10th
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON
MOBILE LEARNING 2014
ii
iii
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
10th
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON
MOBILE LEARNING 2014
MADRID, SPAIN
28 FEBRUARY – 2 MARCH, 2014
Organised byIADIS
International Association for Development of the Information Society
iv
Copyright 2014
IADIS Press
All rights reserved
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material
is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other way, and storage in data banks.
Permission for use must always be obtained from IADIS Press. Please contact [email protected]
Edited by Inmaculada Arnedillo Sánchez and Pedro Isaías
Associate Editor: Luís Rodrigues
ISBN: 978-989-8704-02-3
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD xi
PROGRAM COMMITTEE xiii
KEYNOTE LECTURE xvii
PANEL xviii
FULL PAPERS
SUPPORTING TEACHERS TO DESIGN AND USE MOBILE
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING GAMES Iza Marfisi-Schottman and Sébastien George
3
EBOOKS AS PDF FILES, IN EPUB FORMAT OR AS INTERACTIVE IBOOKS?
DIGITAL BOOKS IN PHYSICS LESSONS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION Manfred Lohr
11
MOBILE LEARNING AND EARLY AGE MATHEMATICS Shir Peled and Shimon Schocken
19
M-LEARNING – ON PATH TO INTEGRATION WITH ORGANISATION
SYSTEMS Shilpa Srivastava and Ved Prakash Gulati
26
IMPROVING HISTORY LEARNING THROUGH CULTURAL HERITAGE,
LOCAL HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY Graça Magro, Joaquim Ramos de Carvalho and Maria José Marcelino
34
INTRIGUE AT THE MUSEUM: FACILITATING ENGAGEMENT
AND LEARNING THROUGH A LOCATION-BASED MOBILE GAME Jetmir Xhembulla, Irene Rubino, Claudia Barberis and Giovanni Malnati
41
MOBILE-BASED CHATTING FOR MEANING NEGOTIATION IN FOREIGN
LANGUAGE LEARNING María Dolores Castrillo, Elena Martín-Monje and Elena Bárcena
49
STUDENT PREFERENCES FOR M-LEARNING APPLICATION
CHARACTERISTICS Ömer Delialio lu & Yasaman Alioon
59
vi
LEARNING AND TEACHING WITH MOBILE DEVICES AN APPROACH IN
SECONDARY EDUCATION IN GHANA Margarete Grimus and Martin Ebner
66
CROSS-CULTURAL DESIGN OF MOBILE MATHEMATICS LEARNING
SERVICE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS Tanja Walsh, Teija Vainio and Jari Varsaluoma
75
MOBILE LEARNING AND ACHIEVEMENT GOAL ORIENTATION PROFILES Minna Asplund
85
A REVIEW OF INTEGRATING MOBILE PHONES FOR LANGUAGE
LEARNINGRamiza Darmi and Peter Albion
93
OVERLAPPING CHAT’S ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS BETWEEN
STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES DUE TO THE MOBILE
LIMITATIONSRocío Calvo, Ana Iglesias and Lourdes Moreno
101
UML Quiz: AUTOMATIC CONVERSION OF WEB-BASED E-LEARNING
CONTENT IN MOBILE APPLICATIONS Alexander von Franqué and Hilda Tellio lu
109
PEDAGOGICAL APPLICATIONS OF SMARTPHONE INTEGRATION
IN TEACHING - LECTURERS', STUDENTS' & PUPILS' PERSPECTIVES Tami Seifert
117
MOOC TO GO Jan Renz, Thomas Staubitz and Christoph Meinel
125
STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES IN IPAD INITIATIVE Chientzu Candace Chou, Lanise Block and Renee Jesness
133
BLENDING CLASSROOM TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH QR CODES Jenni Rikala and Marja Kankaanranta
141
PROGRAMMING EDUCATION WITH A BLOCKS-BASED VISUAL
LANGUAGE FOR MOBILE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT Can Mihci and Nesrin Ozdener
149
SHIFTING CONTEXTS: INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF CONTEXT
IN THE USE OF UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING FOR DESIGN-BASED
LEARNINGKatharine S. Willis and Gianni Corino
157
EVALUATION FRAMEWORK FOR DEPENDABLE MOBILE LEARNING
SCENARIOS Manel Bensassi and Mona Laroussi
167
INITIAL EVALUATION OF A MOBILE SCAFFOLDING APPLICATION THAT
SEEKS TO SUPPORT NOVICE LEARNERS OF PROGRAMMING Chao Mbogo, Edwin Blake and Hussein Suleman
175
DEFINING A SET OF ARCHITECTURAL REQUIREMENTS FOR
SERVICE-ORIENTED MOBILE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS Nemésio Freitas Duarte Filho and Ellen Francine Barbosa
183
vii
PORTABILITY AND USABILITY OF OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
ON MOBILE DEVICES: A STUDY IN THE CONTEXT OF BRAZILIAN
EDUCATIONAL PORTALS AND ANDROID-BASED DEVICES André Constantino da Silva, Fernanda Maria Pereira Freire, Vitor Hugo Miranda Mourão, Márcio Diógenes de Oliveira da Cruz and Heloísa Vieira da Rocha
191
EVALUATING QR CODE CASE STUDIES USING A MOBILE LEARNING
FRAMEWORK Jenni Rikala
199
DEVELOPING A MOBILE SOCIAL MEDIA FRAMEWORK FOR CREATIVE
PEDAGOGIES Thomas Cochrane, Laurent Antonczak, Matthew Guinibert and Danni Mulrennan
207
FACTORS AFFECTING M-LEARNERS’COURSE SATISFACTION
AND LEARNING PERSISTENCE Young Ju Joo, Sunyoung Joung, Eugene Lim and Hae Jin Kim
215
A FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT MOBILE LEARNING IN MULTILINGUAL
ENVIRONMENTS Mmaki E. Jantjies and Mike Joy
222
SHORT PAPERS
MOBILE TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATED PEDAGOGICAL MODEL Arshia Khan
233
REPRESENTATIONS OF AN INCIDENTAL LEARNING FRAMEWORK
TO SUPPORT MOBILE LEARNING Eileen Scanlon, Mark Gaved, Ann Jones, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Lucas Paletta and Ian Dunwell
238
USING MOBILE APPS AND SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ONLINE
LEARNER-GENERATED CONTENT Paul David Henry
243
TWEETING AS A TOOL FOR LEARNING SCIENCE: THE CREDIBILITY
OF STUDENT-PRODUCED KNOWLEDGE CONTENT IN EDUCATIONAL
CONTEXTS Kaja Vembe Swensen, Kenneth Silseth and Ingeborg Krange
247
WHAT MOBILE LEARNING AND WORKING REMOTELY CAN LEARN
FROM EACH OTHER Koen Depryck
252
IN-TIME ON-PLACE LEARNING Merja Bauters, Jukka Purma and Teemu Leinonen
256
