Tak-Wai Chan

Wireless and mobile technologies to enhance teaching and learning

This research aims to build a Wireless Technology Enhanced Classroom (WiTEC) that supports everyday activities unobtrusively and seamlessly in classroom contexts. This paper describes the integration of wireless LAN, wireless mobile learning devices, an electronic whiteboard, an interactive classroom server, and a resource and class management server to build the WiTEC. This contains a number of features that can support class members in various types of teaching and learning activities. Project-based learning is taken as a scenario to elaborate how teachers and students can engage in teaching and learning via WiTEC. Finally, a number of suggestions are discussed for further study.

Redefining the learning companion: the past, present, and future of educational agents

The development of intelligent tutoring systems has long been the focus of applying artificial intelligence and cognitive science in education. A new breed of intelligent learning environments called learning companion systems was developed over a decade ago. In contrast to an intelligent tutoring system, in which a computer mimics an intelligent tutor, the learning companion system assumes two roles, one as an intelligent tutor and another as a learning companion. Motivated by recent interest in agent research and other technologies, this learning companion field has received increasing attention. This study addresses issues that arise from different perspectives on this research effort. With a view to future networked learning environments, the learning companion is redefined for application to a wide spectrum of educational agent research. Accordingly, several subjects that relate to educational agents, and hence learning companions, are identified.

Affordances of mobile technologies for experiential learning: the interplay of technology and pedagogical practices

Experiential learning is the process of creating knowledge through the transformation of experience and has been adopted in an increasing number of areas. This paper investigates the possibility of technological support for experiential learning. A learning activity flow (or script) and a mobile technology system were designed to facilitate students in experiential learning. An experiment was conducted on two fifth-grade classes at an elementary school, one class using personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the other working without them. The results indicate that mobile technologies are effective in improving knowledge creation during experiential learning. The interplay between the mobile technology affordances and the proposed learning flow for experiential learning is thoroughly discussed.

A web‐based learning system for question‐posing and peer assessment

A web‐based learning system has been developed to facilitate question‐posing, peer‐assessing, item‐viewing and drill‐and‐practice learning activities. In this paper, the pedagogical basis underlying the design and development of the system is explained in the light of information‐processing theory, social construction of knowledge theory and social modelling theory. A preliminary study to evaluate the instructional potential of the system has been conducted; this has also identified the factors that influence students’ use of the system. Results taken from questionnaires and open‐ended questions revealed that by enabling students to play various roles such as composers, critics and adapters, the system was perceived as a cognition‐enhancing and motivational learning tool by the participants. Data analysis further indicated that various factors worked together to influence the performance of question‐posing.

Four spaces of network learning models

Abstract The development of information and communication technology changes how, what, who, when, where and why we learn. Unfortunately, little is known of the exact impact that these changes will bring to education. However, we are certain that many new learning and teaching styles which are called learning models in the paper will emerge to cope with the changes in the near future. The present paper describes four spaces of learning models, namely, the future-classroom, the community-based, the structural-knowledge, and the complex-problem learning models, which are specifically designed to integrate the Internet into education. 1 With the four spaces of learning models, the present paper may serve two functions. First, it offers a way to integrate an array of different communication technologies (e.g. handheld computer, wireless communication and the Internet) and learning theories into an integrated schema. Secondly, the paper offers a direction concerning how and what to look for in education with the Internet integrated in.

Equal opportunity tactic: Redesigning and applying competition games in classrooms

Competition, despite its potential drawbacks, is an easily adopted and frequently used motivator in classrooms. Individual abilities, in the years of schooling, are inevitably different, and performance in competition is heavily ability dependent, resulting that more-able students always win while less-able students always lose. Students easily perceive how well they perform through the result of competition, which is termed as perceived performance in this paper. Consistently demonstrating lower perceived performance than their peers, the less-able students feel discouraged and frustrated, hardly having the same opportunity for owning the sense of achievement as the more-able students. In this study, the authors designed a computerized mechanism, equal opportunity tactic, to lessen the difference in perceived performance between more-able and less-able students. Equal opportunity tactic is incorporated into a version of a competitive learning game called AnswerMatching, in which every student is assigned an opponent with similar ability. An experiment was also conducted to preliminarily investigate the effectiveness and effects of the tactic. Results showed that equal opportunity tactic could reduce the effect of individual ability difference on the perceived performance as well as the belief about how well students could achieve. In other words, less-able students could have similar opportunity of success and build confidence similar to more-able students in a competition.

