mStories: exploring semiotics and praxis of user-generated mobile stories

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. Innovations in information and communication technologies have allowed people to actively author multimodal content and engage in new meaning-making practices. New Literacies research has gone some way to understanding new meaning-making behaviours. However, this research often derives its understandings from studies undertaken with students enrolled in formal educational settings. Mobile technologies are increasingly situated outside such domains; the informal use of these devices by adults remains on the periphery of scholarly focus. mStories is a creative participatory digital mobile storytelling project. Taking a multidimensional perspective, this article presents the in-depth case analysis of one participant and their mStory. A semiotic analysis found that the user-generated content demonstrated complex and sophisticated multimodal sense relations. However, control over the textual or compositional meta-function of the text was determined largely by the computer interface, with users habituated to relinquishing authorial control over this element. Within this study, mobile literacy praxis was characteristically ad hoc and contextually embedded, and though mobile technology invites such practices, users were neither determined nor limited by this, and happily turned to other devices where necessary

A student-generated video careers project: Understanding the learning processes in and out of the classroom

Copyright © 2018, IGI Global. This article describes how in recent years, the multimedia recording capabilities of mobile devices have been used increasingly to create a more active, learner-centred educational experience. Despite the proven value of student-generated multimedia projects, there are still gaps in our understanding of how students learn during them. This article reports on a project in which first-year information technology students interviewed IT professionals in their workplace and video-recorded the interview to enable sharing with their peers. In order to understand the statistically significant increases found in students' learning, student diaries and reflections were analyzed qualitatively. Factors found to contribute to learning included: the iterative nature of student activities; the multiple, evolving representations of knowledge as students proceeded through the project; the importance of the workplace context in engaging students and enhancing learning; the affordance of mobile technology for capturing and sharing this context; and the collaborative and metacognitive processes fostered by the project

The impact of an iPad-supported annotation and sharing technology on university students' learning

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd iPads, or more generally tablet computers, have received rapid and widespread uptake across higher education. Despite this, there is limited evidence of how their use affects student learning within this context. This study focuses on the use of a tablet by the instructor to support the annotation and in-class sharing of students' work to create a collaborative learning environment within a first year undergraduate subject. This paper reports the results of an empirical study looking at the effect this tablet technology has on student performance using a sample of 741 first-year accounting students. The study uses data from enrolment and attendance records, end of semester examination results and student perceptions from a survey. Results indicate that class sharing of the instructor's and students' annotation of homework through the use of a tablet is associated with an improvement in student performance on procedural or equation-based questions as well as increased student engagement. However, contrary to expectations, the introduction of in class annotations was associated with a decline in student performance on theoretical, extended response questions. The authors argue that affordances of the tablet, when used in a student-centred way, can introduce a bias towards some kinds of interactions over others. This large-scale study of in-class tablet use suggests that though the tablets may be positively associated with student engagement and satisfaction, caution must be exercised in how the use by the instructor affects the classroom environment and what students learn. These findings have particular relevance to university learning contexts with equation-centric subjects such as those in Business and STEM

How does students' general academic achievement moderate the implications of social networking on specific levels of learning performance?

© 2019 This study examines to what extent the use of social networking sites impacts different levels of learning. In particular, we examine how post-secondary students' general academic achievement, reflected by grade point average scores, moderate these impacts. The impacts of social networking noted in the literature vary considerably, with positive and negative implications on student learning noted. Examining the moderating effects of students' general academic achievement may address the reasons for such inconsistency in impacts observed. To better understand the implications of social networking on student learning, we examine the implications of student time spent in total on Facebook and on different reasons for using Facebook through a series of ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions. The data on students' social networking use is collected via a survey and data retrieved from institution records on student performance. The context of this study is a first year equation and problem solving centric subject, consistent with the subject matter emphasised in business and STEM disciplines. The findings indicate social networking use puts students at risk who are generally lower academic achievers; in particular their performance is lower across the least difficult levels of learning performance with greater Facebook use. In contrast the performance of higher academic achievers is not significantly impacted. The findings highlight the importance of considering students' general academic achievement as a moderator of the relationship between social networking use and learning performance, and also the importance of considering the impact on specific levels of learning

Increasing Student Engagement and Performance in Introductory Accounting through Student-Generated Screencasts