M-LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY: ANALYZING BENEFITS
FOR APPRENTICESHIP Carlos Manuel Pacheco Cortés and Adriana Margarita Pacheco Cortés
261
viii
DESIGNING A SITE TO EMBED AND TO INTERACT WITH WOLFRAM
ALPHA WIDGETS IN MATH AND SCIENCES COURSES Francisco Javier Delgado Cepeda and Ruben Dario Santiago Acosta
266
AN ENVIRONMENT FOR MOBILE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Otto Petrovic, Philipp Babcicky and Philipp Babcicky
271
SUPPORTING SITUATED LEARNING BASED ON QR CODES WITH
ETIQUETAR APP: A PILOT STUDY Miguel Olmedo Camacho, Mar Pérez-Sanagustín, Carlos Alario-Hoyos, Xavier Soldani, Carlos Delgado Kloos and Sergio Sayago
277
RAISING AWARENESS OF CYBERCRIME - THE USE OF EDUCATION
AS A MEANS OF PREVENTION AND PROTECTION Julija Lapuh Bele, Maja Dimc, David Rozman and Andreja Sladoje Jemec
281
MOBILE GAME FOR LEARNING BACTERIOLOGY Ryo Sugimura, Sotaro Kawazu, Hiroki Tamari, Kodai Watanabe, Yohei Nishimura, Toshiki Oguma, Katsushiro Watanabe, Kosuke Kaneko, Yoshihiro Okada, Motofumi Yoshida, Shigeru Takano and Hitoshi Inoue
285
THE THEORY PAPER: WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF MOBILE LEARNING? John Traxler and Marguerite Koole
289
RAPID PROTOTYPING OF MOBILE LEARNING GAMES Maija Federley, Timo Sorsa, Janne Paavilainen, Kimo Boissonnier and Anu Seisto
294
PREPARING LESSONS, EXERCISES AND TESTS FOR M-LEARNING
OF IT FUNDAMENTALS S. Djenic, V. Vasiljevic, J. Mitic, V. Petkovic and A. Miletic
299
THE MOTIVATING POWER OF SOCIAL OBLIGATION: AN INVESTIGATION
INTO THE PEDAGOGICAL AFFORDANCES OF MOBILE LEARNING
INTEGRATED WITH FACEBOOK Nurhasmiza Sazalli, Rupert Wegerif and Judith Kleine-Staarman
303
WHEN EVERYONE IS A PROBE, EVERYONE IS A LEARNER Boris Berenfeld, Tatiana Krupa, Arseny Lebedev and Sergey Stafeev
308
MOBILE LEARNING AND ART MUSEUMS: A CASE STUDY OF A NEW ART
INTERPRETATION APPROACH FOR VISITOR ENGAGEMENT THROUGH
MOBILE MEDIA Victoria López Benito
313
LEARNER CENTRIC IN M-LEARNING: INTEGRATION OF SECURITY,
DEPENDABILITY AND TRUST Sheila Mahalingam, Faizal Mohd Abdollah and Shahrin Sahib
318
M-LEARNING PILOT AT SOFIA UNIVERSITY Elissaveta Gourova, Pavlin Dulev, Dessislava Petrova-Antonova and Boyan Bontchev
323
A MOBILE SERVICE ORIENTED MULTIPLE OBJECT TRACKING
AUGMENTED REALITY ARCHITECTURE FOR EDUCATION
AND LEARNING EXPERIENCES Sasithorn Rattanarungrot, Martin White and Paul Newbury
327
ix
REFLECTION PAPERS
LEARNERS’ ENSEMBLE BASED SECURITY CONCEPTUAL MODEL
FOR M-LEARNING SYSTEM IN MALAYSIAN HIGHER LEARNING
INSTITUTION Sheila Mahalingam, Faizal Mohd Abdollah and Shahrin Sahib
335
SUPPORTING THE M-LEARNING BASED KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
IN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION AND CORPORATE SECTOR András Benedek and György Molnár
339
POSTER
THE FUTURE OF UBIQUITOUS ELEARNING Timothy Arndt
347
AUTHOR INDEX
x
xi
FOREWORD
These proceedings contain the papers of the 10th
International Conference on Mobile
Learning 2014, which was organised by the International Association for Development of
the Information Society, in Madrid, Spain, 28 February – 2 March, 2014.
The Mobile Learning 2014 International Conference seeks to provide a forum for the
presentation and discussion of mobile learning research which illustrate developments in
the field. In particular, but not exclusively, we aim to explore the theme of mobile learning
under the following topics:
- Learning analytics and mobile learning
- Cloud computing and mobile learning
- Pedagogical approaches, models and theories for mLearning
- mLearning in and across formal and informal settings
- Strategies and challenges for integrating mLearning in broader educational scenarios
- User Studies in mLearning
- Learner mobility and transitions afforded by mlearning
- Socio-cultural context and implications of mLearning
- Mobile social media and user generated content
- Enabling mLearning technologies, applications and uses
- Evaluation and assessment of mLearning
- Research methods, ethics and implementation of mLearning
- Innovative mLearning approaches
- Tools, technologies and platforms for mLearning
- mlearning: where to next and how?
The Mobile Learning Conference 2014 received 83 submissions from more than 29
countries. Each submission has been anonymously reviewed by an average of 4
independent reviewers, to ensure that accepted submissions were of a high standard.
Consequently only 28 full papers were approved which means an acceptance rate of 15%.
A few more papers were accepted as short papers, reflection papers and poster. An
extended version of the best papers will be published in the International Journal of Mobile
and Blended Learning (ISSN: 1941-8647).
The Conference, besides the presentation of full papers, short papers, reflection papers and
poster also included a keynote presentation from an internationally distinguished
researcher. We would therefore like to express our gratitude to Professor Steve Benford,
Professor of Collaborative Computing in the Mixed Reality Laboratory at the University of
Nottingham, UK, for accepting our invitation as keynote speaker. In addition, Mobile
Learning 2014 features a Panel that is chaired by Nicole M. Kendall, Tennessee State
University - Nashville, TN, USA and Robbie K. Melton, Tennessee Board of Regents -
Nashville, TN, USA
xii
A successful conference requires the effort of many individuals. We would like to thank the
members of the Program Committee for their hard work in reviewing and selecting the
papers that appear in this book. We are especially grateful to the authors who submitted
their papers to this conference and to the presenters who provided the substance of the
meeting. We wish to thank all members of our organizing committee.
