Mobile Learning (M-learning) refers to any kind of learning which takes place within and beyond the traditional learning environment via wireless mobile devices. These devices are able to move with the learner to allow learning anytime, anywhere. M-learning is considered as the next step beyond electronic learning (E-learning) and distance learning (D-learning) by using mobile wireless devices with internet connectivity to facilitate formal and informal learning. Over the past decade M-learning has become gradually popular in university settings by providing mobile access to learning resources, collaborative learning and to exchange formative evaluation and feedback between students and instructors. Therefore, M-learning involves learning activities that are not restricted to a specific time or place. Despite the familiarity with M-learning as a new paradigm in modern education, there has been a shortage of research concerning how to deploy this technology in a successful way. The integration of M-learning in a university environment needs to involve some aspects in terms of the readiness of users and institutions, users‟ acceptance and engagement, and the sustainability of the system. There are some initial models that investigate the implementation of M-learning which provide some guidelines that work as starting point for the future of M-learning deployment. However, there is no theoretical model that provides guidelines for staged deployment of M-learning. In addition, there was no clear definition of sustainability factors that will assure continues evaluation and upgrade of M-learning systems after deployment. The aims of this research work are to study students‟ readiness for M-learning, investigate the factors that affect students‟ acceptance and analyse M-learning literature in order to propose and evaluate a model which can be used to foster the sustainable deployment of M-learning within teaching and learning strategies in higher education institutions. The research was conducted in Brunel University, West London. Data were collected from School of Information, Computing and Mathematical Science students using three surveys: the first studied students‟ readiness for M-learning, the second investigated factors that affect students‟ acceptance of M-learning and the last one developed and evaluated a sustainable M-learning deployment model. The outcome of this research lead to a conceptual model that gives a wide overview of all elements that need to be addressed in the M-learning environment and bridges the gap between the pre- and post-implementation phases in order to ensure sustainability. Furthermore, the model provides university educators with a planned approach to incorporate M-learning in higher education curriculums with the aim of improving teaching and learning.

Multiple technological tools are used on a regular basis these days, e.g. PCs, laptops, iPads and smartphones. They are constantly becoming faster, reducing in size and offer more and more functions, which encourages their use anywhere and at any time. The portability and ubiquity of smartphone communications technology has encouraged educators and policy-makers around the world to incorporate it into teaching and learning. However, portability and ubiquity are not the only pedagogical affordance smartphones (and apps) offer; e.g. social interactivity, context sensitivity, connectivity and individuality are also represented (Klopfer et al., 2002). In this study, I have discussed some of these; the main thesis focus is on the pedagogical affordances of smartphone apps, especially a smartphone app (i.e. WhatsApp) to support collaborative learning (CL) amongst pre-service teachers under the Kuwait Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET). The main research question: ‘Is WhatsApp useful in enhancing collaboration amongst pre-service teachers at PAAET? If so, then how and why is it useful?’ is divided into several sub-questions on students’ perspectives of CL, amongst other relevant issues. The main study approach adopted is qualitative, including several methods (interviews, observation, focus groups, field notes, and Interactional Analysis (IA)), in order to gain insights into M-learning, mobile computer supported collaborative learning (MCSCL), CL, and participatory simulation (PS). PS involves new roles – the role of a real teacher instead of a pre-service teacher. The participants (n=65 in the first iteration, and n=59 in the second iteration) were successfully engaged in two iterations of design-based research (DBR), where their voices were crucial throughout. The use of smartphone apps (i.e. WhatsApp) by the students was evaluated, with information on student usage obtained via various channels. The data was analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The findings support the key theory that unique affordances are offered by smartphone apps (i.e. WhatsApp) for CL, enhancing learning opportunities with the support of PS activities. However, it was found that there are also challenges presented by the integration of technology into PAAET and the Kuwaiti context. These findings have important implications for both theory and practice and the integration of smartphone apps into the collaborative educational status quo. Furthermore, they should expand our understanding of the pedagogical affordances of smartphone apps for CL in a specific context (PAAET), although there are limitations to the current study and recommendations for further work are ultimately presented.

