Mobile technology,learning, and achievement: Advances in understanding and measuring the role of mobile technology in education

Studying mobile learning – the use of personal electronic devices to engage in learning across multiple contexts via connections to media, educators, peers, experts, and the larger world – is a relatively new academic enterprise. In this special issue, we interrogated the promise and unexamined expectations of mobile learning, the theories and ideas developing around it, and the devices that afford it. The articles introduce mobile and wearable technologies as key components of empirical research and demonstrate ways that learning conducted with such devices (1) affects the process and products of learning via interactions with other psychological constructs; (2) affords new opportunities to directly influence learning process or outcomes; and (3) provides opportunities to collect previously unobtainable data that improve understanding and modeling of the learning process. In this introduction, we overview the emergence of mobile learning theory and its contemporary conceptualization. Then we highlight ways that mobile technologies can be used to enhance learning processes and an understanding of them. All special issue contributors conceptualize and align their work with both psychological theories of learning and instruction as well as emerging theories of mobile learning. The commentary authors appraise mobile learning research critically and analytically, and recommend ways mobile learning theory might build upon research methodology and knowledge grounded empirically in psychological and sociocultural theories of learning. Overall, we believe this special issue achieved our goal to produce a balanced consideration that highlights the advancements in learning and learning theory mobile devices might afford, and to temper any premature enthusiasm about these potential benefits.     

终身学习视野下的微型学习课程设计原则研究

移动通信技术的发展使依托移动设备的微型学习成为可能,满足了成人学习者短小、松散、实用的学习需求。微型学习的理念和移动学习融为一体,为提高学习效率和质量提供了保证。然而,从目前的现状来看,对微型学习课程设计原则的研究非常有限。要充分发挥微型学习＂短小、精悍、实用＂的特点,尤其需要针对成人学习的特点以及移动设备的特征对课程设计原则进行深入研究。通过对移动学习的相关学习理论、已有的课程设计原则进行了研究和分析,提炼微型学习课程设计的原则和要素,为形成符合成人移动学习特点的课程设计提供参考,使成人学习者能够利用＂零碎＂时间进行学习,发挥移动设备和技术的特点和功能,使新媒体技术支持下的学习变得更加高效。     

Extending the Scaffolding Metaphor

A brief overview overview is provided of how the scaffolding metaphor has been defined in educational contexts. This includes a discussion of what theories guide decision-making regarding what to scaffold as well as considerations as to whom or what does the scaffolding (human teachers, peers and tutors or computer tutors or support tools designed for learning environments). The scaffolding construct intersects instruction and assessment in that instructors assess learners to determine what type or level of scaffold is sufficient to help learners reach their potential. Such assessments are dynamic and ongoing and can occur through dialogue and social interactions with or without the use of technology. Hence scaffolds are provided when and where necessary but they are also removed when evidence of learning exists. This article describes how the contributors to this issue have extended the scaffolding metaphor to open-ended technology based environments. Empirical studies are reviewed with regard to how they extend the scaffolding metaphor in terms of the theories that guide the design of scaffolds, the metrics designed to assess how scaffolding affects learning and in terms of teaching scaffolding techniques to others.     

The metaphor and reality of contextual transfer

The article reports on the first phase of a large‐scale qualitative research project that explored the perceptions of training practitioners on how they understood the process by which we carry our knowledge and skill across different contexts. Clearly, this is a process of transition, where it is the individual who moves across the contexts and consequentially adapts, reshapes and makes decisions as to the applicability of his/her current competence within the new context of situation. The research has uncovered the complexity of this transition and the decision making involved, and provided participant support for some of the emerging theories of learning which take the concept of learning away from that of bounded learning where the material to be learnt in already known and there are experts who can transmit the necessary knowledge and skill to one of expansive learning where what is to be learned is not stable or well defined or understood ahead of time. The outcomes of the research, which are embedded in the developed model, suggest that we need to use formal learning to prepare our learners for the challenge of expansive learning.     

碎片化学习视域下基于智能手机的大学生移动学习认知研究

远程教育中采用移动学习方式是顺势而为,基于智能手机的移动学习有助于学习者将一点一滴的碎片化时间利用起来,极大地提高学习者的学习效率,促进学习者对知识的主动建构,成为传统课堂教学的有效补充和优化,同时将手机作为直播机,亦可解决远程学习者无法亲临现场学习难题。本文以大学生为研究主体,运用编制的测量工具获取在校大学生利用智能手机进行移动学习数据,然后综合采用曼一惠特尼U检验、克鲁斯卡尔一沃利斯检验、单一样本t检验等方法,认知大学生对使用智能手机支持学习过程的观点、态度及其影响因素并提出有效解决策略,以期研究成果不仅能够有助于大学生有效开展移动学习而且还可为远程教育采用移动学习方式提供可行参考依据。     

