Getting started

Running SCY-Lab

The most recent version of SCY-Lab can be found through the SCY website http://www.scy-net.eu/ at any time.

Authoring

In the authoring part of SCY-Lab, referred to as SCYAuthor, teachers may tweak SCY missions to fit specific needs, by setting parameters, such as the availability of specific scaffolds (yes/no). All authoring is done online, outside SCY-Lab, through the SCY portal page on http://scy-review.collide.info:8080/webapp. The authoring part is referred to below as the ‘SCYAuthor' tool.

 

 

With SCYAuthor, the teacher may to fine-tune a mission and obtain a real-time overview of activities in SCY-Lab as students carry out a Mission. SCYAuthor has two views: SCYAuthor Fine-tune and SCYAuthor Runtime.

 

SCYAuthor Fine-tune gives the teacher the ability to:

  • Fine-tune the scaffolding of learning goals, criteria and reflecting questions

  • Upload simple additional content (e.g. URLs, specify locations, etc.).

 

SCYAuthor Runtime provides the teacher with:

  • Awareness of the progress of the students.

  • Support in making informed decisions for fine-tuning the pedagogical plan while a Mission is running.

Purpose

The teacher uses SCYAuthor to:

  • Select/specify the default learning goals, criteria and reflecting questions for a Mission

  • Assign students to the Mission

  • Specify which ELOs are required in the students' ePortfolios

  • Adjust scaffolding levels (level of help)

  • Specify general agent parameters, such as idle time, before intervention

  • Specify the involvement of agents, being hints and help in computer learning environments facilitating learning by interacting with the students (e.g., number of concepts in concept map before agent offer help to students)

  • Define groups or automatic grouping of students

 

During the Mission teachers can:

  • Define a group of students

  • Adjust parameters of the agents

  • Adjust tool specific parameters of agents

  • Adjust scaffolding level

  • View runtime status information

  • Author reflection questions for ELOs

Example of use

Teachers start SCYAuthor from the SCY web-portal (http://scy-review.collide.info:8080/webapp) and enter the main navigation screen (see Figure 2). From this screen the teacher fine-tune the learning goals and reflecting questions properties, the ePortfolio and Scaffolding.

 

Teachers can fine-tune a Mission and its parameters, add students to a Mission and pre-set the global scaffolding level. Scaffold fine-tuning sets a global level of scaffolding for the Mission. Portfolio fine-tuning involves specifying which ELOs to be included in the ePortfolio and which reflection questions should be asked for each ELO and for the Mission as a whole.

 

 

Figure 2: SCY Author Fine-tune

 

SCYAuthor Runtime provides teachers with both a real-time overview of student progress, either through their activity in the Learning Activity Spaces (LASs) view (see Figure 3 left) or through the Emerging Learning Products (ELOs) produced view (see Figure 3 right).

 

The teacher can see all students as they embark on their Mission. Icons representing each individual user are attached to the LAS View in which they are at the present (Figure 3 left). In the ELO view teachers can see which ELOs each student has added to their ePortfolio and when the ePortfolio has been submitted for assessment.

 

 

Figure 3: SCYAuthor Runtime: LAS view (left) and ELO view (right)

Starting with a mission

On the SCY portal page mentioned above, teachers can choose one of the SCY missions. Within the pages of that mission, one can fine-tune authoring settings, as mentioned above, and, once running, access student portfolio's and assessment. Student accounts can also be created here. One can either create a student account first and then enroll the student in a mission, or create the student account from within the mission right away. When a student account has been created, the student can start and log into SCY-Lab right away.

A logical mission to use as an introduction to all the features of SCY would be the mini mission ‘Run for your life'. This mission has been specifically made to get acquainted with all aspects of SCYLab, while working in a short mission.