Marcus Specht

Delft University of Technology, EEMCS, Faculty Member

Open University The Netherlands, Welten Institute, Research Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology, Chair

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I am Professor for Advanced Learning Technologies at the Open University of the Netherlands and I am currently heading the CELSTEC Learning Technology Labs. I am and was involved in several national and international research projects on open educational content, competence based life long learning, personalized information support and contextualized systems.

I received a Diploma in Psychology in 1995 and a Dissertation from the University of Trier in 1998 on adaptive information technology.

From 1998 until 2001 I worked as a senior researcher at the GMD research center on HCI and mobile information technology. From 2001 I headed the department “Mobile Knowledge” at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT).

From 2005 I was Associated Professor at the Open University of the Netherlands and working on competence based education, learning content engineering and management, and personalization for learning.

Since 2008 I am full Professor for Advanced Learning Technologies at the Educational Technology Expertise Centre of the Open University of the Netherlands.

Currently I am working on Mobile and Contextualized Learning Technologies, Learning Network Services, and Social and Immersive Media for Learning.

I am member of ACM, IEEE.

I am member of SIKS and ICO research schools in the Netherlands.

I am Apple Distinguished Educator.

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Papers by Marcus Specht

Tangible Interactive Ambient Display Prototypes to Support Learning Scenarios

Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 2015

This paper describes the research and development of tangible interactive ambient display prototy... more This paper describes the research and development of tangible interactive ambient display prototypes to support learning scenarios. Therefore a prototypical system design called the Feedback Cube is presented. The prototypes combine motion sensors, visual and auditive actuators, as well as wireless communication capabilities in a cubic layout. An initial formative study underpins the prototypes' potential to facilitate interaction and/or indicate feedback. Based on the presented results possible applications scenarios in a learning context are outlined.

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Social Software for Professional Learning

Citeseer

Social software is used widely in organizational knowledge management and professional learning. ... more Social software is used widely in organizational knowledge management and professional learning. The PROLEARN network of excellence appreciates the trend of lowering the barriers between knowledge and learning management strategies for organizations and individuals. But, companies should not underestimate the needs for systematic support based on sound theories and technologies. We illustrate the requirements by examples and research issues for collaborative adaptive learning platforms for workplace learning in organizations.

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Adaptive web-based textbooks

by Tom Murray and Marcus Specht

Panel introduction) Proc. WebNet Conf, 2001

Hypermedia systems have enabled authors to break free from the linear presentation structure enfo... more Hypermedia systems have enabled authors to break free from the linear presentation structure enforced by the world of physical (paper) books. The Web has further enabled authors to bring hypermedia documents on-line, so that they can reach a much wider audience. As a consequence, documents also reach an audience with widely varying interests, background,(hypermedia) experience, etc. In order to provide the most appropriate information to all users, and present it in the most suitable way, documents must be ...

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Using reflection triggers while learning in an online course

by Dominique Verpoorten and Marcus Specht

British Journal of Educational …

Mobilität, Adaptivität und Kontextbewusstsein im E-Learning

i-com, 2012

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Mobile Gaming Patterns and Their Impact on Learning Outcomes: A Literature Review

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2012

Mobile learning games have increasingly been topic of educational research with the intention to ... more Mobile learning games have increasingly been topic of educational research with the intention to utilize their manifold and ubiquitous capabilities for learning and teaching. This paper presents a review of current research activities in the field. It particularly focuses is on the educational values serious mobile games provide. The study results substantiate their generally assumed motivational potential. Also, they indicate that mobile learning games may have the potential to bring about cognitive learning outcomes.

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Mobile Social Software to Support Authenticity

Learning Network Services for Professional Development, 2009

Recently, mobile devices have become more and more popular. Their portability and increasing poss... more Recently, mobile devices have become more and more popular. Their portability and increasing possibilities to create and view high quality multimedia content make them unique tools to support learning in context. In addition, most of these devices provide ways of communication between the learner and his peers. Already a couple of years ago, Rheingold recognised the power of loosely coupled, ad hoc communities “Smartmobs”, which were based on mobile or ubiquitous access to personal social networks (Rheingold ...

Adaptive Course Player for Individual Learning Styles

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2004

The paper describes the development and implementation of an adaptive course player that uses sta... more The paper describes the development and implementation of an adaptive course player that uses standardized learning materials, metadata, and a learning style model based on the Felder-Silverman learning style classification. The system implements adaptation of individual recommendations and content adaptation based on learning styles.

Extending LCMS for Remote Accessible Field Trips in RAFT

Third IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops, 2005

Abstract The following paper gives an overview and tackles some goals of the European Project RAF... more Abstract The following paper gives an overview and tackles some goals of the European Project RAFT for supporting remote access to field trips. Based on an existing LCMS&amp;amp;quot; advanced learning environment&amp;amp;quot;(ALE) extensions where build for accessing the LCMS from a variety of client technologies and interface widgets depending on the learning activity and on the learners role in a collaborative learning team. Furthermore extensions of the LCMS where needed to add contextual metadata collected with sensors with the learning objects ...

Presentation Trainer: A Toolkit for Learning Non-verbal Public Speaking Skills

by Dirk Börner, Jan Schneider, and Marcus Specht

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2014

ABSTRACT The paper presents and outlines the demonstration of Presentation Trainer, a prototype t... more ABSTRACT The paper presents and outlines the demonstration of Presentation Trainer, a prototype that works as a public speaking instructor. It tracks and analyses the body posture, movements and voice of the user in order to give instructional feedback on non-verbal communication skills. Besides exploring the background of the feedback theory used by the prototype, this paper describes its conceptual implementation and proposes its use and deployment for the conference demonstration.