On activities and affordances for mobile learning

Across the articles in this special issue, there is a clear and important focus on how people learn through mobility, which allows them to move across contexts as they learn. This commentary considers ways mobile technologies can support learning with a focus on understanding the affordances to of the mobile technologies develop new learning practices that could not be accomplished without this technology. With this in mind, we return to the definition of mobile learning that suggests mobile learning is learning across multiple contexts, through social interaction, using personal electronic devices that can immediately capture information about, or provide information to the user. To explore how to implement this definition in truly powerful ways, we suggest explicitly unpacking this into its four component parts, so that we can explore and discuss the unique affordances of mobile learning: (1) multiple contexts, (2) social interactions, (3) content interactions, and (4), capturing information and providing information to users in real-time. We further suggest a 5th element, which is the synergies among these different dimensions. We conclude with the challenges in doing research in mobile learning environments and the need to understand both how and what people learn in such environments.     

协同学习技术系统及其多场学习效果研究

以协同学习为基础的学习技术系统,是一种能够适应当前网络时代社会结构和技术要求、满足社会变革和学习创新需要的新框架。基于试验研究和量化统计,分析了协同学习技术系统情境中的学习效果。结果表明,协同学习技术系统能够支持学习者之间或学习者与辅导者之间形成良好的交互,实现有较高程度的共享;并且支持培养学习者良好的团队合作精神,提高学习者的群体思维操作能力和多场协同学习的意识。     

在线协作学习对感知学习的影响

在线学习环境缺乏人际交互的缺点在一定程度上决定了在线学习需要依靠学习者之间的交流和协作才能维持。对于在线学习的实际成效,研究者已经开发了不同的测量工具和评价方法来对其进行测量,但由于这些工具和方法之间缺乏内在一致性,使得针对学习的直接测量十分困难,因而感知学习常被用作反映学习的指标,也被视为衡量网络教学成功的重要标志之一。影响感知学习的变量很多,既有个体层面的,也有小组层面的。以天津职业技术师范大学本科生参与的网络课程“远程教育学”为例,运用逐步回归方法进行的实证研究表明：个体层面的变量——个体的协作学习态度、与熟人的交流能力,小组层面的变量——小组任务的相互依赖、小组任务的有效分配以及社会临场感都会显著影响学习者的感知学习。     

PDAs as lifelong learning tools: an activity theory based analysis

This paper describes the use of an activity theory (AT) framework to analyze the ways that distance part time learners and mobile workers adapted and appropriated mobile devices for their activities and in turn how their use of these new tools changed the ways that they carried out their learning or their work. It is argued that there are two key strengths in using an activity theory framework in this context. The first strength is the emphasis activity theory places on tools, including computer artefacts, as mediators of activity. This emphasis focuses attention on the activity itself rather than, for example, simply the interaction between the human and the computer. The focus is on the learner or user’s objectives and activities and the computer is the tool through which the user achieves her objectives. The second strength was referred to briefly above. The AT perspective also enabled analysis of an interactive dynamic process of users or learners and their tools—in this case personal digital assistants (PDAs). It revealed a two way process in which the user adapts the tools they use according to their everyday practice and preferences in order to carry out their activities; and how, in turn, the tools themselves also modify the activities that the user is engaged in. Three case studies illustrate these processes. The first case study is of distance learners’ use of e‐books on PDAs, to supplement their access to other static media such as books and computers. The second case study investigated how mobile workers in the energy industry used mobile devices to access information when away from the office. The third and final case study investigated the use of mobile devices in an art gallery. The paper concludes with a discussion of the information access needs that are apparent in each of these learning contexts, and highlights the pertinent issues in the use of mobile technologies to support lifelong learners’ information needs.     

基于位置识别的移动学习系统5R自适应框架

如何利用移动设备的位置识别功能开发创新性的移动应用系统,是众多研究者和商业应用开发者关注的焦点。基于位置识别的移动学习系统5R自适应框架为实现自适应移动学习环境提供了一套解决方案和标准化结构。5R自适应框架能够根据学习者、位置、时间、移动设备等因素自动生成学习者所需要的学习内容,增强学习者与学习情境之间的交互。5R自适应框架的实施需要描述基于位置的学习内容并使之标签化,建立自适应约束条件和学习内容之间的关系。在基于位置识别的地理课实地考察移动学习过程中,5R自适应框架能够很好地支持这一应用,而且在实现过程中体现出高度的灵活性。     

