How do skilled and less‐skilled spellers write text messages? A longitudinal study

The link between students' spelling level and their text‐messaging practice gives rise to numerous questions from teachers, parents and the media. A corpus of 4524 text messages produced in daily‐life situations by students in sixth and seventh grade (n = 19, 11–12 years of age) was compiled. None of the participants had ever owned or used a mobile phone before the start of the study; their text messages were collected monthly over the course of a year. The comparison between the group with mobile phones and the control group without mobile phones (n = 30) showed no difference between the level of traditional writing at the beginning of the text‐message collection and during the collection. The results showed that the correlation between the level of traditional spelling and the density of textisms was dependent upon the type of textisms (consistent/breaking with traditional code), the type of spelling (usage‐based/rule‐based), the grades in French class and the duration of text‐messaging practice. On the whole, students who were skilled or less skilled in traditional writing at the beginning of the text‐message collection remained respectively skilled or less skilled throughout the year, despite their text‐messaging use (density and type of textisms). The discussion of this study's academic implications tends towards a complementarity between traditional writing and text messaging.     

A mixed methods assessment of students' flow experiences during a mobile augmented reality science game

Current studies have reported that secondary students are highly engaged while playing mobile augmented reality (AR) learning games. Some researchers have posited that players' engagement may indicate a flow experience, but no research results have confirmed this hypothesis with vision‐based AR learning games. This study investigated factors related to students' engagement – as characterized by flow theory – during a collaborative AR, forensic science mystery game using mobile devices. School Scene Investigators: The Case of the Stolen Score Sheets is a vision‐based AR game played inside the school environment with Quick Response codes. A mixed methods approach was employed with 68 urban middle school students. Data sources included pre‐ and post‐surveys, field observations and group interviews. Results showed that neither gender nor interest in science was an important predictor of variability in flow experience. Gaming attitude uniquely predicted 23% of the variance in flow experience. Student flow experience features included a flash of intensity, a sense of discovery and the desire for higher performance. The findings demonstrated a potential for mobile AR science games to increase science interest and help students learn collaboration skills. Implications for future research concerning mobile AR science games are discussed.     

Investigating face‐to‐face peer interaction patterns in a collaborative Web discovery task: the benefits of a shared display

Mobile computers are now increasingly applied to facilitate face‐to‐face collaborative learning. However, the factors affecting face‐to‐face peer interactions are complex as they involve rich communication media. In particular, non‐verbal interactions are necessary to convey critical communication messages in face‐to‐face communication. Through gathering discourse and non‐verbal interaction records, this study explores the peer interactions supported by two collaborative applications: one with mobile computers and the other with shared‐display groupware (SDG). The results show that the students tended to interact with each other according to a distributed and an unsocial interaction pattern when using the application with mobile computers. In contrast, the students who learned with the SDG demonstrated a shared interaction pattern, whereby they often jointly focused on and referred to the shared work. The analysis of the students' work further found that a higher level of discussion was generally associated with the shared interaction pattern. The results seem to support SDG as being useful in augmenting face‐to‐face peer interaction supported by mobile computers. The implications derived from the findings also support the argument that non‐verbal interaction records are useful for quantitatively and qualitatively analysing face‐to‐face peer interactions.     

Mobile‐Based micro‐Learning and Assessment: Impact on learning performance and motivation of high school students

Mobile‐based micro‐learning has gained a lot of attention lately, especially for work‐based and corporate training. It combines features of mobile learning and micro‐learning to deliver small learning units and short‐term learning activities. The current study uses the lens of the Self‐Determination Theory of motivation and proposes a series of Mobile‐Based micro‐Learning and Assessment (MBmLA) homework activities to improve high school students' motivation and learning performance in science. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. One hundred and eight students of a senior‐level high school in Europe were randomly assigned into either a control condition (conventional paper‐based homework approach) or an experimental (MBmLA approach) condition. The study carried out for a period of 5 weeks. From the experimental results, it was found that, in comparison to the conventional paper‐based approach, the proposed MBmLA approach enhanced students' basic psychological needs of self‐perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness and improved students' exam performance in terms of factual knowledge. Moreover, students self‐reported greater learning satisfaction with the mobile‐based microassessment and micro‐learning homework tasks. Implications on educational practices as well as future research are discussed.     