Last but not least, we hope that everybody has enjoyed Madrid and their time with
colleagues from all over the world, and we invite you all to next edition of the International
Conference on Mobile Learning in 2015.
Inmaculada Arnedillo Sánchez, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Conference Program Chair
Pedro Isaías, Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University), Portugal
Conference Chair
Madrid, Spain
February 2014
xi
FOREWORD
These proceedings contain the papers of the 10th
International Conference on Mobile
Learning 2014, which was organised by the International Association for Development of
the Information Society, in Madrid, Spain, 28 February – 2 March, 2014.
The Mobile Learning 2014 International Conference seeks to provide a forum for the
presentation and discussion of mobile learning research which illustrate developments in
the field. In particular, but not exclusively, we aim to explore the theme of mobile learning
under the following topics:
- Learning analytics and mobile learning
- Cloud computing and mobile learning
- Pedagogical approaches, models and theories for mLearning
- mLearning in and across formal and informal settings
- Strategies and challenges for integrating mLearning in broader educational scenarios
- User Studies in mLearning
- Learner mobility and transitions afforded by mlearning
- Socio-cultural context and implications of mLearning
- Mobile social media and user generated content
- Enabling mLearning technologies, applications and uses
- Evaluation and assessment of mLearning
- Research methods, ethics and implementation of mLearning
- Innovative mLearning approaches
- Tools, technologies and platforms for mLearning
- mlearning: where to next and how?
The Mobile Learning Conference 2014 received 128 submissions from more than 29
countries. Each submission has been anonymously reviewed by an average of 4
independent reviewers, to ensure that accepted submissions were of a high standard.
Consequently only 28 full papers were approved which means an acceptance rate of 22%.
A few more papers were accepted as short papers, reflection papers and a poster. An
extended version of the best papers will be published in the International Journal of Mobile
and Blended Learning (ISSN: 1941-8647).
The Conference, besides the presentation of full papers, short papers, reflection papers and
a poster also included a keynote presentation from an internationally distinguished
researcher. We would therefore like to express our gratitude to Professor Steve Benford,
Professor of Collaborative Computing in the Mixed Reality Laboratory at the University of
Nottingham, UK, for accepting our invitation as keynote speaker. In addition, Mobile
Learning 2014 features a Panel that is chaired by Nicole M. Kendall, Tennessee State
University - Nashville, TN, USA and Robbie K. Melton, Tennessee Board of Regents -
Nashville, TN, USA
xii
A successful conference requires the effort of many individuals. We would like to thank the
members of the Program Committee for their hard work in reviewing and selecting the
papers that appear in this book. We are especially grateful to the authors who submitted
their papers to this conference and to the presenters who provided the substance of the
meeting. We wish to thank all members of our organizing committee.
Last but not least, we hope that everybody has enjoyed Madrid and their time with
colleagues from all over the world, and we invite you all to next edition of the International
Conference on Mobile Learning in 2015.
Inmaculada Arnedillo Sánchez, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Conference Program Chair
Pedro Isaías, Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University), Portugal
Conference Chair
Madrid, Spain
February 2014
xiii
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
PROGRAM CHAIR
Inmaculada Arnedillo Sánchez, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
CONFERENCE CHAIR
Pedro Isaías, Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University), Portugal
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Abeer Alnuaim, University Of The West Of England Uwe Bristol, United Kingdom
Adamantios Koumpis, Altec Software S.A., Greece
Agostino Marengo, University Of Bari, Italy
Alessandro Caforio, UNINETTUNO University, Italy
Alessandro Pagano, University Of Bari, Italy
Alessio Barbone, University Of Bari, Italy
Alex Voychenko, Irtc, Ukraine
Anastasios Economides, University Of Macedonia, Greece
Anastasios Karakostas, Aristotle University, Greece
Anastopoulou Stamatina, Systems and Products Design, University of the Aeg, Greece
Andrea Pozzali, European University of Rome, Italy
Andreas P. Schmidt, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Angelos Michalas, TEI of Western Macedonia, Greece
Anna Ficarella, La Sapienza University, Italy
Anna Riccioni, University Of Bologna, Italy
Antoanela Naaji, Vasile Goldis Western University, Romania
Antonio Panaggio, Ministry Of Education, Italy
Balsam Alsugair, The Open University, United Kingdom
Beat Doebeli Honegger, Schwyz University of Teacher Education, Switzerland
Boriss F. Misnevs, Transport and Telecommunication Institute, Latvia
Bren Taylor, Service Birmingham, United Kingdom
Brendan Tangney, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Carl Smith, London Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
Carmen Holotescu, Politehnica University Of Timisoara, Romania
Cathleen Norris, University Of North Texas, Usa
Charalampos Karagiannidis, University of Thessaly, Greece
Charles Jennings, Learning & Performance Consultant, United Kingdom
Chengjiu Yin, Kyushu University, Japan
Chiara Rossitto, Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, DSV, Sweden
xiv
Chiu-kuo Liang, Chunghua University, Taiwan
Christoph Richter, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany
Christos Bouras, University Of Patras, Greece
Claire Bradley, Freelance Mlearning / Elearning Consultant, Spain
Clark Quinn, Quinnovation, United States
Claudia Steinberger, University Of Klagenfurt, Austria
Cristina Muntean Hava, National College Of Ireland, Ireland
Daniel Churchill, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong
David Metcalf, University Of Central Florida, Usa
Demetrios Sampson, University Of Pireaus, Greece
Dick Davies, Ambient Performance, United Kingdom
Dumitru Burdescu, University Of Craiova, Romania
Elia Tomadaki, Velti S.A., Greece
Elizabeth Fitzgerald, The Open University, United Kingdom
Emad Bataineh, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates
Erik Duval, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Euripides Loukis, University Of the Aegean, Greece
Fotis Liarokapis, Coventry University, United Kingdom
Franz Lehner, University Of Passau, Germany
George Magoulas, Birbeck College, United Kingdom
Giasemi Vavoula, University Of Leicester, United Kingdom
Giuliana Dettori, ITD-CNR, Italy
Gwo-Jen Hwang, National Taiwan University Of Science and Technolo, Taiwan
Hannu-Matti Jarvinen, Tampere University Of Technology, Finland
Harald Kosch, University of Passau, Germany
Helen Farley, University Of Southern Queensland, Australia
Herman Van Der Merwe, North-West University, South Africa
Hsien-sheng Hsiao, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
Inge de Waard, The Open University, United Kingdom
Ingo Dahn, University Of Koblenz-landau, Germany
Ioannis Anagnostopoulos, University of Thessaly, Greece
Ivana Marenzi, University Of Hanover, Germany
Jane Sinclair, University Of Warwick, United Kingdom
Jekaterina Bule, Riga Technical University, Latvia
Jia-sheng Heh, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan
Jie-Chi Yang, National Central University, Taiwan
Jirarat Sitthiworachart, Walailak University, Thailand
Jo Dugstad Wake, InterMedia, Uni Health, Uni Research, Norway
Jocelyn Wishart, University Of Bristol, United Kingdom
Jorge Couchet, Uned, Spain
Jozef Hvorecky, Vysoka Skola Manazmentu, Slovakia
Juan Manuel Santos-Gago, University of Vigo, Spain
Judith Seipold, London Mobile Learning Group (LMLG), United Kingdom