In light of the ubiquitous nature of mobile communications technology, society is forced to rethink education. When considering the freedom of communication in terms of time and space that this mobile technology provides, educators need to understand how this ever present communications platform can be exploited to enhance collaborative learning. The central theme of this thesis is the role of mobile phones as a support for collaborative learning both in and out of the classroom. The questions asked are: What is the distinctive affordance offered by the mobile phone for collaborative learning? What is the affective relationship between student, mobile phone and homework? Does the intervention affect the relationship between students, their mobile phones and their homework? Does the affordance offered by the technology lead to more awareness of learning? What is the nature of the dialogue with the mobile phone technology? In this thesis, the methodology is designed to explore the area of collaborative learning and the use of mobile phones as a support for collaborative learning through critical reviews of the literature and a year-long exploratory multiple case study integrating both qualitative data analysis and quantitative data analysis. Qualitative exploratory interviews and surveys are combined with extensive quantitative internet log data to provide a detailed image of students’ mobile use during collaborative activities. The results are triangulated, and In light of current research key issues are interpreted and discussed. The findings of the study support four key hypotheses which emerge from the theoretical framework. First, that there are distinctive affordances offered by the mobile phone for collaborative learning that increase learning opportunities. Second, that the affective relationship between students and their mobile phone has a positive influence on attitudes towards homework when the homework involves the use of their mobile phones. Third, that the intervention affected the relationship between students their mobile phone and their homework by reducing barriers between private and public spaces. Fourth, the affordances offered by the technology led to more awareness of content through an increase in opportunities for reflection. In addition, some insights into the nature of the dialogue with the mobile phone technology are explored. These findings have implications for educational theory and practice since they provide evidence to support the incorporation of mobile devices into collaborative educational situations. This research will be of interest to those concerned with the impact of mobile devices on the area of collaborative learning specifically and the field of education in general. The contribution that this research brings to scholarship and to the educational community is an increased understanding of the ways that ubiquitous mobile technology can affect a student’s mobile-based collaborative learning experience. The integration of these findings into the current body of knowledge may lead to improvements in future educational design and highlight areas which require further research.

Submitted by Luiz Felipe Barbosa (luiz.fbabreu2@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-12T14:23:14Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação Robson Alves.pdf: 5389136 bytes, checksum: c0f75012390b11ef63098f998de71a06 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Daniella Sodre (daniella.sodre@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-13T12:57:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação Robson Alves.pdf: 5389136 bytes, checksum: c0f75012390b11ef63098f998de71a06 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-13T12:57:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação Robson Alves.pdf: 5389136 bytes, checksum: c0f75012390b11ef63098f998de71a06 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-01 / A Educação a Distância é uma modalidade de ensino que tem se desenvolvido fortemente, em paralelo ao desenvolvimento da computação móvel, dando origem a uma nova modalidade intitulada mobile learning, a qual proporciona uma extensão do aprendizado em sala de aula e oferece a possibilidade de mobilidade ao usuário, por meio do uso de dispositivos móveis como os smartphones. Contudo, apesar desses avanços na área de tecnologia educacional, estima-se que ainda existam pessoas cujas necessidades especiais não sejam adequadamente atendidas nesses ambientes virtuais. Dentre os problemas que podem dificultar o acesso à educação a distância, a dislexia é um dos mais significativos, a qual é definida pela Associação Brasileira de Dislexia como um distúrbio ou transtorno de aprendizagem na área da leitura, escrita e soletração. No intuito de auxiliar as pessoas com dislexia nesse processo, foi desenvolvido neste trabalho um módulo de acessibilidade com adequações para disléxicos, e integrado em um Ambiente Pessoal de Aprendizagem Móvel. Estas adequações representam um conjunto de funcionalidades e recursos que visam tornar mais fácil ao indivíduo com dislexia utilizar o ambiente. Este artefato foi desenvolvido para plataforma Android e integrado ao Projeto Amadeus, estando disponível no Google Play. Para o desenvolvimento desse artefato foi utilizado o método de pesquisa qualitativa, o qual foi composto das seguintes atividades: (1) Levantamento de Requisitos, (2) Análise de Competidores, (3) Prototipagem (4) Análise da Tarefa e (5) Avaliação Heurística por especialistas. Na primeira atividade, foi realizada pesquisa exploratória na literatura buscando compreender a dislexia, suas características, dificuldades associadas e recomendações de acessibilidade. Em seguida, foram realizadas entrevistas com pessoas disléxicas, onde se definiu um roteiro de tarefas a serem realizadas com o objetivo de desvelar as barreiras dessas pessoas no uso de um ambiente pessoal de aprendizagem móvel. Na segunda atividade, buscou-se identificar e analisar os aspectos relacionados ao acesso a Pessoas com Necessidades Educacionais Especiais (PNEE) em ambientes virtuais que possuam algum tipo de acessibilidade. Na terceira atividade, foi desenvolvido um protótipo de baixa fidelidade o qual serviu como modelo para a implementação de um protótipo funcional da aplicação. Na quarta atividade, o protótipo funcional foi avaliado pelos usuários com dislexia através da realização das tarefas planejadas anteriormente e preenchimento de um questionário de avaliação, com questões adaptadas referentes às métricas de avaliação de qualidade de software descritas na norma ISO/IEC 9126-1. Por fim, o protótipo funcional foi avaliado por especialistas em design objetivando identificar problemas de usabilidade. Neste trabalho podem-se destacar como principais contribuições, a definição dos Requisitos Funcionais estabelecidos e Casos de Uso gerados para o desenvolvimento de um ambiente virtual de aprendizagem móvel na plataforma Android, acessível e operável por pessoas com dislexia e facultar melhor visibilidade a estas pessoas ante a comunidade científica

