Denna studie handlar om att undersöka om mobil-IT och återanvändning av teknisk information, som görs sökbar med hjälp av metadata i form av fasettering, kan stödja den dagliga informationsförsörjningen samt lärandet i marina sammanhang. Media tablets är de informations- och kommunikationsteknologiska enheter som fått stort genomslag på marknaden och som genom att vara bärbara kan vara en presentationsyta för att i verksamhetsprocesser få rätt information i rätt tid på rätt plats. Stora mängder av information som struktureras i top-down hierarkier orsakar ofta svårigheter för personer, som behöver en viss information, att finna den om de inte vet vart i hierarkin de ska leta då sökvägarna är begränsade åt ett håll. Om information istället märks upp med beskrivande egenskaper formas multipla hierarkier, eller fasetterade hierarkier, som ger sökvägar från mer än ett håll och kan underlätta att finna informationen utan vetskap om vart den är placerad. Information kan även bli enklare att finna om den är sökbar på högre detaljnivå, det vill säga om den interna hierarkin i stora informationsstycken bryts upp och informationen blir topicbaserad och varje topic utgör en sökbar och återanvändningsbar del. Ett intresse och en hypotes kring att dessa informationslogistiska tekniker möjliggör återanvändning av teknisk information för nya ändamål som lärande, formade följande huvudsakliga forskningsfråga och dess subfrågor:   RQ: Vilka möjligheter skapar informationslogistiska tekniker & den mobila tekniken för att förbättra informationsförsörjning & stödja lärande? SQ1: Hur kan media tablets stödja lärande? SQ2: Hur kan informationslogistik vara ett stöd för de anställda? Studien formades för den informationskrävande marina miljön på Kockums ABs produkt Visbykorvetten och utfördes i form av en fallstudie för försvarmaktens marina verksamhet ombord på en av korvetterna; HMS Nyköping. Besättningens informationsbehov i en utvald process undersöktes och en prototyp på en mobil tillämpning togs fram för att med interaktionsdesign, fasetterad och topicaliserad informationsarkitektur testa om bättre informationsförsörjning kunde uppnås samt om det kunde utgöra ett stöd för lärande.   Resultatet visade att en IT-lösning med informationen i media tablets var efterfrågad som distributionsyta för teknik och handhavandeinformationen. Det visade sig även finnas en önskan och ett behov att media tablets skulle kunna användas för lärande syften och gemensamma målbilder. Prototypen, som validerades, visade att informationsarkitektur med fasetterade sökning, baserat på användarnas verklighet, samt information som var uppbruten i topics kunde göra det enklare för användarna att söka information utifrån sin verklighet utan att veta vart informationen fanns i en top-down hierarki och att det kunde ge stöd för lärande i viss utsträckning. Resultatet visade även att den föreslagna lösningen i prototypen var användbar samt att fler förslag och möjligheter som kunde förbättra den i framtiden fanns.

Abstract The use of mobile devices, including mobile phones and tablets, is a growing trend in education. The practice has been widely technology driven and often justified simply by the importance of using new technology in a classroom and by claiming such devices to be important in reaching something referred to, although not that well defined, as 21st century skills. This thesis is one answer to the challenge represented by this development. It brings together theoretical ideas of scaffolding learning with collaborative scripts and the use of mobile devices as cognitive tools in a real life educational settings. This thesis has constructivist grounds and aims at exploring how to support collaborative learning when students have ill-structured problems and their activities are supported with mobile technologies. The study consists of three case studies, which together form an example of how important it is to design, develop and deliver lightweight digital tools and activities for learners to construct knowledge. Overall, the results of three case studies in this thesis confirms that it is a dubious assumption that learners will automatically take appropriate and measured advantage of the affordances of mobile devices and other emergent technologies involved in cognitive activities: rather, these cognitive tools require deliberate attention and effort from learners to make use of the affordances of the tools. Furthermore, results from the case studies reveal that personal factors such as students’ prior knowledge and their metacognitive and collaborative skills, as well as contextual cues such as cultural compatibility and instructional methods, influence student engagement. / Tiivistelmä Mobiililaitteiden, kuten puhelinten ja tabletien, opetuskäyttö lisääntyy hyvää vauhtia. Aihepiiri on ollut teknologiavetoinen, opetuskäyttöä on perusteltu lähinnä tarkemmin määrittelemättömillä 2000-luvun kansalaistaidoilla (21th century skills) ja uuden teknologian hyödyntämisen tärkeydellä. Tämä väitöskirja on teoreettisesti ja metodologisesti perusteltu vastine tähän keskusteluun. Tutkimus yhdistää pedagogista vaiheistamista ja kognitiivisia työkaluja käsittelevän teoreettisen viitekehyksen kolmeen todellisissa oppimistilanteissa tehtyyn kokeiluun. Työ koostuu kolmesta tapaustutkimuksesta, jotka yhdessä muodostavat esimerkin kuinka mobiililaitteiden avulla tuettua opiskelua voidaan suunnitella ja toteuttaa erilaisissa konteksteissa. Ensimmäisessä tapaustutkimuksessa tutkittiin maantieteellisesti hajautuneen opetusta suunnittelevan yhteisön vuorovaikutusta. Toisessa tapaustutkimuksessa selvitettiin kuinka tukea luontopolkutyöskentelyä mobiilisovellusten avulla. Kolmannessa tapaustutkimuksessa tutkittiin yliopisto-opiskelijoiden opintojen tukemista mobiilin sosiaalisen median sovelluksia hyödyntäen. Kolme tapaustutkimusta osoittavat että oppilaiden ei voida olettaa automaattisesti osaavan hyödyntää uusinta teknologiaa ja pedagogisia menetelmiä opiskelunsa tukena. Päinvastoin, käyttäminen vaatii opiskelijoilta paljon päämäärätietoista ponnistelua. Henkilökohtaiset tekijät, kuten aiemmat kokemukset, opiskelutaidot, mutta myös tilannesidonnaiset tekijät kuten opetusmenetelmät vaikuttavat opiskelijoiden kykyyn hyödyntää uutta teknologiaa opiskelussa.