The paper reports the findings of a trial of student generated screencasts in an introductory accounting subject. This paper examines the effect of this screencast project on student engagement and performance. The effect on student engagement is examined using data from a pre and post screencast project student survey and performance effects examined by analysing the performance of students completing and not completing the project. The results of the study suggest the screencast project facilitated higher student engagement and performance. These findings have important implications for integrating technologies such as screencasting to facilitate enhanced learning outcomes in introductory accounting subjects

mStories : understanding the new literacies of mobile devices through a creative participatory project

Traditional discussions on literacy have focused on the reading and writing of alphabet and character-based texts. However, innovations in information and communication technologies (ICT) have emphasised new forms of literacy that include still and moving image, and new modes of document reception and production. These ‘new’ literacies have become a significant area of research, however to date these understandings have been built without reference to the adult user, the informal learner and the mobile device. Though mobile devices enable increasingly multimodal behaviours little is known about how a device’s mobility affects these literacy practices. As Smartphone ownership increases and the semiotic landscape becomes increasingly multimodal there is a need for understandings of multiliteracies research to be applied and extended to the multimodal meaning-making afforded by mobile devices. In August 2011 mStories, a creative participatory action research project, was established by the researcher. Working with nine participants from Australia and the UK, mStories facilitates the creation and sharing of user generated stories created with mobile devices; in addition to changing user practice through action, this project contributes to understandings of multimodal mobile literacies through survey and interview research, and analysis of the mStories products. Grounded in the participant’s experiences and semiotic products, this thesis develops an understanding of literacy from the underrepresented adult user and the mobile technology that they use. From data derived from this participatory project, this thesis characterises mobile practice as one that is situated, locative, and experiential in nature; This project finds that mobile devices are catalytic to meaning-making within a wider ICT ecology

mStories: Exploring Modes of Participation in a Creative Storytelling Project

Innovations in information and communication technologies (ICT) have emphasized new `non-text forms of literacy that include still and moving image. To date such new literacy practices have been researched largely within formal learning environments and through the use of typically desktop technologies. However, as mobile devices become increasingly ubiquitous, technologically convergent, and supportive of multimedia practice, there is a need for research and research methods that support understandings of mobile practice and literacies formed outside the classroom. In August 2011 a participatory creative digital storytelling project mStories was established with nine participants from across the UK and Australia. This paper reports on how participation in the project was shaped and structured by its participants and how participatory methods need to be adapted to accommodate the mobile complex and users existing and intended practice

Facilitating Enhanced Learning in Tutorials through Tablet Computing Enabled Sharing and Annotation Technologies

The purpose of this study is report on a trial of tablet computing enabled sharing and annotation technologies in an Introductory Accounting subject. These technologies allow student homework to be photographed using a tablet computer (iPad in our study), shown to the class instantaneously through a data projector and annotated live by the tutor, along with student participation, using the tablet computer. These technologies are intended to address calls for more student–centred approaches to learning, moving away from the didactic approach that dominates much of accounting education. Two focus group sessions were conducted to explore the effectiveness of the technologies, with the first group from a class where the tutor used the iPad and the second from a class where there was no iPad use. The findings from the focus groups suggest that in the class where the iPad was used, there was a far greater ability to focus on the questions and problems students were facing, a lot more material could be covered, student felt more comfortable participating because they could see their fellow students faced similar challenges and they were far more likely to complete homework prior to class. Overall this indicates there were significant benefits for students

Implications of student-generated screencasts on final examination performance

© 2017 AFAANZ While educational technologies can play a vital role in students’ active participation in introductory accounting subjects, learning outcome implications are less clear. We believe this is the first accounting education study examining the implications of student-generated screencast assignments. We find benefits in developing the graduate attributes of communication, creativity and multimedia skills, consistent with calls by the profession. Additionally, we find improvement in final examination performance related to the assignment topic, notably in lower performing students. The screencast assignment was optional, and the findings suggest a tailored approach to assignment design related to students’ developmental needs is appropriate

How technology companies are revitalizing Management by Values for innovation

Despite their prevalence, little is understood about the role of organizational values within the high technology sector. This paper extends the authors‟ existing research on management by values (MBV) as a pathway to fostering innovation culture. This empirical mixed-methods approach analyses three industry narratives on innovation culture and the value statements of twenty-four listed technology companies. Values are thematically coded in Nvivo and quantitative and categorical metadata also recorded. This study provides one of the first empirical studies of value statements within the high-tech sector. Findings from this research highlight the re-emergence of MBV as a key prerequisite for creating an innovation culture and changing the focus of these values more strongly to reflect the attitudes and actions required to establish an innovation culture. The paper concludes with a model of the conditions and properties needed to establish innovation culture through an MBV approach