Do handheld devices facilitate face-to-face

collaboration? Handheld devices with large shared

display groupware to facilitate group interactions

C.-C. Liu* & L.-C. Kao†

Summary Aim:o Face-to-face collaboration through

handheld devices Procedureo Tablet-PC-onlyo Tablet-PC with network file sharingo Tablet-PC with shared display o Thinking-Pairing-Sharing (TPS) learning

activity

One-to-one collaborative learning scenario using a shared display

Workspaces with shared displays

Relation with Mobile Learning Framework

o Interaction and collaborationo Personal deviceo Share documents and display

screenso Use proper statistical tools on the

Internet

Which handheld devices help collaboration and in what

ways? Using Tablet PC with shared display:

o Promote shared understanding and increase awareness

o Share documents and answers

Advantages of Handheld DevicesTablet PCs with network file sharing

o view answersUsing Tablet PC with shared display:o Participation o Discussion o Interaction o Easily indicate the visual focuso Cooperate o Edit a group answer o Increase of awareness

Disadvantages of Handheld Devices

Tablet-PCs-onlyo Not enough participation o No interaction and communicationo Difficulty in exchanging information o Unaware of visual focus

Tablet PCs with network file sharingo Students tended to focus only on their own

Tablet PCso No interaction o No communication o Students tended to select one individual's

answer as the group answer

Additional comments

• Reliable tests• Shared space • Limited computational

power • Questionnaire • Statistical tests

Conclusion

o Single large display systems should be deployed in public areas where students come together to mix, socialize and collaborate throughout the day.

(Brignull et al, 2004)

o Similarly, the deployment of a shared-display system in communal space such as meeting rooms or libraries can also enrich student interaction in after class and informal discussion settings

Enriching spaces in practice-based

education to support collaboration while mobile: the case of teacher education

E.M. Morken, M. Divitini, O.K Haugalokkent

Summary Purposes: - Investigation of the usage of shared display

systems to promote cooperation in practice-based education.

- Discussion for the importance of common spaces and the role of bulletin boards.

- Definition of high-level requirements for a share display system to support practice-based education.

Procedure Illustration of the main concepts with a

demonstrator and some fictional scenarios of usage.

The demonstrator has been evaluated by three persons in order to collect feedback on the suitability of the shared display system.

The PPE-board

Information hanging on a glass wallin the teachers’ room

Contribution to the mobile learning framework

Research in the field of mobile learning and ubiquitous computing focuses on the development of spaces that are inhabited by users and the support that can be provided by enriching these spaces.

- By setting shared display systems in common areas, people have easy access to information, announcements, schedules, pictures etc. while they are moving in that space.

- Moreover, the shared display system includes the capability both receiving and posting information while mobile.

Advantages of shared display systems• Provide unlimited space

• Visibility of the information• Support mobility and remote access• Facilitate socialization • Support access to external information

sources• Support coordination• Support communication with people• Support of sharing of experiences• Support for collecting, distributing and

sharing information • Awareness support through commenting

Problems/issues

• Consideration of different types of tools.

• Need for remote communication.• It should serve as a portal instead of a

stand-alone application.• Easy overview of what is new or

relevant in a certain situation.• Consideration of contextualized

presentation of the information.• Privacy

Additional comments

• The evaluation was carried out only by three people.

• The evaluation does not refer at all on usability issues.

• The evaluation was based on semi-structured interviews that lasted about 1 hour.

• Their evaluation was based only on a short exposure and trial of the system on a laptop before the interview.

Conclusion

The article is based on a relatively new and unexplored field of mobile learning.

• Apart from any methodology issues the overall idea of using a shared display system to promote remote communication and sharing of experiences among students seems to be advantageous.

• Some improvements could be done.

Development of a Cross-Platform Ubiquitous Language Learning Service via Mobile

Phone and Interactive Television

S. Fallahkhair, L. Pemberton & R. Griffiths

Summary of the Article

o TAMALLE (Television and Mobile phone Assisted Language Learning Environment)

o TAMALLE is basically designed for second language learners help them to improve their language skills in a ubiquitous informal environment.

o TAMALLE has stages of the invention of an interactive TV combined with mobile phone.

o Different experiment was performed on people from different nations using iTV with the prototype of TAMALLE the result showed a positive impact of TAMALLE on the people.

