Hyo-Jeong So

Leveraging mobile technology for sustainable seamless learning: a research agenda

Chee-Kit Looi is Head of the Learning Sciences Lab of the National Institute of Education (LSL, NIE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He has over two decades of experience with educational technology research in research institutes and universities. He is an editorial member of the International Journal on AI & Education and the International Journal on CSCL. Peter Seow is a senior software engineer with the LSL, NIE. He has over 10 years of industrial experience in leading projects, consulting and systems development. Zhang BaoHui is an assistant professor in the Learning Sciences and Technologies Academic Group (LSTAG) and LSL, NIE, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). His current research foci are designing and assessing interactive environments when using computerbased modelling or mobile technologies for inquiry-based science learning. So Hyo-Jeong is an assistant professor in the LSTAG and LSL, NIE, NTU. Her research focuses on designing interactive online learning environments, and students’ scientific knowledge building through collaborative inquiry. Wenli Chen is an assistant professor in the LSTAG and LSL, NIE, NTU. Her research interests and expertise are computermediated communication, virtual learning environment, mobile learning and community of learners. Lung-Hsiang Wong is an assistant professor in the LSTAG and LSL, NIE, NTU. His research interests are information and communication technology-enhanced Chinese language learning, teachers’ professional development, agent technology for learning and mobile learning. Address for correspondence: LSL, NIE, NTU, 1 Nanyang Walk Singapore 637616. Email: cheekit.looi@nie.edu.sg

Anatomy of a mobilized lesson: Learning my way

With the mass adoption of mobile computing devices by the current school generation, significant opportunities have emerged for genuinely supporting differentiated and personalized learning experiences through mobile devices. In our school-based research work in introducing mobilized curricula to a class, we observe one compelling mobilized lesson that exploits the affordances of mobile learning to provide multiple learning pathways for elementary grade (primary) 2 students. Through the lesson, students move beyond classroom activities that merely mimic what the teacher says and does in the classroom, and yet they still learn in personally meaningful ways. In deconstructing the lesson, we provide an in-depth analysis of how the affordances of mobile computing enable personalized learning from four facets: (a) allowing multiple entry points and learning pathways, (b) supporting multi-modality, (c) enabling student improvisation in situ, and (d) supporting the sharing and creation of student artifacts on the move. A key property of mobile technology that enables these affordances lies with the small form factor and the lightweightness of these devices which make them non-obtrusive in the learning spaces of the student. This article makes a contribution on the design aspects of mobilized lessons, namely, what the affordances of mobile technologies can enable.

Designing collaborative knowledge building environments accessible to all learners: Impacts and design challenges

The present study attempted to investigate whether young learners who were new to knowledge building approaches could work towards advancing both individual and collective knowledge, and whether knowledge building could be beneficial to both high-achieving and low-achieving students. Findings reported in this paper are from one and a half-year design research for science learning in one primary school in Singapore. In this study, we closely examined the design and enactment of the Knowledge Building Community model in one class with high-achieving students and two classes with mixed-ability students. The research consists of two phases: Phase I Cultivating a collaborative knowledge building culture and Phase II Progressive Knowledge Building using Knowledge Forum. Data were collected from multiple sources, including knowledge assessment, conceptual understanding tasks, and the content analysis of Knowledge Forum postings. The results in Phase I show that while it is critical for students to monitor and build knowledge for their own understanding, they had difficulties developing such skills. In both phases, we found positive impacts on academic achievements showing improvement of student understanding in the course of reflective thinking and progressive inquiry. Overall, quantitative data suggest that the collaborative knowledge building environment was beneficial for both high-achieving and low-achieving students. We conclude by discussing some of challenges and issues in designing collaborative knowledge building environments for young learners with diverse abilities.

The Singapore experience: Synergy of national policy, classroom practice and design research

In recent years there has been a proliferation of research findings on CSCL at the micro and macro levels, but few compelling examples of how CSCL research has impacted actual classroom practices at the meso-level have emerged. This paper critically examines the impact of adopting a systemic approach to innovative education reforms at the macro, meso, and micro levels in Singapore. It presents the case for adopting design research as a methodology for CSCL integration that meets the needs of schools, and discusses a specific CSCL innovation that holds the potential for sustaining transformation in classroom practices. Our driving question is: In what ways can the routine use of CSCL practices in the classroom be supported by exploring systemic factors in the school setting through design research? We will explore the synergistic conditions that led to meaningful impact (at the micro level), mediated by systemic approaches to working with teachers in the schools (at the meso level), guided by Singapore’s strategic planning for scalability (at the macro level).

Seamless Learning in the Mobile Age: A Theoretical and Methodological Discussion on Using Cooperative Inquiry to Study Digital Kids On-the-Move.

