Student and Faculty Perceptions of the Features of Mobile Learning Management Systems in the Context of Higher Education

Despite the exponential growth in the use of learning management systems and mobile learning applications, little empirical research exists on student and teacher views on which mobile learning features and tools they find useful. This study was designed to explore the perceptions of university students and faculty regarding their patterns of use and usefulness of various mobile learning management system features. This study's results demonstrate that the patterns of using handheld devices and perceptions regarding mobile LMS's features were quite different among student and faculty participants. Students indicated higher levels of interest in using a mobile learning management system than faculty members. The most desired mobile learning management systems features were identified for each group of users. The thesis was concluded with a discussion of implications for the design and practical use of mobile learning management systems in higher education.School of Teaching and Curriculum Leadershi

A usabilidade das bibliotecas digitais: a perspectiva dos leitores/utilizadores

Neste artigo exploram-se algumas diferenças existentes entre bibliotecas convencionais e bibliotecas digitais, dando-se uma ênfase especial à necessidade dos gestores de bibliotecas digitais compreenderem melhor a interacção de um utilizador com uma biblioteca digital. Cabe ao gestor da biblioteca assegurar que os leitores da biblioteca consigam atingir os seus objectivos de forma eficaz, eficiente, segura e confortável. A usabilidade de uma biblioteca digital pode ser assegurada introduzindo-se, desde as etapas iniciais do seu processo de concepção, utilizadores finais da biblioteca, introduzindo momentos de avaliação ao longo de todo o processo de concepção, desenvolvimento e implementação do sistema, de forma iterativa

Supporting students' construction of hypermedia

This thesis considers the proposition that hypermedia may be employed effectively in higher education. More specifically, the question of its use by undergraduate music students to assist in writing essays and dissertations is investigated. The work begins with a review of general issues relating to educational hypermedia, such as its history, application, design and architecture. A user-centred approach to hypermedia development is advocated, and after critique and analysis of the literature, a framework for human-computer interaction for educational hypermedia is proposed. A case study is reported which serves to facilitate the undertaking of original research, as well as to evaluate the proposed framework. Other environments are also selected to carry out more generic research. Both reading strategies and writing strategies are investigated, and the results from these studies are used to conduct a repertory grid analysis of students' approaches to and perceptions of essay and dissertation development. The outcome of this experiment concludes with a proposal for a structural model of essay and dissertation development. Analysis of the model suggests the need for further survey analysis of taskartefact usage in specific educational domains, and experimental studies into electronic document manipulation and the reading of music from computer screens are investigated with respect to the case study environment. The implications of the research carried out in this thesis have assisted in and helped to justify the design of the prototype system HECTOR (Hypermedia, from Essay Conception TO Realisation). It aims to support students in their research, planning and writing of essays and dissertations. HECTOR has been evaluated in the field, and the results of this go some way to supporting the hypothesis of the thesis - that hypermedia can be employed effectively in higher education

A model for the measurement and presentation of participation awareness in online groupware systems

The need to support effective group work in online environments has become a prominent issue in both education and enterprise. Universities continue to adopt constructivist-based learning strategies which see learners engage in group work to build knowledge, coupled with an increase in online and distance learners. In enterprise, where group or team based work is commonplace, the prevalence of the Internet has seen the emergence of teams that collaborate wholly or partially online. In response to this emergent need, groupware, software used to support online group work, has become widely used in both education and enterprise. Although based upon sound pedagogical principles, the use of groupware does not always meet expectations or compare favourably to face-to-face collaboration. The literature has identified the issue of awareness, defined by Dourish and Bellotti (1992, p. 107) as “an understanding of the activities of others, which provides a context for your own activity”, as a core factor in the effectiveness of groupware. Numerous awareness mechanisms have been developed and implemented into groupware applications, aiming to replace the information that is implicit in face-to-face collaboration, but largely absent in online environments. This study defined and modelled a new form of awareness named ‘participation awareness’, which aggregates and processes activity in a groupware environment in order to present a persistent display of group member participation. A field study was conducted, wherein university students utilised a groupware application named GroupShare to support group work required in their studies. GroupShare contained an implementation of a participation awareness mechanism, and participating students completed pre and post-usage questionnaires primarily concerning group work and the participation awareness mechanism. Further survey and observational techniques were also utilised to gather data. Two iterations of the field study were conducted, each running for one semester. Analysis of the data found that the participation awareness mechanism was well received, eliciting largely positive responses from a range of participant demographics, group dynamics and group work scenarios. Participant feedback was utilised to define and refine the constituents of participation awareness and create a generic model for its implementation as an awareness mechanism. The model outlines the steps and considerations required to capture and process activity within a groupware environment, and establishes three complimentary methods of presenting participation awareness. The author feels that the research was successful in creating and justifying a model of participation awareness which can be implemented in groupware environments and utilised in further research