Judy Brown, Advanced Distributed Learning, United States
Jun-Ming Su, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
xv
Kateryna Synytsya, Irtc Its, Ukraine
Konstantinos Tarabanis, University Of Macedonia, Greece
Kris Isaacson, University Of Minnesota, Usa
Kuo-liang Ou, National Hsin-chu University Of Education, Taiwan
Lam-for Kwok, City University Of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Larissa Zaitseva, Riga Technical University, Latvia
Louise Mifsud, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sc, Norway
Luis Anido-rifon, University Of Vigo, Spain
Lyn Pemberton, University Of Brighton, United Kingdom
Maiga Chang, Athabasca University, Canada
Malamati Louta, University of Western Macedonia, Greece
Marcus Specht, Open University Of The Netherlands, Netherlands
Marguerite Koole, Athabasca University, Canada
Maria Helena Braz, Technical University Of Lisbon, Portugal
Maria Uther, University of Winchester, United Kingdom
Marina Rui, University Of Genova, Italy
Mario Vacca, La Sapienza - University Of Rome, Italy
Markus Rohde, University Of Siegen, Germany
Martin Memmel, German Research Center For Artificial Intelligence, Germany
Michael Beigl, Karlsruhe Institute Of Technology (kit), Germany
Michele Notari, University of Teacher Education Bern, Switzerland
Michelle Pieri, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
Mike Joy, University Of Warwick, United Kingdom
Milan Turcani, Constantine The Philosopher University In Nitra, Slovakia
Monica Divitini, Norwegian University Of Science And Technology, Norway
Moushir M. El-Bishouty, Athabasca University, Canada
Mudasser Wyne, National University, United States
Naif Aljohani, University Of Southampton, United Kingdom
Nicola Doering, Ilmenau University Of Technology, Germany
Nicolaos Protogeros, University Of Macedonia, Greece
Nigel Paine, Napier University, United Kingdom
Oleksiy Voychenko, International Research And Training Center (irtc), Ukraine
Otto Petrovic, University Of Graz, Austria
Paul Hayes, National College Of Ireland, Ireland
Petra Poulova, University Of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Phelim Murnion, Galway-Mayo Institute Of Technology, Ireland
Phillip Benachour, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Pramod Pathak, National College Of Ireland, Ireland
Qing Tan, Athabasca University, Canada
Raffaella Guida, University Of Surrey, United Kingdom
Raquel Trillo Lado, University Of Zaragoza, Spain
Rebecca Hogue, University Of Ottawa, Canada
Roberto Bernazzani, Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Italy
Roza Dumbraveanu, State Pedagogical University "i.creanga", Republic Of Moldova
Sanaz Fallahkhair, University Of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
xvi
Sarah Mount, University Of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
Sean Siqueira, Federal University of the State of Rio De Janeiro , Brazil
Sergio Ilarri, University Of Zaragoza, Spain
Shen Ruimin, Shanghai Jaitong University, China
Shenguan Yu, Beijing Normal University, China
Stella Lee, University of Hertfordshire, Canada
Stephen McNeill, Kennesaw State University, USA
Stephen White, The University Of Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Surya Bahadur Kathayat, Norwegian University Of Science And Technology, Norway
Tamara Powell, Kennesaw State University, USA
Teresa Cerratto-pargman, Stockholm University, Sweden
Thierry Delot, University Of Valenciennes, France
Thrasyvoulos Tsiatsos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Tomayess Issa, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Tzung-shi Chen, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
Vaggelis Kapoulas, Computer Technology Institute And Press Diophantus, Greece
Vjaceslavs Sitikovs, Riga Technical University, Latvia
Werner Beuschel, IBAW, Germany
Yannis P. Psaromiligkos, Technological Education Institute Of Piraeus, Greece
Yuan-kai Wang, Fu Jen University, Taiwan
LEARNING AND TEACHING WITH MOBILE DEVICES AN
APPROACH IN SECONDARY EDUCATION IN GHANA
Margarete Grimus and Martin Ebner Institute for Information Systems Computer Media, Graz University of Technology, Austria
ABSTRACT
While many developing nations find Internet-based e-learning unsuitable for their needs (lack of technology as well as of
accessibility), mobile learning methods – specifically those involving the use of mobile-phones for both formal and
informal learning – hold great promise for them (Grimus et al, 2013b). This article examines the chances and challenges
of the use of mobile devices to support improvement and transformation of education in a Senior High School in Ghana.
It draws attention to the local situation in a field-study looking at infrastructure, development of material and support. A
model for teacher training was designed to facilitate teachers’ attitudes and abilities for implementation of mobile
learning. The article figures out how mobile devices can be integrated in learning and teaching on the specific
background of a school in Ghana. Based on our results we conclude that teachers and students want to use mobile devices
in learning. Their perceptions are positive and they developed courses for specific subjects available for eReaders and
mobile phones. The results and feedback from two workshops encourage us to propose this model as an example for
integration of mobile devices for learning in other regions of Sub Sahara Africa.
KEYWORDS
Mobile devices, didactic potential, content-creation for small screens, collaborative learning.
1. INTRODUCTION
Although the education system in Ghana has witnessed various policy reforms with the aim of ensuring
universal access to improved quality education for all children it is evident that progress towards the
implementation of ICT in education in Ghana has been slow for several reasons, e.g. high cost of information
and communication infrastructure, lack of technical expertise (UNESCO 2012, Grimus et al, 2013a) There is
growing concern in Africa about the use of computers to support learning, but the general state of
pedagogical integration of ICTs in Ghana is low (Yianda, 2010) ‘Computers and mobile technologies are
revolutionizing what we know and how we know it, and hence what we learn and how we can learn it’… ‘we
should however be careful not to obscure the nuances and differences between individual devices and
technologies and the various ways in which different cultures and societies adopt and adapt them’. (Traxler,
2010, p.15) Traxler points out that ethics, behavior, fashion and language are expressions of identity,
community and nature and the use of mobile devices has therewith an increasing impact with implications for
the working of education institutions. (Traxler, 2010, p.9) The general idea of the study is to explore how secondary education in Ghana can benefit from new
developments in mobile technologies together with new didactical approaches. (Huber, 2012) A research project was designed to help teachers at Senior High Technical School in Ghana to use ICT for professional development (1st workshop) and to develop content for mobile learning with teachers and students in a follow-up event (2nd workshop). The aim is to provide students a possibility to access learning material on their own mobile phones whenever they demand it and to produce content particular to local demands. Mobile phones use a small screen and are limited as an input medium. This makes structuring content even more important (Huber and Ebner, 2013). Delivering knowledge ‘chunked’ means that content is structured and connected in very different ways from common lectures and books. (Traxler, 2010, p. 14)
The project is designed on small scale, based on the environment and specific needs of the school in Keta. It runs without external funds, but has a strong focus on the practicability in the field. The overall research goal is to develop a model for integration of mobile devices at Keta Senior High Technical School in Ghana,to empower teachers to activate similar adoption in other schools.
