This week’s reading provides me a direct understanding of the technological integration of mobile devices into the learning experiences. The affordance of mobile devices, e.g., computing power, connectivity, and mobility, extends the range of learning environment, facilitates the social construction for collective knowledge, and enhances the learning in authentic contexts. However, the issues of adoption, availability, assessment, and etc. still challenge its future in the realm of learning.

Hsu and Ching’s (2012) paper investigates the practice of integrating mobile microblogging in an online course to promote learning in authentic contexts. Microblogging, as blogging, enables users for personal publication and interactive communication but it has a lower maximum of words. Participants in this study are required to have a smartphone or mobile device for this course and a university grant will provide support for those who did not have one to ensure they can meet the technological requirement. Participants post at least one tweet each week about the design topic and also comment on others’ posts, which lasts for nine weeks. Those tweets are used as the major source for the data analysis and the result indicates that microblogging can “promote learning in authentic contexts”, “reinforce formal learning with informal learning”, and also “enhance social learning”. Even though the character limit, microblogging increases the deep conversation through short but frequent exchanges. However, several challenges are also recognized such as the availability of mobile devices, the restriction of hashtag, and etc. The issue of availability reengaged me into the through of “digital equity” and further extend my understanding on the equity. Microblogging and other mobile learning strategies highly rely on mobile devices which causes learning goals cannot be achieved without the basic equipment. Additionally, not all the users are interested in the upgrading of the device, which will also bring about the decrease of the learning outcome.

Martin, Pastore, and Snider (2012) examine the instructional practice of incorporating mobile web applications in the learning process. The goal is to enable participants to create a systematic mobile instructional system with Dreamweaver. Participants are initially required to upload a 10-minute instructional movie clip of the subject matter that they want to focus on. Then the instructor show participants the basic techniques on how to use Dreamweaver to create instructional materials and provide scaffolding for participants to move on. With those scaffolding, participants work on their websites individually and then present to the class for feedback in order to complete the collective construction. At the end of the research, participants are expected to reflect their design practice and three challenges concerning the design issues are highlighted from their responses, e.g., small size of screen, usability (simplified navigation and organization), and the design of contents (concerning the size of screen and downloading speed). Based on the research project, researchers proposed several suggestions on the design of instructional practice with mobile device. The first is about the mobile development and delivery methods and researchers discussed the choice between mobile apps and mobile websites in perspectives of accessibility, development, and functionality. The second addresses the product testing which concerns whether the free online space is available for users to test their design. Finally, researchers indicate that it is essential for users to test their products outside the school/classroom. They argued that for the mobile websites, similar emulation program cannot satisfy the current need and more precise emulation programs are in need.

In summary, the instructional practice of integrating mobile devices helps students combine formal learning with informal learning, which promotes learning in authentic contexts, enhances social learning, and intensifies the metacognition.

My research interests address K-12 learning as well as adult learning. In addition to those two examples, I will share two examples of incorporating mobile devices into learning practice. The first one is used in the language learning (see attachment). The success of language learning is limited by the time that students engage in language learning activities outside the classroom and the absence of opportunities and motivation in practical contexts (Liu, Tan, and Chu, 2010). Therefore, researchers expect to construct a context-aware immersive learning context supported by Augmented Reality (AR) technologies to facilitate language learning. AR is an excellent educational application in terms of its ability to embed digital objects into a real environment (Hughes, Stapleton, Hughes, & Smith, 2005). Liu, et al. (2010) proposed a QR code and AR-supported English learning environment, called Handheld English Language Learning Organization (HELLO). HELLO system relied on the HELLO server and m-Tools and allowed students to acquire context-aware resources with their mobile phones and WLAN. With the detected identification code sent from students’ mobile phone when they took pictures to decrypt QR code, the server located students and sent the context-aware contents back to their phones. HELLO system turned out to be rather feasible and promising in Taiwan after a pilot study.  For example, if an instructor of English Learning Center (ELC) made a QR code of English reading materials and sent it to the server, students could finish their reading tasks even when they were waiting in lines for their food in the cafeteria.

The second one is about K-12 children’s reading but it is still in the phase of proposal. Motivation is considered as one integral component of children’s academic success including reading activity. However, research indicates that children’s reading motivation decreases with the increase of their ages, which fuels the phenomenon, “fourth grade slump”. In order to increase children’s reading motivation, the development team founds the subscription service called Bookboard and also creates its mobile app compatible with iPad. Bookboard incorporates game mechanics, parental involvement, and metacognition, which are supposed to increase children’s self-efficacy, stimulate intrinsic motivation, and help them define prosocial goals. Since the app is located on iPad, children can complete reading activity anytime and/or anywhere. Above all, this app demonstrates great potential to be incorporated in the instructional practices.

Reference:

Bookboard, INC (2013) Bookboard.com.

Hsu, Y. C., & Ching, Y. H. (2012). Mobile microblogging: Using Twitter and mobile devices in an online course to promote learning in authentic contexts. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 13 (4), 211-227.

Hughes, C. E., Stapleton, C. B., Hughes, D. E., & Smith, E. M. (2005). Mixed reality in education, entertainment, and training. Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE, 25(6), 24-30.

Liu, T. Y., Tan, T. H., & Chu, Y. L. (2010). QR code and augmented reality-supported mobile English learning system. In Mobile Multimedia Processing(pp. 37-52). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Martin, F., Pastore, R., & Snider, J. (2012). Developing mobile based instruction. TechTrends, 56 (5), 46-51.