Navigational patterns in interactive multimedia

The central purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether users have distinct preferences for specific navigational patterns in multimedia: that is preferences for moving through multimedia. Subsidiary questions are whether users have preferences for working strategies, (the mental approach to investigating software) whether these preferences are similar for specific groups and whether these preferences are affected by the software's system and navigational design. Four groups were investigated within two ranges: children to adults, and novices to experts. The literature review revealed four different perspectives of investigating navigation: user, designer, pedagogy and human computer interaction and although this research concentrates on the first two perspectives the other two are integral and of equal importance.Two empirical studies elicited the navigational information. The first studied pairs of children undertaking set tasks in multimedia, and demonstrated that although each pair had definite preferences, each group did not utilise the full pattern range discerned from the observations, literature review and multimedia package analysis. The second study was redesigned using individual adults to ascertain the full range of preferred patterns in use. The essential element from the investigations was the wide range of variation between individuals and within groups. There was a gradual progression in their range and speed using these patterns, related to their skills, abilities and experience, and each individual could be placed along a continuum. Topologies of the multimedia packages and diagrams of the fit of the navigation patterns were included. Finally an expert panel was convened to verify the pattern range and their comments supported the new classification.The research outcomes included navigational patterns and working strategies classifications, future techniques for designers, and user methods. These will create more successful and informed multimedia, and forward developments and improvements in the design of high quality user preference software

Children and computers: the development of graphical user interfaces to improve the quality of interaction

The development of educational multimedia since 1994 has been characterised by a rapid expansion of new technologies. In the context of an exciting and controversial exploration of techniques, research into how children used computers in the classroom had been limited. The thesis therefore included a wide-ranging study into factors informing a deeper understanding of the way 5 to7-year-old school children use interactive computer programs. The thesis originated in contextual studies undertaken by the researcher in classrooms. The contextual research raised issues that are not the common ground of educational multimedia practitioners. These issues were explored in depth in the literature review. The thesis tested the potential improvements in interface design - an interactive educational CD-ROM using audio and visual resources from a BBC School Radio music series. The focus was not the music content or the teaching of the subject. The results of testing the research tool that used observation of groups of three children, interviews with individual children and teachers were summarised and improvements identified. The aim was to seek answers to the question 'How can the quality of computer interface interaction be improved?' Improvements were considered by enhancing the quality of interaction through greater depth of engagement by using the computer mouse to move icons on the computer screen. In the process of contextual research the following issues were raised: the need for teachers to have a method of mediating the content of educational CD-ROMs, the physiological demands made on children in terms of eye search; the difficulties they encountered using navigation metaphors; and the potential of pseudo 3-D perspective interfaces. The research re-evaluates the relationship between children and computers in the familiar context of groups of three children using computers in the primary classroom, and resulted in a coherent set of suggestions for a more effective holistic paradigm for the design of multimedia programs that takes into account practical realities in classroom environments. .

The development of intelligent hypermedia courseware, for design and technology in the English National Curriculum at Key Stage 3, by the sequential combination of cognition clusters, supported by system intelligence, derived from a dynamic user model

The purpose of this research was to develop an alternative to traditional textbooks for the teaching of electronics, within Design and Technology at Key Stage 3, in the English National Curriculum. The proposed alternative of intelligent hypermedia courseware was investigated in terms of its potential to support pupil procedural autonomy in task directed, goal oriented, design projects. Three principal design criteria were applied to the development of this courseware: the situation in which it is to be used; the task that it is to support; and the pedagogy that it will reflect and support. The discussion and satisfaction of these design criteria led towards a new paradigm for the development of intelligent hypermedia courseware, i.e. the sequential combination of cognition clusters, supported by system intelligence, derived from a dynamic user model. A courseware prototype was instantiated using this development paradigm and subsequently evaluated in three schools. An illuminative evaluation method was developed to investigate the consequences of using this courseware prototype. This evaluation method was based on longitudinal case studies where cycles of observation, further inquiry and explanation are undertaken. As a consequence of following this longitudinal method, where participants chose to adopt the courseware after the first trial, the relatability of outcomes increased as subsequent cycles were completed. Qualitative data was obtained from semi-structured interviews with participating teachers. This data was triangulated against quantitative data obtained from the completed dynamic user models generated by pupils using the courseware prototype. These data were used to generate hypotheses, in the form of critical processes, by the identification of significant features, concomitant features and recurring concomitants from the courseware trials. Four relatable critical processes are described that operate when this courseware prototype is used. These critical processes relate to: the number of computers available; the physical environment where the work takes place; the pedagogical features of a task type match, a design brief frame match and a preferred teaching approach match; and the levels of heuristic interaction with the courseware prototype