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Smartphones são dispositivos móveis ricos em recursos de interação que permitem a usuários realizar inúmeras tarefas. À medida que são adotados por grande parte da população, eles se tornam ferramentas para que profissionais ou pesquisadores realizem intervenções junto a seus usuários-alvo, inclusive remotamente, por exemplo por meio de coleta de dados em ambiente natural. No entanto, para conduzir pesquisas com aplicativos móveis, profissionais de áreas como Saúde e Educação usualmente dependem de ferramentas que demandam adaptação severa de seus planejamentos, ou dependem de desenvolvedores de software para criar aplicativos de acordo com suas necessidades. Trabalhos relacionados contribuem com soluções fundamentadas em métodos como o Método de Amostragem de Experiências (Experience Sampling Method, ESM), o qual foi proposto para coleta de dados no ambiente natural dos usuários-alvo. Entretanto, intervenções demandam, além da coleta de dados, a programação individualizada de tarefas a serem realizadas pelos usuários e acompanhadas pelos especialistas. Uma solução para esse problema demanda mecanismos explícitos para o planejamento e a aplicação de intervenções individualizadas, como proposto na literatura, por exemplo, por meio da Instrução Programada (Programmed Instruction, PI). Considerando a ausência de modelos que integrem métodos para coleta de dados e para programação de intervenções, este trabalho tem por objetivo definir um método que permita a programação de intervenções aplicadas em ambiente natural, método esse denominado Experience Sampling and Programmed Intervention Method (ESPIM). O ESPIM é formalizado por um modelo computacional descrito por meio de diagramas recomendados para a sua representação. O modelo propõe um padrão para o desenvolvimento de sistemas e para o intercâmbio de informações de programas de intervenção. A partir do modelo, foram desenvolvidas provas de conceito para autoria e reprodução de intervenções e para visualização de seus resultados, as quais compõem o sistema ESPIM. O sistema foi utilizado empiricamente por oito especialistas que acompanharam cerca de 340 usuários-alvo em nove estudos de caso reais nas áreas da Saúde e da Educação. Essas experiências foram analisadas a fim de avaliar qualitativamente o modelo em sua capacidade de representação dos estudos de caso. Foi possível concluir que, para os especialistas entrevistados, o modelo e o sistema correspondente capacitaram o planejamento dos estudos sem limitar seus delineamentos originais. / Smartphones are mobile devices with rich interaction features that allow users to accomplish myriad tasks. As these devices are adopted by a large part of population, they become tools for professionals or researchers to carry out interventions with their target users, including remotely, through data collection in natural settings for instance. This being said, to conduct research making use of mobile apps, professionals in areas such as Health and Education usually rely on available apps that require severe adaptations of their design or depend on software developers to build apps according to their needs. Related works provide solutions based on methods such as the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), which was proposed for data collection in the natural settings of the subjects. However, in addition to data collection, interventions require the individualized programming of tasks to be carried out by the users and tracked by the specialists. A solution to this problem demands employing explicit mechanisms for planning and applying individualized interventions, as proposed in the literature, for example, through Programmed Instruction (PI). Given the absence of models that integrate methods for data collection and for programming interventions, this work aims to define a method that allows the programming of interventions implemented in natural settings, entitled Experience Sampling and Programmed Intervention Method (ESPIM). The ESPIM method is formalized by a computational model described by means of diagrams recommended for its representation. The model proposes a standard for the development of systems and for the exchange of data of intervention programs. From the model, we developed tools as a proof of concept for authoring and reproducing intervention programs and for visualizing its results, which compose the ESPIM system. The system was empirically used by eight specialists who accompanied about 340 target users in nine case studies in the areas of Health and Education. These experiments were analyzed in order to qualitatively evaluate the model in its capacity to represent the case studies. It was possible to conclude that, for these interviewed specialists, the model and its corresponding system enabled the planning of the studies without limiting their original designs.

