Mobile Learning Technologies for Education: Benefits and Pending Issues

Today’s world demands more efficient learning models that allow students to play a more active role in their education. Technology is having an impact on how instruction is delivered and how information is found and share. Until very recently, the educational models encouraged memorization as an essential learning skill. These days, technologies have changed the educational model and access to information. Knowledge is available online, mostly free, and easily accessible. Reading, sharing, listening and, doing are currently necessary skills for education. Mobile devices have become a complete set of applications, support, and help for educational organizations. By conducting an analysis of the behavior and use of mobile devices on current students, efficient educational applications can be developed. Although there are several initiatives for the use of mobile learning in education, there are also issues linked to this technology that must be addressed. In this work, we present the results of a literature review of mobile learning; the findings described are the result of the analysis of several articles obtained in three scientific repositories. This work also lists certain issues that, if properly addressed, can avoid possible complications to the implementation of this technology in education.This work was supported by the EduTech project (609785-EPP-1-2019-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHEJP) co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

A Hybrid Methodology to Improve Speaking Skills in English Language Learning Using Mobile Applications

The main objective of this research is a working example of how a hybrid methodology combining traditional methodologies and mobile devices can be used to contribute to the literature on mobile learning in teaching English as a second language. This work was carried out because, in many Latin American countries, students are taught English as a second language throughout their primary and secondary education. However, at the end of their studies, most students are unable to communicate with other people in English, let alone with native speakers. Moreover, it must be taken into account that nowadays English is the most widely used language in international communications, business transactions, finance and science. The professional who knows how to communicate in English has a positive differentiator in his or her professional profile and can easily access more relevant positions in any institution. For this purpose, a review of different methodologies for teaching oral expression in English has been carried out. Metrics have also been used to choose an effective mobile application to reinforce English speaking. These analyzed methodologies have been combined with the use of a mobile application to propose a hybrid methodology that contemplates an eight-week class guide. Due to the characteristics of mobile learning, this work can help to motivate students in their learning and in improving their communicative skills in the English language. High school teachers can use this methodology as an innovation in their educational programs.This work was financed by the Universidad de Las Américas through project code: TIC.LCC22.01

Mobile Learning as the Key to Higher Education Innovation: A systematic mapping

The study of educational innovations has attracted increasing attention from academics and researchers around the world. Educational innovation proposes the implementation of new approaches or practices that are beneficial and make an impact on individuals or academic communities. The current educational model of many higher education institutions (HEIs) was not designed for this generation of “digital natives”. For this reason, HEIs face the challenge of building teaching strategies that generate meaningful educational experiences. This research seeks to address this issue through a systematic mapping that includes empirical research papers from 2015 to 2020 that study innovations in educational practices using mobile devices. A qualitative and quantitative approach was applied using a four-stage research methodology to evidence innovation in higher education. After employing the selected methodology and applying all the exclusion criteria, 27 papers related to the research topic were identified. Mapping was also performed between the corpus of papers and five dimensions on educational innovation (the purpose of learning, the context of learning, the role of the teacher, the role of the learner, and the evidence of the outcome). The findings reveal that the role of the teacher is the dimension that is least analyzed in innovation initiatives, whereas the most analyzed dimension is the purpose of learning. The goal of this work was to explore and identify educational innovations and unveil uncovered fields of research to generate opportunities for new lines of research in educational innovation

Towards Sustainable Education with the Use of Mobile Augmented Reality in Early Childhood and Primary Education: A Systematic Mapping

Over the years, educational institutions have faced significant difficulties in the teaching process at all educational levels, due to lack of motivation, concentration, attention, and confidence, among other aspects. In this sense, information and communication technologies can be the answer to transform educational models. One of the most promising and accessible technologies in recent years is mobile augmented reality (MAR), which allows students to visualize content through a mobile device combining the real environment with a virtual environment, providing an interactive and digital vision of the physical world in real time. The appropriate use of digital technologies in early childhood and primary education can promote socialization, comprehension, learning, language development, attention, and other educational benefits. However, due to the novelty of this technology, there is limited research and a gap in the literature on the use of MAR at these educational levels. This research work, through systematic mapping, aims to give an overview of how AR and mobile devices have been used in the last decade, which academic areas have benefited from the use of this innovative academic approach, and the main benefits and problems of using this technology in early and primary education. The findings are encouraging and show that AR technology, together with mobile devices, can be used to support the teaching of science, mathematics, reading, language, geography, etc.This work was financed by the Universidad de Las Américas through project code: TIC.LCC.22.01