ISBN: 978-989-8704-02-3 © 2014 IADIS
66
2. METHODOLOGY
Objectives of the research: The study tries to carry out on-site conditions for using mobile technologies for
teaching and learning in Ghana. The major research questions are defined as following:
1. How can mobile learning strategies be implemented in the field?
2. How can this experiences help for further strategies on learning and teaching in Sub Sahara Africa
(SSA)
Therefore the study looks in particular to following areas:
· How can teachers contribute to implement mobile learning?
· Preconditions and necessities to be addressed to enable mobile learning.
· Can access to digital content be improved by using mobile phones?
Research Methods: The research work was conducted as an on-site field study with qualitative interviews
and quantitative questionnaires, carried out during two workshops (September 2012 and 2013) for teacher-
training in Keta, Ghana, at Senior High Technical School (KETASCO, http://ketasco.com/). Data collection
was executed in two cycles (anonymously).
· Online-surveys: In September 2012 only teachers from Keta region participated, in September 2013
teachers and students from the school took part.
· Post-workshop-feedback (surveys after both workshops).
3. RESEARCH STUDY
The school is expelled in rankings for a high standard of education, looks back to a long tradition, and is
participating in different competitions in the country (e.g. sports, robotics). The campus (boarding school) is
situated close to the sea and Keta Lagoon in the south of Ghana, hosting a Junior and a Senior High
Technical Secondary School (SHSS) with about 2.800 students and 101 teachers. Each class holds about 40-
60 students. Most of the students of SHSS, aged 15-20 years, live at the campus, so do many of the teachers,
which provides the chance of informal contact of students and teachers besides school time.
From a technical perspective there is one computer-lab (about 15 PC’s, WLAN and a projector) with MS
Windows as operating system and MS-Office on board. Internet is only available in the computer lab and the
bandwidth is low, which causes problems when more persons try to connect to the Internet at the same time;
the connection is unstable.
3.1 Research Study 1: Basic ICT-Skills for Teachers- Digital Literacy for 21st
Century
The 1st Workshop was scheduled for two weeks at the end of school vacation in September 2012 (10 days, 50
hours). At that time final exams are finished, teachers are available without competing lectures. A
government program was put into place just few months ago, where teachers were given laptops for free; the
timing fit nicely with the project.
Aims of the workshop: The main objective of the workshop was to equip teachers with computer and
Internet-skills to integrate digital media in teaching and therewith to support the learning and teaching
process. New didactical approaches and methods should be developed, adequate to environment and culture
of the region, as well as learning material for this purpose. The workshop addressed the use of digital
technology and communication tools in teaching, pedagogical aspects, and to enhance personal skills in
digital literacy. The course focused on motivating teachers to explore new methods in using office-tools, e.g.
presentations: structuring text, visualization by integration of images, diagrams and tables, to explain facts
offered otherwise mainly in textbooks and photocopies, or even only available in one book on the table of the
teacher.
Topics of the workshop:
· Pedagogy and didactics: How to enhance teaching and learning by using ICT for preparation and in class
teaching. Integration of collaborative learning by using digital devices in subject-teaching.
· Computer- and Internet-skills to develop learning materials, presentations, assessments.
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· Integration of presentations in class-teaching: layout of worksheets and posters (structure, integration of
tables and images), spreadsheets (visualizing data in diagrams).
· Evaluation of open online resources (OER)
· Link-lists for self-conducted learning
· Development of a digital portfolio as an example to recap learning outcomes.
Participants: The workshop was designed to take 15 teachers who are encouraged to pass their learned
skills on to students and colleagues afterwards. For registration the teachers completed a pre-training survey
(basic computer-skills, subject of teaching, expectations of the training). Teachers of KETASCO were
addressed as the main target audience, finally few teachers from other schools participated. Two thirds of the
teachers used their personal laptops, half of them were the donations of the above mentioned ‘free laptop for
teachers’ project.
3.2 Research Study 2: ‘Teach to Learn – Learn to Teach’. Integration of
Mobile Devices to Improve Learning Outcomes
The outcome of the first workshop together with the discussions at the ministry of education for further
developments in education in Ghana ended up in the decision to continue the project with a follow-up
workshop. For the second workshop a better infrastructure was proposed. An extension of the course should
allow more time for individual projects and practice. The 2nd
Workshop was scheduled with duration of three
weeks in September 2013, 60 hours course-lessons and additional guided practice: 10 days teacher training, 5
days (third week) students and teachers work together; practical issues.
The workshop focused on learning and teaching with integration of mobile devices, addressing the
development of digital content and guidelines for best practice. ‘Mobile devices affect many aspects of the
process by which knowledge, ideas, images, information and hence learning are produced, stored, distributed,
delivered and consumed’. (Traxler, 2010, p.13) Low cost and affordable mobile phones in Africa are
developing a new conduit for learning. Instructional design suitable for desktop computers does not transfer
well to mobile phones. (Batchelor, Botha, 2009) To elaborate on a topic a deeper insight may be gained by
creation of micro-content, e.g. adjusting material which is available online or in books for local demands,
integrating images, figures and graphs. Ethics and cultural aspects gained during the first workshops were
considered.
Aims of the workshop: Teachers integrate learning with mobile devices at Senior Technical High School
to improve learning outcomes. With regard to the didactic and pedagogical potential the creation of digital
portfolios, presentations and content-chunks leads to self-directed learning, learning by doing and by
experiences. Teachers are encouraged to transfer their new didactic/pedagogic insights to students and
colleagues. This can shift teaching methods to more efficiency in knowledge-achievement and learning.
Topics of the workshop:
· Didactical methods: Evaluation of digital learning material e.g. Open Content, OER; Licenses; Creative
Commons; Simple English Wikipedia, etc. and possibilities for integration in teaching.
