Abstract:

Today we have different forms of digital support systems and platforms for teaching and learning processes. Many of these systems are called Learning Management Systems (LMS). They support mainly the organization of teaching and learning. They sometimes have been further differentiated into LMS and School Management Systems (SMS) when separating the structure of courses and materials from the management of users, i.e. the role and access rights of teachers and learners. It can be observed that LMS together with SMS are seen as the relevant and most needed constituents for the digitization of teaching and learning. An important part missing in this technology- and organization-centered approach are the content-related learning processes themselves, i.e. the knowledge entities and their structures together with a didactic-methodological toolset for knowledge management.

Learning and teaching is always based on media as the means for communication and representation. We therefore need Media Management Systems to support and reflect the contents and didactic methods themselves. First steps in this direction are Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS). However, these are mainly used to manage the raw contents of teaching and learning without representing their role in respect to meaning, knowledge, and context. As media are anchor points for knowledge to be acquired, reflected, and enriched as well as to prevent from confusions with plain LCMS we use the notion Knowledge Media and call such platforms Knowledge Media Management Systems (KMMS).

As a model and example for a solution we implemented Ambient Learning Spaces (ALS), an integrated modular multimedia teaching and learning platform for contextualized learning discourses inside and outside school. ALS is a cloud-based multimedia repository connecting different interactive learning applications using current interaction devices like wearables, mobiles, tangibles, and other interactive multimedia frontend systems. This digital media platform is a kind of “Digital Media Machine” that enables learners mapping the world of real life contexts to diverse digital media providing different modalities for modeling, transforming, recombining, annotating, discussing, and reflecting the content during the learning processes. ALS installations have been used, studied, and improved in schools, museums, and other learning contexts like urban space or biotopes over several years in a variety of teaching and learning settings.

The contribution describes the concept and architecture of ALS as a KMMS and the role of KMMS besides SMS and LMS, as well as meaningful connectivity between with these platforms.

Keywords:

Ambient Learning Spaces, Integrated Media Infrastructures, Didactic Infrastructures, Learning Management Systems, Knowledge Media Management Systems.