A Review of Emerging Technologies and Their Acceptance in Higher Education

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 impacted the entire world, but technological progress led to the appearance of new and innovative emerging technologies (ETs). These technologies proved to have a wide potential for use as support in education, but being a new technology, certain complications arose when it came to their application in the educational model. Nowadays, there are many digital technologies, so it is necessary to identify those that can be used in today’s education. Digital technologies have been implemented in all types of sectors, one of them being education, and the use of these technologies translates into significant improvements in educational processes and learning outcomes. Despite this, there is currently little research on the use of ETs as a support in the academic process. This research uses systematic mapping (SM) of the last 5 years, together with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to identify the use and acceptance of ETs in higher education. For the SM, a keyword search string was used in three scientific databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore). To apply the UTAUT, a survey was conducted with 120 students on the acceptance of ETs as support in higher education. The results obtained indicate that ETs provide some optimization of educational processes, with greater immersion and application of knowledge when using technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and mobile learning. Likewise, ETs can motivate students, allowing them to reach new academic and professional achievements.This work was financed by the Universidad de Las Américas through project code: TIC.LCC.22.01

Catch the Thief: An Approach to an Accessible Video Game with Unity

Today, the video game industry is one of the most profitable business markets in the world. Video games are not only being used as a means of entertainment but also to reinforce education. Even though there are unbroken barriers for disabled people to use this kind of applications. Lack of accessible technologies and functions are real problems and a way of discrimination. It is a challenge for every software development organization, even for those who focuses in video game line of work. Many impaired people enjoy playing games in despite of their disabilities; however, some limitations appear when they start to play. This article presents an approach for an accessible video game developing, using Unity Engine and some of its accessibility complements to implement some functions to get better the player experience. This way, people who suffer of visual and hearing disability can be able to play and learn. Within the spectrum of disabilities this project covers are; visual and hearing, multiple variants of color-blindness and reduced vision problems. A series of settings options will have implemented with the final purpose of giving users an easier way to interact with the video game. It should be emphasized that game mechanics are based on various parameters to offer accessibility as brightness reduction, contrast and font-size adjustment, and more. Disability simulation tests will have done in order to prove the video game functionality. This research tries to increase the accessibility for people with impairments in the world of video games

Wearable devices, the next generation of mobile devices: Main features and uses

In a world in which students are exposed to all kinds of digital stimuli, the traditional educational, in which a teacher gives a lesson in front of a class full of students who listen attentively, may not be very motivating. That is why, in addition to offering new pedagogical possibilities, and helping teachers to nurture their students with new skills and competences, technology plays a key role in the classroom when it comes to generating motivation. In that sense, wearable devices can be a powerful ally. For this reason, in this article, we will show a classification of these devices and the analysis of the main parameters of each of them. Several bibliographical sources were used for this work, such as: research documents, technical articles and official websites of the wearable devices investigated. Seven parameters were obtained to analyze by rating scales to optimize the decision of its possible use

Sustainable Teaching and Learning through a Mobile Application: A Case Study

Currently, mobile devices are widely used as a support in education for teaching and learning of multiple academic subjects. An example of this is educational mobile applications, which in recent years have been massively developed and have generated multiple downloads for use in the classroom. Despite their features and benefits, the use of mobile devices such as smartphones is not usually allowed in classrooms due to the distraction they can generate. This paper aims to evidence the use of mobile devices in education and why it should be used as a support in the educational model. To do this, it is proposed to compare two teaching-learning methodologies and identify whether the use of mobile applications can influence the specific education of an engineering subject. The methodologies were tested in the classroom, focusing on IP addressing and network numbering systems, with two groups of students: an experimental group and a control group. At the end of the experiment, their performance was evaluated using a questionnaire. The answers of this questionnaire were subjected to an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hypotheses were proposed to identify whether the use of a mobile application used as a support in the educational model has benefits in learning. The results indicate that educational mobile applications can be helpful in the teaching-learning process and at present, education can benefit from the use of this innovative learning methodology.This work was supported by the EduTech project (609785-EPP-1-2019-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHEJP) co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

Propuesta de un conjunto de herramientas para el análisis y evaluación de prácticas educativas innovadoras en el aprendizaje electrónico móvil