The purpose of my study was to explain how adult learners in distance education experienced short message service (SMS) technology as a learning support tool. The study focused on a single unit of analysis, namely a SMS for academic purposes that was implemented in the final module, Practical Experience, of the Advanced Certificate in Education: Special Needs Education. This course is one of three in-service teacher training programmes offered by the Unit for Distance Education at the University of Pretoria (UP). The theoretical framework and literature review were operationalised by the development of a questionnaire. A record of the text message response schedules, and telephonic interviews comprised the other two data collection instruments. These data were integrated to provide an explanation of how learners experienced SMS technology as a learning support tool. Participants who were able to utilise and access the SMS said that it seemed to: motivate them, help them focus on their work and set goals. They could check on their progress and found the creation of flexible learning environments an additional benefit. Interactive learning environments that enabled them to construct new knowledge by actively engaging in the learning process benefited the participants. Constructivist principles of teaching and learning are inherent in this. The SMS did not seem to facilitate the development of interactive learning environments characterised by two-way communication channels for all the participants, as it also establishes one-way communication channels focused on delivering course content. Although participants indicated that this was helpful in giving them more information, they also expressed a need for more contact with their lecturers and with other learners for learning support purposes. Barriers to communication included faulty cellular phones, the cost of the SMS, and the lateness of text messages in relation to the due dates for assignments and projects. An overriding barrier was the difficulty participants seemed to have in understanding the instructions in the text messages. Recommendations are therefore made to improve future short message services in order to overcome this. / Dissertation (MEd (Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Educational Psychology / MEd / unrestricted

A popularização dos dispositivos móveis em todas as camadas sociais tem motivado o desenvolvimento de aplicações educacionais móveis, denominadas aplicações de m-learning. Neste cenário, as aplicações existentes, mesmo possuindo diversos benefícios e facilidades no que diz respeito ao ensino e aprendizagem, apresentam problemas e desafios relacionados, sobretudo no que se refere ao desenvolvimento, reuso e padronização arquitetural. Por outro lado, na vertente do reúso de software, percebe-se uma crescente adoção do conceito de Linha de Produtos de Software (LPS). Esse paradigma possibilita às organizações explorar as similaridades e variabilidades de seus produtos, aumentando a reutilização de artefatos e, como consequência, diminuindo custos e tempo de desenvolvimento. Neste trabalho é apresentada uma LPS voltada ao domínio das aplicações de m-learning, denominada M-SPLearning. A proposição da M-SPLearning envolveu desde o estudo inicial para a obtenção de uma análise de domínio efetiva, até a implementação dos componentes previamente analisados. A LPS concebida teve seus respectivos produtos avaliados experimentalmente no cenário industrial, fornecendo evidências de que sua utilização pode acelerar o time-to-market de produtos de m-learning, com um número reduzido de defeitos. / The popularity of mobile devices in all social classes has motivated the development of mobile educational applications, called m-learning applications. The existing applications, even having many benefits and facilities in relation to teaching and learning, also have problems and challenges, especially regarding the development, reuse and architectural standardization. Particularly, there is an increasing adoption of the concept of Software Product Line (SPL) in researches related to reuse. This paradigm enables organizations to explore the similarities and variabilities of their products, increasing the reuse of artifacts and, consequently, reducing costs and development time. This work presents an SPL focused on the domain of m-learning applications, named M-SPLearning. The development of M-SPLearning has comprised since the initial study for an effective domain analysis until the implementation of the components previously analyzed. Such SPL had its products experimentally evaluated in the industrial scenario, providing evidences that its use can accelerate the time-to-market of m-learning applications, with a reduced number of faults.

