Tesi sul tema "Mobile learning and new technologies"

This study explores the potential use of mobile learning in higher education with a focus on student and academic staff requirements of a potential mobile application. The research examines the stakeholders’ new technology acceptance behaviour within a post-1992 university and examines how new mobile technologies are able to contribute to enhancement of the learning experience of students and additionally the roles of educators in facilitating enhancement of the learning experience. A post-positivistic paradigm has been used to explore a wider view of the stakeholders’ (academic staff and students) understanding of the new technologies and the potential benefits of mobile applications. An electronic questionnaire was sent to over 900 undergraduates for their views on the use of new mobile technologies and in what ways these could be used to support their learning needs. This was followed by individual interviews and questionnaires to academic staff (n=44) to identify whether they would be interested in the use of mobile applications in their teaching and learning. The research explores the learning, concepts, theories and models which influence mobile device adoption and proposes a mobile application that has the potential to support teaching and learning. The data collected provides an invaluable insight into the potential use of a mobile learning platform at the University’s Faculty of Business. The participants describe their uses of four distinct types of devices; potential frequency of specific use, and their views on the attraction and/or disadvantages of mobile use for learning. The research findings lead to the recommendation for a mobile learning trial within the Faculty with the potential for application to other academic subjects within the university. Two elements have emerged from the research carried out and comprise an original contribution of the study, namely: an enhancement of the Technology Acceptance Model and development of the existing PESTEL model into a PESTEEL model by including Educational Factors and hence identifying a number of areas currently not addressed by the PESTEL model. The uniqueness of the study and the development of this work`s original contribution to new knowledge was enhanced by approaching data collection and analysis within a Technology Acceptance Model and the PESTEEL model. This was also achieved by interpreting the gathered data within the broader concept of professionalism, sub-divided and conceptualised into examining the adherence of participants. It is acknowledged that a limiting factor is that the study examined only one academic school within an institution, but it is anticipated that future research will include a comparison with other similar academic institutions.

Cultural heritage represents an enormous amount of information and knowledge. Accessing this treasure chest allows not only to discover the legacy of physical and intangible attributes of the past but also to provide a better understanding of the present. Museums and cultural institutions have to face the problem of providing access to and communicating these cultural contents to a wide and assorted audience, meeting the expectations and interests of the reference end-users and relying on the most appropriate tools available. Given the large amount of existing tangible and intangible heritage, artistic, historical and cultural contents, what can be done to preserve and properly disseminate their heritage significance? How can these items be disseminated in the proper way to the public, taking into account their enormous heterogeneity? Answering this question requires to deal as well with another aspect of the problem: the evolution of culture, literacy and society during the last decades of 20th century. To reflect such transformations, this period witnessed a shift in the museum’s focus from the aesthetic value of museum artifacts to the historical and artistic information they encompass, and a change into the museums’ role from a mere "container" of cultural objects to a "narrative space" able to explain, describe, and revive the historical material in order to attract and entertain visitors. These developments require creating novel exhibits, able to tell stories about the objects and enabling visitors to construct semantic meanings around them. The objective that museums presently pursue is reflected by the concept of Edutainment, Education + Entertainment. Nowadays, visitors are not satisfied with ‘learning something’, but would rather engage in an ‘experience of learning’, or ‘learning for fun’, being active actors and players in their own cultural experience. As a result, institutions are faced with several new problems, like the need to communicate with people from different age groups and different cultural backgrounds, the change in people attitude due to the massive and unexpected diffusion of technology into everyday life, the need to design the visit by a personal point of view, leading to a high level of customization that allows visitors to shape their path according to their characteristics and interests. In order to cope with these issues, I investigated several approaches. In particular, I focused on Virtual Learning Environments (VLE): real-time interactive virtual environments where visitors can experience a journey through time and space, being immersed into the original historical, cultural and artistic context of the work of arts on display. VLE can strongly help archivists and exhibit designers, allowing to create new interesting and captivating ways to present cultural materials. In this dissertation I will tackle many of the different dimensions related to the creation of a cultural virtual experience. During my research project, the entire pipeline involved into the development and deployment of VLE has been investigated. The approach followed was to analyze in details the main sub-problems to face, in order to better focus on specific issues. Therefore, I first analyzed different approaches to an effective recreation of the historical and cultural context of heritage contents, which is ultimately aimed at an effective transfer of knowledge to the end-users. In particular, I identified the enhancement of the users’ sense of presence in VLE as one of the main tools to reach this objective. Presence is generally expressed as the perception of 'being there', i.e. the subjective belief of users that they are in a certain place, even if they know that the experience is mediated by the computer. Presence is related to the number of senses involved by the VLE and to the quality of the sensorial stimuli. But in a cultural scenario, this is not sufficient as the cultural presence plays a relevant role. Cultural presence is not just a feeling of 'being there' but of being - not only physically, but also socially, culturally - 'there and then'. In other words, the VLE must be able to transfer not only the appearance, but also all the significance and characteristics of the context that makes it a place and both the environment and the context become tools capable of transferring the cultural significance of a historic place. The attention that users pay to the mediated environment is another aspect that contributes to presence. Attention is related to users’ focalization and concentration and to their interests. Thus, in order to improve the involvement and capture the attention of users, I investigated in my work the adoption of narratives and storytelling experiences, which can help people making sense of history and culture, and of gamification approaches, which explore the use of game thinking and game mechanics in cultural contexts, thus engaging users while disseminating cultural contents and, why not?, letting them have fun during this process. Another dimension related to the effectiveness of any VLE is also the quality of the user experience (UX). User interaction, with both the virtual environment and its digital contents, is one of the main elements affecting UX. With respect to this I focused on one of the most recent and promising approaches: the natural interaction, which is based on the idea that persons need to interact with technology in the same way they are used to interact with the real world in everyday life. Then, I focused on the problem of presenting, displaying and communicating contents. VLE represent an ideal presentation layer, being multiplatform hypermedia applications where users are free to interact with the virtual reconstructions by choosing their own visiting path. Cultural items, embedded into the environment, can be accessed by users according to their own curiosity and interests, with the support of narrative structures, which can guide them through the exploration of the virtual spaces, and conceptual maps, which help building meaningful connections between cultural items. Thus, VLE environments can even be seen as visual interfaces to DBs of cultural contents. Users can navigate the VE as if they were browsing the DB contents, exploiting both text-based queries and visual-based queries, provided by the re-contextualization of the objects into their original spaces, whose virtual exploration can provide new insights on specific elements and improve the awareness of relationships between objects in the database. Finally, I have explored the mobile dimension, which became absolutely relevant in the last period. Nowadays, off-the-shelf consumer devices as smartphones and tablets guarantees amazing computing capabilities, support for rich multimedia contents, geo-localization and high network bandwidth. Thus, mobile devices can support users in mobility and detect the user context, thus allowing to develop a plethora of location-based services, from way-finding to the contextualized communication of cultural contents, aimed at providing a meaningful exploration of exhibits and cultural or tourist sites according to visitors’ personal interest and curiosity.

Ma thèse interroge l’utilisation des technologies mobiles dans l’enseignement des arts visuels et désire contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des aspects poïétiques. De nombreux artistes se sont emparés des caractéristiques de ces appareils numériques pour constituer une partie ou la totalité de leur démarche artistique. À l’instar du monde de l’art, les enseignants en arts visuels se retrouvent avec ces technologies dans la classe. Pourtant, en Suisse, la majorité des enseignants en arts visuels ne les utilisent pas avec leurs élèves. Ma recherche se concentre ainsi sur la formation des futurs enseignants qui n’ont pas suivi de formation artistique professionnelle, mais qui utilisent quotidiennement ces appareils numériques. Au sein de la HEP Vaud en Suisse, j’ai été ainsi motivée à entreprendre cette recherche-intervention pour conceptualiser de nouvelles façons d’intégrer ces technologies dans l’enseignement des arts visuels en combinant les pratiques vernaculaires des étudiants à des approches plus spécialisées de l’art contemporain
My thesis examines the use of mobile technologies in visual art education, and aims to contribute toa better understanding of the poietic aspects of these uses. A lot of artists have seized upon the characteristics of these digital devices to form part, or all of their artistic approaches. Like in the artworld, visual arts teachers are finding themselves with these technologies in the classroom, yet in Switzerland, the majority of visual arts teachers do not use them with their students. My research focuses on the training of future teachers who have not undergone professional arts education, but who use these digital devices on a daily basis. At the HEP Vaud in Switzerland, I was motivated to undertake this research-intervention to conceptualize, new ways of integrating these technologies into visual arts teaching combining students’ ordinary practices with more specialized approaches to contemporary art

Information and communication technologies are rapidly disrupting the way we interact with each other in this new connected world. The transmission of multimedia information is becoming mainstream also thanks to the availability of several commercial systems. Also in the educational environment, these novel technologies are making it possible to create and manage learning objects in ways which were unthinkable a few years back and this represents the driver for the creation of new approaches to education. Seeing the ubiquitous nature of the environments where web users interact, this work starts by analyzing the state of the art in the multimedia communication field focusing on those technologies which allow to reach a context awareness. Being able to sense the conditions where the device is used and quickly react to its changes is important in order to guarantee a flawless quality of experience. Part of this work focuses on the dynamic multimedia aspects, analyzing the latest trends in web streaming technologies and proposing a new framework for tackling some of the upcoming issues for such systems. In modern learning environments the presence of multimedia is massive. Multimedia objects are constantly created worldwide and this introduces new needs, such as the creation of proper repositories to store them and platforms to share them through the web. After analyzing the state of the art in educational technologies, focusing in particular in the content repository field, this work drafts a set of minimum requirements to follow in order to create a novel educational platform, ready to face the increasing number of needs of the future learners. In this context, the author proposes FARE, a novel architecture designed for both educators and learners in order to ease their everyday learning experience. The modularity of such a platform allows to benefit from a large set of modules, most of which present some of the multimedia aspects highlighted beforehand. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations are presented exploiting the fully working prototype of the FARE e-learning platform deployed in the University machines. This work is meant to highlight how the advances in the multimedia field represent a clear advantage for the community of learners, creating novel ways of interacting with the learning objects and increasing the overall quality of experience.