· Creation of locally relevant digitized content for subject-teaching; upload of micro-content (epub, pdf) to
mobile phones.
· Integration of collaborative mobile learning methods: Cloud (drop-box) for micro-content development,
feedback and reviews.
· Hands on: Development of a personal digital portfolio; specific tools, e.g. ABC platform for
transformation of content into eBooks: https://ebook.tugraz.at/ (Nagler et al., 2012), test of output with
mobile phones (NOKIA E5-00) and eReader; peer-review.
· Guidelines: ‘Best practice – mobile devices for learning’.
Participants: 20 teachers from KETASCO registered for the course (basic computer and MS-Office-skills
were requested, a personal laptop appreciated), in the third week additional 13 students participated fulltime,
while 5 teachers had left the course. A student of KETASCO assisted in technical and organizational aspects,
his support was highly appreciated and contributed to the success of the workshop.
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4. RESULTS
4.1 General Results
Pedagogy: Different methods of pedagogy in class teaching (Ghana / Europe) were figured out. In Ghana
methods of teaching are dominantly frontal; memorization of text is common practice. Even in SHSS ICT is
only taught in specific ICT-classes, tests in ICT are carried out in paper writing. The results of the online-
surveys during the two workshops indicated that mobile technologies and digital devices are rarely used in
educational context so far.
It can be pointed out that teachers highly appreciated methods of group work and cooperation, which they
experienced during the workshops (see feedback of the workshops in 4.2 and 4.3). Peer-review and different
modes of interaction were also introduced in the courses.
Infrastructure: Frequent power outage impairs the work in the computer-lab (PC’s and router).
Online Survey: With regard to the online-surveys it has to be mentioned that in September 2012 only
teachers participated in the survey, while in 2013 teachers and students were encouraged to participate.
Although the numbers are low the percentage is given in addition, to allow easier comparison of the results in
the specific groups. In table 1 and table 2 data of ownership and types of different devices are figured out.
Table 1. ‘Which of these devices do you own?’
Teachers 2012 Teachers 2013 Students 2013
Ownership n =36 n=18 n=43
Mobile phone 31 86% 17 94% 40 93%
Computer (desktop or tower) 20 56% 9 50% 13 30%
Laptop or Netbook 27 70% 12 67% 15 35%
Tablet 5 14% 2 11% 2 5%
Digital Camera/Video 14 39% 4 22% 5 12%
Other (Kindle, iPod) 2 6% 3 17% 4 9%
Table 2. ‘Which type of mobile phone do you have?’
Teachers 2012 Teachers 2013 Students 2013
Type of mobile phone n =31 n=17 n=40
Smart-phone 15 48% 8 47% 15 38%
Feature-phone 4 13% 2 12% 9 23%
Common (basic) mobile phone 12 39% 7 41% 13 33%
Don’t know 0 0% 0 0% 3 8%
As it is seen in table 1 and 2 there is only a slight difference in the data of teachers in year 2012 and 2013.
While ownership of mobile phones of teachers and students show nearly similar high rates there is a
considerable difference with regard to the ownership of computers and laptops or notebooks. Furthermore it
is from interest that only seven teachers (56 in total) do not own a computer or laptop, compared to another
ten having at least more than one. In contrast only about one third of the students own a computer, another
third a laptop. It is definitely possible for the majority of teachers to develop content with a computer or
laptop, while most of the students have access to it when it is available on mobile phones. Mobile devices
allow to access content even during power-outages. Table 3 shows teachers’ and students’ possibilities of
Internet access with mobile phones.
Table 3. ‘Do you have Internet access with your mobile phone?’
Teachers 2012 Teachers 2013 Teachers total Students 2013
Availability of Internet-asccess n =31 n=17 n =48 n=40
Yes, always 24 77% 11 65% 35 73% 31 77%
Yes, but only when Wi-Fi is available 4 13% 2 12% 6 12% 4 10%
No, can’t access the Internet 3 10% 4 24% 7 15% 5 13%
In table 3 a difference to access the Internet with mobile phones can be pointed out only in the small
group of teachers in September 2013. This may be due to the small number of the sample, but looking at the
total numbers of teachers and students no significant difference can be figured out: 85 % of teachers and 87
% of students can access online content at least when Wi-Fi is available.
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4.2 Research Study –Workshop 1
Outcome: The first workshop addressed basic ICT literacy with a focus on pedagogy. Although the
participants had answered a pre-questionnaire with regard to ICT skills it turned out that this ranged from
difficulties in saving a file to basic skills in video-editing; most common was text-processing and use of
Facebook. Few teachers expressed the use of www for preparation of their lessons to some extent. All
teachers used mobile phones for phone-calls, although most of them could access mobile Internet only few
used it. As a possible reason was figured out that less than a third were familiar with basic Internet skills. It
was difficult for them to create a portfolio, to extract keywords from a presentation or to formulate short
statements on ICT related topics with own words. Finally 14 teachers fulfilled the requirements (course-
attendance, portfolio, worksheets and presentations) and received a certificate for successful completion.
The course-feedback was targeted to how the workshop changed teachers’ views of teaching in
classroom practice. They were asked to review on how they have benefited by improving ICT-skills and
didactical methods. Unfortunately a virus-attack followed by power-outage did not allow saving the
feedbacks on pen-drives, only three of private laptops could be received. Some statements with regard on
teaching are given as examples: ‘… can offer better guidance to my students and on how to use search
engines and ICT tools more effectively’, ‘…integrate the new skills in subsequent teaching: how to produce
better documents in Word, Powerpoint and Excel to meet professional standards and to improve learning
outcomes’, ‘the use of digital literacy methods in teaching would have positive impact on the cognitive and
affective domains of the learners’.
In a follow-up online survey concerns of teachers’ perceptions towards future developments for learning
with integration of mobile devices were requested. A five-point Likert-Scale is preferred for the reactions of
the perception in the research. For each of the statements there is an obligation to be classified with one of
the five categories: I strongly agree / I agree / neutral / I do not agree / I strongly disagree. The answers
gathered were graded between 1 and 5 points, giving five points to category ‘I strongly agree’ and one point
to the category ‘I strongly disagree’. The average gives an overall perception of the item specified.
In table 4 teachers’ perception of having material available on an own mobile device are given, on similar
questions for teachers (T) and students (St): ‘Would you agree that having course material available on your
mobile device would be beneficial for teaching?’ (T) …..’would be beneficial for the learning process?’(St)
Table 4. Comparison: Teachers and students perceptions of course material available on mobile devices.