An Early Example of Supporting for Second Language Learners o Mobile devices

– Mobile devices enhance learning experiences by enabling communications, learning on-the move and use on an ‘anytime and anywhere’ basis.

– Second Language learners currently are often found with a pocket dictionary or a personal vocabulary book.

o Non-interactive Television– It clearly affords watching, reading and listening,

making it an excellent medium for learners to practice comprehension skills and also to acquire background cultural knowledge.

– Comprehension of spoken material is strongly supported.

A Prototype of TAMALLE

TAMALLE (television and mobile phone assisted language learning environment) main menu.

A Prototype of TAMALLE

Supporting comprehension of difficult language item across iTV and mobile phones.

The Relation to the Framework of Mobile Learning with TAMALLE o The idea of this design based on other researches

which approve two aspects; – the effectiveness of conventional TV in second language

learning – the influence of the combination of media and audio.

o The way of learning those languages was iTV or Mobile phone;– using a textual image on the left of the screen of the iTV– video on the right of the screen of the iTV– textual message type of thing for mobile using client

server architecture. o The system was based on cross platform architecture

using multi tier client/server architecture for both Bluetooth and JAVA Enterprise Development Solution.

o So, the result of the focus group and language learning theories integrated in a discussion of the learning affordances of iTV and mobile phone technologies and shaped a framework for this design.

What is good about it

o The prototype had good results (Usability, Usefulness, Desirability, Overall Acceptance)

o Provide immediate access to dictionaryo Learn new language items (Vocabulary,

Expressions and slang)o Learn while doing ordinary and enjoyable

activitieso Learners say: Useful helpful motivating easy

to use Personal Consistent engaging familiar o Learn on-the-move, 'you can learn wherever

you are'o Support the immersion of culture of drama

to assist learning

What issues are addressedo Can Distract from ordinary TV watching with too

much data on screen o Difficulties to read the text on screen while viewingo Size of text on Screen can be an issue if too smallo It is a difficult prototype to enable equal access on a

mobile phone (small screen) and TV (large screen). o Costs of using the services o Design had to be Simple to work on different

models of mobiles o Support materials required and research over a

long Period of time o Some students who only have a mobile device. o The TAMALLE prototype was restricted to iTV's and

mobile phones (Should be applied to PDA's, PC, laptops etc. )

Conclusiono The evaluation results which used different

research methods approved the positive effect of this invention.

o It seems that mobile phone and iTV are very beneficial in second language learning particularly for advanced learners.

o The mobile device and iTV will purely be for revision rather than the main learning method.

o Ideally the mobile phone and iTV will be used in conjunction with each other to get maximum benefit.

Affordances of mobile technologies for experiential learning: the interplay of technology and pedagogical practicesC.-H. Lai, J.-C. Yang, F.-C. Chen, C.-W. Ho & T.-W. Chan

Summary Experiential learning emphasises learning for

the individual and it utilises experience in a given context to support knowledge acquisition and creation.

The research attempts to investigate how

mobile technologies (PDAs) facilitate experiential learning.

The study is conducted with primary students

on a field-trip of exploring plants in school garden so as to compare their knowledge retention and creation.

• Learning flow 1. Photo taking 2. Sensory experience 3. Further observation 4. Comparison 5. Question proposing 6. Final report

• Mobile technology system

teachers: prompts and material designing, learning status monitoring

students: seek answers and respond to the quizzes, share with others with PDAs

• Findings Students with PDAs were more motivated and encouraged

to engage with the wildlife Students with PDAs retained and created more knowledge

than who without PDAs

Contribution to the mobile learning framework

• Make outdoor learning much more convenient and accessible

• Provide real-time information for learners anytime, anywhere

• Provide functionalities for note-taking, such as photo-taking, sound recording and writing

• Encourage people to learn by exploring the tangible contexts and proposing questions actively

• Enable people to share ideas and discuss with others during the learning process

Benefits of PDAs afford Experiential learning

• Photo taking makes learning efficiently – improve retention

save time – recording quickly

produce useful results easy to save and manage drawing pictures is difficult

• Sound recording aids proposing more questions – increase knowledge creation

• Provide real-time material and prompts• Increase motivation and learning achievement• Gain accurate knowledge actively• Save time by note-taking with PDAs

Considerations / issues

• Big issue – How interplay between technologies and pedagogical practice can afford better experiential learning

- students lost interesting in sensory experience after taking photos

- technologies are not substitute of some learning experience - sound recording does not work well enough technical: noisy surroundings – improve recording technology pedagogical: has great difficulty to generate questions

• Motivation - can they motivate people engaged in learning for a long period of time? - PDAs make students better or students motivate actions by using PDAs?

