Abstract:

It is challenging to integrate technologies into the learning processes of students who get in the university, to favor collaboration; to connect formal, non-formal and informal spaces; to situate learning, both inside and outside the classroom; to adapt content, presentation, and activities to the traits of the students and their context; among other things.

Therefore, the use of a ubiquitous learning model arises as a promising alternative. This model is not only a phenomenon of technology but a vision that challenges to redesign the educational environment to propose new learning scenarios. It provides the students with a great diversity of learning resources and allows to create new, varied learning environments where activities can be adapted to the student profile and learning context.

The National University of Santiago del Estero carries out annually the admission course to the different careers it offers. The training activities of the course include a University Ambience Workshop and a specific course to each career discipline. The objective of the workshop is to introduce the students to organizational aspects related to the peculiar dynamics of the university institution. General information of the faculty is addressed, as well as knowledge about the academic and administrative aspects of university life: enrollment to courses and exams, student management system, programs curriculum, prerequisites system, class schedules, scholarships, etc.

On the other hand, those entering any computer science program must complete an Introduction to Computing course. Being aware that computer science is not only about learning concepts, but it is a series of generic skills that are part of the so-called computational thinking, it was decided to include in this course, an introduction to this type of thinking.

In this paper, we present a pedagogic proposal for the university admission course in computer science careers. The proposal is based on ubiquitous learning using Learning Objects (LO) offered in a personalized way for each student. To do this, a smartphone application that provides support services for learning was developed. Two services are related to the University Ambience Workshop and a third one deals with the specific Computing Course.

The first service offered by the application allows a student to learn about a Point of Interest (POI) that they are located in, such as the Students Department, by sensing the QR code associated with that POI. The application will display the LO for that POI, according to the learning style registered in the student's profile.

The second service recommends nearby POIs to visit, according to the student’s current location and the POIs already visited. Once the student is located in one of the suggested POIs, the application will prompt several LOs based on his/her available time left.

In the third service, the student selects a learning objective associated with the specific discipline (Computer) of his/her admission course. The application will provide him/her with several LOs according to the previous knowledge detailed in his/her profile.
This proposal is set to be implemented and evaluated in the 2019-2020 admission course of the University.

Keywords:

Ubiquitous Learning, Learning Object, Computational Thinking, Personalization.