This thesis investigates how mobile and social technologies are influencing informal learning in the context of online community membership. The development of mobile technologies that use Global Positioning System (GPS) data to pinpoint geographical location together with the rapidly evolving Web 2.0 applications supporting the creation and consumption of content suggest a potential for cooperative informal learning linked to location. This research explores whether this potential has been realised. Two pilot studies were conducted, a technology-enhanced Birdwatch (16 participants) and a GPS-guided Nature Trail (11 participants) to evaluate the effects of connected, location aware technology on informal learning and community building. The main study focused on the Geocaching community, a geographically dispersed group who use mobile and Web 2.0 technologies to link the virtual social spaces of the internet with the physical spaces that surround them. This research built on insights from the Mobilearn project that mobile learning is connected to the mobility of the learner moving between different sources of technological and social resources, rather than the technology (Attewell and Savill-Smith, 2004). Online survey participants were recruited from the Geocaching forums. From the 659 responses, five linked case studies were selected for interviews. This data was supplemented by information collected from the Geocaching website and forums and analysed using qualitative techniques. The work reported in this thesis reinforces the Preece and Shneiderman (2009) four stage communities model, illustrating that learning opportunities are built into the community membership trajectory. It uncovered novel ways of using mobile and Web 2.0 technologies to create learning activities connected to location. It also revealed a growing undercurrent of cooperative informal learning through distributed networks of connected individuals who made innovative use of both mobile and social technologies to create a persistent digital narrative of location which served as a community resource.

[ES] Esta tesis se centra en tres tecnologías móviles: podcasting, aplicaciones móviles y Twitter, y evalúa su potencial para el aprendizaje de idiomas basándose en una serie de estudios con distintos tipos de participantes, incluyendo estudiantes de enseñanza formal, de contextos informales de aprendizaje, y profesores. El objetivo general de los diferentes estudios de investigación es evaluar las tres tecnologías a través de procesos para a) identificar el potencial de esas tecnologías, b) investigar cómo las utilizan los aprendices y los profesores, y c) analizar si la forma de utilizarlas cumple con el potencial identificado y es propicio para el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras. La introducción presenta los antecedentes de la investigación realizada y seis conceptos que afectan nuestra comprensión del aprendizaje de idiomas a través de estas tecnologías: el concepto de enseñar a personas desconocidas, el desarrollo de capacidades digitales, la micro-credencialización, el aumento de la atención parcial continua, la ansiedad por el idioma extranjero y la normalización. El capítulo dos es un compendio de los nueve trabajos publicados y se divide en tres secciones. La primera sección trata sobre el uso de podcasting como herramienta de aprendizaje de idiomas. La primera publicación proporciona una taxonomía de recursos de podcasts, revisa los materiales de podcasting a la luz de las teorías de adquisición de segundas lenguas, aboga por un mejor diseño y sugiere direcciones para futuras investigaciones. Esta investigación se presenta en las publicaciones dos y tres. La sección dos del capítulo dos se enfoca en el uso de aplicaciones móviles para el aprendizaje y la enseñanza de idiomas. La publicación cuatro revisa la investigación actual sobre el potencial para el aprendizaje de idiomas de las aplicaciones y presenta una taxonomía de las aplicaciones disponibles y su uso para ello. El artículo también presenta un marco que consta de cuatro categorías para evaluar aplicaciones de aprendizaje de idiomas (tecnología, pedagogía, experiencia del usuario y aprendizaje de idiomas). La publicación concluye con una propuesta de áreas de investigación adicional, incluido el uso por parte del aprendiz en contextos formales e informales. Estas áreas de investigación se investigan en las publicaciones cinco y seis. La sección tres se centra en la tercera tecnología: Twitter como herramienta de enseñanza y aprendizaje de idiomas. La publicación siete destaca el potencial de Twitter como herramienta de aprendizaje de idiomas. La publicación ocho muestra cómo un grupo de profesores de idiomas utiliza Twitter como herramienta para el desarrollo profesional continuo y evalúa el impacto de su red de Twitter en sus prácticas docentes. Por último, la publicación nueve presenta un estudio a gran escala de aprendices autónomos de idiomas que utilizan Twitter. Los resultados de estos estudios se discuten en el capítulo tres. El capítulo cuatro vuelve a los principales temas y conceptos presentados en la introducción y proporciona algunas consideraciones basadas en los resultados de la investigación realizada. A continuación, propone que puede ser necesario reenfocar la agenda de investigación de MALL y sugiere posibles áreas de desarrollo. La investigación presentada en esta tesis contribuye a los campos de CALL y MALL de varias maneras. Primero, proporciona perfiles de usuario de los aprendices que utilizan estas tecnologías. En segundo lugar, proporciona evidencia de cómo esos usuarios utilizan las tecnologías y evalúan su experiencia de aprendizaje. En tercer lugar, presenta una nueva taxonomía de recursos MALL. En cuarto lugar, describe un proceso para evaluar el uso de tecnologías móviles para el aprendizaje de idiomas, con un nuevo marco teórico de evaluación basado en cinco criterios: tecnología, experiencia del usuario, aprendizaje de idiomas, interacción y pedago
[CA] Aquesta tesi se centra en tres tecnologies mòbils: podcasting, aplicacions mòbils i Twitter, i avalua el seu potencial per a l'aprenentatge d'idiomes basant-se en una sèrie d'estudis amb diferents tipus de participants, incloent estudiants d'ensenyament formal, de contextos informals d'aprenentatge, i professors. L'objectiu general dels diferents estudis d'investigació és avaluar les tres tecnologies a través de processos per a) identificar el potencial d'aqueixes tecnologies, b) investigar com les utilitzen els aprenents i els professors, i c) analitzar si la manera d'utilitzar-les compleix amb el potencial identificat i és propici per a l'aprenentatge de llengües estrangeres. La introducció presenta els antecedents de la investigació realitzada i sis conceptes que afecten la nostra comprensió de l'aprenentatge d'idiomes a través d'aquestes tecnologies: el concepte d'ensenyar a persones desconegudes, el desenvolupament de capacitats digitals, la micro-credencialització, l'augment de l'atenció parcial contínua, l'ansietat per l'idioma estranger i la normalització. El capítol dos és un compendi dels nou treballs publicats i es divideix en tres seccions. La primera secció tracta sobre l'ús de podcasting com a eina d'aprenentatge d'idiomes. La primera publicació proporciona una taxonomia de recursos de podcasts, revisa els materials de podcasting a la llum de les teories d'adquisició de segones llengües, advoca per un millor disseny i suggereix direccions per a futures investigacions. Aquesta investigació es presenta en les publicacions dues i tres. La secció dues del capítol dos s'enfoca cap a l'ús d'aplicacions mòbils per a l'aprenentatge i l'ensenyament d'idiomes. La publicació quatre revisa la investigació actual sobre el potencial per a l'aprenentatge d'idiomes de les aplicacions i presenta una taxonomia de les aplicacions disponibles i el seu ús per a això. L'article també presenta un marc que consta de quatre categories per a avaluar aplicacions d'aprenentatge d'idiomes (tecnologia, pedagogia, experiència de l'usuari i aprenentatge d'idiomes). La publicació conclou amb una proposta d'àrees d'investigació addicional, inclòs l'ús per part de l'aprenent en contextos formals i informals. Aquestes àrees d'investigació s'investiguen en les publicacions cinc i sis. La secció tres se centra en la tercera tecnologia: Twitter com a eina d'ensenyament i aprenentatge d'idiomes. La publicació huit mostra com un grup de professors d'idiomes utilitza Twitter com a eina per al desenvolupament professional continu i avalua l'impacte de la seua xarxa de Twitter en les seues pràctiques docents. Finalment, la publicació nou presenta un estudi a gran escala d'aprenents autònoms d'idiomes que utilitzen Twitter. Els resultats d'aquests estudis es discuteixen en el capítol tres. El capítol quatre torna als principals temes i conceptes presentats en la introducció i proporciona algunes consideracions basades en els resultats de la investigació realitzada. A continuació, proposa que pot ser necessari reenfocar l'agenda d'investigació de MALL i suggereix possibles àrees de desenvolupament. La investigació presentada en aquesta tesi contribueix als camps de CALL i MALL de diverses maneres. Primer, proporciona perfils d'usuari dels aprenents que utilitzen aquestes tecnologies. En segon lloc, proporciona evidència de com aqueixos usuaris utilitzen les tecnologies i avaluen la seua experiència d'aprenentatge. En tercer lloc, presenta una nova taxonomia de recursos MALL. En quart lloc, descriu un procés per a avaluar l'ús de tecnologies mòbils per a l'aprenentatge d'idiomes, amb un nou marc teòric d'avaluació basat en cinc criteris: tecnologia, experiència de l'usuari, aprenentatge d'idiomes, interacció i pedagogia.
[EN] This thesis focuses on three mobile technologies: podcasting, mobile apps, and Twitter, and evaluates their potential for language learning purposes based on a series of studies with a range of users including formal learners, informal learners, and teachers. The overarching aim of the different research studies is to evaluate the three technologies through a process of a) identifying the potential of those technologies, b) investigating how they are used by learners and (where applicable) teachers, and c) analysing whether the way they are used meets the identified potential and is conducive to language learning. The introduction presents the background to the research carried out. This is followed by the introduction of six concepts that shape our understanding of language learning through these technologies: the concept of teaching strangers, the development of digital capabilities, micro-credentialing, the rise in continuous partial attention, foreign language anxiety, and normalisation. Chapter two is a compendium of the nine published works that explore the potential of the three technologies and evaluate them. It is separated into three sections. Section one deals with the use of podcasting as a language learning tool. The first publication provides a taxonomy of podcast resources, reviews podcasting materials in the light of Second Language Acquisition theories, argues for better design, and outlines directions for future research. This research is presented in publications two and three. Section two of Chapter two concerns the use of mobile apps for language learning and teaching. Publication four reviews current research about the potential of apps for language learning and presents a taxonomy of available apps and their use for language learning. The paper also presents a framework consisting of four categories for evaluating language learning apps (technology, pedagogy, user experience, and language learning). The publication concludes with a proposal for areas for further research, including learner use in formal and informal contexts. These research areas are investigated in publications five and six. Section three focuses on the third technology: Twitter as a language learning and teaching tool. Publication seven highlights the identified potential of Twitter as a language learning tool. Publication eight shows how a group of language teachers use Twitter as a tool for continuous professional development through a hashtag and evaluates the impact of their Twitter network on their teaching practices. Finally, publication nine reports on a large-scale study of autonomous language learners who use Twitter. The results from these studies are discussed in chapter three, which also showcases the impact the research has had on the fields of CALL and MALL. Chapter four returns to the main topics and concepts presented in the introduction and provides some considerations based on the results of the research carried out. It then proposes that there may be a need to refocus the MALL research agenda and suggests directions that future developments may take. The research presented in this thesis contributes to the fields of CALL and MALL in a number of ways. First, it provides user profiles of the learners who use the three technologies. Second, it provides evidence of how those users utilise the technologies and evaluates their learning experience. Third, it presents a new taxonomy of MALL resources. Fourth, it outlines a process for evaluating the use of mobile technologies for language learning purposes, including a new evaluation framework with five criteria: technology, user experience, language learning, interaction and pedagogy.
Rosell Aguilar, F. (2021). Evaluating the use of mobile technologies for language learning purposes [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/163675
TESIS

