Chih Cheng Lin

Effects of Presentation Modes on Mobile-Assisted Vocabulary Learning and Cognitive Load.

ABSTRACT Previous studies of multimedia presentations have determined the effects of the combination of text and pictures on vocabulary learning, but not those of the sound of new words. This study was intended to confirm those previous findings from the integration of mobile technologies and the approach of cognitive load. It adopted a within-subjects design and recruited 32 eighth graders in central Taiwan to participate in a vocabulary learning program on mobile phones. During the program the participants needed to learn four sets of target words in four different weeks. Each set was presented in one of the four modes: text mode, text-picture mode, text-sound mode, and text-picture-sound mode. Immediately after learning each set, all participants took a vocabulary test and completed a cognitive load questionnaire; and, two weeks later, they took the vocabulary test again. Their perceptions of the vocabulary learning program were also collected in a post-program questionnaire. The findings were that audio input helped our participants recall new words’ meanings after two weeks; and, it reduced their cognitive load of learning new words. Our participants also provided positive feedback on the mobile-assisted vocabulary learning program featuring multimedia presentations.

Learning English with electronic textbooks on tablet PCs

ABSTRACT Previous studies on electronic textbooks were all survey studies of college students in the U.S.A. Their main findings revealed that using electronic textbooks and using print textbooks showed no statistical differences in learning achievements. As mobile devices became popular in classrooms, the present study was intended to confirm the competitive nature of electronic textbooks on mobile devices in an experiment. The differences of the present experiment from previous survey studies included its involving teenage learners of English and its examining their learning with electronic textbooks on mobile devices. This experimental study recruited adolescent learners to participate in a mobile-assisted English learning program requiring them to study with their electronic textbooks on mobile devices exclusively. Their counterparts used print textbooks as usual. The findings presented no significant differences in various achievements between the two groups. The mobile group furthermore approved their studying English on their mobile devices with satisfaction and perceived its usefulness and ease of use. Endorsing the competitiveness of electronic textbooks on mobile devices, the teenage English learners also highlighted the strengths characterized by mobile technologies.

Positioning Techniques for Ubiquitous Ecological Learning

The purpose of this paper is aimed at demonstrating how positioning techniques have been implemented in a ubiquitous Ecological learning system. In an ecological lesson in an elementary school in northern Taiwan, two classes were randomly selected: the experimental group could access the ecological learning system on hand-held devices, while the control group was only guided by the narrator. The results of the study show that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the ecological knowledge test; furthermore, the participants of the experimental group, using the u-learning ecological learning system, were satisfied with the system supported by positioning systems. Pedagogical implications and improvements in future studies are also discussed.