Azidah Abu Ziden

Adoption of Mobile Learning Among Distance Education Students in Universiti Sains Malaysia

This study was carried out in order to investigate whether mobile learning using Short Message Service (SMS) was a method of learning adopted by the students enrolled in the School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia. As adult learners who are in vocation, time and isolation are the bane of self-study. Since all the students own a mobile device that can receive SMS, educational messages can be sent directly to their devices. This experimental study explored the impact of learnerâ??s characteristic, learning design and learning environment to their adoptability. This study utilised two models of data analysis, the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 12.0 and the Rasch model analysis for measurement. The analysis was conducted on a sample of 105 students based on gender, age, ethnicity, programme of study and mobile device ownership. The students were from four different courses which are Bachelors of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Social Science and Bachelor of Management. The questionnaire-answer session were administered by the respective course managers in their tutorial sessions during the annual residential intensive course in the main campus of the Universiti Sains Malaysia. The result indicated that mobile learning has helped them to pace their studies. By using mobile learning, learners easily get any information that they need at anytime anywhere. Learners would also like to take another mobile learning assisted course if the courses are relevant to their learning needs. Furthermore, the SMS educational content received through their hand phone are easily remembered.

Using SMS Quiz in Teaching and Learning.

Purpose – This paper discusses the development of a system using SMS (short messaging system) to facilitate learning and also as a new method in the evaluation of teaching and learning.Design/methodology/approach – The design of a system that uses SMS for the quiz is proposed as an alternative for formative assessment of teaching and learning for courses at institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. The fundamental idea of the SMS assessment system is based on the SMS function which is the basic feature of the normal mobile phone to receive and send text messages at anytime and anywhere. This will allow the formative assessment to be done in a course with a more flexible approach.Findings – It is found that the quiz through SMS has the potential to be used in the teaching and learning environment. However there are some constraints and issues in the operation of this system that needs to be addressed before the system can be utilized optimally. These constraints and issues involve the system stability, ...

Embedding Digital Literacies in Curricula: Australian and Malaysian Experiences

The ubiquity of Web 2.0 technologies means students require a base level of digital literacies in order to succeed in twenty-first century (C21st) learning environments. However, in the era of widening university participation, it is problematic to assume that students will enter higher education with the digital literacies required to support their academic endeavours. This paper describes the theoretical and pedagogical impetus behind two distinct approaches to enhancing digital readiness among undergraduate students in Australian and Malaysian universities. A comprehensive literature review and adoption of the Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc) six capabilities of digital literacies model as the underlying theoretical framework guided the development of two distinct projects: one based at an Australian university and the other at a Malaysian university. The Australian approach focused on the development of a suite of online modules utilising an adaptive e-Learning platform (AeLP). The Malaysian approach focused on facilitating digital readiness among education students through student-created learning objects that simultaneously served as interactive pedagogical products and cognitive tools for facilitating learning. The cases presented demonstrate two distinct approaches to developing curriculum to support students’ digital literacies that respond to two different contextual situations. Subsequent investigations into the student experience will inform future decisions regarding the use of AeLPs and cognitive tools in tertiary institutions, in addition to providing valuable information on the design of curriculum to support digital literacies instruction in the Australasian university context.