Exploring collaborative learning effect in blended learning environments

The use of new technology encouraged exploration of the effectiveness and difference of collaborative learning in blended learning environments. This study investigated the social interactive network of students, level of knowledge building and perception level on usefulness in online and mobile collaborative learning environments in higher education. WeChat, which is a mobile synchronous communication tool, and modular object‐oriented dynamic learning environment (Moodle) were used as mobile and online collaborative learning settings. Seventy‐eight college students majoring in information engineering participated in the experiment. The following findings were revealed by combining methods of social network analysis, content analysis and questionnaire survey: (1) the collaborative social networks generated in this study showed that students had tighter interaction relationships in Moodle than in WeChat; (2) deeper level of knowledge building in collaboration and interaction through Moodle than WeChat was observed; and (3) Moodle got higher perception level than WeChat because of its usefulness for collaboration.     

Comparing the social knowledge construction behavioral patterns of problem-based online asynchronous discussion in e/m-learning environments

In recent years, researchers have conducted various studies on applying wireless networking technology and mobile devices in education settings. However, research on behavioral patterns in learners' online asynchronous discussions with mobile devices is limited. The purposes of this study are to develop a mobile learning system, mobile interactive teaching feedback system (MITFS), linked to both mobile devices and the internet, to support learners with online asynchronous discussion, and combine content analysis and sequential analysis to compare and contrast the social knowledge construction behavioral patterns of problem-based asynchronous discussion in e-learning and m-learning environments. This study investigated four weeks of online discussions in an “Introduction to Computer Science” course involving forty first year university students. The control group (online asynchronous discussion without mobile devices) and the experimental group (online asynchronous discussion with mobile devices) in the group discussions were explored. By using content analysis and sequential analysis for the problem-based online asynchronous discussion of the behavioral patterns and differences between students in control and experimental group, the results showed that using mobile devices in online asynchronous discussion influenced students' learning performance. Some interesting results were found. Firstly, when the students used mobile devices in discussion situations, they could more engage in reflecting thinking, sharing more information, and further facilitating social knowledge construction among group members. Secondly, the experimental group performed better than the control group in terms of participation and diversity in knowledge construction behavioral patterns. Finally, based upon the findings, some implications are proposed for further research.     

The effect of text messaging on 9‐ and 10‐year‐old children's reading,spelling and phonological processing skills

This paper reports on an intervention study that considered the impact of text messaging on 9‐ to 10‐year‐old children's literacy skills. One hundred and fourteen children who had never owned a mobile phone before were recruited and randomly allocated to either the intervention or control conditions. All children were pre‐ and post‐tested on a range of reading, spelling and phonological awareness measures. Children in the intervention group were given access to a mobile phone (enabled for text messaging only) for weekends and during half‐term break for a 10‐week period. It was found that there were no significant differences between the two groups of children in terms of their literacy attainment during that period. However, within the mobile phone group, there was evidence that use of text abbreviations was positively related to gains in literacy skills. Moreover, after controlling for individual differences in IQ, and the children's performance at pre‐test, textism usage was able to account for a significant amount of variance in post‐test spelling scores. These results show that text messaging does not adversely affect the development of literacy skills within this age group, and that the children's use of textisms when text messaging is positively related to improvement in literacy skills, especially spelling.     

Engaging middle school students in scientific practice with a collaborative mobile game

Previous research using collaborative mobile augmented reality games in science education revealed that such games can be used to promote learner engagement and have found that engagement in such mobile games is related to flow. This study investigated whether player's flow experience differed by achievement track, gender, or gender composition of working groups. In an urban school district, 202 students from two eighth‐grade science classes participated in a collaborative mobile science game. Data included a self‐report survey collected after the game that measured player's flow experience. Using a regression model, the relationship of flow experience with achievement track and gender was explored while controlling for group composition and teacher effects. The study found that gender was related to flow experience; specifically, girls reported higher flow experience scores (d = 0.30). Flow experience did not have a statistically significant relationship with achievement track showing that the activity engaged all observed students similarly.     

