In order to leverage the use of various modalities such as audio-visual-touch in instilling learning behaviour, we present an intuitive approach of annotation based hapto-audio-visual interaction with the traditional digital learning materials such as eBooks. By integrating the traditional home entertainment system and respective media in the user's reading experience combined with haptic interfaces, we examine whether such augmentation of modalities influence the user's reading experience in terms of attention, entertainment and retention. The proposed Haptic E-Book (HE-Book) system leverages the haptic jacket, haptic arm band as well as haptic sofa interfaces to receive haptic emotive signals wirelessly in the form of patterned vibrations of the actuators and expresses the learning material by incorporating audio-video based augmentation in order to pave ways for intimate reading experience in the popular eBook platform. We have designed and developed desktop, mobile/tablet based HE-Book system as well as a semi-automated annotation authoring tool. Our system also supports multimedia based diverse quiz augmentations, which can help in learning tracking. We have conducted quantitative and qualitative tests using the developed prototype systems. We have adopted the indirect objective based performance analysis methodology, which is commonly used for multimedia based learning investigation. The user study shows that, there is a positive tendency of accepting multimodal interactions including haptics with traditional eBook reading experience. Though our limited number of laboratory tests reveal, that haptics can be an influencing media in eBook reading experience, but it requires large scale real life tests to provide a concluding remarks.

As digital books begin to take center stage in our lives the importance of the old printed book still lingers on. A large number of the books printed on the paper media still have much to offer to readers for various reasons (e.g. less famous authors of prose, old books with interesting and original problems). To help individuals in digitizing and reusing their physical and digital books we decided to build a framework that will help people convert physical and digital books to other formats taking into consideration four dimensions: learning outcomes or methodology, target device characteristics, representation and the user. Our focus is on textbooks in history. Consequently, we do not consider some problems like math formulas. This work has the potential of helping people deal with the huge backlog of physical books that can become invisible as the digital books take off. To show that our platform can help in repurposing books for student study activities, we have developed some transformations. The transformations we have implemented shows that the framework can be used to add study aids to books, optimize books for a target platform (e-reader device and application combination), and supplement available features of a target platform and maintain consistency across various audio/visual devices and e-book formats. One of the important steps in the thesis was determining the study activities that we would support as examples in our implementation. We have chosen to implement support for the survey, question, read and review activities of the SQ3R reading technique. We have also implemented support for additional activities like search. The chosen activities and the support implemented for these activities are examples and are not meant to be complete. Another important decision point was to decide which target platforms (e-reader device and application combination) we need to support. We decided to choose a few representatives and leave the rest as future work. The target devices were selected so as to have a variety of device capabilities like screen size, display technology (e.g. e-ink, VGA), and user interaction styles (e.g. touch-based, button based) combined with application capabilities (e.g. audio only, visual only, audio visual, grayscale, and color). The devices selected were: iPad, iPod, iPhone, Kindle 3rd generation, Kindle Fire, Sony PRS and a laptop. The e-reader applications are the ones that are available for these devices.

This thesis investigates the perceptions of students about using mobile communication tools in web-based instruction. A mobile learning portal that can be used by different mobile devices was designed for this purpose. This portal included a mobile discussion forum and a course information system. Sixty undergraduate and five graduate students from METU/CEIT department used this portal as a supportive learning activity in three different courses throughout two-three, and four-week periods. The discussion subjects related to course content were created by instructors in these courses and students used this portal by sending messages or creating new subjects. Assignment results and announcements were inserted into the system by the instructors of these courses. A user evaluation instrument was developed by the researcher and validated by field experts. At the end of the study, perceptions of students were collected about mobile learning, mobile learning technologies and mobile discussion forums by using this instrument. Descriptive statistics were calculated according to the responses of students. The study results show that most of the students enjoyed using mobile technologies in education and they want to use mobile technologies in other courses. Although they like using mobile technologies, they did not increase the level of learning and motivation of the students much. Furthermore, mobile technologies did not increase the communication between students and between students and teachers despite their highly developed communication capabilities. Students could easily use the mobile technologies but small screen sizes and limited keypads hindered them from performing the operations. According to students, the cost of using mobile technologies is quite important whereas the data communication security is not important.