Hasta hace muy poco, los modelos educativos tradicionales fomentaban la memorización como una habilidad esencial para el aprendizaje, esto ha cambiado debido a la llegada y rápida difusión de las tecnologías digitales y el impacto que han tenido en los estudiantes de hoy en día. Esta nueva generación que inunda las aulas no son las personas para la que los modelos educativos de enseñanza y aprendizaje fueron diseñados, ellos nacieron y crecieron junto a la World Wide Web, las redes sociales, los dispositivos móviles y las redes multimedia. Los denominados nativos digitales procesan la información y adquieren conocimiento de manera muy diferente a nuestra generación. Incentivar en ellos una metodología educativa tradicional que involucre el aula, la conferencia magistral y la biblioteca es una batalla perdida. Las nuevas generaciones de estudiantes necesitan nuevos modelos educativos, metodologías pedagógicas innovadoras y una plataforma educativa mas natural y eficaz que se acople a sus habilidades y necesidades. En la última década, las tecnologías de la información (TI) han aumentado a un ritmo nunca antes visto, proporcionando a los alumnos una tecnología digital, accesible, rápida, asequible y portátil. Un claro ejemplo de ello son los dispositivos móviles, los cuales, debido a sus características de movilidad y ubicuidad, se han vuelto muy populares e indispensables en nuestra vida cotidiana. Cisco, en su Informe anual de Internet (2018-2023) publicado en marzo de 2020, pronostica que los teléfonos inteligentes tendrán un crecimiento muy acelerado. Esto significa que más del 70% de la población mundial tendrá un teléfono celular en 2023. Definitivamente, la penetración de los dispositivos móviles tienen un impacto directo en la forma como los estudiantes actuales acceden a la información. Hoy en día, el aprendizaje mediante dispositivos móviles está vinculado a casi todas las actividades relacionadas con el conocimiento. En consecuencia, el uso del aprendizaje móvil como estrategia para la innovación educativa está creciendo a un ritmo acelerado. El interés mostrado hacia la tecnología móvil ha aumentado en los últimos años debido a sus características como la movilidad, ubicuidad, accesibilidad, colaboración, utilidad, privacidad, adaptabilidad, portabilidad, flexibilidad y universalidad. Por tanto, la tecnología móvil y sus características tienen el potencial de transformar, mejorar y cambiar el paradigma educativo tradicional de la enseñanza impuesta al aprendizaje cooperativo y colaborativo. El uso de la tecnología ha cambiado radicalmente la forma de impartir la enseñanza, esto se debe al fácil acceso a la información y el uso de herramientas útiles para encontrar y compartir recursos educativos. Por esta razón se puede mencionar que, las TI, tienen el potencial de innovar la educación, con la creación de nuevas metodologías y modelos educativos basados en las habilidades tecnológicas que poseen los estudiantes de hoy en día. El mundo actual exige modelos educativos más eficaces que permitan crear en los estudiantes experiencias de aprendizaje, además de invitarlos a desempeñar un papel más activo en su educación. Por esta razón, la implementación de nuevos enfoques y prácticas educativas tienen que ser beneficiosos y generar un impacto en los individuos y en las instituciones académicas. El uso de las TI en la educación puede influir en el rendimiento académico y en la motivación hacia el aprendizaje debido a las características inherentes de las tecnologías móviles. De esta manera, el uso de la tecnología y los dispositivos móviles como apoyo en la educación, puede ser un factor importante para mejorar la gestión educativa. Además, puede influir en la mejora de las tasas de graduación y disminuir las estadísticas de abandono o deserción estudiantil. Por este motivo la investigación inició con una búsqueda de información sobre el tema del uso de los dispositivos móviles en la educación. Utilizamos una revisión de literatura para analizar el potencial que tienen los dispositivos móviles en la educación superior. Además, se definieron las ventajas y desventajas que podrían influir en el uso de los dispositivos móviles para el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje. También se realizó un análisis de fortalezas, oportunidades, debilidades y amenazas (FODA) de la tecnología móvil con uso en la educación. Se eligió una ventana más amplia de investigación (2010 - 2020), en esta nueva revisión se encontraron y definieron los principales beneficios y problemas que deben ser abordados para el correcto despliegue de la tecnología móvil como parte de un modelo educativo. Finalmente, se realizó un mapeo sistemático para evidenciar como los dispositivos móviles se están utilizando para crear metodologías educativas innovadoras. El mapeo sistemático permitió definir un nuevo modelo para el análisis de innovación académica con el uso de dispositivos móviles. Este modelo define cinco dimensiones útiles para identificar metodologías educativas que sean verdaderamente innovadores y ayuden en el proceso académico. Una vez concluida la base teórica de la investigación, se procedió con la parte de experimentación. Para ello, se realizó el diseño y construcción de aplicaciones móviles educativas que sirvan de apoyo para la educación formal e informal. La primera aplicación móvil fue diseñada para el aprendizaje de un idioma indígena (Kichwa). El análisis estadístico de los resultados obtenidos en este experimento muestra una gran aceptación de la tecnología móvil por parte de los usuarios. El instrumento utilizado fue el modelo Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) con una escala de Likert de cinco puntos. El siguiente trabajo involucró la tecnología de realidad aumentada para diseñar una aplicación móvil que pueda ser utilizada como apoyo en la educación formal de ingeniería. Para el análisis estadístico de los resultados en una evaluación entre un grupo experimental y un grupo de control, se utilizó la metodología de Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA). Los resultados son alentadores y muestran que los dispositivos móviles pueden ser utilizados como apoyo en la educación formal e informal. Los resultados de este trabajo permiten evidenciar los principales problemas, desventajas, y desafíos que deben ser afrontados para un correcto despliegue de la tecnología móvil en la educación. De la misma forma, es claro y están definidas las ventajas y los beneficios que el uso de los dispositivos móviles aportan al aprendizaje. Este trabajo puede influenciar a las instituciones educativas al uso de los dispositivos móviles para utilizarlos como una metodología educativa innovadora, útil para mejorar el aprendizaje