The goal of this thesis was to investigate the usage of mobile devices with multitouch capabilities in the learning of procedural knowledge. A system, consisting of three prototypes, was to be implemented as a way of examining our two hypotheses:H1: Through using a conceptual model close to how the human mind perceive objects, we can increase consistency both in the creation of new user manuals and in the learning process.H2: By taking advantage of multitouch technologies we can introduce a more natural way of interacting on virtual representations of real-life objects.A lot of research was conducted on the usage of a conceptual model containing information on the physical attributes and the procedural knowledge to back our applications, and how this best could be realized. Existing technologies for creating 3D models was investigated, but was quickly discarded due to the unique representation that was needed to successfully integrate the model with GOMS. The research process concluded that an application for describing new devices would have to be developed as well.Three applications was developed to investigate our hypotheses: an application for describing the aspects of a device, written for Mac OS, a server for communicating with prolog over TCP, written in Java, and an application for displaying the device and allowing for interaction, written for the iOS platform. The final versions of these three prototypes made it possible to create objects consisting of cubes, storing them on the server, and rendering them on the mobile application. The report concludes by discussing the utility of our prototype in regards to the hypotheses. Although not in its optimal state, the prototype demonstrates the utility of pure gestural interfaces, and how well established technologies such as prolog and GOMS can be used to empower them. Finally, interesting extensions and further work based on this thesis is proposed, demonstrating its versatility.

A field of research that is quickly becoming more prominent is the one related to embodied cognition, which states there is an important association between physical activity and cognition. However, research on the application of embodied cognition to education is still at its infancy. More research needs to be done to understand how motion can contribute to student learning, and even further, research is needed on how learning technologies might support physical activity while learning. This research sits at the intersection of embodied cognition, learning technologies, mobile devices, and mathematics education. It implements a novel learning technology platform created at WPI, called the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP). Thanks to a child friendly app thats connect to the central web based system, the experience of elementary school children playing physically active games might be improved. This research also analyzes the importance of motor action in students’ math learning: By using three different conditions of a game called the Tangrams Race requiring different levels of physical activity (i.e. embodiment), we compared differences between fine and gross motor actions in regards to learning. Results indicated that physically active mobile games can and do improve math learning. Results also show marginal significant effect in favor of the physically active mobile games (p<0.1, Partial Eta Sq.=0.1) over traditional tutoring systems on a computer.

This work seeks to explore and evaluate some of the evolving technological tools available for instruction and learning in the field of education. An assessment is made of the value and effectiveness of using new technologies, and associated educational theories on existing and emergent technologies are considered. A study is made of Second Life, an online virtual reality simulator, and its educational potentials are considered along with those of video-gaming and other emerging learning tools and spaces. These are the foundations for the discussion about the potentials of integrating new technologies into teaching, learning, and education as a whole.
Ce travail engage à explorer et analyser certains des instrumentstechnologiques disponibles pour l’instruction et l’apprentissage dans le domaine del’éducation. L’utilisation des nouvelles technologies dans le domaine sont mis enrevue, et les théories associées aux outils existant et émergeant sont évalués. Uneétude est faite de Second Life, un logiciel simulant la réalité virtuelle, et sespotentiels éducatifs sont considérés avec ceux des jeux vidéo et d’autres nouveauxgenres d’apprentissage. Ceci fait la base de la discussion concernant les potentielsde l’intégration des nouvelles technologies dans l’enseignement, l’apprentissage, etl'éducation dans son ensemble.

This was a collaborative action research project with three, mixed method evaluation cycles. Its aim was to increase the impact of new learning technologies (NLT) in two Police Forces. The first reconnaissance cycle found a significant absence of uptake for one computer based training system (<1% impact after five years) with only assumptions of ‘technological determinism’ driving the process. A range of individual, work related and cultural factors were illuminated, towards understanding how the Force might become a ‘network’ organisation, where technology fundamentally transforms how work is done (Symon, 2000). Following the qualitative interview study, a quantitative survey was carried out with 164 respondents on the areas of concern for NLT in the Police. Factor analysis of this data reinforced a parsimonious five factor solution, accounting for 55% of the variance and on which to proceed with cycles two and three. In the second cycle, 130 Police Probationers completed a battery of psychometrics to assess individual difference factors associated with successful outcomes in training with NLT. Results showed 27% of the variance on a bespoke NLT learning measure was predicted by computer attitudes. Age, gender, education, motivational and almost all personality measures offered no significant contribution to explaining the data. The bespoke learning criterion was used as a pre-test, post-test and retention measure and showed significant increases in knowledge were gained from NLT: effective and efficient learning was evidenced. Also in the second cycle, a sub-sample of (n=20-34) Probationers participated in two stages of repertory grid interviews rating different elements of Police training methods. From these data an ‘Ideal Probationer Learning Event’ (IPLE) model was proposed. This was stable over time and positioned NLT within a conceptual structure that identified preferred and non-preferred construct poles equating to four dimensions along which Police officers reliably rated any training event. In essence, it highlighted sites of perceived credibility and offered these as levers for creative change. Follow-up work with 120 Probationers using another example of NLT explored how integration of learning from NLT could occur from a learner-centered point of view, using an interpretive concept mapping technique. This illuminated sites of power exchange and the location of ‘ownership’ of learning in Police culture. The IPLE model was used to direct the third cycle which included constructivist and contingency perspectives. It was propsed that by creatively designing an NLT event to increase elements of the preferred constructs discovered in cycle two, integration of an NLT event would enable the transformative properties of NLT as a to manifest themselves. A sample of up to 60 Police Staff used an NLT package alongside a bespoke, collaborative e-learning group. Criterions were developed according to skill breadth, frequency and difficulty and significant increases in learning were not only found, but maintained following completion of NLT when retention was measured. The e-learning group brought some of the credible elements of training to the NLT event, thereby constituting a ‘unique solution’ (Seltzer, 1971). It created peer learning groups, despite geographical separation. Data for each level of Kirkpatrick’s (1959; 1960) ‘best practice’ training evaluation model was collected enabling the conclusion that creative integration is key to a network uptake of NLT.

The substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition (SAMR) model is designed to help teachers integrate technology in the classroom. In a district with 1:1 mobile technology, teachers expressed frustration and inconsistency about the use the SAMR model for effective teaching and learning. In this project study, the SAMR model conceptually framed the exploration of teachers' integration of mobile learning and their perceptions about using technology in the classroom. Guiding research questions addressed teacher's integration of the SAMR model and elements that contributed to their instruction with mobile technology. A qualitative case study of a school district included purposeful sampling of 12 new or novice special education, mathematics, physical education and science teachers who had integrated technology in their instruction. Data sources included semistructured interviews, review of artifacts such as lesson plans or curriculum guides, and subsequent observations of their classroom instruction. Interviews were transcribed and coded to identify themes. Observations were documented by using a checklist and data were analyzed using the SAMR model to determine levels of technology integration. The content of artifacts was analyzed to explore congruence in the data. Teachers demonstrated low enhancement levels of the SAMR model for technology integration and described elements of productivity use or student engagement as contributions to their curricular modification. The findings were used to formulate a professional development plan for teachers to design effective technology-integrated curricula. This study may impact positive social change by providing a model to assist other districts with similar inconsistencies in the modification of instruction for mobile learning environments to enhance teaching and learning.

The ubiquity of mobile devices together with their potential to bridge classroom learning to real-world settings has added a new perspective to contextualising mathematics learning, but this needs further exploration. The aim of this thesis is to examine the effects of using mobile technologies on students’ attitudes, engagement and achievement in mathematics. The study starts with a systematic review of maths and mobile learning studies followed by three iterations of data collection. The three studies were mixed-methods studies guided by the micro, meso, macro (M3) Evaluation Framework. The studies included eight mobile learning sessions spread over three months covering topics on geometry and information handling. These sessions were conducted as collaborative learning activities in indoor and outdoor settings. Participants were Primary 6 and 7 students from three different schools in Scotland. In Study 1 (a single-group design, n=24), students had positive evaluations of mobile learning but some technical problems experienced lessened their initially positive views. There was a small effect in student self-confidence (ES=.20) and a significant positive difference between pre and post-test achievement scores. Breakdowns identified via the critical incident analysis in Study 1 informed the activity design of Study 2. In Study 2 (a quasi-experimental design, n=52), students had more positive perceptions about the use of mobile technology. The experimental group had higher gain scores on the maths test than the control group. In Study 3, a randomised controlled trial over six weeks (n=74), students also had positive evaluations of the mobile learning activities but this varied by gender. Analysis of the maths test scores with pre-test as covariate showed both groups had significantly improved their scores, but no significant treatment effect was found. For items relating to common student misconceptions on angles, students in the experimental group had significantly higher gains than the control group. The overall results from the three studies provide some evidence that students can have positive perceptions about the use of mobile technologies and that these can be effective in supporting students’ engagement and performance in mathematics, especially when learning takes place outside the classroom. It also showed that the success of a mobile learning intervention is dependent on various factors, such as student and teacher characteristics, stability of the technology and content compatibility, among other factors. There were several limitations including sample size, length of intervention, and programme fidelity. Implications for practice and future researchers are discussed.

The educational landscape is changing and a variety of technologies and techniques are blurring the lines between traditional and non-traditional learning. This change is substantial in low-income countries: individuals in developing countries have a great desire to educate themselves and improve their quality of life. Kenyans are adequately literate and accustomed to mobile technology despite being a largely impoverished, poorly educated populace. Kenya represents an optimal setting in which to research the use and feasibility of modern mobile and educational technologies. The broad aim of this dissertation is to explore how mobile devices can catalyze and enhance both informal and non-formal learning. In particular, this dissertation explores how technologies and concepts such as mobile web apps, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and learning incentives via a smartphone specifically affect informal and non-formal learning in Kenya. The primary research question is how can learning efforts that utilize mobile learning, MOOCs, and learning incentives combine non-formal and informal learning to develop and contribute to a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to learning in Kenya? The primary method is action research. The first contribution of this dissertation is the finding that mobile web apps are currently better suited for data exchange than producing new content. The second contribution is the finding that a smartphone can enhance informal learning in a developing country with little or no scaffolding. The third contribution is the finding that non-formal learning efforts as a MOOC are shown to be a viable means of delivering non-formal learning in a developing country via a smartphone. The fourth contribution is the finding that the use of incentives such as digital badges provide a means by which to validate non-formal learning and contribute to a DIY attitude towards learning creation, where individuals can freely complement or replace a traditional curriculum.

Communication between deaf individuals and hearing individuals can be very difficult. For people who are born deaf, English is often a second language with the first language being American Sign Language (ASL). Very few hearing people in the United States sign or are aware of Deafness, Deaf culture, or how to appropriately communicate with people with hearing loss. In this thesis, I concentrate on the role that mobile technologies can play in ameliorating some of these issues. In formative work with Deaf teenagers in the metro-Atlanta area, I investigate the role that communication technologies play in the lives of many Deaf individuals and examine how these devices have effected their communication patterns and social circles. Specifically, the teens identified problems communicating with hearing individuals such as close friends and family in face-to-face situations. Having identified sign language use at home as one of the earliest interventions for Deaf children, I investigated the use of mobile phones for learning survival-level ASL. I created a prototype software application which presented short ASL lessons via either a mobile phone or desktop web-browser. The software presented the lessons via one of two different scheduling methods designed to take advantage of the spacing effect during learning. I designed and conducted a study of forty individuals with no prior ASL knowledge which compared the effects of both scheduling algorithm and platform. My results show that individuals who used a mobile phone platform and received a group of lessons at one time performed better on post-test receptive and generative ASL metrics than did participants in the three other conditions.

Over the past 25 years, research on the effectiveness of new technologies in teaching has been constantly evolving as teachers try to keep up with educational trends. With the current evolution of technology, it is important to find out how students feel about the use of technologies in both the classroom setting and the non-traditional learning environment. The objective of this project is to determine which applications the students of French 1010 (first semester of college-level French) at the University of North Texas use for language learning to supplement and reinforce the concepts learned in class. Two questions guided this project: (1) what are the new technologies that students in French 1010 use? and (2) if UNT were to implement hybrid classes, would students be interested in taking them? In order to answer these questions, a survey was distributed to 184 students of French 1010 at UNT during the fall 2019 semester. From these surveys, 100 were selected for analysis in the present study, and three students were interviewed as a way to collect additional data. The results of the survey showed that Duolingo was the most used application for language learning purposes, while the interviews showed that the students would be open to the possibility of taking hybrid classes. From these results arise questions related to ways in which mobile applications can be effectively incorporated in language classrooms.

Job automation, new business models and higher competition are the main three aspects disrupting the job market and the way businesses act and prioritize towards employees. In today’s social-economic scenario empowerment, skills development, and forecasting play an important role in talent retention, employees’ performance, and innovation. This encourages, and is encouraged by, the increasing number of opportunities, new skills needed and jobs available on the market. The knowledge, skills, and abilities required to cope with these trends and to maintain a competitive advantage are growing and changing. For this reason, the thesis aims at identifying the technologies and priorities business leaders need to implement and invest in when it comes to L&D practices. The first part of the thesis focus on L&D methods currently characterizing businesses together with the trends and needs arising from the market, highlighting literature evidence on the importance of skills development. The thesis then analyzes the current market landscape of L&D platforms alongside the opportunities, benefits, the internal and external forces that obstacle the introduction of such technologies in a company. After the first two chapters dedicated to a literature review and market analysis on L&D practices and technologies, the thesis concludes identifying actions and tools business leaders need to focus on and to implement in order to achieve what has been appointed as one the main priority for organizations to thrive: reskilling and upskilling.

