geology students. An investigation of geo-science scholarship and technical pilot studies highlighted the importance of situational specific and distributed information usage. To advance...

Interaction between in situ and distanced collaborators focused on the physical environment is an under-explored research area, where there is potential for novel mobile and indoor technologies to enhance activities. This paper describes research in progress to explore how new forms of collaborative learning in scientific fieldwork can be supported...

This paper describes the 'Out There and In Here' project, in which we explore the combined use of mobile technologies and static indoor technologies to support novel forms of collaborative field trip learning. We are currently developing a system to support balanced collaboration between geology students 'Out There' in the field, and their peers lo...

Technological developments now allow community groups, clubs, and even ordinary individuals to create their own, publicly accessible online digital multi-media collections. However, it is unclear as to whether the users of such collection are fully aware of the potential privacy implications of submitting their personal contents (e.g. photographs,...

One of the benefits of mobile technologies is to combine ‘the digital’ (e.g., data, information, photos) with ‘field’ experiences in novel ways that are contextualized by people’s current located activities. However, often cost, mobility disabilities and time exclude students from engaging in such peripatetic experiences. The Out There and In Here pr...

This paper details research into building a Collaborative Educational Resource Design model by investigating two contrasting Kenyan / UK design case-studies and an evaluation of end-users and designers’ perceptions of digital libraries and their usage patterns. The two case-studies compared are; case study 1 based on formal learning in an African u...

This paper presents research that engages with virtual worlds for education users to understand design of these applications for their needs. An in-depth multi-method investigation from 12 virtual worlds participants was undertaken in three stages; initially a small scale within-subjects eye-tracking comparison was made between the role playing gam...

Human-Computer Interaction draws on the fields of computer science, psychology, cognitive science, and organisational and social sciences in order to understand how people use and experience interactive technology. Until now, researchers have been forced to return to the individual subjects to learn about research methods and how to adapt them to t...

The strongest tradition of IR systems evaluation has focused on system effectiveness; more recently, there has been a growing interest in evaluation of Interactive IR systems, balancing system and user-oriented evaluation criteria. In this paper we shift the focus to considering how IR systems, and particularly digital libraries, can be evaluated t...

INTRODUCTION Social practices and structures can shape how we learn and, in turn, who we become (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). Technology in the form of ODL systems traverse distances, organisational and social structures (Star & Griesemer, 1989). However, it is the social, economic and governance systems in which technology are embedded, whi...

The UK National Programme for IT is spearheading the digitisation of health information, but relatively little attention has been paid to how these technologies are received or integrated into working practices. In this paper we reflect on the findings from a series of studies on technology design and deployment in NHS hospitals, focusing on the re...

With fast changing technologies and related human interaction issues, there is an increased need for timely evaluation of systems with distributed users in varying contexts (Pace, 2004). This has led to the increased use of questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus groups in commercial usability and academic research contexts. Questionnaires ar...

About the book: Human-Computer Interaction draws on the fields of computer science, psychology, cognitive science, and organisational and social sciences in order to understand how people use and experience interactive technology. Until now, researchers have been forced to return to the individual subjects to learn about research methods and how to...

With the increased spread of HE distance learning into a wide variety of contexts it is important for us to understand the factors involved in its successful deployment for students. E-learning has a great potential to support effective and empowering HE distance learning (Wilson, 2007; Adams, 2005; Hughes, 2005). However, within two secure environ...

Creativity and enjoyment in assessment practices maybe an ironic concept but enabling 'flow' through appropriate interface modalities (e.g. keyboard, tablet) could have a vital impact on assessment practices. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze a 9 month virtual ethnography of an online lecturer support forum (150 postings), 27 questionn...

Practitioner Inquiry has been promoted as a means for people to research their own practice within many work-based contexts (e.g. education, social-work & health). Practitioner inquiry within work-based learning focuses on bridging the divide between academia and the employer. Yet in our endeavour to promote work-based learning we often forget the...

In the health domain, there are many circumstances where clinicians (i.e. doctors, nurses, allied health professionals) and patients wish to track changes in medical knowledge. However, existing 'news' or 'alert' services provide relatively limited means for selecting which information to receive. The result is that clinicians and patients often re...

This paper presents findings from a study of information seeking behaviour by National Health Service patients which explored motivational triggers for infor- mation needs. Previous research has highlighted the importance of contextual elements in users' changing information needs. This paper highlights how those needs may centre on specific events...

The objective of this paper is to set the research agenda for a workshop focusing on novel approaches to supporting trust, collaboration, and compliance in social systems. Suggested approaches are: self-awareness, reparative and social recommender mechanisms.