手势交互虚拟实验对学习体验的影响机制

手势交互作为一种理想的虚拟现实交互技术,其在虚拟实验中的应用能够很好地满足学习者多样化的交互需求并提升交互体验。然而,当前关于手势交互虚拟实验的研究大多聚焦于提高手势识别的准确率、设计开发不同领域的虚拟实验应用等方面,而对学习者在虚拟实验中的学习体验并未进行深入地研究。为了探索手势交互虚拟实验对学习者学习体验的影响机制,利用设计开发的基于Leap Motion的"计算机组成原理"虚拟实验,采用混合研究范式对学习者的沉浸感、学习动机和态度分别进行了测量与分析。结果表明:在手势交互虚拟实验中,学习动机作为中间因素会影响学习者的学习体验;身临其境的感觉和自然丰富的交互体验能够有效增强学习者的物理沉浸,进而提高学习者的学习动机,改善学习者的情感体验并增强其使用意愿,由此来促进学习者学习体验的提升。从改进实践的层面来看,未来应合理设计交互手势,创设高度沉浸的实验环境,优化虚拟实验任务设计,注重对学习反思的引导,以不断提升学习者在心理沉浸和学习效果方面的表现。     

Leveraging mobile technology for sustainable seamless learning: a research agenda

Over the next 10 years, we anticipate that personal, portable, wirelessly networked technologies will become ubiquitous in the lives of learners—indeed, in many countries, this is already a reality. We see that ready‐to‐hand access creates the potential for a new phase in the evolution of technology‐enhanced learning, characterised by ‘seamless learning spaces’ and marked by continuity of the learning experience across different scenarios or contexts, and emerging from the availability of one device or more per student. The challenge is to enable learners to learn whenever they are curious and seamlessly switch between different contexts, such as between formal and informal contexts and between individual and social learning, and by extending the social spaces in which learners interact with each other. In this paper, we review the potential of mobile learning research for designing seamless learning environments that can bridge both formal and informal learning, present a research agenda and discuss important methodological issues that concern research into formal and informal learning.     

Hybrid E‐Learning Acceptance Model: Learner Perceptions

E‐learning tools and technologies have been used to supplement conventional courses in higher education institutions creating a “hybrid” e‐learning module that aims to enhance the learning experiences of students. Few studies have addressed the acceptance of hybrid e‐learning by learners and the factors affecting the learners’ satisfaction with these tools. This study assesses hybrid e‐learning acceptance by learners using three critical success factors: instructor characteristics, information technology infrastructure, and organizational and technical support. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine and validate the hypothesized relationships among the three factors and their effects on learners’ acceptance of hybrid e‐learning. A total of 538 usable responses from university students were used to validate the proposed research model. The influence of the three factors on learners’ decision to accept hybrid e‐learning was empirically examined. The results show that all three factors significantly and directly impacted the learners’ acceptance of hybrid e‐learning courses. Information technology infrastructure and organizational support were proven to be key determinants of the instructor characteristics as a critical success factor of hybrid e‐learning acceptance by learners. Implications of this work for higher education institutions, researchers, and instructors are described.     

Reframing research on learning with technology: in search of the meaning of cognitive tools

Previous research and development with cognitive tools has been limited by an inadequate conceptualization of the complexity underlying their nature and affordances for supporting learning and performance. This paper provides a new perspective on cognitive tools through the lens of the theories of distributed cognition and expertise. The learner, tool, and activity form a joint learning system, and the expertise in the world should be reflected not only in the tool but also in the learning activity within which learners make use of the tool. This enhanced perspective is used to clarify the nature of cognitive tools and distinguish them from other types of computer tools used in learning contexts. We have classified cognitive tools considering how expertise is classified: domain-independent (general) cognitive tools, domain-generic cognitive tools, and domain-specific cognitive tools. The implications are presented in reference to research, development, and practice of cognitive tools. The capabilities of cognitive tools should be differentiated from those of the human, but regarded as part of the system of expertise. Cognitive tools should be accompanied by appropriate learning activities, and relevant learner performance should then be assessed in the context of tool use.     

Negotiating epistemological challenges in thinking and practice: A case study of a literacy and inquiry tool as a mediator of professional conversation

This study examines how a Humanities team engaged in professional conversation to refine and implement a literacy and inquiry tool in an Asian Studies curriculum. Drawing on socio-cultural perspectives of teacher learning and theories of tools as mediators of action, this case study investigates the ways this community of practice discussed their understandings of contexts, curriculum, and classroom practice to implement the literacy and inquiry tool. Such practices hold promise for the design of professional learning experiences where teachers engage in conversations about key tools they can use in their practice and assume more control of their own professional learning.     