This thesis examines the role of mobile telephony in rural communities in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is a threshold study which reports on research conducted in the earliest stages of mobile phone adoption in these areas. It explores the ways in which this new technology changes people’s lives, social structures and relationships. The research focuses on non-urban communities, which previously had little or no access to modern communication technologies, but which are in some cases still using traditional forms of communication such as drums. It has found that the introduction of mobile telecommunications has generally been viewed positively, although several negative concerns have been strongly felt. Specific benefits related to enhanced communication with relatives and friends living away from home villages, and use of the technology in time-critical emergencies or crises. Difficulties have arisen with respect to the cost of owning and operating a handset, as well as financial and logistical challenges when recharging handset batteries, particularly in areas with no mains electricity supply. Perceived damaging effects of mobile phone access related to sex, crime and pornography. The changes taking place are described through a social lens, by foregrounding the perceptions of villagers. The perspectives of key informants, such as telecommunication company managers, are also discussed. Employing the technique of triangulation (using different methods and sources) has helped to validate the findings of the research project. The sources constantly overlap and agree on the main themes, such as those outlined above. PNG is a developing country which performs poorly on a wide range of development indicators. A large majority of the people live outside of the major towns and cities. It is therefore worthwhile investigating the introduction of mobile phone technology in rural areas. These areas often have poor access to services, including transport, health, education and banking. Until 2007, communities in such regions fell outside of mobile phone coverage areas. In the case of all ten villages discussed in this thesis, there has never been any landline telephone infrastructure available. Therefore, this research on mobile phones is in effect documenting the first ever access to any kind of phone in these communities. This research makes a unique contribution to knowledge about the role of communication in PNG, and has implications for policy, practice and theory. In the policy arena, the thesis aids understanding of the impact which communication sector competition and regulation can have on rural and relatively isolated communities. There are three practical problems which have emerged from the research: cost, battery recharging difficulties and breakage are all major obstacles to uptake and use of mobile telephony in rural communities. Efforts to reduce usage costs, enable easier recharging, and design more robust handsets would allow for increased utilisation of mobile phones for a range of purposes. With respect to the realm of theory, this research sits amongst the most recent scholarship in the mobile phone field, located within the broader communication theory area. It recommends cautionary reading of any literature which suggests that mobile phones will reduce poverty and increase incomes in poor, rural communities in developing countries. Nonetheless, the present research adds weight to mobile phone studies which suggest that the primary advantages of mobile phones in such settings are for the satisfactions of communication of itself, and for social interaction among loved ones.

This submission represents a journey of learning about learning within accounting education, and, in particular, the role of learning technologies and students’ skills in the process of learning. The work presented was published over the past decade and a half and addresses issues concerned with accounting education both past and present, and includes research on the author of the first printed text on double entry bookkeeping, Fra’ Luca Pacioli. The overriding research interest at the core of this submission and which has guided the various and varied phases and themes within in it is a concern to learn from how learning technologies are and have been an integral part of the educational environment, and to gain insight into how learning technologies might best be utilised in the field of accounting education. The work is presented in two themes with an additional two publications related to methodological approach. The first theme is related to students’ skills and technology and the second theme includes historical research into early accounting education. The published work in these themes is predominantly represented by research published in leading refereed journals in the fields of accounting education and accounting history. The additional two publications are included as they relate to and illustrate the methodological approaches that underlie the overall approach to the research that is presented and developed in the two themes: an approach that privileges, as far as practical, subjects’ contextual understandings of their worlds. Given the diversity of the work included in this submission there is no single research question and there are a diverse range of contributions. The work included contributes to our understanding of the introduction and utilisation of learning technologies in the teaching of accounting, both printed books in the 15th century and Information Technology (IT) in the late 20th/early 21st centuries, and the skills required to facilitate learning within the discipline of accounting. The practical value and importance of the research is supported by, inter alia, reference to the author’s applied work (not part of the submission) that illustrates how the published work contributes to good practice in skills development and the introduction and integration of learning technologies in the accounting curriculum. The papers on IT skills adds to our understanding of the IT skills that students bring with them to university, and raises awareness of the need to challenge the taken for granted assumptions about the abilities of new generations of students. The work on generic skills, whilst showing the importance of skills development also highlights the complexities in this area particularly in relation to issues concerned with confidence in making choices, in the subject matter, via modelling choices, and in time management: not knowing what to do, what to study. The paper on matrix accounting in a Russian university illustrates the potential of an approach to accounting education that is facilitated by the use of IT based learning. The work on Pacioli contributes significantly to our knowledge and understanding of Pacioli as a pioneer in the field of accounting education, and the role of his writing within Summa in the education, development and spread of double entry bookkeeping and accounting, in particular by relating the works to literature in fields such as renaissance art, educational systems and social development. In contrast, the sole authored work on Pacioli concentrates on an element of the minutiae of the bookkeeping process, the accounting for goods inventory, traces the longevity of this method of recording transactions, and shows how this had potential to provide important decision information to merchants, who were the prime market for Pacioli’s writing at the time. The two themes addressed in this submission include works that have individually made unique and significant contributions to the fields of accounting education and accounting history, and the two publications included to illustrate the methodological approach have made a contribution methodologically and to the finance literature. Taken together the works presented also provide a significant and original contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the role of learning technologies in accounting education and, by investigating new learning technologies in the different periods of time, provide a platform for further research to help us to appreciate the importance of technologies in accounting, and in accounting education.

Groundwater related courses are offered through several colleges at Virginia Tech. These classes enroll a diverse group of students with varied academic backgrounds and educational levels. Though these classes emphasize different aspects of groundwater resources, they lack a unified approach in instructional materials and learning methodologies for knowledge they do share. The goals of this research are to lessen the impact of variable student backgrounds and to better integrate the courses to improve teaching and learning, through the development of a multi-tiered, interdisciplinary website, Groundwater Interactive (GWI). GWI, as an educational technology, employs a variety of interactive multimedia. The primary educational components of the website include interactive and graphical models and quizzes, and a student-authored primer. An implementation strategy based on experiential and cooperative learning models is developed for application of the GWI tool in the classroom. An assessment methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of these new learning methods and techniques was also developed, but was not implemented as part of this work.
Master of Science

Today's organizations face an economic climate that is globalizing, increasing customer demands for products and services that meet their unique needs and the fast pace of technological developments. Organizations require the effective use of new communication technologies as a means of sharing information and expanding capacity for innovation. The main question for this research is: When new communication technologies are introduced into organizations, how do they work together with existing cultural assumptions to produce an innovative, learning environment within the organization? The research design involves conducting moderately structured interviews with organizational leaders in four diverse organizations: Ingram Book Company, Service Merchandise Company, Inc., Life Way Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Dollar General Corporation. Results include an introduction to each company, a report on their implemented new communication technologies and innovative learning environment, and a description of their core corporate culture.

Spatial understanding and cognitive mapping are challenging tasks for people with visual impairments. The goal of this work is to leverage computer vision and spatial understanding techniques along with audio-haptic proprioceptive interaction paradigms for assisting people with visual impairments in spatial comprehension and memorization. Abstract space exploration in the field of assistive didactics is tackled through tactile exploration and audio feedback resulting in two solutions. The first one focuses on math learning in primary education while the second one focuses on function graph tactile exploration and sonification. In the field of spatial comprehension during way-finding for people with visual impairments, computer vision and spatial reasoning techniques are used for detecting visual cues such as zebra pedestrian crossings and for safely guiding the user with respect to the detected elements. Suitable interaction paradigms based on sonification and haptic feedback are designed to assist the user efficiently and quickly during the navigation.

The purpose of this research was to examine ESL (English as a second language) students' current use of their mobile phones for English skill building activities outside of class in a U.S. school setting. In addition, this research reported on students' perceptions of the potential benefits of using smartphones in class for English learning. Also learners' current English related activities using mobile devices and time duration of using different phone features were studied. The literature review included smartphones, computer education, mobile learning, mobile assisted language learning (MALL), computer assisted language learning (CALL), theories of second language learning, second language learner attributes and the use of smartphones outside the classroom. An electronic survey was used to collect the quantitative data which were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. The results concluded that students used mobile applications on a daily basis to read and write email, read books and news, check a dictionary, talk, text and video chat. Students used mobile phones outside of class to improve the English skills listed in the survey and the same participants perceived the potential benefits of using smartphones in class for the same English skills. Among the English skills, vocabulary exercises, finding example sentences of English words and English grammar exercises had a significant difference between out of class and in class variable. The results indicated a direction for future research on using mobile phones for ESL learning. This study also revealed a focus of practice for utilizing mobile technologies in the teaching and learning of ESL.

The thesis analyses how large European chemical companies assimilated biotechnology during the 1980s and what effect this had on the structure and organisation of their innovative capabilities. Since their establishment in the early 1900s these companies have grown, through a process of innovation and technological diversification, into very large and successful multinational and multiproduct firms today world-wide leaders in their sector. This was to a large extent made possible by their ability to develop internally their own technology and master scientific and technological advance in synthetic chemistry. The emergence of biotechnology (one of the most important and powerful generic technologies of the 20th century) in an institutional and scientific setting largely external to their core competences, posed them the problem of "learning" and "innovation" in new terms. New strategies for "learning" had therefore to be developed and implemented. Biotechnology was largely assimilated by these firms as an enabling technology rather than a product technology and this had for them a number of implications for the organisation of the R&D function and of searching procedures. Differences in strategic behaviour and decision-making in the process of learning and capability building in the new technology can be related both to structural differences in their own national system of innovation (i. e. science system) and differences in corporate cultures (i. e. visions and beliefs). On a theoretical ground these case studies of learning in a radically new technology question directly the concept of learning developed within an evolutionary approach to the theory of the firm and of innovation, and provide some theoretical insights on the links between organisational and technical change in a case of a very science based technology

This study focuses on the theme of technology-based Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance efforts by looking at new developments in mobile technology and how they are used within Indigenous communities for language learning and teaching. I assessed four mobile apps through the use of an evaluation rubric, online user reviews, and developer consultations. The findings from the assessments were then used to determine what essential themes are important when developing an effective and successful language application model (Appendix C), with the intention of developing a user-friendly template for use by other Indigenous communities. Three essential elements were found to be common among the four language applications assessed: (1) successful integration of interactive and digital media that provides a purposeful learning environment for the user; (2) accuracy and testing of both media and the user-interface, and; (3) successful usability and functionality of the mobile platform.