Das Projekt „Entwicklung eines elektronischen Informations- und Lernprogramms zum Arbeitsschutz für Berufskraftfahrerinnen und -fahrer im Fernverkehr“ befasst sich mit Fragen der Lernwirksamkeit und der beruflichen Integrationsfähigkeit von mobilen Lernangeboten für Berufskraftfahrer. Ausgehend von der Problematik der zunehmend älter werdenden Arbeitnehmer und der Notwendigkeit deren Arbeitskraft langfristig zu erhalten, werden Lerninhalte zum Arbeits- und Gesundheitsschutz mediendidaktisch aufbereitet und den Berufskraftfahrern auf einer Lernplattform zur Verfügung gestellt. Per Netbook und UMTS-Verbindung greifen die Fahrer zeit- und ortsunabhängig auf die Lerneinheiten zu und beantworten entsprechende Wissensfragen. Erste Ergebnisse konnten bereits im Rahmen eines Lernmaterialtests gewonnen werden, wohingegen der Usability-Test sich derzeit noch in der Auswertung befindet.

abstract: This dissertation reports on an action research study that sought to discover how a new WiFi, tablet computing device, the Apple iPad, affected, enhanced, and impacted student engagement in an English Honors course at Scottsdale Community College. The researcher was also the instructor in the two semester, first-year, college composition sequence (English 101/102) in which all 18 students were provided the new Apple iPad tablet computing device. The researcher described how students adapted the Apple iPads to their academic lives, assessed iPad compatibility with current instructional technology systems, and interviewed participating students to document their beliefs about whether iPad activities enhanced the course. At the conclusion of the college composition sequence, 13 students agreed to participate in focus groups to describe how they made use of the iPad and to report on how the iPad influenced their engagement. Among other findings, students reported that there were compatibility problems with current SCC instructional technology systems, that the iPad increased their efficiency in completing informal educational tasks, but that the iPad was not useful for doing word processing and research. Recommendations for future use of the iPad in this course include reducing the number of iPads accessing the WiFi network at the same time, piloting the use of iPad word processing applications, researching more "mobile-friendly" web sites and documents, and developing innovative assignments that take advantage of iPad capabilities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2011

There is a lack of studies on the current status of the use of on-demand learning in organizations and factors that may accelerate or hold back the acceptance and implementation of on-demand learning in organizations. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the adoption of on-demand learning in organizations in the United States. More specifically, this research was conducted to answer the following questions: 1) Are training professionals familiar with the concept of on demand learning? 2) What are the most commonly practiced on-demand learning applications in organizations? 3) What are the most commonly used on-demand learning devices? 4) Which subject areas are appropriate for applying on-demand learning? 5) What factors explain and predict the adoption of on-demand learning? 6) Does organizational nature (non-profit vs. for-profit) have an impact on the adoption of on-demand learning? 7) Does economic sector have an impact on the adoption of on-demand learning? 8) Does organizational size have an impact on the adoption of on-demand learning? and 9) Does training budget have an impact on the adoption of on-demand learning? Study results indicated that although many factors influence the adoption of on-demand learning in organizations, compatibility and top management support were the most significant determinants in general. The training budget was a moderator for the adoption of on-demand learning and it amplified the effects of top management support and organizational centralization on the adoption process. The adoption of on-demand learning among small organizations, non-profit organizations, or organizations with relatively small training budgets, was primarily determined by available organizational resources, such as technical infrastructure, financial resources for experimental innovations, professional development opportunities, and investment on training and development. But among for-profit organizations or large organizations (i.e., 1,000 employees and over), the adoption of on-demand learning was primarily determined by its compatibility with organizations and organizational openness. Moreover, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, costs, and customer demand were not significant determinants in this study. In short, organizational factors had a greater explanatory power than innovative, environmental, or individual variables. Recommendations were proposed for future studies.