I strongly disagree I disagree neutral I agree I strongly agree Answers total Course material
Average
T St T St T St T St T St T St T St
1 0 0 2 1 3 8 14 19 12 29 31 Slides 4.52 4.16
1 0 0 0 3 2 5 16 19 13 28 31 Lecture Notes 4.46 4.35
1 1 0 3 3 3 9 11 15 11 28 29 Quizzes 4.32 3.97
1 0 0 1 2 1 9 16 15 10 27 28 Link-List 4,37 4,25
1 0 0 1 4 2 8 14 16 13 29 30 eBooks 4.31 4.30
The findings can be interpreted that both, teachers’ perceptions (average 4.4 points) as well as students
(average 4.2 points) towards availability of different course material on mobile devices are highly positive.
The result shows clearly that banning mobiles at school – which is common state – cannot be a realistic long-
term solution.
Challenges: Infrastructure and equipment in the computer-lab did not meet the expected requirements:
Frequent power-outages and lack of Internet-connection heavily affected the workshop. This was also the
mostly complained issue by the participants. The PCs’ were not well maintained and full of viruses; due to
disconnection of the Internet no updates were possible. Hence the proposed topic ‘Basic Internet-skills and
best-practice – Internet for learning and teaching’ could not be performed to the extent as planned: It was not
possible to address main topics of the course-curriculum without Internet, thus some of the proposed
activities had to be cancelled (evaluation of OER with regard to local demands; upload of micro-content;
installation of free software).
After the workshop a meeting was held at the Ministry of Education in Accra with a delegate of the
ministry, the headmaster and two teachers. The outcome of the workshop was discussed and a continuation of
the project was proposed. Support of service and substantial improvements with Internet-connectivity were
promised for the follow-up workshop, installation of solar-power and improvement of Wi-Fi-connectivity
were discussed.
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4.3 Research Study –Workshop 2
The second workshop focused on preparing teachers to understand how mobile technologies can be
incorporated effectively into teaching and support students’ learning. To overcome the challenges recognized
in the first workshop the second workshop was developed to focus on learning and teaching strongly by
integration of mobile devices. In the second workshop it was recognized that a lot had changed in teaching
after the first workshop: Teachers were more open-minded to new teaching methods.
For testing 20 mobile phones (second hand Nokia E5-00 smart-phones, 256k display colours, 10 days
standby, Micro-SDHC 2GB included inbox) and 5 eReader (TrekSTor E-Book Reader Pyrus mini, 4,3”
Digital Ink) were brought from Europe, together with an additional WLAN router to support mobile Internet
access.
Outcome: Based on the experience (power-outages) during the first phase of the workshop the need of
flexibility in planning lessons was clearly recognized. Teachers were open-minded to learn about benefits
and practiced new didactical approaches by using mobile devices.
In order to rethink methods of learning and teaching the following thesis was proposed: ‘In five years all
textbooks in Ghanaian Senior High Secondary Schools (SHSS) are provided as eBooks. Discuss in groups
(2-3 teachers) possible consequences for a) teaching, b) learning, c) schools!’ The outcome was presented as
posters on paper, due to power-outage at the time.
Students were introduced by teachers in creating a digital portfolio and use of a drop-box. The importance
of development of guidelines by teachers together with students was clearly identified.
A final (anonymous) evaluation on three main issues, executed by four external examiners (teachers from
other SHSS), approved the success of the course, the quality of the material developed, and gave positive
feedback to the participants.
· Teachers portfolios: Assessment on the quality of reports, structure, achieved learning outcomes,
keywords, take-home-statements and summary.
· Course-units developed by teachers and students (small groups, 1-2 teachers+ 1-2 students); specific
topics, available on mobile devices. Assessment of course-structure, -design, appropriate for small
screens, patterns of visualization, e.g. images.
· Guidelines – Best Practice-Posters. Assessment checked on completeness.
Courses were developed on the topics ‘Classification of Computer Hardware, Adolescence Pregnancy,
Atomic Bonds, Adolescence Chastity, Projectiles, Projectiles, English Nouns, Law of Agency, Elements of
Design, Demand, SET Theory’, just to name some. The screenshots below can give an idea of the eBooks.
Image 1 illustrates the structure of a course-unit on the topic ‘Classification of Computer Hardware’ and
shows the associated task. In image 2 the learning objectives of the course-topic ‘Atom Physics’ are
displayed.
Image 1.
eBook :Classification of
Computer Hardware.
Image 2. eBook: Basics of
Atom Physics.
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The course-feed-back to included 13 items for students and 15 for teachers. It was planned as online-
survey, but due to power-outage it was conducted on paper. In table 5 examples of answers to open questions
are given.
Table 5. Specific issues were questioned, answers of students and teachers.
Teachers (n=12) Students (n=13)
Comments: Benefits
Ten teachers reported ‘new ideas for teaching’; ‘appreciate the practical part
and activities, teamwork’; ‘appreciated working together with students;
’benefits for learning by integrating what I have learned in the workshop’.
‘learnt that I can use my mobile phone for more than just for gaming’;
‘realized that I can do much more with my mobile’; ‘makes learning easier’;
‘can get more information on my own without having to contact my
teacher’; ‘easier sharing information with friends and teachers’; read
eBooks’. ‘aids my study-plan, getting information quick’.
Comments: Challenges
‘poor’ Wi-Fi availability, ‘devices and Internet-connectivity – costs; ‘lack
of mobile devices and infrastructure’ ; ‘students are not allowed to bring
mobile phones to class’.
‘mobile devices at school are not allowed’ (5 x), disruptive attention in
class’, ‘rules need to be changed’.
Individual knowledge of ‘how can mobile devices benefit in teaching and support students’ learning’
Before / after workshop: poor 4/ 0, fair 4/ 0, good 4/ 8, excellent 0/ 4. Before / after workshop: poor 3/ 0, fair 9/ 0, good 1/ 4, excellent 0/ 9.
Comments: Like best’
‘practical aspect, hands on’; ‘new methods of learning and teaching’;
‘interactive nature of the workshop/ group work’.
‘built new student-teacher- relationship’; ‘practical aspects’; ‘creating own
content and presentations’.
Free comments
‘program should keep running’; ‘opened my eyes to new ideas of teaching’;
‘enhances teaching’; ‘teachers need regularly continued professional
development’; necessary for 21st century teachers’, need more of it’.
Students expressed high appreciation of co-working with their teachers and
creation of content and presentations together.
Comments to ‘like least,’ teachers and students: frequent power outages, Internet disconnection
Teachers were asked about their knowledge of pedagogical and didactical methods to integrate mobile
devices in teaching and learning before and after the workshop: Results: poor 2/ 0, fair 6/ 1, good 3/ 6,
excellent 1/ 5.