Includes bibliographical references.
In recent years, South African universities have been faced with increased massification as a result of more students entering higher education institutions. Some of the students are from poor communities such as rural areas and former black townships which are still educationally disadvantaged. These students, who have been described as ‘digital strangers’ in other studies, have had very little access to or had never used computers prior to university. With increased computerisation in higher education institutions, digital strangers face problems integrating into computer based learning. In contrast to computer access, mobile phone ownership is pervasive and ownership is not socially differentiated in the South African context. This study therefore sought to explore the use of mobile phones to support learning by first year female science students in an extended academic program at the University of Cape Town. Using critical theory, Gee’s notions of Big (D) and little (d) discourses and a qualitative case study methodology, the study examined student’s technological identities. Whilst the results of the study show the powerlessness that digital strangers feel when exposed to computers during their first year of study, the results also show that students identify with their mobile phones because the technology is part of their Discourse. The mobile phone provides emancipation and empowerment that the students need to survive in a challenging science fields through informal and affective learning necessitated by the various internet enabled applications of the technology. The study also showed that students found transferable skills from their mobile phones to computers, thereby enhancing their transition into computer based learning. The study recommends that higher education institutions should consider mobile phones as viable learning tools and the technology should not be regarded as separate from the computer, but rather the two should be viewed as complimentary educational tools.

As of autumn 2011, all schools in Sweden have adopted and applied the latest curriculum for the compulsory school system. The following is written in concern to technology: "The school is responsible for ensuring that each pupil on completing compulsory school: [...] can use modern technology as a tool in the search for knowledge, communication, creativity and learning." (Skolverket, 2011, pp.13-14) With this said, there are no guidelines or manuals on how this is to be conducted. In a report from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate it was concluded that the investment in technology is not being used for school education. The education systems keep investing in technology in the belief that schools and teachers will sooner or later adopt and benefit from the use of mobile and ubiquitous technologies. The aim of this study is to “create an understanding of the aspects that have an impact on adopting novel use of mobile and ubiquitous technologies in everyday teaching and learning practices in compulsory schools.” The empirical foundation will be based upon three projects: Geometry Mobile (GeM); Learning Ecology with Technologies from Science for Global Outcomes (LETS GO); and Collaborative Learning Using Digital Pens and Interactive Whiteboards (Collboard). All were conducted at local compulsory schools in Växjö municipality, Sweden, in collaboration with teachers, students and fellow researchers from the CeLeKT research group at Linnaeus University. Two Thematic Analyses have been conducted: the first, an inductive analysis exploring the Students’ and Teachers’ Experience of using Mobile and Ubiquitous Technologies in their learning and teaching environment. The second analysis is deductive and uses themes from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology models with the aim of understanding the Perception and Acceptance of Teachers’ use of Mobile and Ubiquitous Technologies. In the results from the two analyses there are clear indicators on the added value that mobile and ubiquitous technology brings to the classrooms: students are able to actively participate, collaborate and discuss in different learning settings, which enhances their understanding of the subject at hand. The challenges are mainly to be found in the lack of training and education in use of the technology as a supporting tool for teaching and learning. Further factors influencing the teachers and the students are ease of use and reliability of the technology and societal changes. The results of the analysis and the theoretical base of Technology Enhanced Learning have been illustrated with Soft Systems Methodologies Rich Picture, providing a holistic view of the problematic situation and making it possible to discuss the various parts as well as the situation as a whole. This study indicates that there are several factors influencing the adoption of the novel use of mobile and ubiquitous technologies in everyday teaching and learning within a complex situation on different levels.

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.

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.

This study explores the relationships among technology, language literacy and instruction in University Continuing Education Institutions. Adult second language education strives to update media resources in an information era in which literacy encompasses the abilities to communicate both in different languages and in a variety of media across disciplines.
The main assumption underlying this study is that teaching adults to use language in an era in which networks and multimedia are major components, is a challenging task and responsibility. Instructional implications of literature regarding the implementation of new technologies in language learning suggest a persistent disagreement on the merits of new technologies as learning tools and a mismatch between expectations and applications of new media. I interview four teachers of second or foreign languages to adults to explore the challenges embedded in mediating adults' literacy in using multiple representations of second language knowledge within technology enhanced classroom environments.
Teachers are shown to integrate digital technologies into traditional print and audiovisual tools to advance three main literacies: Cultural literacy relates to the ability to make socioculturally appropriate links of language and media. Disciplinary literacy denotes the ability to effectively identify, analyze, evaluate and apply language resources in various contexts. Media literacy denotes the ability to make informed choices among the various language representations. Integrated media applications are challenging for teachers who need to be aware of media benefits and constraints. The ongoing development of teachers' media literacy is a prerequisite for meaningful and constructive uses of the instructional resources available that will enable adults to apply second language knowledge within and beyond linguistic, cultural, and disciplinary contexts.

English Language education within South African universities currently faces a crisis of access. The #Must Fall movements have highlighted the many historical, economic, political and English language barriers local students face in meeting the demands of higher education. At the same time, universities face an issue of funding, where, to remain accessible requires further internationalisation and a commitment to English language instruction. Research has advocated that pedagogies employing emerging technologies (ETs), like mobile devices, may be able to overcome these issues of access as they are not hindered by limited student space and can be immediately deployed. However, there is a paucity of research which demonstrates how ET's affordances can be meaningfully mobilised in English language instruction, especially within postcolonial contexts. In this thesis, I seek to understand and find drivers for local, English language pedagogical change which draws on mobile technology. This study is anchored within the critical tradition of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and its encompassing Expansive Learning theory of development. Using a participatory, formative approach to research-interventions, I describe a seven-week, ‘blended' adaptation of CHAT's Change Laboratory (CL) method. The CL chronicles language teachers', from a South African university's language centre, development towards meaningful integration of mobile technologies for instructing Advanced language students. Applying a CHAT lens, I critically trace the development of participants' expansive agency towards the model's creation as well as highlight influential aspects of the ‘blended' CL design I employed. Findings from this research-intervention suggest that relations of power are intricately inscribed in the integration of mobile technologies for language teaching. Participants' initial primary contradictions emanated from the object towards the rules, division of labour and mediators, which centralised teachers' positions in their classrooms. The meaningful integration of mobile technologies was only realised by participants when these contradictions were unpacked, resulting in a language pedagogy emphasising instruction as ‘co-creation' between students and teachers. I propose this pedagogical model holds significant potential for the meaningful use of mobile technologies in similar postcolonial contexts. Moreover, I stipulate that the ‘blended' CL method is a significant development for future formative interventions in the modern workspace.

Nowadays the entire process of creation and communication of knowledge is in the middle of a profound transformation. In the background there is our Web civilization, got used to a technology encapsulated into everyday objects, into multimedia devices and digital artifacts, or embedded within artificial environments and intelligent systems. Technology-augmented tools are offering the possibility of expanding natural boundaries, of enriching our senses and awareness, of pervading every single moment of our life. The thesis tries to approach what is happening in our Knowledge Society, where new technological devices and tools are modifying our lifestyles and activities, pervading the environments where we conduct academic research, read write or publish new cultural contents, teach and learn at school: social and academic networks, virtual and augmented worlds, tablets and e-readers, large interactive screens and Interactive WhiteBoards are populating our space and time, changing our way of generating and sharing knowledge. After deepening the Knowledge Society concept and future perspectives, the aim of the thesis is to describe some of the latest possibilities offered by the mutated technological scenario, such as Ubiquitous Computing paradigm, new interfaces, virtual/augmented world opportunities, and reflect upon the new social behaviors and paradigms that can rise: the description of different case studies and personal experimentations will show new participating opportunities and the deconstruction of established roles within research, cultural and educational contexts.

