Understanding new ways of learning in the 21st century: A preliminary study into mobile technologies

In this paper, we describe a theoretical framework and design of a study of mobile technologies in a first year university course, where students use mobile phones, or smartphones as cognitive tools. The paper describes a broader study into the use of mobile technologies with authentic learning environments, and then outlines a plan for an investigation into the nature of use of the devices in the completion of an authentic task

Twitter, Google, iPhone/iPad, and Facebook (TGIF) and Smart Technology Environments: How Well Do Educators Communicate with Students via TGIF?

This article is a summary of a 2011 Association for Information Systems Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) panel discussion regarding current issues and future directions in the use of mobile technologies and social networks in education. The invited panelists are four faculty members from the United States specializing in Information Systems. The covered topics included evolution and history of e-learning, use of smartphones and tablets in education, development of social network services, and the use of social media (i.e., teaching with blogs and wikis) in the classroom. We discuss future directions in Twitter, Google, iPhone/iPad, and Facebook technology environments. Several resources for social media for college instructors are provided in the Appendix

Transforming pedagogy using mobile Web 2.0

Blogs, wikis, podcasting, and a host of free, easy to use Web 2.0 social software provide opportunities for creating social constructivist learning environments focusing on student-centred learning and end-user content creation and sharing. Building on this foundation, mobile Web 2.0 has emerged as a viable teaching and learning tool, facilitating engaging learning environments that bridge multiple contexts. Today’s dual 3G and wifi-enabled smartphones provide a ubiquitous connection to mobile Web 2.0 social software and the ability to view, create, edit, upload, and share user generated Web 2.0 content. This article outlines how a Product Design course has moved from a traditional face-to-face, studio-based learning environment to one using mobile Web 2.0 technologies to enhance and engage students in a social constructivist learning paradigm. Keywords: m-learning; Web 2.0; pedagogy 2.0; social constructivism; product desig

The development of a gamebook for education

Mobile technologies are becoming very accessible to students, due to advances in the development of technology and a simultaneous decline in hardware costs. In this way, it is relevant to consider the potential of these devices in teaching and learning. Our research was designed to evaluate the possibility of creating gamebooks (gamified books) that are effective in teaching and learning. After analyzing the features available in many free or open tools for making ebooks we find out that these tools were not appropriate creating gamebooks. This paper presents a novel interactive book, the gamebook (g-book): a book with a story that can be read sequentially or not. The main difference refers to the ability to choose different paths to the main characters or the unfolding of the history, as happens in games. We built a model of a dynamic book that functions as an educational game for "Environmental Studies", aimed at children in the 4th grade, mostly 9-10 years old, in Portuguese schools. This paper presents the design and features of this g-book titled "Adventures in the Guadiana River", implemented with the Unity3D platform that can be explored in iPhones, iPads, Android mobile devices and web browsers for the OSX and Windows platforms. Preliminary tests with our prototypes revealed very good usability and promising pedagogical potential in the proposed models.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Appropriation of mobile cultural resources for learning

Copyright © 2010 IGI Global. This article proposes appropriation as the key for the recognition of mobile devices - as well as the artefacts accessed through, and produced with them - as cultural resources across different cultural practices of use, in everyday life and formal education. The article analyses the interrelationship of users of mobile devices with the structures, agency and practices of, and in relation to what the authors call the "mobile complex". Two examples are presented and some curricular options for the assimilation of mobile devices into settings of formal learning are discussed. Also, a typology of appropriation is presented that serves as an explanatory, analytical frame and starting point for a discussion about attendant issues

Learning Content Development methodology for Mobile Devices

AbstractMobile devices are becoming increasingly popular; basically mobile devices are reaching all levels of society. Thanks to the popularity of mobile devices, mobile learning has become great tool for delivering educational resources. The continuously increasing demand for mobile technology based learning materials, renders adoption of educational resources for these requirements. Technology by itself does not contribute much to education that is why the aim of this research is to present and evaluate methodology for visualisation and production of electronic materials in mobile environments. Methodology focuses on instructional design and mobile content design and the navigation control. Findings showed that given methodology and recommendations is effective for improving m-learning design across mobile devices

M-Learning: Content Tool for Accounting

Independency of time and space are often named as the main advantages of e-Learning. The basic requirement of e-Learning is a Personal Computer (PC), and therefore a real independency of time and space is not given. Even with a notebook these independencies are not fulfilled, because a real independency of time and space means learning wherever and whenever you want to learn. Hardly anyone carries his notebook or his PC with him all the time. Due to certain requirements eLearning fulfils just partly this demand of independency. Mobile learning (MLearning), the next generation of the computer-aided and multimedia-based learning, is based on mobile phones. The market penetration of mobile phones in Malaysia is at a level of 81% and the numbers are rising. It can be said, that the great majority of the population has a mobile phone and carries it with them most of the time. Because of this fact the independency of time and space for learning is fulfilled to nearly a hundred percent. As a consequence the main advantage of mobile learning is learning wherever and whenever you want to learn. You can use idle periods for learning. For example: The times while you are traveling, while you are waiting for the bus or while you are waiting at the restaurant or at the trainstation. Nearly every unused and wasted time can now be used for efficient and effective learning. Therefore mobile learning will be an important instrument for lifelong learning, because it will help us to use our time more efficiently

A Review of Personalised E-Learning: Towards Supporting Learner Diversity

The realisation of personalised e-learning to suit an individual learner’s diverse learning needs is a concept which has been explored for decades, at great expense, but is still not achievable by non-technical authors. This research reviews the area of personalised e-learning and notes some of the technological challenges which developers may encounter in creating authoring tools for personalised e-learning and some of the pedagogical challenges which authors may encounter when creating personalised e-learning activities to enhance the learning experience of their students. At present educators who wish to create personalised e-learning activities require the assistance of technical experts who are knowledgeable in the area. Even with the help of an expert the creation of personalised e-learning activities still remains a complex process to authors who are new to the concept of tailoring e-learning to suit learner diversity. Before the successful utilisation of adaptive authoring tools can be realised, academic authors need to learn how to effectively use these tools. All learners come to education with a diverse set of characteristics; educators need to decide which learner characteristic(s) they wish to focus on addressing through the use of personalised e-learning activities. Further investigation, evaluation and analyses of authoring tools is required before personalised e-learning to support learner diversity can be achieved by many academics. Research members of the AMAS (2013) project team are currently involved in developing an authoring tool for adaptive activities for e-learning