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Journal ArticleDOI

Mobile English learning: An evidence-based study with fifth graders

01 Aug 2011-Computer Education (Elsevier Science Ltd.)-Vol. 57, Iss: 1, pp 1334-1347
TL;DR: In this paper, three groups participated in a study on the added value of mobile technology for learning English as a second language for primary school students, and the results indicated that students are motivated to use the application in their spare time and that this benefits their learning.
Abstract: Three groups participated in a study on the added value of mobile technology for learning English as a second language for primary school students. The first group had classroom lessons in English about zoo animals and their characteristics. The second group took classroom lessons and worked with a mobile application on location in a public zoo. The third group received the same treatment as the second but, as an extension, was allowed to take the mobile application home for a fortnight. A pre- and a posttest were conducted to measure the individual change in mastery of a set of targeted English words. The results showed that the group which took the mobile phone home improved the most. However, when the additional learning time, spent apart from school, of this third group was controlled for, the superior performance of the group disappeared. The results indicate that students are motivated to use the application in their spare time and that this benefits their learning. The conclusion is that formal school learning can be augmented by learning in an informal context, away from school.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There was a moderate mean effect size of 0.523 for the application of mobile devices to education and the advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning in different levels of moderator variables were synthesized based on content analyses of individual studies.
Abstract: Mobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and mobile phones have become a learning tool with great potential in both classrooms and outdoor learning. Although there have been qualitative analyses of the use of mobile devices in education, systematic quantitative analyses of the effects of mobile-integrated education are lacking. This study performed a meta-analysis and research synthesis of the effects of integrated mobile devices in teaching and learning, in which 110 experimental and quasiexperimental journal articles published during the period 1993-2013 were coded and analyzed. Overall, there was a moderate mean effect size of 0.523 for the application of mobile devices to education. The effect sizes of moderator variables were analyzed and the advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning in different levels of moderator variables were synthesized based on content analyses of individual studies. The results of this study and their implications for both research and practice are discussed. This is a meta-analysis and research synthesis study for mobile-integrated education.110 published journal articles that were written over a 20-year period were coded and analyzed.The application of mobile devices to education has a moderate mean effect size.The effect sizes of moderator variables were analyzed.The benefits and drawbacks of mobile learning were synthesized.

1,040 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Investigation of how a gamified learning approach influences science learning, achievement and motivation, through a context-aware mobile learning environment shows that incorporating mobile and gamification technologies into a botanical learning process could achieve a better learning performance and a higher degree of motivation than either non-gamified mobile learning or traditional instruction.
Abstract: This paper aims to investigate how a gamified learning approach influences science learning, achievement and motivation, through a context-aware mobile learning environment, and explains the effects on motivation and student learning. A series of gamified learning activities, based on MGLS Mobile Gamification Learning System, was developed and implemented in an elementary school science curriculum to improve student motivation and to help students engage more actively in their learning activities. The responses to our questionnaire indicate that students valued the outdoor learning activities made possible by the use of a smartphone and its functions. Pre- and post-test results demonstrated that incorporating mobile and gamification technologies into a botanical learning process could achieve a better learning performance and a higher degree of motivation than either non-gamified mobile learning or traditional instruction. Further, they revealed a positive relationship between learning achievement and motivation. The correlation coefficient for ARCS dimensions and post-test shows that the ARCS-A attention is greater than ARCS-R, ARCS-C and ARCS-S. This means that the attention ARCS-A of this system is an important dimension in this research. The results could provide parents, teachers and educational organizations with the necessary data to make more relevant educational decision.

404 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The meta-analysis confirmed that the technology has a medium effect on learning effectiveness of elementary students and the effect sizes of moderating variables such as domain subject, application type, intervention duration, and learning environment.
Abstract: The existing studies suggest that if technology is interwoven comprehensively into pedagogy, it can act as a powerful tool for effective learning of the elementary students. This study conducted the meta-analysis by integrating the quantitative findings of 122 peer-reviewed academic papers that measured the impact of technology on learning effectiveness of elementary students. The results confirmed that the technology has a medium effect on learning effectiveness of elementary students. Further, this study analysed the effect sizes of moderating variables such as domain subject, application type, intervention duration, and learning environment. Finally, the impact of technology at different levels of moderating variables has been discussed and the implications for theory and practice are provided.

198 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The analyses showed that the children made significant learning gains about the water cycle, regardless of the method used, and suggested that games of this kind could be used as a tool in primary schools to reinforce students' lessons.
Abstract: Different methods can be used for learning, and they can be compared in several aspects, especially those related to learning outcomes. In this paper, we present a study in order to compare the learning effectiveness and satisfaction of children using an iPhone game for learning the water cycle vs. the traditional classroom lesson. The iPhone game includes multiple interaction forms and combined augmented reality AR mini-games with non-AR mini-games. The traditional classroom lesson had the same learning content as the iPhone game. Thirty-eight children participated in the study. The analyses showed that the children made significant learning gains about the water cycle, regardless of the method used. Even though the results showed that the iPhone method achieved higher knowledge results than the traditional classroom lesson, no statistically significant differences were found between the iPhone and the classroom lesson. When analysing the motivational outcomes, the results showed that the children found the iPhone game to be more satisfying than the classroom lessons. Since the iPhone game achieved similar learning results and a higher motivational effect than the classroom lesson, this suggests that games of this kind could be used as a tool in primary schools to reinforce students' lessons.