Across all educational jurisdictions, each year, large numbers of pre-service teachers are assessed for their suitability for teaching during their teacher education courses, in schools and institutions through practicum placements or workplace learning. Despite their widespread use, practicums can be notoriously variable and unreliable in terms of assessment (Rorrison, 2008) and in promoting professional learning (Grudnoff, 2011). The study reported through the publications explicit or referred to in this exegesis focused on the development of a mobile application (‘app’) to address the problems of assessment and professional growth. It was a specific response to the emerging use of mobile devices that utilise video capture, and their impact on assessing students in the practicum component of their training. It drew on existing knowledge of higher education assessments and teacher training assessments, including formative assessments and feedback, linked to the introduction of mobile devices with video capture capabilities. This study examined how mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablet devices with multimedia capabilities, could address some of the problems faced by pre-service teacher students, their school-based supervisors and the university academics who manage the practicum assessment. The overarching research question of the study was: To what extent can disciplined and structured use of mobile technologies for practicums impact on pedagogy and assessment of professional experiences of pre-service teachers? The study employed a Participatory Action Learning Action Research (PALAR) methodology to address the extent to which disciplined and structured use of mobile technologies impacted on practicum feedback of professional learning experiences of pre-service teachers. The study entailed six participatory research cycles over a four-year period, each consisting of four main phases: planning, acting and observing, reflecting and replanning. A mixed methods approach was used within the observation phases of each cycle. Because of the cyclical features of action research, the study lent itself to publishing findings throughout the project, rather than a single thesis at conclusion. Thus, reports of the research following one or more cycles were published, and this document therefore, is an exegesis of the major papers that were published over the timeframe of the study. The exegesis seeks to unify the publications and provide common themes emerging from the research project. The findings from the several cycles showed that the introduction of mobile technologies had a major impact on the practices and outcomes of pre-service teachers’ practicum experiences. The inclusion of mobile devices with video capture positively impacted on the reflective practices of pre-service teachers as well as formative assessment and feedback for pre-service teachers by providing the opportunity for more detailed, ongoing analysis of pre-service teachers’ performances while on practicum. Findings from the school-based supervising teachers also confirmed the suitability of the ‘app’ for enhancing the practicum experience and its assessment. Further research is required to demonstrate the impact of the application on enhancing learning through the medium of curriculum standards in the school environment. In addition, there is a need to explore more broadly applied mobile feedback systems in the context of practicum assessments.

This research involved an in-depth and holistic investigation into the use of Internet technologies in high school classrooms. Specifically, it combined studies of the physical and psychosocial learning environments operating within these 'technological settings' and investigated interactions among the selected physical and psychosocial factors in influencing students' satisfaction with their learning. Further, the study described how both the physical and psychosocial domains may effectively enable, or alternatively, constrain the teaching methodologies used in these classrooms. The study involved two phases of investigation. The first phase involved a broad examination of the learning environment as measured with a questionnaire containing items measuring aspects of the psychosocial learning environment and with ergonomic site evaluations using a specially designed worksheet and inventory for computerised classrooms. In the second phase of the study, interactions among the physical and psychosocial variables in these measures were explored through the use of selected and detailed case studies from the original sample. Case studies included a more detailed assessment of the physical classroom environment in tandem with classroom observations and student/teacher interviews. The study was conducted in Australian and Canadian secondary schools and so, offers additional insights in the different approaches to technology implementation and teaching practice. The results of the study reveal a number of statistically significant and independent associations between physical and psychosocial factors and further, between psychosocial factors and students' satisfaction with learning. These findings were complemented by similar qualitative findings from the case studies. These quantitative and qualitative results were used to inform a model for educational productivity for computerised classrooms. The model includes a number of important physical and psychosocial factors which when considered together, may influence student attitudes (and potentially other outcomes) in emerging networked and computerised learning environments.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO
O presente estudo buscou cartografar novas tecnologias pedagógicas implantadas no Colégio Estadual Professora Alcina Rodrigues de Lima, da rede Estadual de ensino do município de Niterói. O processo de investigação se deu por meio de observação participante, construção de um diário de campo e entrevistas. O objetivo do trabalho consistiu em uma análise do projeto implementado na instituição, pelos professores, denominado Núcleo de Aprendizagem Colaborativa (NAC). Apesar de condições de trabalho adversas constadas pelo estudo os professores encontraram novas formas de exercer suas atividades de maneira coletiva e inventiva, potencializando suas práticas.
The present study aimed at mapping new pedagogical technologies implemented in the State College Professor Alcina Rodrigues de Lima, part of the State Educational System in the City of Niterói. The investigation process occurred by participant observation, construction of a field diary and interviews. The objective consisted in a project analysis implemented in the institution, by the teachers called Collaborative Learning Center (NAC). Despite adverse working conditions identified the study teachers have found new ways to exercise their activities in a collective and inventive way, increasing their practices.

This research involved an in-depth and holistic investigation into the use of Internet technologies in high school classrooms. Specifically, it combined studies of the physical and psychosocial learning environments operating within these 'technological settings' and investigated interactions among the selected physical and psychosocial factors in influencing students' satisfaction with their learning. Further, the study described how both the physical and psychosocial domains may effectively enable, or alternatively, constrain the teaching methodologies used in these classrooms. The study involved two phases of investigation. The first phase involved a broad examination of the learning environment as measured with a questionnaire containing items measuring aspects of the psychosocial learning environment and with ergonomic site evaluations using a specially designed worksheet and inventory for computerised classrooms. In the second phase of the study, interactions among the physical and psychosocial variables in these measures were explored through the use of selected and detailed case studies from the original sample. Case studies included a more detailed assessment of the physical classroom environment in tandem with classroom observations and student/teacher interviews. The study was conducted in Australian and Canadian secondary schools and so, offers additional insights in the different approaches to technology implementation and teaching practice. The results of the study reveal a number of statistically significant and independent associations between physical and psychosocial factors and further, between psychosocial factors and students' satisfaction with learning. These findings were complemented by similar qualitative findings from the case studies. These quantitative and qualitative results were used to inform a model for educational productivity for ++
computerised classrooms. The model includes a number of important physical and psychosocial factors which when considered together, may influence student attitudes (and potentially other outcomes) in emerging networked and computerised learning environments.

Mobile phone technologies are transforming how young people think, work, play and relate to each other. However, a central concern for the thesis is that education policy and practice far too often resembles an industrial model that is standardised, mechanistic and linear and that rarely reflects the informational, dynamic and creative lives of young people. In particular, the educational project fails to connect with the way young people use their mobile phone technologies to multi-task, connect, and create content at a precipitous rate. This thesis focuses on the ways in which mobile phone technology is now a significant influence in the way young people develop a sense of self, and a sense of identity and agency that permeates the way they engage with education. The specific research questions that follow from this are: how are young peoples’ identities shaping the meaning and use of mobile phones within (im)material culture? How is the relationship between identity and the creation and use of social space being defined through mobile phone technology? And, taken together how might these processes of identity development influence the way the educational project develops in the future? This thesis addressed these aims by conducting a visual ethnographic study over three years, using participation observation in a sixth-form college in the UK that included video interviews with seven college students. The research has produced a conceptual framework that documents a number of key findings that include: (a) the mobile phone has an immediate symbolic value to young people providing signals about the user’s identity, or presentation of the self; (b) the mobile phone also helps facilitate the performance of lived experiences and is actively part of assisting in various forms of agency. (c) The mobile phone enables a constant flow of (re)presentations of young people that reflects a fluidity of identity that characterises key aspects of contemporary social life. Finally, (d) the mobile phone also supports and enhances the maintenance of social space through the maintenance of social groups and also crucially, the feeling of being oneself. The main conclusion drawn from this research is that too often education systems overlook that fact that learning for young people is typically, and inevitably, personal and yet at the same time located in connected, information-driven environments that are predisposed to digital technologies. Therefore, this research argues for educational policy makers and practitioners to think creatively about how to develop education in ways that fundamentally support young people in their (re)construction of a personalised landscape for learning through their mobile phone technologies.

Innovative mobile Endgeräte und Applikationen durchdringen nicht mehr nur das Berufs- und Privatleben, sondern finden auch zunehmend Einsatz in der Aus- und Fortbildung. Dies gilt sowohl in Hinblick auf das „Lifelong Learning“ als auch in der schulischen und universitären Ausbildung. Neue Regelungen zu Bachelor- und Masterprogrammen, Lehrformen wie Gruppenarbeiten und die zunehmende Mobilität der Studierenden verlangen nach neuen Lernmedien und Lehrkonzepten, die es ermöglichen, bisherige Lehrlaufzeiten im Studium sinnvoll zu nutzen. (...)

The emergence of the content overloaded internet creates a lot of new challengesfor users and service providers a like. To minimize the displayed amount of contentlike movies, music, or other products service providers like Netflix or Amazonare using recommender systems which aim to guide the user trough the availableinformation. These systems collect knowledge about the user and try to deliver personalized experiences. Most of the state-of-the-art recommender systems are using acontent focused approach but often fail to grasp the nature of users’ desires. Therefore,a mood-as-input model is developed which combines the existing research onhuman mood identification and the emotion classification of content in the domainof movies. In order to match these two components different machine learning modelsare evaluated and a Random Forest is selected as the main matching algorithm.The results of this study indicate that the mood of a user can be used to create personalizedcontent recommendations and that it can perform better than an Arbitrarysystem.