Hybrid recommendations for mobile commerce based on mobile phone features

Mobile data communications have evolved as the number of third generation (3G) subscribers has increased. The evolution has triggered an increase in the use of mobile devices, such as mobile phones, to conduct mobile commerce and mobile shopping on the mobile web. There are fewer products to browse on the mobile web; hence, one‐to‐one marketing with product recommendations is important. Typical collaborative filtering (CF) recommendation systems make recommendations to potential customers based on the purchase behaviour of customers with similar preferences. However, this method may suffer from the so‐called sparsity problem, which means there may not be sufficient similar users because the user‐item rating matrix is sparse. In mobile shopping environments, the features of users' mobile phones provide different functionalities for using mobile services; thus, the features may be used to identify users with similar purchase behaviour. In this paper, we propose a mobile phone feature (MPF)‐based hybrid method to resolve the sparsity issue of the typical CF method in mobile environments. We use the features of mobile phones to identify users' characteristics and then cluster users into groups with similar interests. The hybrid method combines the MPF‐based method and a preference‐based method that uses association rule mining to extract recommendation rules from user groups and make recommendations. Our experiment results show that the proposed hybrid method performs better than other recommendation methods.     

Mobile guide system using problem‐solving strategy for museum learning: a sequential learning behavioural pattern analysis

Mobile devices have been increasingly utilized in informal learning because of their high degree of portability; mobile guide systems (or electronic guidebooks) have also been adopted in museum learning, including those that combine learning strategies and the general audio–visual guide systems. To gain a deeper understanding of the features and limitations of these guide systems in a museum‐learning context and also to provide new designs that better guide learners in interacting with peers and exhibitions, in‐depth exploration of learners' actual visits and analyses of their behavioural patterns is crucial. This study was based on empirical observation and analysis of the learning behaviours (recorded on video) of 65 elementary‐school students who were placed into three groups: mobile guide with problem‐solving strategy, audio–visual mobile guide and paper‐based learning‐sheet guide. By coding and analysing the video and conducting sequential analysis and frequency analysis of learning‐related discussion content, behavioural interaction patterns were determined by which the features and limitations of the different types of guides were compared. Among the findings, it was discovered that the students in the problem‐solving mobile guide group showed a higher level of two‐way interactions with their peers and the exhibits, as well as more learning‐related discussions. Relevant suggestions for teachers, researchers and guide‐systems developers are also given.     

Using wikis and collaborative learning for science teachers' professional development

Wiki bears great potential to transform learning and instruction by scaffolding personal and social constructivism. Past studies have shown that proper application of wiki benefits both students and teachers; however, few studies have integrated wiki and collaborative learning to examine the growth of science teachers' Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK). This study introduced a wiki‐based TPACK growth model and examined nine elementary and middle science teachers' knowledge growth in a graduate‐level course. Data sources included reflective journals, wiki data and interviews. Results showed that with wiki, science teachers learned to design more understandable and lively science teaching content, and they collaboratively generated creative instructional strategies. Furthermore, wiki and collaborative learning helped in‐service teachers exchange and elaborate ideas related to the development of TPACK. Implications, suggestions and future research directions were put forward regarding wiki, TPACK and in‐service teachers' professional development.     

Vocabulary learning by mobile‐assisted authentic content creation and social meaning‐making: two case studies

In recent years, we have witnessed the concomitant rise of communicative and contextualized approaches as well as the paradigmatic development of the mobile‐assisted language learning (MALL) framework in analysing language learning. The focus of MALL research has gradually shifted from content‐based (delivery of learning content through mobile devices) to design‐oriented (authentic and/or social mobile learning activities) study. In this paper, we present two novel case studies of MALL that emphasize learner‐created content. In learning English prepositions and Chinese idioms, respectively, the primary school students used the mobile devices assigned to them on a one‐to‐one basis to take photos in real‐life contexts so as to construct sentences with the newly acquired prepositions or idioms. Subsequently, the learners were voraciously engaged in classroom or online discussion of their semantic constructions, thereby enhancing their understanding of the proper usage of the prepositions or idioms. This work shows the potential of transforming language learning into an authentic seamless learning experience.     

