Incorporating multiple intelligence into electronic teaching material in supports of usability aspect

This paper presents a part of an ongoing study on incorporating the Multiple Intelligence into learning materials for children.This study believes that incorporating the Multiple Intelligence theory into learning materials is able to add more values towards the usability aspects of learning materials.In accordance, this paper aims at describing an attempt in designing a learning material that incorporates the Multiple Intelligence.In particular, the aims of the paper are (1) to suggest on how the elements of Multiple Intelligence could be incorporated into learning materials and (2) to outline the design and development of a sample of learning material that incorporates the Multiple Intelligence.User-centered design (UCD)approach is used as part of the methods in the design process, which involves three stages: (1)requirement gathering, (2) prototype development,and (3) user testing. This study involves children and teachers at kindergartens. As the results, an initial design of the learning material that incorporates the Multiple Intelligence is obtained and discussed in this paper at length

Conceptual Design of Reality Learning Media (RLM) Model Based on Entertaining and Fun Constructs

Many eLearning materials (eLM) have been developed for use in education and training. However, studies report that the investments on the courseware projects do not show good returns. Furthermore, the use and perception of teachers and students on eLM, such as courseware on CDs, are very low. In fact, many schools have stopped using courseware in the classrooms. Many factors were identified influencing the disadvantages of courseware implementation in eLearning; nevertheless the way learning content in the eLM is blended and presented to learners is seen as one of the reasons. Existing eLM are found to be not entertaining and not invoking fun, making learners feel bored. In Interaction Design, although many guidelines have stated entertaining and fun as two important design elements, many developers still produced contents that failed to include these elements. One possible reason for this is the nature of fun and entertaining that are difficult to be realized without technical skills and creativity. This leads to the following research questions: (1) How to ensure that learning content is perceived entertaining and invoking fun by the end users?, (2) Can entertaining and fun learning material be effective?, and (3) How to enable instructors especially the non-technically-skilled to produce eLM that are considered entertaining and invoking fun? Answering these questions leads this study to propose a conceptual design model of eLM which is able to ensure content is entertaining and invoking fun as perceived by the end users. Inspired by the famous reality TV shows, the proposed model is called Reality Learning Media (RLM). Therefore, the aim of the study is to propose a conceptual design model of RLM. To accomplish that, four specific objectives are formulated: (1) To determine the components of RLM, (2) To propose the conceptual design model of RLM, (3) To validate the conceptual design model of RLM through prototyping, and (4) To investigate user experience of RLM in terms of entertaining, fun, and effectiveness. Comparative analysis, peer and expert reviews, content analysis, prototyping, and experimental studies are used to accomplish the objectives and aim. General findings show that RLM is perceived entertaining; in fact it is more entertaining than video and courseware. In addition, hypotheses-specific testings using one sample t-Test, independent samples t-Test, and ANOVA reveal that regardless of gender, academic achievement levels, and other eLM experience (before learning with RLM), respondents perceived RLM as entertaining and fun. Not only that, RLM is proven to be effective in delivering learning contents. The main contributions of this study are the concept of reality video that has been put forward, the development of the conceptual design model together with the prototypes of the RLM. Apart from these, the recording techniques for RLM and the validated instrument measuring entertaining and fun are also significant contributions to the body of knowledge

Guidelines of Assistive Courseware (AC) for hearing impaired students

This paper defines the disabilities and technologies suitable for the disabled which is called assistive technology (AT).Two types of AT are hardware-based and software-based. In this paper, the software-based is focused, specifically in the form of courseware which is referred to as assistive courseware (AC). With concerns to develop an AC for hearing impaired people, proper characteristics should be followed.The aim of this paper is to initiate a study to propose characteristics for developing AC for hearing-impaired (HI) people.This paper starts with an introduction containing the problem statement, scope, and the objective of the paper, followed with reviews of related literature, and methodology utilized which are adapted from the waterfall methodology.The characteristics and the prototype is outlined next, followed with some observation results whish show that the characteristics can make the HI students learn with the AC happily. The final part concludes this paper

Interactive teaching materials for pre-schools: Some practical guidelines

This paper reports an ongoing study that determines guidelines for developing teaching materials.In preschools, teachers are not skillful and have problems in designing teaching materials, especially those that can capture children’s attention.Hence, this study aims to assist them in their task, by formulating usable guidelines for their reference. User-centered Design (UCD) approach is utilized to achieve the objective. Students and teachers of preschools were involved in the UCD.In the end, a set of guidelines have been gathered

Entertaining and fun: Experience-focused eLearning material

This paper discusses the high level components of a system; task-focused, user-focused, and experience-focused at length.With the aim to distinguish the experience-focused specifically in terms of entertaining and fun from user-focused and taskfocused, a survey on TV programme preferences was carried out and explained.The survey found that viewers prefer to watch reality programmes more than non-reality because the reality programmes contain natural elements such as mistakes,humor, and interferences.This paper next deduces that the reality concept is worth applied in electronic learning material because it is more entertaining and more preferred by the audience

Preliminary study: An investigation on learning assistance requirement among low achievers in primary schools

Learning is crucial for everybody regardless of their ability and achievement.Some children demonstrate inability in academic performance from their early stage of learning process; thus, categorized as low achievers (LA).In order to define learning difficulties and requirements among LA children, a qualitative study was conducted using three different techniques; i) semi- structured interview, ii) document review with LINUS content experts and iii) observation with students from five schools in Kedah and Perlis.The results reveal that, the LA children need a specific computer-based learning assistance as an alternative learning material to facilitate their learning process.Learning concepts are also discussed as an initial suggestion in this study

Socio-pleasure in digital storybook

This paper describes a study incorporating socio-pleasure elements in digital storybook.This paper aims at demonstrating the incorporation of the aspects of socio- pleasure as suggested by the THE Medium model into the digital storybook.First, the THE Medium model is adapted in determining the aspects of socio-pleasure.Having identified the aspects, a storybook was designed and developed.Then, users’ reactions on the digital storybook were observed in their pre-school setting.It was found that the children were engaged with the digital storybook that incorporates the adapted aspects of socio-pleasure by the THE Medium model

Exploring computer assisted learning for low achieving children: A comparative analysis study

Learning assistance or support is essential for a learner regardless of their cognitive ability and learning preference. Computer assisted learning (CAL) is one of the facilitation that widely explored as alternative learning assistances with different concepts, approaches, contents and target users. The main concern of this study is to explore and identify learning concepts and approaches that have been employed in previous research for normal and learning disabilities learners. In relation with the intention, 15 articles from past five years (2010-2015) are selected for review and analysis processes in this comparative analysis study.The finding shows some similarities and differences of CAL concept and approach for both type of learners. Some insights and suggestions are drawn based on the extracted concepts and approaches specifically for low achieving children as their learning assistance in primary school