• Ethic issue – Who should provide the PDAs? Schools or individual contribute?

Conclusion

• Mobile technologies facilitate field-trip and outdoor learning

• Make learning much more accessible, flexible, convenient, immediate and efficient

• Build a bridge between experiential learning and traditional learning

• Technologies cannot solely enhance learning but the interplay between technologies and pedagogical practices enables to afford optimal learning

Innovative socio-technical environments in support

of distributed intelligence and lifelong learning

G. Fischer, S. Konomi

Summary Socio-technical environments try to relate

tools and systems with the characteristics and abilities of human cognition, supporting the human mind.

Lifelong learning (self-directed, informal learning) supported by WMT

Context awareness considered

Summary (continue) Going small: personalized, portable devices and wireless

communication – information anywhere at any time.- “Mobility-For-All” (2005): “universe of one”-adaptable to each person’s abilities. PDAs, cellular phones and GPSs

Going large: collaboration and communication through large interactive tables and vertical displays.- “Environment and Discovery Collaboratory” (2001) (EDC): face-to-face collaboration in complex activities, distance in communication and collaboration- Caretta (2004): information sharing through group discussions

Going everywhere: computation is distributed in the physical environment. RFID transponders into everyday objects providing information about them.- “QueryLens” (2002) accumulates queries connected to physical objects giving the ability to the users to share these queries and modify them

Contribution to mobile learning framework

Mobility-For-All: small devices can be worn or carried providing people the ability of learning information and communicating as they move around in the world. “Right” information at the “right” time. i.e. navigation systems

EDC: tool-rich environments can be used to eliminate the distance and achieve learning not only by face-to-face collaboration, but also learning by distance. Sharing information achieved through interactive displays and through the web.

QueryLens: “Right” information in the “right” physical objects. People obtain the information they want about everyday objects. i.e. music CD, learn by the system further information

Advantages of distributed intelligent technologies

Lifelong learning better than school-based learning

Mobility facilitates situated learning “Universe of one” approach Information at any time and any place Mobility-For-All facilitates transportation

system Wireless networks provide communication

and collaboration across physical boundaries Embedded devices aid people to act and learn

about objects in their environment at any time “Right” information in the “right” physical

objects

Problems/ issues

Tool-rich environment required, which may not be available or cost-effective

Deskilling – learned helplessness symptoms

Lack of reliable usability tests or experiments of the systems described

Doubts for Mobility-For-All “universe of one”

Doubts for EDC effectiveness and applicability in mobile learning process

QueryLens – ethical issues: probable bombarding of information, privacy issues, isolation

Problems/ issues

“Power of the collective human mind”- not quantifiable

Conclusions

• WMT support lifelong learning and socio-technical environments and provide communication and collaboration in learning, across physical boundaries.

• Critical points to be considered: context awareness and understanding of human abilities.

• Challenge of future: say the “right” thing at the “right” time in the “right” way to the “right” person.

Comparison of the papersSIMILARITIES

o Collaboration Paper 1- Handheld devicesPaper 2- Shared display systemsPaper 5- Virtual displays (EDC)

o MobilityPaper 1- Handheld devices (PDAs, tablet

PCs)Paper 2 -Shared display systemsPaper 3 - Mobile phonesPaper 4- PDAsPaper 5- Mobile phones, PDAs, GPS, RFID

o InteractionPaper 1- Shared displaysPaper 2- Shared display systems

(touch screen)Paper 3- Interactive televisionPaper 4- PDAsPaper 5- PDAs, Interactive tables, GPS

Innovation

The most innovative technologies addressed in the papers were paper 2 and paper 3, which are based on relatively new fields in mobile learning, describing technologies which are not fully explored yet.

(Shared Display systems and TAMALLE)

General conclusion

o The papers address different aspects of the transformation of education for a mobile society

(Sharples, 2007)

As stated in the papers mobile technologies should be developed for educational purposes always considering learners’ abilities and needs.