M-learning (mobile learning) é o campo de pesquisa que investiga como os dispositivos móveis podem contribuir para a aprendizagem. Na presente tese é proposto o M-learnMat, um modelo pedagógico para atividades de m-learning em Matemática. O mesmo tem por objetivo orientar práticas educativas que envolvam o uso (não exclusivo) de dispositivos móveis no Ensino Superior e é fundamentado na Teoria da Atividade. Nessa teoria, o foco está nas atividades que os indivíduos desenvolvem e nas relações diversas que decorrem destas. Assim, o modelo tem seu diferencial no fato de relacionar m-learning, Matemática do Ensino Superior e Teoria da Atividade, visando contribuir para a organização, desenvolvimento e análise de atividades pedagógicas. Para a elaboração do M-learnMat, além da revisão bibliográfica, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória e um estudo de caso piloto. Essas ações forneceram dados que permitiram compreender melhor algumas questões relacionadas ao uso educacional de celulares. Para a experimentação do modelo foram organizados dois estudos de caso com alunos do Ensino Superior. Os mesmos ocorreram durante o primeiro semestre letivo de 2011, na disciplina de Cálculo I, com utilização dos celulares dos próprios alunos. Para a coleta e análise dos dados foi promovida uma pesquisa mista, envolvendo abordagens qualitativas e quantitativas, em função das características dos dados. A experimentação sinalizou que o M-learnMat tem potencial para orientar as atividades a que se destina, colaborando para que as mesmas sejam desenvolvidas segundo estratégias definidas. / M-learning (mobile learning) is a field of research that investigates how mobile devices can contribute to learning. This thesis presents M-learnMat, a pedagogical model for m-learning Math activities. This model, developed with support of the Activity Theory, aims at orienting educational practices that involve the use (non-exclusive) of mobile devices in graduation courses. The Activity Theory focuses on the activities developed by individuals and in the various relationships resulting from them. Thus, the model is distinctive as it comprises m-learning, Mathematics and the Activity Theory with the purpose of contributing to the organization, development and analysis of pedagogical activities. Besides the literature review, the development of M-learnMat included exploratory research and a pilot case study. These actions provided data that allowed for a better understanding of some issues related to the educational use of cell phones. For model experimentation, two case studies were carried with college level students. These took place in the first semester of 2011, in Calculus I, in which students used their cell phones. For data collection, a mixed methods research (quantitative and qualitative) was used due to the characteristics of the data. The experimentation indicated that M-learnMat has the potential to guide activities, and collaborate for their application according to defined strategies.

Esta pesquisa envolve uma das tecnologias de informação e comunicação mais recentes lançadas no mercado e desejadas pelas pessoas, que é o tablet. Além disso, o contexto em que esta tecnologia será estudada é o dos concursos públicos, que é a porta de entrada para um dos setores de trabalho mais almejados pelas pessoas, o setor público. Neste cenário, será abordada a utilização do tablet pelos estudantes de concurso durante o seu processo de estudos e aprendizagem, englobado dentro do contexto de aprendizagem móvel ou mobile learning. Como as tecnologias fazem parte da vida cotidiana das pessoas e para que a experiência no uso desta tecnologia seja positiva e gratificante, sem entraves que possam atrapalhar o usuário, é importante que haja uma harmonia na sua interação com a tecnologia. Assim, será aplicado na pesquisa um modelo genérico de análise da experiência com produto, neste caso da experiência na interação usuário-tecnologia, abordando as experiências estética, de significado e emocional. Apresenta o objetivo de analisar as experiências do produto, na relação e interação concursando-tablet, e que podem contribuir para o processo de estudos e aprendizagem do concursando. Esta pesquisa está fundamentada em um estudo qualitativo exploratório, com a aplicação de nove entrevistas semi-estruturadas com estudantes de concurso público, identificando a forma como os entrevistados utilizam o tablet no seu processo de ensino e aprendizagem, bem como as principais características e atributos do tablet. Também são identificadas as experiências do produto envolvidas na relação e interação entre o concursando com a utilização da tecnologia. Por fim, os resultados apresentam como o tablet e as experiências envolvidas na sua utilização contribuem para os estudos e para a aprendizagem dos concursandos, indicando os principais benefícios e as vantagens de se utilizar o tablet como ferramenta de apoio aos estudos. Em termos teóricos, a pesquisa contribui com novos subsídios para o tema mobile learning, com uma pesquisa empírica sobre o uso do tablet na aprendizagem e também, apresenta informações e traz conteúdo sobre a experiência do uso de tecnologia no processo de ensino. Em termos práticos, o estudo contribui para despertar o interesse e guiar estudantes de concurso e organizações de ensino para aproveitar o potencial da tecnologia móvel. / This Study envolves the latest information and communication technology launched in the market and desired by people, that is the tablet. Moreover, the context in which this technology will be studied is the Public Contest, which is the gateway to one of the job sectors most desired by people, the public sector. In this scenario, the tablet use by students of Public Contest will be addressed during their studies and learning process, encompassed within the context of mobile learning. As technologies are part of everyday life of people and for the experience in using this technology to be positive and rewarding without barriers, which may hinder the user, it is important that there is a harmony in their interaction with technology. Thus, the research applied a generic analysis model of product experience, in this case the experience with the user-technology interaction, addressing the experiences; aesthetic, of meaning and emotional. Presents the objetive to analyze the product experience, in the tabletstudent relationship and interaction, that contribute to the student process of studies and learning. This research is based upon an exploratory qualitative study, with the application of nine semi-structured interviews with Public Contest students, identifying how respondents use the tablet in their process of education and learning as well as the main features and attributes of tablet. Also are identified the product experiences involved in the relationship and interaction between the student use of technology. Finally, the results show how the tablet and the experiences involved in its use contribute to the students education and learning, indicating the main benefits and advantages of using the tablet as a support tool for studies. In theoretical terms the research contributes with new subsidies for mobile learning theme, with an empirical research about the use of tablet in learning and also provides information and content about the experience of using technology in the education process. In practical ways the study contributes to arouse interest and guide Public Contest students and educational organizations to take advantage of the potential of mobile technology.

