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

App-based feedback on safety to novice drivers: learning and monetary incentives

An over-proportionally large number of car crashes is caused by novice drivers. In a field experiment, we investigated whether and how car drivers who had recently obtained their driving license reacted to app-based feedback on their safety-relevant driving behavior (speeding, phone usage, cornering, acceleration and braking). Participants went through a pre-measurement phase during which they did not receive app-based feedback but driving behavior was recorded, a treatment phase during which they received app-based feedback, and a post-measurement phase during which they did not receive app-based feedback but driving behavior was recorded. Before the start of the treatment phase, we randomly assigned participants to two possible treatment groups. In addition to receiving app-based feedback, the participants of one group received monetary incentives to improve their safety-relevant driving behavior, while the participants of the other group did not. At the beginning and at the end of experiment, each participant had to fill out a questionnaire to elicit socio-economic and attitudinal information. We conducted regression analyses to identify socio-economic, attitudinal, and driving-behavior-related variables that explain safety-relevant driving behavior during the pre-measurement phase and the self-chosen intensity of app usage during the treatment phase. For the main objective of our study, we applied regression analyses to identify those variables that explain the potential effect of providing app-based feedback during the treatment phase on safety-relevant driving behavior. Last, we applied statistical tests of differences to identify self-selection and attrition biases in our field experiment. For a sample of 130 novice Austrian drivers, we found moderate improvements in safety-relevant driving skills due to app-based feedback. The improvements were more pronounced under the treatment with monetary incentives, and for participants choosing higher feedback intensities. Moreover, drivers who drove relatively safer before receiving app-based feedback used the app more intensely and, ceteris paribus, higher app use intensity led to improvements in safety-related driving skills. Last, we provide empirical evidence for both self-selection and attrition biases

Improving Assessment and Evaluation Strategies on Online Learning

ICLI is an annual International Conference on Learning Innovation (ICLI) hosted byUniversitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Indonesian Consortium for Learning Innovation Research (ICLIR) as well as Univerisiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Perlis, Malaysia serving as co-organizer this year. The conference aims to gather researchers, practitioners, students, experts, consultants, teachers and lecturers to share their insights and experiences on research not only in constructing innovations in learning but also the knowledge of learner’s capability. The learners who are characterized as creative and competent by having the ability to understand what they have learned and capable of taking initiative and thinking critically. In addition, ICLI is organized on the basis of the trend in the 21st century, categorized by the increasing complexity of technology and the emergence of a corporate restructuring movement. This book is the proceeding of ICLI 2021, containing a selection of articles presented at this conference as the output of the activity. Various topics around education are covered in this book and some literature studies around specific topics on learning and education are covered as well. This proceeding book will be beneficial to students, scholars, and practitioners who have a deep concern in education. It is also futuristic with a lot of practical insights for students, faculty, and practitioners, and also a description of the Indonesian educational system in today’s era

Mixed-methods research: a new approach to evaluating the motivation and satisfaction of university students using advanced visual technologies

The final publication is available at link.springer.comA mixed-methods study evaluating the motivation and satisfaction of Architecture degree students using interactive visualization methods is presented in this paper. New technology implementations in the teaching field have been largely extended to all types of levels and educational frameworks. However, these innovations require approval validation and evaluation by the final users, the students. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of applying mixed evaluation technology are discussed in a case study of the use of interactive and collaborative tools for the visualization of 3D architectonical models. The main objective was to evaluate Architecture and Building Science students’ the motivation to use and satisfaction with this type of technology and to obtain adequate feedback that allows for the optimization of this type of experiment in future iterations.Postprint (author’s final draft

Innovative Continuing Education for Maternal and Newborn Health Workers in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Feasibility Study

Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to explore strategies to improve maternal and newborn health workers’ clinical competence and performance, particularly among nurses and midwives, in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), through innovative continuing educational approaches using priority evidence-based content. A feasibility trial with one such learning approach was implemented with maternal and newborn health providers in a hard-to-reach setting of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in order to test one possible response to the continued high maternal and neonatal mortality in that country. The study contributes to the knowledge base on provision of critical continuing education to maternal and newborn health workers in hard-to-reach settings and to the global effort underway to address excess maternal and neonatal mortality in LMICs. Problems/Aims: Health worker clinical performance is often inadequate in developing countries. Substandard delivery and emergency obstetric care (EmOC) in health facilities has been widely documented as a major cause of maternal mortality in health facilities globally. Similarly, studies show that quality gaps are leading to higher rates of neonatal mortality in facility births. A basic strategy for improving health worker practice and strengthening clinical performance is through the promotion of continuing education (CE). However, there are many challenges to organizing CE opportunities for healthcare workers in hard-to-reach LMIC settings. The aims of this research were 1) to explore potential approaches to continuing education for maternal and newborn health workers in LMICs by examining the approaches that are currently available worldwide and 2) evaluating one concrete approach using a mobile phone mLearning app. We examined the feasibility and acceptability of the use of mLearning with facility-based maternal and neonatal health workers in one hard-to-reach setting of the DRC. We also evaluated the use of mLearning for a preliminary impact on facility-based health worker Basic Emergency Obstetric & Neonatal Care (BEmONC) self-confidence and clinical knowledge, and on select maternal and newborn outcome trends (as a proxy for evaluating improved health worker clinical behavior/performance). We also sought to refine intervention delivery in the DRC and strengthen study procedures required to conduct a robust future largescale trial. Design including theoretical basis: This study design is comprised of two literature reviews on the topic and a feasibility study using a convergent parallel mixed methods and community-engaged pilot cluster-randomized trial design. Our theoretical basis is comprised of complementary theoretical approaches: (1) Benjamin Bloom’s Theory of Mastery-Learning and Taxonomy of Educational Objectives; (2) Kirkpatrick’s Model of training evaluation; and (3) The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Findings: Our literature reviews on CE approaches for facility-based maternal and newborn health workers in low-income countries revealed that conventional and simulation training using varied teaching methodologies can improve provider knowledge, skills, clinical practice, and patient outcomes. However, results are variable and there is limited evidence overall, with minimal use of robust study designs and validated measurement instruments, that document the association between CE and long-term effectiveness of the interventions with improved patient outcomes. Other creative interventions are being piloted in eHealth / eLearning including mobile phone learning applications (mLearning) and these have shown encouraging results in overcoming some key challenges in providing health workers with evidence-based learning in more remote settings. mLearning was found to be feasible and acceptable to health workers and key stakeholders in the DRC. A trial of one recent mLearning evidence-based app, the Safe Delivery App, increased health worker knowledge and self-confidence on the management of obstetric and newborn emergencies 3 months after introduction and indicated preliminary encouraging impacts on health workers’ practices in BEmONC. Conclusion: eLearning and mLearning show promise for improving maternal and newborn health worker practice and reducing mortality in low-and middle-income countries, particularly for health workers in more remote settings, where the challenge of maternal and neonatal mortality and quality assurance of emergency obstetric and neonatal care is greatest. Factors such as health worker motivation and self-efficacy, as well as the physical and policy environment, emphasized by Bloom and the TDF, are essential in improving practice and should be considered, along with cost, in designing scalable and comprehensive maternal and neonatal mortality programs for improved outcomes