Technological innovation in mobile devices has upgraded the potential uses of the devices for living and learning. Mobile learning provides opportunities for mobile users to learn at any time in any location. A certification that confirms computing and Internet technology skills and knowledge provides more opportunities to students in higher education for their future careers. Students can attend a training course to better prepare for a certification exam. However, most students spend their time preparing for and reviewing their regular courses and have less time for the training course. The problems of time limitation and space restriction cause students' insufficient learning toward the preparation for the certification exams. Mobile learning may augment the face-to-face training course to solve these problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate students' perceptions and the effectiveness of instruction using mobile devices to prepare for a standard certification exam in a blended certification-training course. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group received the treatment and the control group was treated as usual in a face-to-face class. Using a mixed-method research design, a pretest and a posttest collected data from all the participants and a survey and interviews gathered information from the students of the experimental group. The results showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the posttest scores. In the pretest, the experimental and control groups did not differ significantly, which means that they were at the same level before the intervention. Then in the posttest, the experimental and control groups were significantly different, meaning that the treatment was instrumental in the difference. Further, the results revealed that learning via mobile devices provided the students more learning opportunities and improved interaction with other students; though using short message service for learning had positive effectiveness, multimedia messaging service may supplement it to demonstrate manipulation. Suggestions of experts familiar with the field and review of literature can assist development of using short message service messages for preparation of various certification examinations. Using mobile learning in an institute with integrated planning may decrease cost by sharing of resources.

Technology acceptance in education has been and continues to be a central concern for researchers, application and platform developers, and educators. Rapid advancements in miniaturization along with the availability of fast, reliable, and affordable networks have sparked an increasing demand by students for better ways to complement their mobile lifestyles in support of their learning. Based on a review of the literature of technology acceptance and trends in mobile device usage in learning, this researcher tested the predictive power of the Mobile Learning Acceptance Model (MLAM) in an online higher education setting. MLAM is an extension of the technology acceptance model (TAM) inasmuch as it seeks to obtain user perceptions of usefulness and ease of use and their effect on user attitude and behavioral intention to use mobile devices for learning. For this research, users included students and faculty. Current literature indicates that student desire for access to a variety of learning resources anywhere anytime is growing yet little is known regarding faculty perceptions regarding mobile learning (m-learning) or on how institutions can position themselves to meet the growing demand. A web-based survey design was used to test MLAM using a previously developed and validated instrument, though updated to include and exclude what is now or no longer applicable and the wording modified to ensure relevancy to the target population studied. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to validate the factor structure. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine which factors had the greatest influence on m-learning acceptance. Group analyses revealed significant differences among faculty and students between age groups, mobile device experience levels, and desired academic uses of mobile devices. The results of this study enables administrators to make informed decisions regarding information technology (IT) investments, allocate scarce resources strategically, and implement appropriate technical support systems. Findings from this investigation may also be of interest to instructional designers, m-learning application developers, and mobile device manufacturers who will gain a better understanding of how to develop m-learning solutions that are both useful and easy to use.

Tese de mestrado. Multimédia. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2010

abstract: As students gain access to personally-owned Mobile Communication Devices (MCDs), schools have begun to embrace MCDs as mobile-learning (m-learning) teaching and learning tools. A research gap currently exists for the innovation of m-learning with student-owned devices, which this study attempts to fill by answering the following Research Question: What are the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Levels of Use of teachers at a high-performing, high SES suburban high school? To answer this question, I answered 5 sub questions: (1) What instructional decisions did BYOD user-level teachers make with regards to m-learning? (2) How did teachers collaborate on BYOD with colleagues during implementation? (3) How did teachers participate in voluntary professional development for BYOD and m-learning? (4) Was there a difference in Levels of Use between early career and veteran teachers? (5) What barriers to successful implementation did teachers at this school report? To answer these questions, I conducted a Levels of Use interview with 2-3 teachers from each academic department (n=28), at a school that was in its third year of BYOD implementation, as well as observed 18 of the teachers during instruction. I triangulated data from a first and second interview with observation data, and analyzed these data sets to profile the different Levels of Use among the teachers, and present recommendations for research and practice. I rated all participants between Level 0: non-use and Level IVB: refinement; no teachers in this study were above Level IVB. The findings indicate that teachers made instructional decisions based on their Level of Use, and although they did not participate in ongoing professional development specific to BYOD, they did work with others based on their Level of Use. Few teachers participated in voluntary professional development, and cited time as a factor. This study also finds that personal experience with technology and lesson planning for student-centered learning is a greater indicator of successful BYOD implementation than age or teaching experience. Finally, the most commonly reported barriers to successful implementation of BYOD were time, equity/access, and student behavior. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2013