E-Ieaming is a very topical much misused term with many countries both developed and developing rushing to embrace this new educational technology. Perceived benefits in cost of delivery and educational outcomes are often the driving force. Thailand is a country with unique, strong cultural traditions and her peoples have largely Buddhist religious beliefs. These two factors are interlocked and affect all aspects of Thai life, including education. Traditional Thai education has evolved to complement and sustain this monoculture. To date there has only been limited research into e-Iearning in Thailand and while the promoiion of computer technologies in the education system and society is increasing, there is no research that has been undertaken in Thailand to examine the effect of e-Ieaming on Thai culture.

Food waste is becoming an increasing threat to the environment and the economy. Estimates indicate that annually, a third of the food produced around the world ends up being wasted. Only one-fourth of that food is enough to take nearly a billion people out of starvation. Food waste is especially higher in more developed countries, including most of the states in the European Union and the USA. Sector-wise, food is being lost from field to fork, with households topping the charts. Overbuying, not knowing what already is in the fridge, unaware of the food until it eventually expires, are among the most common reasons that contribute to the food waste. The potential prevention of such massive waste could significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions around the world and help the economy of the households including all the parties involved in food production, distributing and retailing. On the other hand, technology has progressed in very rapid steps. The advancement of AI, ML, IoT, and voice-enabled devices has revolutionized many industries and has made us more efficient as human beings. Unfortunately, these advancements haven't yet had any significant impact in assisting families with their food choices and in preventing them from overbuying and throwing food away. Most of the proposed solutions addressing this issue, do not get integrated into everyday life. That is because they require a lot of manual input, rely entirely on mobile phones, do not show immediate results to keep users motivated, and on top of all, for the sole fact that modern lives are quite complex, and although an important issue, food waste is not an everyday cause of concern of an average person. This thesis takes into account all of the shortcomings of the previous works and aims to create a more sustainable solution by exploring new ways of food inventory management in the households by automating the process so that users don't have to manually enter the data themselves. The proposed solution consists of a device that should be easily mounted into any fridge and acts as an interface between users and their food inventory. The device contains a bar-code scanner for the item input and a back-end that is capable of recognizing the item and can in return show user-friendly and valuable information such as the approximate price of the item, the approximate due date etc. and notifies users when an item is about to expire so that they can take appropriate actions. 7 out of 9 participants in the final conceptual design study said they would use this solution in their homes. The rest of the results from the designed test cases indicate a clear excitement and interest in participants and a willingness to see the prototype in the finished state, all the comments and insights together with the future work and how the feedback will be used into the next iteration are part of the final discussion of this thesis.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in Swaziland, mainly the use of smartphones for learning English. Because of the need to enable communicative language practice, and access to authentic content (Chinnery, 2006; Petersen & Divitini, 2004; Sole, Calic, & Neijmann, 2010) the use of MALL is currently the main focus in language learning and technology. Therefore, this study examined the utility of MALL in Swaziland, and students' beliefs about the potential benefits of using MALL for learning English in class. To achieve this goal, the main independent variables in the study were purposes for which students use smartphones out of class for learning English vis-à-vis their beliefs about the potential benefits of using smartphones in class for the same reason. The study also investigated students' reasoning for either believing that smartphones can be beneficial or not beneficial in class. To investigate these constructs, the study used two forms of data collection methods. First, a 23-item Likert scale was used to collect quantitative data, which were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Second, telephone interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data, which were analyzed using both inductive analysis and creative synthesis. The results revealed significant differences among the purposes for which students use smartphones out of class for learning English and the potential benefits of using smartphones in class for the same reason. The results have implications for instruction and curriculum development in Swaziland.

The aim of this study is to conduct a thorough theoretical study on mobile learning (mlearning) in order to achieve the primary objective of the study which is to develop a general framework to implement and manage mobile technologies in a higher education environment. The focus of the literature study was to research the state of mobile technologies and their relevance to teaching and learning. The literature study investigate the implications of mobile technologies for students, lecturers and thus for the institution and provided an overview of frameworks found in literature with the emphasis on the management of m–learning within the higher education institution. M–learning is part of a new mobile conception of society, with the mobility of the technologies impacting on the mobility of the students, the lecturers and ultimately on the mobility of higher education. Literature suggests that, while m–learning is proving to be innovative, the factors that most strongly impact on the ultimate success or failure of mlearning will depend on human factors, the balancing of technological ideals and pedagogical imperatives, and the successful management of the interface between human educational systems and technology systems. The proposed general framework focuses on addressing key issues related to m–learning from the perspective of the student, the lecturer and thus the institution. In order to remain competitive higher education needs to be diligent in maintaining the complex technology infrastructure that supports a thriving mobile culture that will meet and exceed the expectations of both lecturers and students. The empirical research conducted had as objectives to investigate the mobile technology assets of respondents with regard to the hardware and the software that they own, the mobile technology actions of respondents in regard to what they do with the mobile technology that they own and to investigate the respondent's attitude towards mobile technologies. A survey was designed and distributed to a sampling of the academic staff and students of the North–West University (NWU) in South Africa, specifically the Potchefstroom Campus. There is ample proof from the empirical study that there is a gap with regard to the level of accessibility, usage, and attitude with regards to the different interest groups in the higher education environment. Higher education institutions should invest in investigating these gaps further and in leveraging off the benefits of the effective management of these technologies to improve teaching and learning. The final chapter concludes with a summary of the secondary objectives researched in the literature (Chapter two) and empirical research (Chapter three) chapters in order to support recommendations towards the primary objective of this study. The rapid pace of adoption and advancement of mobile technologies creates opportunities for new and innovative services provided through such mobile devices. Higher education finds itself in the early innings of the mobile Internet pulling both lecturers and students towards the same place: smaller, faster, cheaper devices working together in a web of connectivity. Recommendations were made in this final chapter on how higher education institutions can leverage the benefits of the effective management of mobile technologies to improve teaching and learning. M–learning has the potential to increase the capacity of higher education through improving efficiency and productivity of teaching and learning. Mlearning could address challenges related to quality of teaching such as continuous professional training, lifelong upgrading, connecting with academics worldwide and communicating effectively with students. Higher education is discovering the potential of mlearning to promote student engagement and improving the quality of learning. Management of higher education institutions and systems, management of policymaking including storage and analysis of data, construction and assessment of policy scenarios, and tracer studies or academic tracking systems can be improved through the use of m–learning. Mobile technologies will continue to increasingly become an integral part of students' and lecturers' private and day to day lives and m–learning will be integral in educational content delivery. Additional research is required to study the effective and optimal implementation of m–learning. A better understanding of the benefits and leverage thereof is required and additional research should provide answers to these questions.
Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This thesis describes research that investigated associations between students’ perceptions of mobile technology enhanced learning environments and tertiary students’ outcomes. A review of the literature examined a range of topics pertaining to the study which encompassed the use of technology in higher education, theoretical approaches to learning, modes of learning, the emerging body of research in mobile learning, learning environment instruments, and the associations between classroom environment and student cognitive and attitudinal outcomes. This study used a modified form of the Web-based Learning Environment Instrument (WEBLEI), renamed the Mobile Enhanced Learning Environment Instrument (MOBLEI), to gather quantitative data about the associations between students’ perceptions of mobile technology enhanced learning environments and student outcomes in a tertiary environment that uses different delivery modes.Qualitative data on students’ perceptions were collected by discussion questions added to the MOBLEI questionnaire and through follow-up focus groups. The study has synthesised results from both quantitative and qualitative sources and has provided an understanding as to how students perceive their mobile enhanced learning environments. The research has made a valuable contribution to the field of learning environment research by developing a new learning environment instrument that can be used with confidence in tertiary institutions in New Zealand to evaluate the increasing uptake of mobile technologies that are being used in an effort to enhance learning. It has also been able to provide insight into the associations that exist between students’ perceptions of their mobile enhanced learning environments and their attitudinal and cognitive outcomes.

The major purpose of this study was to investigate students' actual and preferred perceptions of a mobile enhanced learning environment at a tertiary institution in New Zealand and if these variations in perceptions differed based on gender and age. In order for this to be achieved, a new learning environment instrument was developed based on modifying the existing Web-based Learning Environment Instrument (WEBLEI) with scale items being modified to create the Mobile Enhanced Learning Environment Instrument (MOBLEI). A review of the literature examined learning environments and questionnaires on which the theoretical framework for this study was based. The use of mobile technologies in learning environments was provided along with a discussion around gender and age and differences between males and females and generational groups in relation to learning and technology.Students’ perceptions of their learning environment were determined through the use of qualitative and quantitative methods with open-ended questions being included in the MOBLEI, along with follow up focus groups. The MOBLEI was distributed to 141 tertiary business and computing students, and was found to be a valid and reliable tool for application in a tertiary environment in New Zealand. Results from the MOBLEI showed no significant differences between the perceptions of males and females, however younger age groups had a more positive attitude toward the use of technology than did their more mature counterparts. Overall, the study provided an insight into how students perceive a mobile enhanced learning environment, along with practical implications for education practitioners with an aim to provide direction for an ideal mobile enhanced learning environment for education practitioners in the tertiary environment.