Exploring factors influencing mobile users' intention to adopt multimedia messaging service

While short messaging service (SMS) is discussed often in recent literature, multimedia messaging service (MMS), a media rich successor of SMS, is seldom heard or understood by mobile users in Taiwan. The adoption rates of MMS are far from satisfactory, implying that there might be some factors keeping the potential users away from using MMS. This research integrates a qualitative method, the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique, with the quantitative questionnaire survey to elicit and validate underlying factors which influence potential users' attitude and intention toward the adoption of MMS. A research model together with eight hypotheses was formulated, and a questionnaire based survey was administrated to mobile users knowledgeable about mobile messaging services for empirically validating the research model and testing the hypotheses. Our research findings show that relative advantage and ease of use are important factors significantly influencing mobile users' adoption of MMS but the other two antecedents, facilitating conditions and previous experience, do not have significant and direct impacts on mobile users' intention to use MMS. These study results can be referenced by service providers for designing and developing successful business applications to catch the valuable opportunity and benefit of MMS.     

The effect of a graph‐oriented computer‐assisted project‐based learning environment on argumentation skills

The purpose of this quasi‐experimental study was to explore how seventh graders in a suburban school in the United States developed argumentation skills and science knowledge in a project‐based learning environment that incorporated a graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application. A total of 54 students (three classes) comprised this treatment condition and were engaged in a project‐based learning environment that incorporated a graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application, whereas a total of 57 students (three classes) comprised the control condition and were engaged in a project‐based learning environment without this graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application. Verbal collaborative argumentation was recorded and the students' post essays were collected. A random effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted and a significant difference in science knowledge about alternative energies between conditions was observed. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted and there was a significant difference in counterargument and rebuttal skills between conditions. A qualitative analysis was conducted to examine how the graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application supported students' development of argumentation skills and affected the quality of collaborative argumentation. The difference in argumentation structure and quality of argumentation between conditions might explain a difference in science knowledge as well counterargument and rebuttal skills (argumentation) between both conditions. This study concluded that a project‐based learning environment incorporating a graph‐oriented, computer‐assisted application was effective in improving students' science knowledge and developing their scientific argumentation skills.     

Attitude Toward Mobile Text Messaging: An Expectancy‐Based Perspective

Mobile text messaging is one of the world’s most popular asynchronous communication tools, but few empirical studies have examined users’ abilities and attitudes toward such technologies. The study employs 2 distinct, yet complementary, expectancy‐based constructs (i.e., self‐efficacy and locus of control) to predict anxiety and attitude valence toward mobile text messaging. Survey data collected from text messaging users show that the attitude toward text messaging behaviors can be examined through their beliefs in their competence and sense of control. Results indicate that enhancing users’ ability and their sense of personal control can further the use of future mobile text‐based applications and services. These findings suggest that future research should consider incorporating these variables into existing information technology adoption frameworks.     

Chinese undergraduate students' perceptions of mobile learning: Conceptions,learning profiles,and approaches

Close links between students' conceptions of and approaches to learning were established in the past research. However, only a few quantitative studies investigated this relationship particularly with regard to mobile learning (m‐learning). The correlation between learners' conceptions and approaches to m‐learning was analysed using a partial least squares analysis applied to data obtained from a sample of 971 undergraduate students in China. The results indicated that students' conceptions of m‐learning could be classified into reproductive, transitional, and constructive levels. Students may hold multiple m‐learning applications than a predominant one; hence, examining m‐learning as one monolithic entity may provide limited information. Latent profile analysis identified four learning profiles based on students' preferred m‐learning applications: passive, mixed, surface‐supportive, and high‐engagement.. Moreover, a general trend was observed, whereby students with reproductive and surface‐supportive learning profiles showed a tendency to adopt surface approaches, whereas those expressing constructive and mixed learning profiles were more inclined to adopt deep approaches. Interestingly, students with transitional conceptions and high‐engagement learning profiles tended to take both surface and deep approaches.     