Development and evaluation of multiple competitive activities in a synchronous quiz game system

Competitive learning activities are among the various learning activities that play a significant role in online learning environments. A competitive learning environment obviously stimulates different feelings in winners and losers, and it is imperative to consider how to design such an environment so as to motivate users. This work describes the design of an online competitive learning environment that involves three basic competitive forms and 16 competitive activities. A system called ‘Joyce’ has been implemented, in which users can compete with either a computer agent or real life user(s) on a single computer or alternatively can play via the Internet. Because of the format of the item bank being sets of multiple-choice questions, the system is not restricted by the age of its target users. In a game-learning environment, learning is a side-effect of participating in the game. In the present example, learners are motivated to read more materials to win the game. The system attempts to involve students in a competitive gaming-learning environment that stimulated their motivation to learn. Three studies have been conducted to examine how users responded to the novel system and obtained the following analytical results: first, users were found to be highly motivated to use the Joyce system; second, more able users had a greater chance of winning the game, while less able users still had some chance of winning; and third, users are inclined to take risks and have the control of the game in their own hands.

Introduction to the special issue on wireless and mobile technologies in education

This special issue is a sequel special issue of the same topic in Vol. 19, No. 3, September 2003. This issue features revised and elaborated versions of best papers presented at the two international conferences on mobile learning. The Second IEEE International Workshop in Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE) was held at the National Central University in Chungli, Taiwan, in March 2004 with the theme of mobile support for learning communities. The Third European Conference on Mobile Learning (MLEARN) was at Lake Bracciano, Italy, in July 2004, with the theme of learning anytime, everywhere. Together, these events presented the considerable progress in research into learning across contexts, through emerging wireless and mobile technologies. They represent distinct though interlinked perspectives: wireless and mobile technologies bring new opportunities for learners to be more intensely connected, either face to face or at a distance, extending one’s learning community to friends, teachers, mentors, parents, and beyond; to enhance learning in an age of mobile technology we must explore and support learning in multiple contexts, across a lifetime of cognitive change and social interaction. This special issue reveals the productive interaction between new ecologies of learning and wireless and mobile technology. Three of the papers focus on extending learning outside the classroom. We will introduce these first, followed by the four papers that focus on intensifying learning inside the classroom. Corlett and colleagues evaluated the use of a mobile learning organizer implemented on a personal digital assistant (PDA). Students were given a PDA loaded with tools such as a study timetable, a course manager, and a concept mapper. They used these tools for 10 months. The most striking results are that students changed their usage patterns over time. This is an important reminder that a personal mobile device may grow with the student or fall out of favour after the initial interest wears off. The other main conclusion is that no single tool stood out in helping students to manage their learning, an indication that learning management is a complex process that may best be enhanced by a subtle combination of mobile technologies and human assistance. Schwabe and colleagues designed and evaluated a mobile game used to orient incoming students to the university campus. They also use a PDA, but whereas Corlett et al. employed the PDA as a tool, Schwabe and colleagues use it to create a mixed reality in which physical space is augmented with contextual information. Their study reveals the technical challenges of implementing location-aware educational applications. They also show that students became more engaged and motivated, especially with map-based and competitive activities. Although the results are preliminary, providing an information and social activity overlay to a university campus appears to be a promising direction for future work. Of the three outside-classroom applications, Thorton and Houser make the most direct connection to learning. In contrast to the first two papers, they begin with a survey of how Japanese university students are already using mobile devices, finding that 99% send e-mail on their mobile phones and exchange 200 messages per week! They then creatively exploit students’ existing patterns of use to intensify learning: they send students small text and video messages that relate to upcoming English lessons. Students who received mobile e-mail learned more. Their creative Correspondence: Jeremy Roschelle, SRI International, USA. Email: jeremy.roschelle@sri.com

Reciprocal tutoring using cognitive tools

Reciprocal tutoring, where peers take turns to tutor each other, is an interesting style of social learning. In the Reciprocal Tutoring System (RTS), three computational cognitive tools were designed to facilitate reciprocal tutoring of Lisp programming on the network. The first is a Petal-style of code-chunk interface, with which a tutee can enter Lisp code without making syntactic errors. The second tool is Diagnosis- Hint Tree, with which a tutor can diagnose and comment on the errors in the tutees program. The third one is a list of dialogue templates, with which the tutee and the tutor can communicate during the tutoring process. A three-phase experiment was conducted, with each phase using different cognitive tools. In addition, with the help of the cognitive tools, RTS provides a virtual learning companion that can play tutor or tutee. Evaluation results reveal both the strengths and weaknesses of peer-based learning and intelligent tutoring, with supports of different cognitive tools. Peer-based learning supported by cognitive tools is a practical and attractive alternative to intelligent tutoring systems. Exactly which type of tutor is preferred depends on the tutees cognitive, communication, and emotional needs in the tutorial context.

Animal companions: Fostering children's effort-making by nurturing virtual pets

Virtual character is a significant application in the research field of technology-enhanced learning. In this study, the concept of animal companions, ‘non-smart’ virtual characters, is proposed as a way to encourage students to promote effort-making learning behaviours. The two underpinning design rationales are first discussed followed by the description of the development of a practical application, the My-Pet v2 system. A preliminary experiment was conducted to examine the system usability in terms of cognitive, affective and time-on-task characteristics. The results reveal that participants in the group using a complete version of My-Pet v2 showed better quality of effort-making learning behaviours. Some implications and future research directions are also discussed.