BARROS FILHO, Edgar Marçal de. VirTraM: Um framework para o desenvolvimento de treinamentos utilizando realidade virtual em dispositivos móveis. 2005. 128 f. : Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Ceará, Centro de Ciências, Departamento de Computação, Fortaleza-CE, 2005. / Submitted by guaracy araujo (guaraa3355@gmail.com) on 2016-06-21T18:39:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_embarrosfilho.pdf: 3276002 bytes, checksum: 2b2dbb6a90a6ac8caa9e68bbf12dcbc7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by guaracy araujo (guaraa3355@gmail.com) on 2016-06-21T18:40:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_embarrosfilho.pdf: 3276002 bytes, checksum: 2b2dbb6a90a6ac8caa9e68bbf12dcbc7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-21T18:40:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_embarrosfilho.pdf: 3276002 bytes, checksum: 2b2dbb6a90a6ac8caa9e68bbf12dcbc7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Mobile computing has emerged as an innovative technology for education. For example, a new terminology, called Mobile Learning or m-Learning, has been introduced to designate the use, in a transparent way and with a high mobility degree, of devices with wireless communication, as part of a model of integrated learning, On the other hand, education can be also seen as a process of exploration, discovery and construction of knowledge, using three-dimensional environments. However, different challenges are faced when designing educational applications for mobile devices with three-dimensional resources, such as: How to produce a 3D scenario together with images and information in the reduced screens of cellular phones? How to make possible efficient ways of interaction? How to overcome the limitation of memory and processing of the mobile devices? In this master's thesis, a framework for the development of educational applications with virtual reality resources in mobile devices is introduced, called VirTraM. This framework facilitates the development of such applications, allowing a programmer to work with little elements, abstracting the implementation details and emphasing the aspects concerning the training. For the validation of VirTraM, two case studies have been developed. These case studies demonstrate such characteristics as interaction, usability and portability, besides making possible the integration of mobile computing and virtual reality technologies. An application, constructed from VirTraM, offers to the user an innovative and interactive tool to help with complementary information at the moment and place where his necessary. Amongst the benefits of the applications based on VirTraM, the following are distinguished: to support and to motivate the learning; to improve the understanding on definitive objects; to allow the simulation and analysis of experiences in the field; to make possible the demonstration of the equipment execution; and to provide ways for the development of innovative methods of education and training. / A computação móvel tem se destacado na área educacional como uma tecnologia inovadora. O termo Mobile Learning ou m-Learning tem sido empregado para tratar da utilização de dispositivos de comunicação sem fio, de forma transparente e com alto grau de mobilidade, como parte de um modelo de aprendizado integrado. Educação pode ser vista como um processo de exploração, descoberta e construção de conhecimento, através de ambientes tridimensionais. Quando são projetadas aplicações educacionais para dispositivos móveis com recursos tridimensionais, uma série de questões desafiadoras emergem: Como produzir um cenário 3D motivador, juntamente com imagens e informações nas reduzidas telas dos telefones celulares? Como possibilitar formas de interação eficientes? Como contornar a limitação de memória e processamento dos dispositivos móveis? Nesta dissertação, é apresentado um framework para construção de aplicações educacionais em dispositivos móveis com recursos de realidade virtual: o VirTraM. Este framework facilita o desenvolvimento de aplicações, ao permitir que o programador trabalhe com menos elementos e abstraia-se dos detalhes de implementação para concentrar-se nos aspectos relacionados ao treinamento. Para a validação do VirTraM, foram desenvolvidos dois estudos de caso que demonstram características como interatividade, usabilidade e portabilidade, além de possibilitar uma experimentação da integração das tecnologias de computação móvel e realidade virtual. Uma aplicação, construída a partir do VirTraM, fornece ao usuário uma ferramenta inovadora e interativa para auxiliá-lo com informações complementares no momento e no local em que ele precisar. Dentre os benefícios das aplicações baseadas no VirTraM destacam-se: apoiar e motivar o aprendizado; melhorar a compreensão sobre determinados objetos; permitir a simulação e a análise de experiências em campo; possibilitar a demonstração do funcionamento de equipamentos; e fornecer meios para o desenvolvimento de métodos inovadores de ensino e de treinamento.

