Exploring the influence of utilitarian, cognitive and affective factors on the use of e-books via handheld mobile devices: a review

Electronic books (e-books) can be read via dedicated e-book readers and multipurpose handheld mobile devices such as iPads and iPhones. Certain factors influence the use of academic e-books via these handheld mobile devices. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the factors which influence the use of e-books via handheld mobile devices for academic purposes in higher learning institutions. Two search strategies were used to identify the relevant literature of the studies reviewed. At the first stage, electronic databases and journals such as Emerald, Scopus, ProQuest, SpringLink, Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, Academic Search Premier, Communication and Mass Media Complete and Education Research Complete and ERIC were used to search for the relevant articles. Furthermore, journals pertaining to technology in education were searched individually to identify more relevant papers. The keywords used for the search were acceptance, adoption, use, electronic book, handheld mobile devices, e-reader, iPad, PDA and iPhone. At the second stage, snowballing method was used to identify the relevant articles by extracting them from the bibliography of key articles cited in this paper. An article was used for this review if it met three pre-determined criteria. The findings show that utilitarian, cognitive and affective factors influence the use of e-books via handheld mobile devices. However, not many articles explore the influence of affective factor on the use of academic e-books via handheld mobile devices. This systematic review is able to identify the main contributing factors that influence the use of e-books via handheld mobile devices. This review may guide e-book designers, publishers, aggregators and authors to develop e-books which are tailored to the consumers’ needs

The Use of Multimedia in Increasing Perceived Knowledge and Awareness of Cyber-bullying among Adolescents: A Pilot Study

AbstractAs cyber-bullying has become more serious lately, steps should be taken to ensure that this threat is curtailed. Some schools currently use small group discussions, large school assemblies, or lecture workshops to address this problem and these methods are often ineffective. Other than these conventional methods, initiative that could be taken includes developing a multimedia application that would be able to assist adolescents in increasing their knowledge and awareness on cyber-bullying. This paper reports the findings of a pilot study on the use of a multimedia application, CyBA in increasing the knowledge and perceived adolescents towards cyber-bullying among adolescents. A quasi-experimental research design with pre-test and post-test was used to investigate the effectiveness of CyBA. The result indicates that knowledge and perceived awareness among the adolescents were increased after they were exposed to the multimedia application

Searching for gold in a haystack: The reality of a visually impaired student in a higher education in Malaysia

This study explores the extent of the life of a visually impaired student in a higher education setting in Malaysia.It concentrates to identify the needs that might have been overlooked.The research design of this study is qualitative and based on a single case study methodology.Data collection methods include interviews with the visually impaired student as well as observation during lectures and examinations.The study found out that there is a need for higher education to make some changes in the institutional system so that it would be moredisable friendly.It is important to provide assistive technologies such as embosser and screen reader as well as a human reader to support visually impaired learners in learning activities.In addition, there is also a need to improvise the examination system, where the type of questions need to be reviewed so that it would be more suitable for the visually impaired student.The library also needs to add resources that are suitable for visually impaired students such as audio books and e-books.Lecturers also need to be more aware about the needs of these students.Moreover, it would be helpful if the campus area is equipped with a track block to enhance mobility.The study is important to help stakeholders in higher education Malaysia to understand the needs of visually impaired learner in supporting them as a member in higher education.This is in accordance with the vision and philosophy of higher educations in Malaysia in providing education for all

Exploring the effects of visual aesthetics in e-learning for engineering students

e-Learning is changing the way students learn in the classroom. However, one of the least emphasised aspect in e-learning design concerns with aesthetics. Recent research in multimedia aesthetics highlighted the need to understand interaction from a multidisciplinary perspective. Aesthetics research in e-learning usually focuses on exploring the effects of positive aesthetics design towards neutral designs and a gap in exploring the effects of negative aesthetics. In this study, two different designs were developed to reflect positive and negative aesthetics designs. The cognitive outcome of these designs was compared and evaluated based on a learning achievement to measure comprehension. Gender and academic achievement were also explored to investigate if these factors had an effect on aesthetics perception and learning achievement. Based on the outcome of 95 electronic engineering students from two different polytechnics in Malaysia, it was found that engineering students performed better in the negative design in comparison to the positive design. In addition, genders or academic achievement differences were found not to influence the outcome