The complexity of the Kaj Munk Case

Each of the different cases in the EuroPLOT-project present different challenges to the understanding of technology enhanced learning and the facilitation of multimedia learning. Each case study displays a certain degree of complexity in the learning envi- ronment, the subject matter, and the intended learning outcomes. Recognizing this, it may be argued that in several ways the Munk Case does present an even higher level of complexity than is expected in many generic learning situations.

It has thus been important to address the issues around this enhanced complexity in order to achieve a thorough understanding of:

 The communicative agent.

 The intended learning outcomes or the intended persuasive impact.  The learning environment and recipients.

 The material and subject to be mediated.

Obviously, these questions do apply in the process of designing most technology enhanced learning systems. Nevertheless, inherent qualities in the material and the agenda of the Munk Case prove considerations in this area to be of a most decisive nature.

2.1 The communicative agent

In the Munk Case the potential transmitters of content and learning material are legion. Such are also the intentions and the intended learning outcomes or intended persuasive impact. In classic rhetorical theory the rhetor defines the agenda and the arguments and, doing this, he enters into an act of rhetoric agency.

In the Munk Case there are many stakeholders and interests in the mediation and learning situation. It has therefore been necessary to adopt an open approach to medi- ating Munk offering tools and media for the users own, individual learning rather than supporting a very fixed curriculum or a predestined route of digital immersion. Communicative agents in the mediation of Munk could be teachers at different lev- els of the school system. It could be University teachers, researchers, public opinion makers. But it could also be the Kaj Munk Vicarage Museum or another cultural in- tuition, or the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This diversity of potential rhetors obvi- ously differs from much technology enhanced learning in a more restricted or struc- tured learning environment.

In some cases the concept of a single communicative agent must be abandoned as the learning environment is shaped by a multitude of users. This is for instance the case where annotations or user generated content establishes any user as a potential content provider.

2.2 The intended learning outcomes or the intended persuasive impact Following the argument that multiple potential communicative agents are into play in the Munk Case it is obvious that that a considerable degree of diversity will also be present in the learning environment. Since rhetors have different agendas, motivation, and intentions their focus in mediating Munk may be quite diverse.

Nevertheless, this diversity is not only a matter of intention; it is also a matter of style and the role of persuasion. Thus, the communicative agent could aim at one (or both) of these categories of recipient impact:

 Intended learning outcomes – which should focus on knowledge dissemination and cognition.

 Intended persuasive impact – which should focus on bringing inspiration and even suggesting attitude and/or behavior change.

In a habermasian understanding of learning obviously the intended persuasive im- pact approach is ethically dubious. Nevertheless it is in cultural, political, or religious mediation often the case, that mediation contains some kind of value transfer. It is the strength of the Persuasive Technology framework (B.J.Fogg 2003) that it recognizes these intentions and offer a theoretical framework for the discourse.

2.3 The learning environment and recipients

Just as the rhetors are diverse so are the receivers. Given that the learning environ- ments may be at any part of the school system, at University, in Church or in cultural institutions of different natures it is obvious that learning environments differ vastly.

2.4 The Kaj Munk Study Edition

Researchers at the Kaj Munk Research Center at Aalborg University have devel- oped an Emdros based system which integrates archive-based learning resources (pic- tures and texts), called the Kaj Munk Study Edition (Sandborg-Petersen, U. 2013). This system exists presently in a Danish version. In addition, a German version and an English version of this Study Edition are being developed based on the available translations of Kaj Munk’s texts. This system makes it possible to search for patterns and expressions in the text corpus. In this way the system offers an opportunity to explore Kaj Munk’s universe as it is represented in terms of the texts.

The ambition is that The Kaj Munk Study Edition should include all parts of Kaj Munk’s journalism, dramas, poetry, prose, sermons, and letters. In this way the work with the development of the system may be taken as an illustration of how the com- plete works of a writer of cultural significance may be represented using an Emdros based tool and how such a tool may be helpful in order to solve tasks in a teaching context, particularly the demands for problem-based learning. The ambition is also that the system should be persuasive in the sense that the use of it should stimulate the wish to learn more about the life and works of Kaj Munk.

2.5 Geocaching and mobile persuasive learning objects

In addition to the more traditional use of technology employed in the Kaj Munk Study Edition, EuroPLOT has also made use of geocaching which may be seen as special kind of so-called mobile persuasion. Within the project a system of four geo- caches related to Kaj Munk has been established in co-operation with the Kaj Munk Museum in Vedersø, which is located in Kaj Munks former vicarage. Two of the four caches have been presented in both Danish and German. The four caches were in- stalled in June 2011 and the use of the system has been studied over a period of two years. There is strong evidence to support the claim that geocaching can in fact serve as an effective persuasive technology.

Promising feedback from the Geocaching system in Vedersø, has lead to the de- velopment of multimodal persuasive learning design, which was implemented and tested in the small village Vester Hassing in Northern Jutland in June 2013. Building upon the notion that the presence at a specific location, influences the users percep- tion of the learning material, students at Vester Hassing school were introduced to WWII and Kaj Munk, through a combination of traditional and mobile persuasive learning objects. The learning design included a tour of the village, during which the

students received learning material and challenges at specific locations. For instance, the students learned about the time when the railway in Vester Hassing was blown up by the resistance during WWII, and challenged to capture a picture of the station in the same angle as a picture taken when the station was still active.

Technologically, the learning design was based on the persuasive learning technol- ogy PLOTMaker, which enables teachers to develop interactive and engaging learn- ing objects that are executable either on computers or mobile devices. The mobile GLOs hold particular potential compared to other similar systems, as learning materi- al is not pushed from servers, but placed on the mobile device and activated at the appropriate moment. Thereby, learning institutions are enabled to apply mobile learn- ing material, without having to consider the cost of data streaming.

Observations from Vester Hassing showed that the learning design in general, and the mobile learning design in particular, motivated the students to engage in the learn- ing material in a highly collaborative manner. As the student walked between the different locations in Vester Hassing, they would discuss the material they has just been presented with, and “translate” it so that it was understood by all members of the group. Furthermore, the evaluation of the learning experience, showed that the con- structive approach to learning which forms the pedagogical foundation of the persua- sive learning design framework (Gram-Hansen, 2012), resulted in all students meet- ing the intended learning outcomes of the event. Finally, a majority of the students responded that the learning experience had motivated their interest to learn more about Danish and local history.

2.6 The material and subject to be mediated

As mentioned above the works of Kaj Munk contain much written material in the shape of novels, sermons, plays and newspaper articles. Also a number of other sources for the mediation are relevant: Contemporary photographs, records, discus- sions of the subjects treated by Munk, extending the scope of Munk by interpreting his beliefs and implementing them in a post-modern paradigm.

Accepting this means that the challenge of the Munk Case is to mediate a narrative that is still in the making. This differs from the mere mediation of knowledge and skill most akin to the general educational systems.

2.7 Complexity indesigned

In the Munk Case it has been a main concern to facilitate an approach to learning that accepts the luhmanian autopoiesis and self-referentiality of the different subsys-

tems that are intended to make use of the learning tools and strategies of Europlot. In

order for this to be achieved an open strategy has been adopted in the Munk Case offering ample freedom for the user to utilize the tools in an undetermined logic thus, conceptually, developing an individual narrative in learning.

Having this focus on the different aspects of complexity in mind a number of tech- nology enhanced learning applications have been implemented and tested.