Mobile learning scenarios in language teaching: perceptions of vocational and professional education students

Mobile devices play a significant role in society, in general, and a very limited one at the different levels of education. Smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices allows learning to occur anywhere, (and at) anytime. These powerful technological devices can enhance the teaching and learning processes by helping to promote collaborative and individual learning and broadening the boundaries of the classroom to different contexts of learning. Many students have mobile devices and their applications can provide access to learning outside the classroom, for greater flexibility and more dynamic learning. In this sense, the articulation of technological and methodological efforts allowed us to create learning scenarios supported by the devices that students take to the classroom (BYOD), and use them to motivate and involve students in meaningful learning. These devices offer the advantage of integrating various technologies in the curricular contents, such as in foreign and mother language courses, representing a set of possibilities of ubiquity that can have great impact on the learning process. Thus, we developed strategies with vocational and educational students’ methodologies, such as augmented reality, project-based learning, game-based learning, collaborative learning and gamification. In this text, we present the results of two mobile learning studies in teaching French as a foreign language (to 18-23 year-old-students) and Portuguese language, as a mother tongue (to 15-19 year-old-students), in vocational education, implemented as a mediation tool in education to promote the construction of learning and development of significant skills of collaborative work. From the data collection, through a questionnaire, with open and closed questions, we highlight the favorable perception of the students to the integration of mobile devices in learning, and the recognition of the benefits of the teaching strategies used throughout the year, in the increase of curricular learning.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fostering Narrative Post-writing through Authentic Designed Learning Objects

One of the challenges language teachers face is how to engage learners to empower their writing skills. Teacher’s feedback is a key feature when developing writing, but it seems not to be effective when learners remain having the same difficulties. It is imperative to examine pedagogical actions for motivating and tackling learners post writing difficulties. This action research study states a new alternative in which students autonomously learn and experience strategies to become better writers. The analysis focused on the influence that the process writing approach, focalized on the monitoring strategy of the post-writing stages, and the implementation of authentic designed learning objects (LOs) had on young adult learners’ short narrative compositions. Outcomes indicate that students improved their writing since the tasks responded to their cognitive and affective profiles. Findings also suggested that the PRWRITE LOs clearly guided learners in the developmental process of writing. Students perceived those technological tools as interesting, applicable and motivating for their learning. This pedagogical experience promotes the design of innovative tools based on learners’ needs and goals, which motivate and engage them in an improving process

Enhancing student learning with case-based learning objects in a problem-based learning context: the views of social work students in Scotland and Canada

This paper summarizes the results of an evaluation of students' perspectives comparing learning from a multimedia case-based learning object with learning from text-based case studies. A secondary goal of the study was to test the reusability of the learning object in different instructional contexts. The learning object was deployed in the context of a problem-based learning approach to teaching social work students in three different courses in two different countries: Scotland (N=39) and Canada (N=57). Students completed a structured survey form including a series of statements using a five point Likert scale to quantify their views of the different case types (text-based and multimedia). Results indicate strong support for the use of multimedia case scenarios in social work education. Students felt their learning was enhanced using multimedia case studies compared to text-based case studies. A number of benefits, disadvantages and recommendations were identified that will help guide the future development, (re)use, and exchange of digitized learning resources in social work education

Using interactive online educational games to motivate third graders towards improved abilities in writing descriptive paragraphs to foster their autonomous learning process

81 Páginas.Con el propósito de mejorar las habilidades de escritura, este estudio da a conocer las contribuciones del uso de juegos interactivos en línea al desarrollo de la habilidad de escritura de párrafos descriptivos en estudiantes de tercer grado del Colegio Colombo Gales. Este estudio fue ejecutado con 31 estudiantes entre 8 y 9 años de edad. Las encuestas, el diario del profesor y los artefactos fueron utilizados para recolectar datos. Se encontró que los juegos interactivos en línea generaron interés e influyeron en el desarrollo de la escritura en los estudiantes de tercer grado como resultado de prácticas guiadas que mejoraron dichas habilidades

Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy

Outlines fifteen key elements that educators can use to develop an effective adolescent literacy intervention program. Focuses on elements of interventions that are most promising for students that struggle with reading and writing after third grade

The integration of CALL in EFL/ESL learning environment

A number of studies have shown that learning through the use of computers is more efficient than traditional methods and arouse students motivation (Johnson & Osguthorpe, 1986; Jung, 1992 ). The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI), to investigate the immense potential of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), and then to identify ways in which computers can be used to enhance foreign language learning

Exploring the Potential of Web 2.0 Technologies for Teaching Second/Foreign Language Writing in Higher Education

The emergence and rapid evolution of Web 2.0 technologies have resulted in their ever-growing use in education. Their communicative, participatory and interactive features have been recognised as pedagogically useful for teaching second/foreign languages, writing in particular. This literaturebased study therefore explores plentiful and continually proliferating research on the potential of Web 2.0 technologies for teaching second/foreign language writing in higher education. To examine the potential of Web 2.0 technologies for teaching second/foreign language writing and answer the research question, 73 research articles were reviewed. Their data were analysed in terms of the effect technology made on students’ writing abilities, namely their linguistic and pragmatic competences. The findings generally confirm the effectiveness of Web 2.0 technologies to improve the quality of students’ writing and enhance their linguistic and pragmatic competences. Drawing on Web 2.0 affordances, teachers are able to create an authentic and interactive learning environment for students to practice and improve their writing skills