On the journey of learning a language we are exposed to countless words that are easily forgotten and subsequently difficult to find again. This study investigates how to design a personal data management system that enables its users to efficiently organize, find and input the words and phrases that they encounter on their journey. Using DSRM, an artifact was iteratively developed and tested in usability tests and interviews by a total of 10 participants. The feedback from the respondents indicates a strong demand for this type of app and also uncovered design knowledge in this new context. The contribution of this study is a set of 14 design principles for making data management in language learning apps more user-friendly and efficient.

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Mobile learning has significant potential to be very influential in further and higher education. In this research a new definition for Mobile Educational Mixed Reality Games (MEMRG) is proposed based on a mobile learning environment. A questionnaire and a quantifying scale are utilised to assist the game developers in designing a MEMRG. A ¿Conversational Framework¿ is proposed as an appropriate psycho-pedagogical approach to teaching and learning for MEMRG. This methodology is based on the theme of a ¿conversation¿ between different actors of the learning community with the objective of building the architectural framework for MEMRG. Various elements responsible for instructing and motivating learners in educational games are utilised in an instructional-motivational model. User interface design for the games incorporates an efficient navigation system that uses contextual information, and allows the players to move seamlessly between real and virtual worlds. The implementation of MEMRG using the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) platform iii is presented. The hardware and software specification for the MEMRG implementation and deployment are also discussed. MEMRG has produced improvements in the different cognitive processes of the learner, and also produced a deeper level of learning through enculturation, externalising ideas, and socialising. Learners¿ enjoyment, involvement, motivation, autonomy and metacognition skills have improved. This research will assist developers and teachers to gain an insight into learning paradigms which utilise mobile game environments that are formed by mixing real and virtual spaces, and provide them with a vision for effectively incorporating these games into formal and informal classroom sessions.

This thesis focuses on the adaptation of formal education to people’s technology- use patterns, theirtechnology-in-practice, where the ubiquitous use of mobile technologies is central. The research question is: How can language learning practices occuring in informal learning environments be effectively integrated with formal education through the use of mobile technology? The study investigates the technical, pedagogical, social and cultural challenges involved in a design science approach. The thesis consists of four studies. The first study systematises MALL (mobile-assisted language learning) research. The second investigates Swedish and Chinese students’ attitudes towards the use of mobile technology in education. The third examines students’ use of technology in an online language course, with a specific focus on their learning practices in informal learning contexts and their understanding of how this use guides their learning. Based on the findings, a specifically designed MALL application was built and used in two courses. Study four analyses the app use in terms of students’ perceived level of self-regulation and structuration. The studies show that technology itself plays a very important role in reshaping peoples’ attitudes and that new learning methods are coconstructed in a sociotechnical system. Technology’s influence on student practices is equally strong across borders. Students’ established technologies-in-practice guide the ways they approach learning. Hence, designing effective online distance education involves three interrelated elements: technology, information, and social arrangements. This thesis contributes to mobile learning research by offering empirically and theoretically grounded insights that shift the focus from technology design to design of information systems.

With the wide adoption of mobile technologies, new opportunities exist with regard to how these technologies can be used to support teaching and learning. However, there is limited empirical evidence on the use of mobile learning (m-learning) frameworks that support adult students in online and blended learning environments and consider ways to support administrators, faculty, and students in the adoption of mobile technologies for teaching and learning. The goal was to develop and validate an m-learning framework capturing the administrative, communication, and instructional elements that must be considered when integrating m-learning technologies to support adult community college students. Using design and development research methods, an m-learning framework was constructed and validated. Based on the literature review and the results of the data analysis, the framework was developed and included three sections: major categories; needs within categories; and attributes of the needs. Each section is composed of at least one of those major categories: section 1 composed of Access and Security; section 2 composed of Applications and Instructional Materials; and section 3 composed of Control and Monitoring Systems. Combined, all three sections account for five major categories. The final m-learning framework was design to include specific guidelines to help administrators and faculty make decisions about the adoption of m-learning technologies to support teaching and learning in online and blended learning environments.