An investigation of L2 reading comprehension of linear texts and hypertexts and working memory capacity

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.O objetivo desse estudo foi investigar a leitura em L2 (Inglês), em textos apresentados de formas distintas: como texto linear e como hipertexto, para verificar possíveis diferenças na compreensão resultante. A razão para tal escrutino reside no fato da divergência encontrada, na literatura, a respeito dos efeitos da não linearidade para o processamento das informações e, conseqüentemente, para a compreensão de textos (Dillon, 1996; Smith, 1994; Charney; 1994; McKnight, Dillon & Richardson, 1993). Para alcançar os objetivos propostos, dois textos, com características similares, foram elaborados e apresentados como hipertextos e como textos lineares. Quatro perguntas de pesquisa e quatro hipóteses foram criadas para essa investigação, e três diferentes instrumentos de coleta foram utilizados: (a) evocações das idéias principais, (b) questionários com perguntas de compreensão e (c) contradições. Além desses instrumentos de coleta, foi também utilizada uma versão do teste de leitura desenvolvido por Daneman e Carpenter (1980) e adaptado por Torres (2003), considerando-se a hipótese da relação direta entre a amplitude da memória e a performance em atividades envolvendo a compreensão (Tomitch, 2005; Torres, 2003, Engle, Kane, & Tuholsky, 1999; Daneman & Capernter, 1980). Quarenta e duas pessoas participaram do estudo: 21 brasileiros recrutados em duas universidades brasileiras (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina e Universidade Estadual de Maringá) e 21 chineses recrutados na Inglaterra (Loughborough University). Os resultados obtidos sinalizam para o fato de que os hipertextos podem comprometer a compreensão, principalmente para os leitores de baixa amplitude de memória. Dados inesperados foram obtidos em relação aos chineses que apresentaram uma amplitude de memória inferior a dos brasileiros, conseqüentemente, apresentando um pior desempenho. A conclusão fundamental obtida nesse estudo é que diferentes variáveis tais como a capacidade de memória do leitor, sua língua materna, e o modo de apresentação de um texto podem influenciar na leitura em L2, e cada uma dessas varáveis pode interferir, de modo diferente, na construção da representação mental do texto. The aim of this study was to investigate L2 reading (English) derived from texts presented in two different modes, as a linear text and as a hypertext, in order to verify possible differences in comprehension. The reason for such scrutiny resides in the fact that different standpoints can be found in the literature about the effects nonlinear texts can cause for processing, achieving coherence and thus, building a mental representation (Dillon, 1996; Smith, 1994; Charney, 1994, McKnight, Dillon & Richardson, 1993). In order to achieve the objectives proposed here, two texts, having similar characteristics, were designed and presented as hypertexts and as linear texts. Four research questions and hypotheses framed this investigation, and three different instruments were used to collect the data: recall of main propositions, comprehension questions and contradictions. In addition to these instruments, a modified version of the original Daneman and Carpenter's (1980) reading span test developed by Torres (2003) was applied, considering the assumption that there is a relationship between participants' performance and their working memory spans (Tomitch, 2005, Torres, 2003, Engle, Kane & Tuholsky, 1999; Daneman & Capenter, 1980). Forty-two participants from two nationalities (21 Brazilians and 21 Chinese) and from different universities (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Univerisdade Estadual de Maringá, and Loughborough University, UK) participated in this study. The results obtained signal to the fact that hypertexts might compromise comprehension, especially, for low-span participants. An unexpected outcome was obtained in relation to the Chinese participants who presented lower working memory spans compared to the Brazilian group, and therefore, presented lower performance. The broad conclusion achieved here is that different variables such as readers' working memory capacity, their first language, and the mode of text presentation may interfere in L2 reading, and each one of theses characteristics might hamper, in different ways, in the construction of a coherent mental representation