BARROS FILHO, Edgar Marçal de. VirTraM: Um framework para o desenvolvimento de treinamentos utilizando realidade virtual em dispositivos móveis. 2005. 127 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em ciência da computação)- Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza-CE, 2005. / Submitted by Elineudson Ribeiro (elineudsonr@gmail.com) on 2016-07-11T13:28:57Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_embarrosfilho.pdf: 3276002 bytes, checksum: 2b2dbb6a90a6ac8caa9e68bbf12dcbc7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rocilda Sales (rocilda@ufc.br) on 2016-07-15T13:26:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_embarrosfilho.pdf: 3276002 bytes, checksum: 2b2dbb6a90a6ac8caa9e68bbf12dcbc7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-15T13:26:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_embarrosfilho.pdf: 3276002 bytes, checksum: 2b2dbb6a90a6ac8caa9e68bbf12dcbc7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Mobile computing has emerged as an innovative technology for education. For example, a new terminology, called Mobile Learning or m-Learning, has been introduced to designate the use, in a transparent way and with a high mobility degree, of devices with wireless communication, as part of a model of integrated learning, On the other hand, education can be also seen as a process of exploration, discovery and construction of knowledge, using three-dimensional environments. However, different challenges are faced when designing educational applications for mobile devices with three-dimensional resources, such as: How to produce a 3D scenario together with images and information in the reduced screens of cellular phones? How to make possible efficient ways of interaction? How to overcome the limitation of memory and processing of the mobile devices? In this master's thesis, a framework for the development of educational applications with virtual reality resources in mobile devices is introduced, called VirTraM. This framework facilitates the development of such applications, allowing a programmer to work with little elements, abstracting the implementation details and emphasing the aspects concerning the training. For the validation of VirTraM, two case studies have been developed. These case studies demonstrate such characteristics as interaction, usability and portability, besides making possible the integration of mobile computing and virtual reality technologies. An application, constructed from VirTraM, offers to the user an innovative and interactive tool to help with complementary information at the moment and place where his necessary. Amongst the benefits of the applications based on VirTraM, the following are distinguished: to support and to motivate the learning; to improve the understanding on definitive objects; to allow the simulation and analysis of experiences in the field; to make possible the demonstration of the equipment execution; and to provide ways for the development of innovative methods of education and training. / A computação móvel tem se destacado na área educacional como uma tecnologia inovadora. O termo Mobile Learning ou m-Learning tem sido empregado para tratar da utilização de dispositivos de comunicação sem fio, de forma transparente e com alto grau de mobilidade, como parte de um modelo de aprendizado integrado. Educação pode ser vista como um processo de exploração, descoberta e construção de conhecimento, através de ambientes tridimensionais. Quando são projetadas aplicações educacionais para dispositivos móveis com recursos tridimensionais, uma série de questões desafiadoras emergem: Como produzir um cenário 3D motivador, juntamente com imagens e informações nas reduzidas telas dos telefones celulares? Como possibilitar formas de interação eficientes? Como contornar a limitação de memória e processamento dos dispositivos móveis? Nesta dissertação, é apresentado um framework para construção de aplicações educacionais em dispositivos móveis com recursos de realidade virtual: o VirTraM. Este framework facilita o desenvolvimento de aplicações, ao permitir que o programador trabalhe com menos elementos e abstraia-se dos detalhes de implementação para concentrar-se nos aspectos relacionados ao treinamento. Para a validação do VirTraM, foram desenvolvidos dois estudos de caso que demonstram características como interatividade, usabilidade e portabilidade, além de possibilitar uma experimentação da integração das tecnologias de computação móvel e realidade virtual. Uma aplicação, construída a partir do VirTraM, fornece ao usuário uma ferramenta inovadora e interativa para auxiliá-lo com informações complementares no momento e no local em que ele precisar. Dentre os benefícios das aplicações baseadas no VirTraM destacam-se: apoiar e motivar o aprendizado; melhorar a compreensão sobre determinados objetos; permitir a simulação e a análise de experiências em campo; possibilitar a demonstração do funcionamento de equipamentos; e fornecer meios para o desenvolvimento de métodos inovadores de ensino e de treinamento.