Chiu-Pin Lin

No student left behind: a collaborative and competitive game-based learning environment to reduce the achievement gap of EFL students in Taiwan

How to close the achievement gap in the classroom so that no student is left behind becomes one of the most important issues nowadays. This study aims to construct a collaborative and competitive game-based learning environment to improve English proficiencies and reduce the achievement gap for disadvantaged students. The Wireless Crossword Fan-Tan Game (WiCFG) system was implemented to provide teachers with an innovative approach to guide students’ learning through a positive involvement with the uses of tablet PCs. The experiment was conducted in an elementary school in Taiwan to investigate whether this approach would facilitate students’ learning effectiveness and interactions. Thirty sixth-grade students were randomly assigned into a control group and an experimental group. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from surveys, interviews, observations and video-recordings. The results indicate that integration of the WiCFG system in the collaborative and competitive game-based learning environment leads students to a better interaction between different levels of students. This innovative approach might have the potential to close the achievement gap for disadvantaged students. Moreover, some principles of the classroom strategy are suggested as guidelines.

Orchestrating Learning in a One-to-One Technology Classroom

One-to-one technology classrooms equip each child with a computing device that provides personalised learning tools. They offer promising environments to support individual and small group learning through the affordances of handheld devices such as portability, low cost and wireless communication features. However, there are management problems in the technology-enabled classroom, for instance, lack of support for scaffolding collaborative and whole class working, design of lessons that switch easily from one to another activity, and difficulty in re-using lesson components. In this paper we describe the SceDer system to orchestrate learning with one-to-one technologies. SceDer provides an authoring system for teachers to design lessons, an interchange language (COML) to describe lesson sequences and resources, and a delivery system that enables the teacher to manage collaborative one-to-one learning in the classroom. The system has been tested in school classrooms and has demonstrated its effectiveness in managing orchestration between individual, group, and whole class learning activities.

Development of a Lunar-Phase Observation System Based on Augmented Reality and Mobile Learning Technologies

Observing the lunar phase requires long-term involvement, and it is often obstructed by bad weather or tall buildings. In this study, a lunar-phase observation system is developed using the augmented reality (AR) technology and the sensor functions of GPS, electronic compass, and 3-axis accelerometer on mobile devices to help students observe and record lunar phases easily. By holding the mobile device towards the moon in the sky, the screen will show the virtual moon at the position of the real moon. The system allows the user to record the lunar phase, including its azimuth/elevation angles and the observation date and time. In addition, the system can shorten the learning process by setting different dates and times for observation, so it can solve the problem of being unable to observe and record lunar phases due to a bad weather or the moon appearing late in the night. Therefore, it is an effective tool for astronomy education in elementary and high schools. A teaching experiment has been conducted to analyze the learning effectiveness of the system and the results show that it is effective in learning the lunar concepts. The questionnaire results reveal that students considered the system easy to operate and it is useful in locating the moon and recording the lunar data.

Innovation of Future Education in Taiwan: Enjoy Learning with Mobile Learning Technology

As the instructor, I expect the ideal classroom where the students in class are engaged with mobile computing devices to enhance learning. The characteristics of these learning situations comprise of mobile technologies and learning content designs. This research adopts Tablet PC and group scribble (GS) learning tool to study the potential of our proposed system and to explore new effective learning scenarios and classroom activities supported by mobile devices. There are different forms of traditional learning environment focusing on portability, mobility, personality and interaction. We try hard to improve traditional English curriculum, understand the situation of students collaborative learning and specific language comprehension immediately. Creative activities and integrative teaching strategies, the future educational innovation will be realized. The essential of this research determines on promoting the learning motivation and raise the ability of language construction.

Implementation of the scrabble game on the mobile devices to increase english vocabulary acquisition

The Scrabble Game redesigned on the mobile devices has been implemented. through this game to facilitate English vocabulary acquisition of the elementary school students with group collaborative and competitive learning activities. We reviewed literature related to collaborative, competition and language learning. Moreover, the concept of game design and its system architecture have been presented. It is expected that research findings in actual English learning contexts will further share in the near future.

What, How and Why - A Peek into the Uses and Gratifications of Ubiquitous Computing for Pre-service Teachers in Singapore

This paper looks into the different ways in which a group of pre-service teachers used ICT in their classrooms and the resulting sense of gratification. The data collected was used to analyse what might have motivated or demotivated the pre-service teachers from using more ICT devices and applications in the classroom, given their experiences during the practicum period. The data collected showed that most of the pre-service teachers did not use highly varied forms of ICT in their classrooms. In fact, for about half of them, PowerPoint presentations and visualisers were about the only forms of ICT used although the ubiquitous computing infrastrucrure is available. The findings have implications for policy makers and teacher training institution to decide how to allocate ICT resources more effectively and what (additional) ICT training to put in place.

Content Development for CPR over Handheld Devices

Handheld devices are portable lightweight devices. Its advantages are changing location, more immediate interaction, and small enough to fit in a pocket. Learning by doing simulation content development for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, (CPR) over handheld devices can take us to a place that we are unable to experience directly. They may provide an opportunity to experiences life-like situations and react to unexpected and challenging problems. The richer knowledge and experience is more effective while adopting CPR.

Group Scribbles to Support Jigsaw Cooperative Learning in a Graduate Course

Group scribbles (GS) is an activity tool that enables the collaborative generation, collection and aggregation of ideas through a shared space. The aim of this study is to deploy GS with Tablet PCs to facilitate 12 graduate school students doing cooperative learning by the jigsaw method and to examine how GS supports the integrating the knowledge between original and expert group discussions. Results of this exploratory study suggested that GS-mediated cooperative learning jigsaw model could positively benefit students in their interaction and knowledge integration processes.

Development of a Motion Sensing and Automatic Positioning Universal Planisphere Using Augmented Reality Technology

This study combines the augmented reality technology and the sensor functions of GPS, electronic compass, and 3-axis accelerometer on mobile devices to develop a motion sensing and automatic positioning universal planisphere. It can create local star charts according to the current date, time, and position and help users locate constellations on the planisphere easily through motion sensing operation. By holding the mobile device towards the target constellation in the sky, the azimuth and elevation angles are obtained automatically for mapping to its correct position on the star chart. The proposed system combines observational activities with physical operation and spatial cognition for developing correct astronomical concepts, thus making learning more effective. It contains a built-in 3D virtual starry sky to enable observation in classroom for supporting teaching applications. The learning process can be shortened by setting varying observation date, time, and latitude. Therefore, it is a useful tool for astronomy education.