This paper builds on Leslie Morton's vision of enabling users through education and training. It describes three different approaches to mediated training for medical students and clinicians provided by peers, juniors (i.e. medical students) and information specialists (i.e. clinical librarians) and considers the benefits to the participants. The t...

As organizations grow larger and more distributed, the problems of maintaining corporate awareness and effective communication channels escalate. The clinical domain poses particular challenges to maintaining good corporate communications because users have limited time to access information and often have negative technology perceptions. This arti...

An understanding of ‘communities of practice’ can help to make sense of existing security and privacy issues within organizations; the same understanding can be used proactively to help bridge the gap between organizational and end-user perspectives on these matters. Findings from two studies within the health domain reveal contrasting perspectives...

This paper presents an overview of several evidence-based medicine and patient information studies conducted across the UK health service over a 4 year period, investigating clinicians', managers', and patients' perceptions of digital resources (primarily digital libraries) in hospitals, Primary Care Trusts, NHS Direct (patient call centre) and pat...

In the health domain, there are many circumstances where clinicians and patients wish to track changes in medical knowledge. However, existing ‘news’ or ‘alert’ services provide relatively limited means for selecting which information to receive. This results in clinicians and patients receiving information that is inappropriate, irrelevant or simp...

This paper reports on work studying how technology can empower or exclude its users due to interactions between social context, system design and implementation. The analysis is based around the introduction and use of digital libraries in four different settings, three clinical and one academic. Across the four settings, in-depth interview and foc...

Growing threats to online banking security (e.g. phishing, personal identify fraud) and the personal nature of the data make the balance between security, trust and usability vital. However, there is little published research about what influences users' perceptions of online banking security and trust. This study identifies that the type of authen...

As organizations grow larger and more distributed, the problems of maintaining corporate awareness and effective communication channels escalate. The clinical domain poses particular challenges to maintaining good corporate communications because users have limited time to access information and often have negative technology perceptions. This arti...

The temporal elements of users' information requirements are a continually confounding aspect of digital library design. No sooner have users' needs been identified and supported than they change. This paper evaluates the changing information requirements of users through their 'information journey' in two different domains (health and academia). I...

The social and organizational aspects of digital libraries are often overlooked but this paper reviews how they can affect users’ awareness and acceptance of digital libraries. An analysis of research conducted within two contrasting domains (Clinical and Academic) is presented which highlights issues of user interactions, work practices and the or...

The rapid development of online learning is opening up many new learning opportunities. Yet, with this increased potential come a myriad of risks. Usable security systems are essential as poor usability in security can result in excluding intended users while allowing sensitive data to be released to unacceptable recipients. This chapter presents f...

The rapid development of online learning is opening up many new learning opportunities. Yet, with this increased potential come a myriad of risks. Usable security systems are essential as poor usability in security can result in excluding intended users while allowing sensitive data to be released to unacceptable recipients. This chapter presents f...

Although web accessible digital libraries (DLs) have greatly increased potential information accessibility within academia, the use of these resources varies widely across disciplines. This study, within contrasting departments (Humanities, Computing and Business) of a London university, reviews the social and organisational impacts of DLs across t...

Evidenced-based medicine has increased the importance of quick accessibility to reputable, up-to-date information. Web-accessible digital libraries (DLs) on the wards can address the demand for such information. The use and acceptability of these resources has, however, been lower than expected due to a poor understanding of the context of use. To...

Clinical requirements for quick accessibility to reputable, up-to-date information have increased the importance of web accessible digital libraries for this user community. To understand the social and organisational impacts of ward-accessible digital libraries (DLs) for clinicians, we conducted a study of clinicians’ perceptions of electronic inf...

This paper addresses the problem by providing a model of user perceptions of privacy in multimedia environments. The model has been derived from an analysis of empirical studies conducted by the authors and other researchers and aids designers to determine which information users regard as private, and in which context. It also identifies trade-off...

This thesis seeks to provide the domain of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), specifically multimedia designers and deployers, with an empirically based model of users' perception of multimedia communications. Without this information, multimedia communication systems are currently being designed and implemented which increase the likelihood of unin...

Global multimedia communications is advancing the freedom of information and knowledge. However, as the amount and variety of multimedia data generated through these applications in-creases, so do risks associated with widespread accessibility and utilization of such data. Specifi-cally, data may be used in a manner which users regard as an invasio...

To date, system research has focused on designing security mechanisms to protect systems access although their usability has rarely been investigated. This paper reports a study in which users’ perceptions of password mechanisms were investigated through questionnaires and interviews. Analysis of the questionnaires shows that many users report prob...