Mobile phone appropriation and pedagogical mediation by students in educational contexts

University of Minho, Braga, Portugal – [email protected]

Mobile phone appropriation and pedagogical mediation by students

in educational contexts

MoLeNET Mobile Learning Conference 2009

1st December, London

Adelina Moura & Ana Amélia Carvalho


• Analysis of the students' mobile phone appropriation as learning tools

• Assessment of how the mobile phone mediates learning

• Studying the mobile technology implications in learning: creating learning strategies and monitoring within and outside the classroom.

Goals


Methodology

A qualitative research methodology with multiple cases, involving a range of data collection techniques (questionnaires, interviews, focus group, observations, and diaries).


Framework - Activity Theory

Two concepts i) appropriation ii) mediation• How mobile phones were appropriated as a learning tool by students;• How they mediated the learning activities.

Activity Theory principles helped us to frame the analysis in our study:

• i) to identify the socio-cultural factors that influenced the process of mobile phone appropriation;

• ii) to determine how mobile mediated activities introduced new possibilities.


Study

We carried out a study looking at how the mobile phone has been used in different learning settings as a learning tool within and outside a secondary school classroom, both in Portuguese and French languages.


Mobile Devices

We examine the use of students mobile phone in the following contexts:

• i) as a repository of learning content;

• ii) as a production tool for writing and reading and exploring multimedia features (audio, video and image;

• iii) as an SMS-based learning scenario.


Environment description

• Curricular and extracurricular activities

• Individual and collaborative learning

Background

• Inside and Outside classroom


Curricular Activities

• Video in Portuguese and French classes for discussion

Podcasts:i) to study Portuguese Literature

and language;ii) to improve French language

and reading.• Photos and videos creation by

students for individual and collaborative activities

• SMS-based learning scenario


Individual & Collaborative Activities

• Micro stories creation• Mobile Quizzes: i) grammar ii) curricular learning iii) general culture • iDictionary – both in Portuguese &

French languages

• Three SMS-based scenario:i) Receptive activitiesii) Productive activitiesiii) Collaborative activities


Geração Móvel - Mobile Generationhttp://geramovel.wirenode.mobi


Findings

Outcomes showed that:

i) Students' competences (writing and reading) in French language had benefited from mobile phone use (podcasts);

ii) Students' engagement in learning Portuguese and French languages was enhanced (SMS-based learning):

iii) We noted an increase in students' motivation in both individual and collaborative learning.


Thank you for your presence!

Comments?

Adelina Moura

Business

Mobile phone appropriation and pedagogical mediation by students in educational contexts