Steven Lopes Abrantes

Comparing Google Groups Use by Evaluating Flow Experience and Generated Messages in Laptop and Desktop Higher Education Students

The main purpose of this study is to establish whether the user is feeling the flow experience and what type of messages are sent by the participants when using Google Groups through users that have laptops or desktops. In the context of this study, information has been gathered through a survey, applying the five dimensions of the flow state. At the end of the study, after analyzing the gathered information, it was possible to conclude that students have experimented with the flow experience and that it had a positive effect on their learning experiences, but the students that used the laptops were more engaged in the flow experience than the students that used desktops. For messages, the data was retrieved from Google Groups. Relatively, from the type of messages of users with laptop, we can conclude that these users sent more messages classified as Very Good, Good, Positive and also messages classified as not significant, than the users with desktop.

Evaluating Adoption of Innovations of Mobile Devices and Desktops within Collaborative Environments in a Higher Education Context

This study aims to evaluate if students that use laptops or desktops learn when using Google Groups, involving one hundred and twelve students in a higher education context. The research main goal is to validate which of the students, involved in this study, are in the initial and the majority market of adopters and also classify which of them are more in the flow experience. This study is based on the categories proposed by Roger (1995) for the adoption of innovations, and in the 0low experience concept, introduced by Csikszentmihalyi (1975). The main purpose of this study is to establish whether the laptops or desktops users in the initial and the majority market of adopters are in the flow experience when using a set of the available Google applications. At the end of the study, it was possible to conclude that students have experienced the flow state and it had a positive effect on their learning experiences both by students using laptops and those, using desktops. For both desktop and laptop users who belong to the initial market, these have a value slightly lower for the flow experience than the users who belong to the majority market. With this we can say that the users that belong to the majority market learn more when using Google Groups than the users that belong to the initial market.