In the online survey (September 2013) concerns of teachers’ and students’ awareness and perception of
learning and teaching with mobile devices were questioned. Two teachers and six students reported the use of
‘free mobile content available on mobile devices’, while 13 (72%) teachers and 25(58%) students ‘haven’t
used it, but would like to do so’. A similar question as in workshop 1 (Table 4) addressed preferences for
different types of material for mobile devices: ‘Do you agree that having course material available on your
mobile device would be beneficial for teaching? (teachers, T), ‘….for learning? (students, St). The outcome
is similar to the results of the previous year and indicates that all items are highly appreciated (all >4 points,
max. 5): Slides are rated with 4.6 points (T) and 4.2 (St); Lecture Notes: 4.6 (T), 4.3 (St); Quizzes: 4.2 (T and
St), Link-List: 4.3 (T), 4.2 (St); eBooks: 4.4 (T and St). For details of the evaluation-method see online-
survey in workshop 1.
The requirements for the final certificate of the workshop included fulltime participation in the workshop,
a digital portfolio and course-content on a topic of the curriculum of the subject taught at school, available on
a mobile-phone and eBook. Finally 14 certificates were handed over to teachers by the headmaster in the
general assembly during the opening ceremony, together with awards for the best three in each category:
course-content, portfolio, guidelines for best-practice.
Challenges: The most unpleasant experience was the frequent power-outages and the restricted
bandwidth (Wi-Fi). It caused timeouts and uncountable restarts, e.g. uploads to the ABC-system (online-
system for developing courses and convert them to eBooks). Although mobile Internet was installed the
connection did not supply sufficient performance necessary for working in parallel groups (Huber et al.,
2008).
5. DISCUSSION
While computer-labs and desktop-computers are scarce in schools in developing countries mobile networks,
mobile phones and now smart-phones have the potential to question new approaches to learning and teaching
(Traxler, 2011). Mobile penetration compensates the lack of infrastructure, which offers the chance to
provide on- and off-line content for learning and knowledge-creation, accessible with mobile devices.
Infrastructure: In contrast to Europe ownership of a laptop or computer is not common with students in
Higher Secondary Schools, while mobile-phones are predominant (chapter 4.1, table 1). Frequent power-
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outages challenge learning-activities with computers. Internet in public schools is not usual, and if, it is only
accessible in the computer-lab. Low bandwidth challenges teamwork in groups with timeouts in addition to
power-outages. To avoid the problems by converting content to eBooks online, offline tools need to be
installed.
Benefits: Incorporating students to create digital content together with their teachers has shown positive
aspects with creative ideas in structuring content in ‘chunks’ for mobile devices. A drop-box was appreciated
and frequently used as a tool for exchange and feedback. It is recommended to download content to inbox-
SD Cards; Micro SD Cards in eBooks and smart-phones can hold a lot of content, hence learning material is
available on mobile devices anytime. Mobile phones and eReader provide the opportunity to access content
with mobile Internet or Wi-Fi in times of power off for a couple of days, while laptops have limitations due
to the battery-life. It allows learning in the evenings, when students come together in their classes, without
teachers, for individual learning in peer groups. A local mobile network could help with downloads to
students’ devices.
Pedagogy: In his publication at the conference on ‘digital future’ Traxler pointed out that ‘mobile devices
will soon support every pedagogic option including the didactic and the discursive, the individual learning
and the social’. (Traxler, 2010) Frequent power outages require high flexibility - to switch suddenly from
online research to tasks without computer/ Internet-access. At the same time it offers chances for more
interactivity and group-work, for discussions and alternative tasks, even to get out of a class, take a photo
with the mobile phone, relevant for the topic discussed or with respect to the local environment, and present
it later to the audience.
To engage students in learning together with their teachers was experienced in the second workshop.
Together they became familiar with creating digital portfolios and developing content for specific local
demands, using a drop-box for cooperation and feedback. The courses created are contextualized and
culturally sensitive. Students as well as teachers expressed high appreciation of co-working and inspiring
interactions, which led to rethink the common tracks of learning and teaching.
Guidelines - Best practice: Schools worldwide have traditionally banned mobile phones in the classroom.
According to the findings in the surveys it can be concluded that teachers’ perceptions of integration of
mobile devices for learning are positive. In the workshop they experienced benefits and challenges together
with students and developed guidelines for ‘good practice using mobile devices for learning’. The second
workshop led to a better understanding of the issue than theoretical statements. A similar acceptance was
found in the interview with the headmaster. In the opening ceremony of the new term the headmaster
reported to all students and teachers about new trends coming up in education. He pointed out that this could
help to become more critical thinkers, referred to new didactical methods and benefits by integrating mobile
devices in learning and teaching. He proposed a reform of guidelines for use of mobile devices (mobile
phones and eBooks) at school.
6. CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK
The project in Ghana is on small scale and looks to develop a model for integration of new methods of
learning and teaching with mobile devices. It was put in place to receive feedback on achievements and
failures. The research provides first findings about teachers’ perceptions towards activities using mobile
devices in Ghana. Infrastructure and organizational aspects, chances and challenges were experienced in real
environment. Main issues of the research were infrastructure, topics and content of workshops on teachers’
professional development as a starting point for changes in education for the 21st century, where mobile
devices play an important role in daily life and influence rethinking of methods and didactics of teaching.
Content copied at school to Micro SD Cards integrated in mobile devices can help to avoid high costs for
data access with mobile Internet. Although mobile Internet is slow and has low bandwidth mobile devices
can be used to access content in clouds and during power outage.
We can conclude that teachers and students want to use mobile devices for learning. The perceptions are
positive. Digital skills as well as didactical methods, necessary for developing content, were addressed, and
as reported in the feedback, it can be resumed that the strategies were successful. The results can help to
improve delivery of teacher- training and implementation of similar strategies in other schools in the region.
Teachers are highly motivated to continue and build up a trainee group at school. At the time of writing a
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group of students has started with development of micro-content for mobile devices. They are tutored by the
assistant, who supported the 2nd
workshop and who is in close online contact with the course-leader. Together
we will try to close the gap between the course in 2013 and the follow-up course in 2014.
The experiences from two workshops encourage us to propose this model as an example for integration in
other regions of Sub Sahara Africa with similar environment and infrastructure, and where similar challenges
can be determined. Teamwork with students offered new insights as well for teachers as for students and can
be recognized as a basis for further developments in teaching and learning. We hope that the expertise gained
in the workshops will affect further developments. To assure the continuation in the developments a further
workshop is planned for 2014.
It can be resumed that teachers are starting to take advantage of the opportunities of mobile phones for
learning. In summary it takes time for fundamental changes and developing new insights to change
traditional ways of teaching and learning towards learning with mobile devices, but it has already started.
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