An investigation of learners' collaborative knowledge construction performances and behavior patterns in an augmented reality simulation system

The purpose of this study was to investigate how a mobile collaborative augmented reality (AR) simulation system affects learners' knowledge construction behaviors and learning performances. In this study, 40 undergraduate students were recruited and divided into dyads to discuss a given task either with the assistance of a mobile collaborative AR system or traditional 2D simulation system. The participants' knowledge acquisition regarding elastic collision was evaluated through a pre-test and a post-test comparison. Learners' knowledge construction behaviors were qualitatively identified according to an adapted three-category coding scheme including construction of problem space (PS), construction of conceptual space (CS), and construction of relations between conceptual and problem space (CPS), and were then analyzed by adopting lag sequential analysis. The results indicated that the learners who learned with the AR system showed significant better learning achievements than those who learned with the traditional 2D simulation system. Furthermore, the sequential patterns of the learners' behaviors were identified, including three sustained loops (PS→PS, CS→CS, CPS→CPS), a bi-directional path between the PS and CPS activities (PS↔CPS), and a one way path from the PS activity to the CS activity (PS→CS). The revealed behavior patterns suggest that the AR Physics system may serve as a supportive tool and enable dyad learners to respond quickly to the displayed results and support their knowledge construction processes to produce a positive outcome. Based on the behavioral patterns found in this study, suggestions for future studies and further modifications to the system are proposed.     

Comparison of 1:1 and 1:m CSCL environment for collaborative concept mapping

This paper reports an investigation into the effects of collaborative concept mapping in a digital learning environment, in terms of students' overall learning gains, knowledge retention, quality of student artefacts (the collaboratively created concept maps), interactive patterns, and learning perceptions. Sixty‐four 12‐year‐old students from two 6th grade classes (32 from each class) participated in the study. Guided by the methodology of quasi‐experimental research, group scribbles 1.0 was adopted in which students carried out collaborative concept mapping activities for social studies in two different settings: (1) 1:1 (one‐device‐per‐student) – students working in pairs with one Tablet PC assigned to each of them; and (2) 1:m (one‐device‐to‐many‐students) – multiple students sharing a Tablet PC. Both settings were evaluated and the interactional patterns of the student groups' concept mapping were identified. The results indicated that in both 1:1 and 1:m settings, students had improved their learning results and retention. Nevertheless, while 1:1 groups had demonstrated more consistency in group participation, improved communication and interaction, the 1:m groups had instead generated superior artefacts as all the notes were well discussed among the group members. The findings suggest that a higher quality of collaborative processes does not necessarily lead to improved student artefacts.     

基于用户分布感知的移动P2P快速位置匿名算法

针对移动点对点（P2P）结构下位置隐私保护匿名区形成存在着通信开销大、匿名效率低以及成功率低等问题,提出了一种移动P2P结构下用户分布感知方案,用户在邻域内共享邻域加权密度参数,获取邻域用户实时分布信息,根据用户分布特征为用户推荐隐私参数及候选用户查找半径,帮助用户快速形成匿名区。仿真结果表明,该算法通信开销小,在满足移动P2P网络移动设备节能需求的同时,匿名区生成时间平均在500ms以下,平均成功率达到92%以上。     

Learning in a mobile age: an investigation of student motivation

The purpose of this single‐case study was to explore the lived experiences of a grade 6 teacher and students who used tablets as part of their classroom instruction. Malone and Lepper's taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning is used as a framework for examining whether and how this particular theory of motivation applies equally well for mobile learning. This study reports on the grade 6 teacher's and students' perceptions regarding the motivational affordances of using these mobile devices for learning. The findings are consistent with those of Malone and Lepper that motivation can be enhanced through challenge, curiosity, control, recognition, competition and cooperation. This model is helpful in informing our understanding of the motivating features of using mobile devices for learning and how mobile technologies can be used to enhance learners' motivation.