Presentation delivered at ALT-C 2016 about a project at Sheffield Hallam University that used Bluetooth beacons to deliver materials to students and develop a sense of a learning community between students and tutors. A research paper about this work is available at http://www.researchinlearningtechnology.net/index.php/rlt/article/view/32166

1. Kieran McDonald
Dr. Ian Glover
Senior Lecturers in Digital Capability
Sheffield Hallam University
Augmenting Formal and Semi-formal
Learning Spaces by Creating 'Learning
Zones' with Bluetooth Beacons

2. Bluetooth Beacons
Small device that transmit a signal over Bluetooth
Can be a unique ID number, URL, or both
Signals picked up by app on smart device
URL can be opened directly from notification area
Unique ID triggers a specified action within an app (if known ID)
Adjustable transmission strength means area that receives a
signal can be fine-tuned
Short-range for very local actions
Long-range for more general actions
Distance from beacons can also be used to trigger actions
Display wider contextual info when far from beacon, giving increase detail
when closer
Triangulate beacons to get more accurate (indoor) location
Eddystone

3. How Beacons Work
Simple identifier format means that the same beacon can trigger different actions
in different apps.
Signal effectively becomes a ‘public good’ - if it is there for one purpose, it can’t
(easily) be restricted from other purposes
Students can create their own apps that use the existing beacon infrastructure

4. Common Uses for Beacons
Wayfinding around buildings and complexes
Providing online information about a physical object
Personalising information based on who, when and where
Sharing information about a locale
Showcasing in public informal areas
Targeting information to specific people or places
rerouting people around bottlenecks at busy times
warning of potential hazards to people distracted by their phones (‘Smombies’)
Virtual ‘graffiti’, location tagging and annotation
leaving resources, artwork and ‘easter eggs’ in particular locations (‘Geo-caching’)

5. Example Uses for Beacons In Education
Course, institution and staff promotion at open days *
Virtual galleries showcasing student work *
Richer portfolios at degree shows
Location specific information in libraries, careers offices, student support offices,
etc. *
Automatically sharing session resources with students by linking VLE, location
and timetable info
Staff sharing their work or profiles as they move around the campus *
Targeting important messages to students as they arrive on, or move around,
campus
Sharing information relevant to students around staff offices *
* Currently being investigated or used at SHU

6. Project Background
Graphic Design moving to a new ‘home’ studio in Sheffield’s former Post Office
Opportunity to try something new with the space
Integrate technology into the learning spaces
Opportunity to reconsider practice
Conversations and survey with students suggested they wanted:
More opportunities to share work with peers
Further connection with tutors
Increased use of digital tools
Additional guidance on software and techniques
Staff motivated to improve the student experience

7. Developing Learning Communities
The main purpose of the project was to develop ‘Digital’ learning zones in the
‘Physical’ studio space to help foster the development of different learning
communities:
Peer community
Inspired by seeing what other students are working on to enhance peer learning (Process)
Tutor community
Seeing where tutors look for inspiration and what attracts them helps to model professional
behaviour, and enables deeper conversation in tutorials (Closeness)
Professional community
Sharing work with, and commenting on work by, external designers helps to model professional
behaviour, and helps raise awareness of student when they start looking for jobs. (Connection)

8. Learning Zones in the Studio

9. Presentation Zone - Tutor Community
Tutor-curated content
Delivered through Tumblr
Scaffold learning outside
formal sessions
Develop student ‘closeness’
to tutors

10. Production Zone - Skill Development
Guidance materials for software and techniques
Video tutorials from Lynda.com
Asynchronous support materials
Personalised resources

11. Collaboration Zone - Peer Community
Student-curated content (Process / Influence / Iteration)
Pulled together Instagram content from any account into one central Pinterest
board based on hashtag (Existing)
Curation process automated through IFTTT (Removing Barriers)

12. Feedback from Students and Staff
Students
‘Increased sense of community among peers’
‘More sources of inspiration from shared resources’
‘Gained a better understanding of their tutors and what it means to be a graphic
designer’
‘Developed further understanding of different workflows and design process’
‘Want to see beacons used elsewhere at SHU’
Staff
‘Change in practice’
‘Looking for new ways to mesh the physical space with a digital layer’
‘Interested in developing further connection to students - Closeness’

13. Further Information and Follow-up
Discussion
More project and technical information on project blog:
https://beaconprojectblog.wordpress.com/
If you want to discuss how you might use
beacons in your institution, let us know:
Kieran McDonald, k.mcdonald@shu.ac.uk, @SHU_DTE
Ian Glover, i.glover@shu.ac.uk, @irglover
This work was supported by a faculty Learning and Teaching Innovation grant from the Faculty of Arts,
Computing, Engineering and Sciences at SHU. It has also received a Google Internet of Things Research
Award.