Awareness and Reflection in Mobile Learning Support

Learning Network Services for Professional Development, 2009

This chapter analyses contextual parameters for designing mobile information visualization for st... more This chapter analyses contextual parameters for designing mobile information visualization for stimulating reflection on learning actions. We discuss the transformation process from a desktop centered web-application into a mobile web-information system. Such transformations are always required whenever desktop applications do not meet the fundamental requirements of mobile or–more precisely–hand-held technologies.

Contextualized Virtual Science Centers

It doesn’t matter, but: examining the impact of ambient learning displays on energy consumption and conservation at the workplace

by Dirk Börner and Marcus Specht

ABSTRACT This study reports an intervention to initiate environmental learning and facilitate pro... more ABSTRACT This study reports an intervention to initiate environmental learning and facilitate pro-environmental behaviour. The purpose was to examine the impact of ambient learning displays on energy consumption and conservation at the workplace, more specifically the evaluation of learning outcome and behaviour change. Using a quasi-experimental design, the empirical study was conducted among employees working at a university campus. For the experimental treatments, ambient learning display prototypes were varied on two design dimensions, namely representational fidelity and notification level. The results do not provide clear evidence that the design of the displays influences learning outcome or that the displays lead to pro-environmental behaviour change. Nevertheless, the sole deployment of the display prototypes eased the comprehension of the information provided and lowered the need for additional information. Thus, ambient learning displays provide a promising framework in the context of environmental learning and beyond.

Collecting data on field trips - RAFT approach

Proceedings 3rd IEEE International Conference on Advanced Technologies, 2003

Abstract The ability to relate abstract knowledge to real-world experiences is indispensable in t... more Abstract The ability to relate abstract knowledge to real-world experiences is indispensable in the modern society. Therefore the construction of knowledge from real-world contexts is a major issue of education. This issue is not supported by the current learning management systems. In the RAFT project we develop a system to support remote accessible field trips. One of its applications, the mobile collector, facilitates constructivistic learning processes in real-world contexts.

Adaptive Learning Environment for Teaching and Learning in WINDS

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2002

This paper introduces one approach to e-Learning describing the Adaptive Learning Environment (AL... more This paper introduces one approach to e-Learning describing the Adaptive Learning Environment (ALE). The system provides a new methodological approach to design education on the web. ALE will be used to build a large knowledge base supporting Architecture and Civil Engineering Design Courses and to experiment a comprehensive Virtual University of Architecture and Engineering Design in the project WINDS. Here we outline the system architecture and present its learning environment. The system ...

Evaluation of WINDS Authoring Environment

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2004

Authoring tools for adaptive educational hypermedia are still rarely available for a wider public... more Authoring tools for adaptive educational hypermedia are still rarely available for a wider public. In the WINDS project, we have developed the Adaptive Learning Environment (ALE) for various European universities active in the area of design and architecture. Teachers without programming skills have created 21 courses in the ALE authoring environment, which simplifies the process providing learning object templates and enabling reusability of materials. This paper describes the WINDS authoring approach and presents some ...

Applications of a Context-Management System

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2005

In ubiquitous computing, the user will be interrupted in performing a task only if the informatio... more In ubiquitous computing, the user will be interrupted in performing a task only if the information is relevant to the task or highly important in the situation to justify the interrupt. The information selection and presentation therefore should be adapted to the user and his current context of use. Nowadays, uncounted Content-Management Systems provide access to a large amount of information, but without context, information is just data. This paper introduces Context-Management as a new approach for the design of context-aware ...

User Modeling in Adaptive Audio-Augmented Museum Environments

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2003

The paper illustrates approaches for making audio-augmented museum environments adaptive. Based o... more The paper illustrates approaches for making audio-augmented museum environments adaptive. Based on well-known user modeling techniques we present a combination of suitable components that adapt audio information to the interests, preferences and motion of a museum&amp;amp;#x27;s visitor. The underlying environment, ie the carrier and transmitter of information, is provided by the LISTEN system, which enables the augmentation of everyday environments with audio information.

Augmenting the Senses: A Review on Sensor-Based Learning Support

by Dirk Börner and Marcus Specht

In recent years sensor components have been extending classical computer-based support systems in... more In recent years sensor components have been extending classical computer-based support systems in a variety of applications domains (sports, health, etc.). In this article we review the use of sensors for the application domain of learning. For that we analyzed 82 sensor-based prototypes exploring their learning support. To study this learning support we classified the prototypes according to the Bloom's taxonomy of learning domains and explored how they can be used to assist on the implementation of formative assessment, paying special attention to their use as feedback tools. The analysis leads to current research foci and gaps in the development of sensor-based learning support systems and concludes with a research agenda based on the findings.

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In the Eye of the Beholder: Promoting Learner-Centric Design to Develop Mobile Games for Learning

Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2014

Out of the project EMuRgency a game-based learning environment evolved, which trains school child... more Out of the project EMuRgency a game-based learning environment evolved, which trains school children in providing reanimation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The application gets players to act as if they were in a real case of emergency. This paper reports on a formal usability study conducted with two different groups of learners, regular learners and learners with special educational needs (SEN). With the study we compared the two groups of learners with regard to game usability and effectiveness of the intervention. Our intention was to better understand the different needs and requirements to learning materials that game designer need to take into consideration in order to make the learning experience successful for both groups. A total of 89 children played the game simulation. Results showed differences in perception and effectiveness of individual mechanisms for the two groups with regard to usability or switching between tasks and mobile device.

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Tangible Interactive Ambient Display Prototypes to Support Learning Scenarios

Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 2015

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Social Software for Professional Learning

Citeseer

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Adaptive web-based textbooks

by Tom Murray and Marcus Specht

Panel introduction) Proc. WebNet Conf, 2001

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Using reflection triggers while learning in an online course