学习云空间中基于情境感知的移动学习自适应模型及其应用研究

随着移动互联网等新技术的快速发展,移动学习成为网络学习空间的主要学习方式之一,然而移动学习效果的提升面临着复杂移动情境下空间化学习的自适应挑战。文章以云计算支持下的网络学习空间(即学习云空间)为背景,分析了移动学习的自适应因素,提出了一个基于情境感知的移动学习自适应模型,并探讨了移动学习的自适应实现机制及其应用策略。研究依托iStudy的移动学习自适应系统进行应用实践和实证分析,结果表明:该系统更有利于提高场独立型与场依存型两种风格学生的自我效能感,以及场依存型学生的学习成绩;不同知识类型学习中均使用该系统,其学习成绩没有差异;两种风格学生均认为该系统更加便捷适用,场依存型学生认为该系统更有利于促进学习。研究为促进移动学习的自适应和个性化理论与实践探索提供了有力支撑。     

Looking beyond changes in averages in evaluating foundational learning: Some inequality measures

This paper uses measurements of learning inequality to explore whether learning interventions that are aimed at improving means also reduce inequality, and if so, under what conditions. There is abundant evidence that learning levels are generally low in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), but there is less knowledge about how learning achievement is distributed within these contexts, and especially about how these distributions change as mean levels increase. We use child-level data on foundational literacy outcomes to quantitatively explore whether and how learning inequality using metrics borrowed from the economics and inequality literature can help us understand the impact of learning interventions. The paper deepens recent work in several ways. First, it extends the analysis to six LMIC, displaying which measures are computable and coherent across contexts and baseline levels. This extension can add valuable information to program evaluation, without being redundant with other metrics. Second, we show the large extent to which the disaggregation of inequality of foundational skills between- and within-schools and grades varies by context and language. Third, we present initial empirical evidence that, at least in the contexts of analysis of foundational interventions, improving average performance can reduce inequality as well, across all levels of socioeconomic status (SES). The data show that at baseline, the groups with the highest internal inequality tend to be the groups with lowest SES and lowest reading scores, as inequality among the poor themselves is higher than among their wealthier counterparts. Regardless of which SES groups benefit more in terms of a change in mean levels of reading, there is still a considerable reduction in inequality by baseline achievement as means increase. These results have policy implications in terms of targeting of interventions: much can be achieved in terms of simultaneously improving averages and increasing equality. This seems particularly true when the initial learning levels are as low as they currently are the developing world.     

An intelligent mobile location-aware book recommendation system that enhances problem-based learning in libraries

Despite rapid and continued adoption of mobile devices, few learning modes integrate with mobile technologies and libraries' environments as innovative learning modes that emphasize the key roles of libraries in facilitating learning. In addition, some education experts have claimed that transmitting knowledge to learners is not the only educational goal, as cultivating problem-solving skills is also essential. By integrating the problem-based learning (PBL) model with book resources in libraries, one can identify the advantages of libraries in supporting e-Learning, resulting in innovative and valuable research. Therefore, this study presents a novel intelligent mobile location-aware book recommendation system (IMLBRS) with map-based guidance to support cooperative PBL in a real-library environment. Using map navigation and book recommendation functionalities, learners can search for books associated with problem-solving with increased ease and efficiency, thereby helping learners increase their PBL performance in a library environment. Experimental results reveal that learning performance during PBL supported by the proposed IMLBRS for book searches is superior to learning performance during PBL supported by the online public access catalogue (OPAC). Experimental results also show that the proposed system facilitates better learning performance for learners with a field-dependent learning style than for learners with a field-independent learning style. Moreover, the proposed system facilitates learner contemplation, cooperative learning, and library user education as learners interact with a real-library environment and peers during cooperative PBL.     

基于移动学习的深度学习研究

在目前的移动学习中,由于学习者对使用移动设备进行学习的认识不足、移动学习设备自身的局限性以及移动学习时间、地点的随机性等问题,导致移动学习停留在较浅层面,达不到较好的学习效果。通过加深学习者对移动学习的认识、改善移动设备以及设计恰当的学习资源等途径,可以实现深度学习,提高移动学习质量。     

Enacting feedback utilization from a task-specific perspective

Feedback is central to successful teaching and learning. Despite extensive research on the relationship between feedback, pedagogy and learning, there remain no conclusive answers as to how feedback can be effectively utilized by learners. Recently, there is emerging research exploring how feedback is conceptualized as dialogic processes to facilitate provision and uptake of feedback; and how feedback utilization is best supported by learner active involvement in the iterative feedback process for future learning. Drawn from this knowledge base, this article aims to review four aspects of feedback scholarship including nature, paradigms, issues and trends which serve as a theoretical basis, together with instructors’ interviews, to inform how five common assessment tasks in one social sciences faculty could be strategically revamped to promote feedback utilization. The article concludes with pedagogical insights to suggest three conditions wherein feedback could be made sustainable to support learning through a redesigning of conventional assessment tasks in the higher education contexts.