Wearable Learning is beginning to emerge as one of the earmarks of the transition from the mobile age to the wearable era. This paper provides an insight into the conceptual framework of wearable learning as part of the R&D project called “Fitness MOOC - interaction of seniors with wearable fitness trackers in the MOOC (fMOOC)”. The fMOOC project is a cooperation between Beuth University of Applied Sciences and the Geriatric Research Center at Charité - one of the largest university hospitals in Europe. The project aims at developing a technology-enhanced learning solution combining the MOOC approach with elements of mobile and wearable learning. This paper focuses on the conceptual framework of the fMOOC informing the technical development. In particular, this paper discusses the potential of wearable technologies for creative learning as part of healthy ageing, exploring of links between creativity, learning and healthy ageing.

1. Wearable Learning for
Healthy Ageing:
A conceptual framework in the project
Fitness MOOC - fMOOC
Ilona Buchem, Agathe Merceron, Jörn Kreutel
Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin
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Marten Haesner, Annika Steinert
Research Group Geriatrics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Wednesday, September 17, 14

2. fMOOC Project
• Project type: Preliminary Research & Development project (Vorprojekt) -
based on the results a large-scale project will follow-up
• Cooperation partners: Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin
(project lead, technical development) and Research Group Geriatrics,
Charité Berlin (user studies)
• Project goals: Test and evaluate the interaction of senior users with
wearable technologies (armbands) in a MOOC setting (learning for
healthy ageing)
• Project duration: 12 months
• Project funding: German Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF)
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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3. fMOOC Idea
• Goal: Improve physical fitness and well-being
• Learn: In a community of peers (MOOC)
•Wearables: Armbands to track activities
• Mobiles: Apps to analyse data and connect
• Content: Fitness and fitness plans
• Motivate: Explore, track progress
• Sustain: Gamify experience
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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4. A possible scenario
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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Jack (69) challenges his fMOOC friends to
walk 35,000 steps in 14 days (2,500 steps
per day). For this challenge he designs a
walking plan around the town as a
storytelling pathway with visual clues.
Everyone enjoys exploring this pathway.
Today his challenger Philip (68) has
surpassed the daily goal and walked 2,516
steps (day’s best). He has also shared
pictures he took walking in the fMOOC.
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5. fMOOC Architecture
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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6. • Creativity: Contribution to well-being, e.g. flow theory explains how
engagement in creativite activities contributes to deep enjoyment and
pleasure through complete absorption with the activity
•Well-being: Can be enhanced by engaing in flow activities on the
intellectual, physical and social levels leading to both psycho-social well-being
and physical well-being (e.g. fitness)
• Healthy Ageing: Therapeutic effects of creativity - the outcomes of
engaging in creative activities in internal to the person.
• Health: Is not a permanent state but a dynamic state of well-being
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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Creativity & Well-being
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7. • Definition of Health: As a dynamic state of well-being, health requires the
person to learn how to manage this state. Health can be thus defined as a
set of catabilities of an individual or a group.
• Healthy living: The capability approach to health views these capabilities
as learnable, adaptable and dependent on the context. Healthy living can
be learned, e.g. learning how to remain fit, how to deal with stress etc.
• Healthy Ageing: Can be defined as a process of optimising opportuntities
for social, mental and physical health
• Creative Learning: Positive impact on health, e.g. increased sense of
control, social engament, sense of achievement, perception of competence
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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Health & Learning
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8. • Mobile devices: Are carried to a location and are used in a state of
temporal stationarity (e.g. standing, sitting)
•Wearable devices: Body-worn devices used when the user us moving or
engaging in other tasks (e.g. jogging, dancing).
•Wearable learning: Learning enhanced by wearable devices which are
equipped with mechanisms for context awareness, activity tracking,
monitoring and sharing of data. Wearable learning supports:
• Contextual information
• Contextual interaction
• Contextual participation
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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Wearable learning
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9. • Flow activities: Design activities enhanced by mobile and wearable
technologies which stimulate flow, e.g. contextual story-telling.
• Data control: Provide mechanisms for the autonomous management of
tracked data to enhance the sense of ownership.
• Creative thinking: Enhance creating relations between elements and
promote desire to learn more, explore, discover, venture etc.
• Creative expression: Design conditions for being creative through
expression, e.g. creating gamified experience for others.
• Creative participation: Use person-in-environment perspective to design
opportunities for creative engagement with the environment and others.
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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fMOOC Framework
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10. What is your idea - how can we enhance creative
learning and well-being using smart armbands?
Ilona Buchem / EC-TEL 2014: / Graz, 17-09-2014 / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 DE
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Creative ideas?
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11. More Information:
Project website (German): http://projekt.beuth-hochschule.de/fmooc
fMOOC PROJECT TEAM:
Prof. Dr. Ilona Buchem (Project Management & Gamification): buchem@beuth-hochschule.de
Prof. Dr. Jörn Kreutel (Mobile Development & Integration): kreutel@beuth-hochschule.de
Prof. Dr. Agathe Merceron (Learning Analytics & Personalisation):: merceron@beuth-hochschule.de
Marten Haesner (User Requirements & User Study): Marten.Haesner@charite.de
Annika Steinert (Learnig Content for Healthy Ageing): Anika.Steinert@charite.de
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