About

Mission and Vision

• Making aware the world of researchers and the world of users of what they need to learn from each other.
• Enhancing dialogue and mutual understanding between the world of research represented by KAL members and the world of users. Making explicit to both of them the rationale that explains their attitudes, their motivations and their resulting behaviours and preferred agendas

Objectives

1. Identify Users’ Concerns
2. Identify Researchers’ approaches to Users’ involvement
3. Make KALEIDOSCOPE clearly perceived by Users
4. Develop tools and support services for KALEIDOSCOPE research teams in view of better approaching Usersand of involving them as stakeholders in Technology enhanced Learning research
5. Multiply communication experiences between KALEIDOSCOPE and Users

More generally:

• To develop methods and tools for extracting users’ requirements and expectations to enable them to specify their needs on the basis of their contexts of action and the values that govern their choices.
• To develop methods and tools for extracting researchers’ implicit perceptions of users’ needs and the values that steer their visions of their research priorities.
• To develop awareness among users, researchers and decision makers on the different representations they have about needs and the way to answer them.
• To enhance dialogue and create more stable bridges among the world of researchers and the world of Users in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning
• To contribute to the future research agenda in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning

Rationale

The Kaleidoscope Users’ Group aims to make visible the world of researchers and the world of users, and what they need to learn from each other, through making explicit to both of them the rationale that explains their attitudes, their motivations and their resulting behaviours and preferred agendas.

Approach and expected results

Most of the research on users’ needs analysis is based on formal surveys that only consider the performance expected from technology use, and pay poor attention to users’ attitudes, motivation, behaviour and ethos that actually deeply contribute to shape users’ acceptance of technology-enhanced learning, and develop their social uses in the users’ context of action.

By means of:

• developing methods for extracting users’ requirements and expectations, to enable them to specify their needs on the basis of their contexts of action and the values that govern their choices;
• developing methods for extracting researchers’ implicit perceptions of users’ needs, and the values that steer their visions of their research priorities; and
• developing awareness among users, researchers and decision makers of the different representations they have about needs and the way to answer them - the Users' group aims at enhancing dialogue and mutual understanding between the world of research represented by Kaleidoscope members and the world of users as defined above 0 and making decision-makers aware of potential negotiation pathways.

Expected results for the activity are the setting up of a new conceptual framework on the issues of users' requirements to be shared both by users and researchers through their structured confrontation (documented and prepared workshops), and contributing to align research and users' agendas, as well as being a tool to guide decision-makers by making explicit their political nature - "political" in the sense that they call for a negotiation process.

UG Services and tools for Users and Researchers

All tools and services offered by the Users' group are free and accessible. Their aim is to provide KALEIDOSCOPE researchers with suitable methodologies and tools to successfully address users. The tools will offer methods for extracting perceptions and visions of Users and Researchers and the conceptual framework to analyse outcomes.

In general the Users' group services and tools are built also on (but not limited to) the use of the following information resources:

• Information about emerging outcomes from Kaleidoscope's Research Labs, contacts with appropriate users group
• Repository of good practices in involving users in the research process (a combination of desk research and USERS GROUP findings)
• Guidance in the matching of users research DEMAND and Academies OFFER by means of workshops
• Information about events, direct invitation to selected events
• Invitations to Users Group workshops
• Forum for virtual discussions
• Redirection of users training requests to ATI
• Redirection of users "industry" requests to the AIDA

Expected outcomes

• Concept and value maps representing main Users’ concerns
• Concept and value maps representing main research concerns in KAL and approaches to users’ involvement
• Users’ workshops organised by KAL SIGs*
• Higher involvement of Users in KAL activities, better matching between Users’ concerns and research agenda