An investigation of attitudes of students and teachers about participating in a context‐aware ubiquitous learning activity

In recent years, digital learning has been converting from e‐learning to m‐learning because of the significant growth of wireless and mobile computing technologies. Students can learn any time and any where with mobile devices. Consequently, context‐aware ubiquitous learning (u‐learning) is emerging as a new research area. It integrates wireless, mobile and context awareness technologies in order to detect the situation of the learners and provide more seamless adaptive support in the learning process. In this paper, a context‐aware u‐learning environment is developed for learning about campus vegetation in elementary schools based on an innovative approach by employing repertory grid method in designing learning content. In addition, we probe the feasibility of context‐aware u‐learning in courses by soliciting feedback from the students and teachers through interviews and questionnaires. The findings reveal that the environment is capable of enhancing students’ motivation and learning effectiveness. Moreover, it is also capable of reducing the teaching load while enabling better control of class order.     

Teacher facilitation support in ubiquitous learning environments

ABSTRACT

Teacher support for students in ubiquitous learning environments is challenging owing to physical distance and a lack of reliable real-time multimedia-rich communication. This is further complicated because the learning process is dynamic and problems need quick resolution. Given these challenges, this study proposes an architecture for a teacher facilitation support system. The system was implemented in the form of an interactive teacher dashboard. The interface also generates possible solutions to learning challenges while leaving the ultimate decision up to the teacher. The system feasibility was tested by work-through scenarios designed and validated by two experts. The system usability was evaluated using the System Usability Scale by 40 potential users. The ?ndings revealed that the dashboard has good feasibility and usability for providing teachers relevant information about their students’ learning progress in ubiquitous learning environments. It also enabled opportunity for pedagogical intervention when needed.     

The integration of print and digital content for providing learners with constructive feedback using smartphones

Timely feedback is considered essential for supporting professional growth and personal development. However, it is difficult to employ such feedback in traditional learning environments. Recently, smartphones are considered as educational tools for supporting instructional activities. Therefore, this study attempts to leverage the advantages of physical textbooks and mobile devices. A pedagogical strategy called constructive feedback was proposed to provide learners with real‐time and personalized suggestions according to the results of electronic assessment. Two types of connectivity techniques, namely QR Codes and hyperlinking, were applied for integrating printed materials and digital content. An experiment was conducted in a university course entitled Computer Networks, and a total of 80 students were recruited to participate in this experiment. The findings revealed that the strategy of constructive feedback had a significant influence on learning performance. However, no significant differences on learning performance were found between using QR Codes and using hyperlinking. Finally, implications of the findings were discussed for further research directions and practical applications.     

Cognitive Skills Acquisition and Computer Based Intelligent Tutoring Tools

Cognitive skills are concerned with analysis, interpretation and decision making required for performing procedural tasks. Since much of this process runs inside a human mind, the development of cognitive skill may largely rely on self-explanation as a mechanism for forming better procedures by clustering elementary operations and pushing them to the subconscious level. The paper describes possible categorisation of learning resources to match the different phases of skill acquisition. It discusses an implementation of a cognitive apprenticeship-based learning environment ‘Byzantium’ and an independent feedback on its use in real classroom. Its generic design philosophy is described, together with a commentary that places Byzantium in the tradition of Gordon Pask's adaptive teaching machines and conversational tutorial systems.     

Towards utilising emerging technologies to address the challenges of using Open Educational Resources: a vision of the future

Educational technology research and development - The rapid advancements in online education have pointed to a new open learning approach using Open Educational Resources (OER). In this approach,...     

Fostering learners’ metacognitive skills of keyword reformulation in image seeking by location-based hierarchical navigation

It is critical that students learn how to retrieve useful information in hypermedia environments, a task that is often especially difficult when it comes to image retrieval, as little text feedback is given that allows them to reformulate keywords they need to use. This situation may make students feel disorientated while attempting image searching. This study thus designed an image navigation tool, location-based hierarchical navigation support (LHINS), which can dynamically construct a compact WordNet-based hierarchy augmented by location. Using this tool, learners can assimilate new information based on their existing knowledge structure, thus avoiding cognitive overload so as to scaffold their metacognitive skills. Sixty-four high school students were invited to take part in an experiment to test the efficacy of the proposed tool compared to a normal keyword-based search (NKBS) system. The experiment evaluated not only the students’ task completion time in the NKBS and LHINS groups, but also their keyword reformulation process, in order to determine the differences in their metacognitive skills. The results revealed that the LHINS group tended to complete the tasks faster and develop better metacognitive skills related to keyword reformulation as compared to the NKBS group. This finding suggests that an image search engine, enhanced by a compact hierarchical navigation tool, can help learners develop better search strategies. When examining how learners with different cognitive styles used the tool, the results showed that learner performance depends on cognitive style, as well as the image retrieval system used, and thus a more detailed investigation of the interaction between the tool and cognitive styles was conducted. Based on these results, several suggestions are derived for designing a more powerful image navigation tool.