QR Code and Augmented Reality-Supported Mobile English Learning System

Bransford, Stevens, Schwartz, Meltzoff, Pea, Roschelle, Vye, Kuhl, Bell, Barron, Reeves, and Sabelli (2006) indicate the trend of synergy for learning in the next phase of development. As of their insights, learning activities are not separate but interrelated with each other and finally synergize to establish a new learning era. Authors categorize learning activities into three formats, implicit learning, informal learning and formal learning.

Implicit learning is defined as receiving knowledge in an unconscious and effortless way. This sort of learning activities can be tracked in many settings and start early in people’s lives. Based on neuroscience findings, implicit learning draws our attention to “critical period” for learning and states that toddlers will overproduce the synapse and then prune as ages increase. When they are young, children are not thoroughly committed and can generate more than one “mental filter” that expands the learning ranges.

Informal learning provides us the practical context that we can be situated in for knowledge transfer and it was the most common learning context that we can face in everyday life. Formal learning normally refers to the education context of schooling or traditional instruction. Up to now, more emphasis is placed in the combination of those three learning strands. It is widely agreed that three learning strands synergies to improve peoples’ effective learning.

I do agree with the trend of synergy for learning and the idea of life-long learning. In fact, when I was young, I was instilled the idea that “never too old to learn” with a number of examples of celebrities but I cannot understand what it denotes. With the accumulation of knowledge, I consider life-long learning as an ideal condition for self-learning that will be based on the synergy of three strands of learning. To be a life-long learner, people should be intrinsically motivated and integrate various learning strands in the everyday learning context. It is impossible for learners to permanently stay in one context that means leaners will move among implicit learning, informal learning, and formal learning. Exposed to various contexts, learners are supposed to be situated in and also construct or solidify knowledge foundation according to their will. This also addresses the requirement of self-regulated learning to complete the synergy and knowledge transfer. Self-regulated learning not only accumulates a sum of knowledge but also requires learners to develop metacognition, motivate themselves intrinsically, and assess learning process on their own, which more focuses on learning abilities and motivation. Normally when learners are intrinsically motivated, they can develop that sort of lasting attachment to learning in a certain context. Then when they move to a new context, self-regulated learners can complete the transfer of knowledge and monitor how the process achieved their goals, which is quite beneficial since learning is a complex system situated ubiquitously in the everyday life.

Reference:

Bransford, J., Stevens, R., Schwartz, D., Meltzoff, A. N., Pea, R., Roschelle, J., Vye, N., Kuhl, P. K., Bell, P., Barron, B., Reeves, B., & Sabelli, N. (2006). Learning theories and education: Toward a decade of synergy. In P. Alexander & P. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (2nd ed. ed., pp. 209-244). Mahwah, NJ: : Erlbaum.

This week’s reading denotes the “identity” embedded in the technological practice. Gee (2000) introduces four perspectives of identity that can be formed and claims four perspectives are not separate from each other but interchangeable though various contexts. Then he analyzes that the wealth is accumulated through the access to a specific network and the discoursed information. Pea et al. (2012) examines effects of the media use, face-to-face communication, and media multitasking on the social well-being among 8- to 12- year-old girls. The research provides evidence to argue that face-to-face communication is neither a substitute for nor a complement to online communication and online communication or facilitated interaction through online tools cannot ensure the healthy social experiences, which urge a new media landscape for child development. Turkle (2008) investigates the concept of “tethered self” and what changes are brought by the connections.

Mobile phones bring us convenience, interactivity, and mobility but as a new media, it also causes a new reform to the information and identity. As of my concern, social well-being seems to decrease because of the intensive use of mobile phones. To me, a strange phenomenon occurs that the interactive communication with friends from my home country become less in contrast with that the technology makes the communication more convenient and rapid. More often, a majority of friends around me can use their mobile phones for SNS but they tend to view others’ information rather than post for themselves and interact with friends. This week’s reading reminds me of the significance of identity in the social interaction and collaboration. After graduating from the undergraduate study, we entered different realm and devoted to distinct careers. As Gee (2000) indicates, we formed various A-identities which are based on the context that each of us is situated in. Various realms mean a wide range of identities and the disparity on the identity further expanded the physical gap between my friends and me.

Based on this week’s reading and the example above, context plays a significant role in the construction of identity and within a tethered context, we should recognize the connections as the access to the success within the new capitalism society. Connectivism ever emphasized “identity” as representation of knowledge and the process of transition will be a source for learners to construct the knowledge. Gee (2000) also mentioned in the article that the elites are supposed to take control of the mobility and adapt to the new context smoothly, which will be a process of the reconstruction of identity for people who entered the new context. The process of reconstruction is the time that they receive information and construct knowledge in this realm.

Zheng, H. (2013) Retrieved from http://www.aboluowang.com/2013/0914/333289.html.

Reference:

Gee, J. P. (2000/2001). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25, 99-125.

Pea, R., Nass, C., Meheula, L., Rance, M., Kumar, A., Bamford, H., Nass, M., Simha, A., Stillerman, B., Yang, S., & Zhou, M. (2012). Media use, face-to-face communication, media multitasking, and social well-being among 8- to 12-year-old girls. Developmental psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0027030.

Turkle, S. (2008). Always-on/always-on-you: The tethered self. In  J. E. Katz (Ed.), Handbook of mobile communication studies (pp. 121-137). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Zheng, H. (2013) Retrieved from http://www.aboluowang.com/2013/0914/333289.html.