This paper shares the theoretical and methodological frameworks that are deployed in a 3-year study to examine how Singapore primary school students leverage on mobile technology for seamless learning. This notion of seamless learning refers to the integrated and synergistic effects of learning in both formal and informal settings, which is distributed across different learning processes (emergent or planned) as well as across different spaces (in or out of class). Drawing insights from the literature and our study, we assert that we should jettison the technology-centric view to adopt a socio-cultural framework. This move puts us in a better position to make sense of the rich complexities coalescing around the students’ in-situ use of mobile devices. We also critiqued the adequacy of our people-centred data collection method, in particular, cooperative inquiry in capturing instances of seamless learning. Challenges of operationalising the cooperative inquiry approaches are also detailed in the paper.

Knowledge Creation in Education

This book arises from research conducted through Singapores National Institute of Education on such topics as integrating knowledge building pedagogies into Singaporean classrooms, with both students and teachers across school levels, from primary schools to high schools. Additionally, international scholars contribute research on theories of knowledge creation, methodological foundations of research on knowledge creation, knowledge creation pedagogies in classrooms and knowledge creation work involving educators. The book is organized in two sections. Section A focuses on theoretical, technological and methodological issues, where sources of justification for claims are predominantly theories and extant literature, although empirical evidence is used extensively in one chapter. Section B reports knowledge creation practices in schools, with teachers, students or both; the key sources of justification for claims are predominantly empirical evidence and narratives of experience The editor asserts that schools should focus on developing students capacity and disposition in knowledge creation work; at the same time, leaders and teachers alike should continue to develop their professional knowledge as a community. In the knowledge building vernacular, the chapters are knowledge artifacts artifacts that not only document the findings of the editors and authors, but that also mediate future advancement in this area of research work. The ultimate aim of the book is to inspire new ideas, and to illuminate the path for researchers of similar interest in knowledge creation in education.

Rethinking the Impact of Activity Design on a Mobile Learning Trail: The Missing Dimension of the Physical Affordances

This paper investigates the relationship between activity design and discourse on a mobile learning trail, considering the physical affordances of the real world platform in designing contextual learning experiences. We adopted a context-oriented and process-oriented pedagogical approach in designing the mobile learning trail conducted at Singapore Sentosa Island. Activities were categorized into performative and knowledge-generative on a continuum from well-structured to ill-structured activities. To examine the impact of activity design on discourse types, all audio-recorded verbal data of the three groups of secondary students was analysed with respect to two key dimensions in the knowledge construction process, namely, the epistemic and the social. Analysis showed that activity types and physical affordances of the learning environment have a definitive bearing on group discursive moves. Importantly, the presence of a real world context could generate critical thinking and collaborative knowledge building even for mundane performative activities when they are embedded with unforeseen contextual variables. We argue that the design of activity and the degree of its structuredness, and the assumed desired learning outcomes, are very much subjected to the affordances of physical and social resources in the mobile learning environment-a missing dimension that could possibly be overlooked and understudied.

Designing a Multi-user Interactive Simulation Using AR Glasses

In this research, we present the design and formative evaluation of an interactive simulation for informal learning environments. The wearable feature of Augmented Reality(AR) glasses enables full-body movement and embodied interactions in digitally augmented physical environments. The interactive simulation was developed to engage and immerse users to understand an abstract scientific concept about the refraction of light. To design playful and meaningful learning experiences, several design features related to social interaction, multi-user interaction, and embodied interaction were unpacked and integrated in the design process. Through the formative evaluation with participants in the laboratory setting, we found several possibilities and challenges about designing an interactive simulation in informal learning contexts using AR glasses.

Knowledge Creation in Singapore Schools: Our Journey and Ways Forward

This concluding chapter includes a reflection on the trajectory Singapore researchers have taken in introducing pedagogies of knowledge creation paradigm into classrooms and in developing teachers’ capacity in building professional knowledge and in facilitating knowledge creation pedagogies. It introduces some key research projects that are related to knowledge creation, including some that have not been featured in this book. Three broad phases of development were observed: exploration phase (year 2001–2004) that saw the initial attempts to introduce knowledge building practices to some schools; deepening of practices phase (year 2005–2012) that witnesses a spike in variety of research projects in schools, characterized by collaborative work with teachers to iteratively classroom practices; and the current effort (2012 and beyond) that focuses on empowering teachers’ agency and expanding students’ epistemic repertoires. This chapter ends with a glimpse into the research directions in the near future.

Designing the Situation for Pervasive Knowledge Building: Future School Experiences

This chapter foregrounds a knowledge-centered pedagogy as an overarching framework to design future learning environments. Specifically, we present our research work in a particular future school in Singapore that aims to make pervasive knowledge building as a core practice of student learning. By pervasive knowledge building in the context of our research study, we advocate the continuous improvement and the progressive advancement of knowledge beyond the four walls of the classroom to embrace both formal learning situation in the classroom and informal learning. Employing design-based research as a methodological tool, we trace how the design of knowledge building activities had evolved over a 3-year period toward our research goal for promoting pervasive knowledge building among students. As an attempt to make our tacit design ideas explicit, we pay particular attention to unpack and elaborate the complexity of design features that guided the overall design of knowledge building activities. We conclude the chapter with discussions that highlight tensions and issues related to the design of future learning environments from knowledge creation perspectives.