195 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: Since nearly 60% of MALL implementation studies appear outside of professional journals, in conference proceedings, project reports, academic dissertations, and so forth, locating copies of these publications poses a major challenge in itself.
Abstract: To enhance the information contained in these references, over 90% of the entries are complemented by a brief (~80 word) summary. To the extent that the publication provides such information, each annotation identifies the country of origin of the study, native language (L1) and/or the second or foreign language (L2) involved, the mobile technology used, the learning area(s) targeted, the type of learners, their numbers, the duration of the study, and a summary of the results (i.e., learning outcomes and survey opinions). Since nearly 60% of MALL implementation studies appear outside of professional journals, in conference proceedings, project reports, academic dissertations, and so forth, locating copies of these publications poses a major challenge in itself. For this reason, where possible, links are included to copies of the works cited.

188 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Collins, Brown, and Newman as mentioned in this paper argue that knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used, and propose cognitive apprenticeship as an alternative to conventional practices.
Abstract: Many teaching practices implicitly assume that conceptual knowledge can be abstracted from the situations in which it is learned and used. This article argues that this assumption inevitably limits the effectiveness of such practices. Drawing on recent research into cognition as it is manifest in everyday activity, the authors argue that knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used. They discuss how this view of knowledge affects our understanding of learning, and they note that conventional schooling too often ignores the influence of school culture on what is learned in school. As an alternative to conventional practices, they propose cognitive apprenticeship (Collins, Brown, & Newman, in press), which honors the situated nature of knowledge. They examine two examples of mathematics instruction that exhibit certain key features of this approach to teaching.

14,006 citations

Book
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: The Research Methods Knowledge Base is a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical introductory undergraduate or graduate course in social research methods and uses an informal, conversational style to engage both the newcomer and the more experienced student of research.
Abstract: The Research Methods Knowledge Base is a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical introductory undergraduate or graduate course in social research methods. It covers the entire research process including: formulating research questions; sampling (probability and nonprobability); measurement (surveys, scaling, qualitative, unobtrusive); research design (experimental and quasi-experimental); data analysis; and, writing the research paper. It also addresses the major theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of research including: the idea of validity in research; reliability of measures; and ethics. The Knowledge Base was designed to be different from the many typical commercially-available research methods texts. It uses an informal, conversational style to engage both the newcomer and the more experienced student of research. It is a fully hyperlinked text that can be integrated easily into an existing course structure or used as a sourcebook for the experienced researcher who simply wants to browse.[Back to Top]

4,659 citations

Reference EntryDOI
30 Jan 2010
TL;DR: The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) as discussed by the authors is an individually administered, norm-referenced test of single-word receptive (or hearing) vocabulary.
Abstract: The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) is an individually administered, norm-referenced test of single-word receptive (or hearing) vocabulary. Originally published in 1959, the PPVT has been revised several times and currently exists in its fourth edition (PPVT-4; Dunn & Dunn, 2007). In addition to assessing receptive vocabulary, test authors report that the PPVT-4 may be used as a means of estimating verbal development (Dunn & Dunn, 2007). Normed with a sample of 3,540 individuals ages 2½ to 90 representative of March 2004 U.S. census data, the PPVT-4 features two parallel forms (Form A and Form B), each consisting of 228 test items. Items consist of two stimuli, a word spoken by the examiner and four pictures on a single card; the examinee selects the picture that best represents the examiner's spoken word. Raw scores may be translated into age-based standard scores (i.e., M = 100; SD = 15), percentile ranks, stanines, age equivalents, and grade equivalents. Keywords: receptive language; language screener

4,281 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 2007
TL;DR: Common architecture principles of context-aware systems are presented and a layered conceptual design framework is derived to explain the different elements common to mostcontext-aware architectures.
Abstract: Context-aware systems offer entirely new opportunities for application developers and for end users by gathering context data and adapting systems behaviour accordingly. Especially in combination with mobile devices, these mechanisms are of high value and are used to increase usability tremendously. In this paper, we present common architecture principles of context-aware systems and derive a layered conceptual design framework to explain the different elements common to most context-aware architectures. Based on these design principles, we introduce various existing context-aware systems focusing on context-aware middleware and frameworks, which ease the development of context-aware applications. We discuss various approaches and analyse important aspects in context-aware computing on the basis of the presented systems.

2,036 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A program of research is explored aimed at determining research-based principles for the design of multimedia explanations and the extent to which methods are effective across different learning environments—which can be called media.

1,277 citations