Chapter 4: In this chapter, we provide a complete overview and details of the proposed system solution to.
Chapter 5: In this chapter, we provide the results of experiments we conducted to show that our system meets requirements as defined in previous chapter.
Chapter 6: In this chapter, we provide our conclusions and future work discussion.
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Chapter 2: Background
This chapter provides a background to various concepts and technologies as related to this research. It provides a good basis for understanding the overall system design and functional role and capability.
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2.1. Background Concepts – Learning, Crowdsourcing and SNS
In this section, we introduce key concepts and theories that serve as the basis and rationale for this work.
2.1.1. Lifelong Learning (LLL)
LLL is the “on-going, self-motivated and voluntary” pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons [10]. The concept of LLL recognizes that learning does not take place only in formal educational environments but throughout life and in everyday situations. It basically means that learning cannot be characterized as to only take place at a particular time or location. Research and everyone’s personal experience can show that as individuals, we learn over time in different situations and activities; and especially outside the formal classroom environment. Because learning can occur at anytime and anywhere, there is always a chance for a social and collaborative element to be present. Individuals may learn from others, they may want to help others solve a problem, they may want to consult and discuss with others and so on. Such social and collaborative work naturally engages the learner more deeply in the learning process and is a key element of LLL.
While LLL can take place at any time, how it happens is largely environment and situation dependent. The environment and situation will be a factor in how and what an individual can learn. Internet enabled technology can provide an environment with tools to access rich learning content. While technology and systems can provide a learning-conducive environment, some of the relevant requirements they must meet to support LLL are [20]:
1) Users must set most of the learning goals, not the system.
2) Systems should support not just individual work and learning, but enable collaborative learning with others. The systems should support the improvement of collective knowledge as well as individual knowledge.
3) Although the learning system itself may have some built-in expertise about a particular topic, users will find most expert knowledge by locating other people who have the
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knowledge through social and collaborative channels.
4) The system should be open and allow modification depending on context. The needs of lifelong learners will not be met by closed systems. While this refers to the system itself, for this work, we refer to the requirement of having open and modifiable content within the system. Users must be able to access learning content but also add and modify it.
LLL and systems that enable it, highlight the distributed nature of knowledge, i.e., learners can learn from a computational environment, but, if they desire, they can also contribute to the environment.
Figure 2-1: Duality of Learning – Content Consumption and Content Creation
Figure 2-1 above (adapted from [20]) illustrates the duality between learning and contributing through use of the system .
To summarize and re-iterate, we can define the ideal requirements of a system that supports LLL as:
1) Supports many users/learners
2) Allows users to set learning goals, thus be personal
3) Has high volume content availability with ability to provides context-relevant content 4) Is highly portable and pervasive (anytime and anywhere content accessibility)
5) Has content authoring and modifying capability
6) Has social and collaborative features to enable users to interact.
2.1.2. E-learning and collaborative learning
E-learning can have a very broad definition and can be defined based on a completely pedagogical point of view. For purposes of this research, we look at E-learning as the use of information and communications technology in education and learning activities and how it is applied to meet some of the pedagogical goals of LLL. Although E-learning was coined
Adding/Modifying Content (Contributing)
On Demand Learning
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around the year 1998, the concept is much older. In as early as 1960, the University of Illinois conducted a class where students accessed informational resources on computers while listening to lectures [71]. Around the same time as well, Stanford University experimented with using computers to teach math and reading to young children. Between then and now, E-learning has become quite popular and has evolved very much. In present day, most institutes of higher learning use some form of E-learning in respective learning environments.
Many E-learning systems were based on traditional autocratic teaching methods where there is a one way flow of transferring knowledge from teacher/system to student. Over the last decade and recently, E-learning systems have moved towards becoming collaborative learning systems, where they support a shared-development-of-knowledge approach [31]
through various collaborative activities. The difference between the two types is illustrated in the figure 2-2 below.
Figure 2-2: Traditional (One-way) E-learning vs. Collaborative (Multi-way) E-learning One of the goals of E-learning is to enhance learning and teaching by using technology to either provide better access to learning content, to author and publish the learning content or simply to collaborate based on the content. E-learning employs Information and Communications technology (ICT) such as software, servers, desktops, laptops, mobile devices, communication networks, etc. for use as tools of the E-learning environment. Using these tools, the learning environment can provide better content accessibility and easier content authoring mechanisms especially when used with the Internet.
Furthermore, ICT tools can also be used to promote a learning environment where everybody
E-learning Tools, Resources &
Content
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can work with others to build on the knowledge and add value to the content. While such tools and E-learning are used in formal learning environments like classrooms and learning institutions, they can also be used outside in informal or non-formal environments, thereby supporting the notion of LLL.
One of the reasons for the increase of the collaborative nature of E-learning systems is Web 2.0. Web 2.0 refers to Internet based concepts and technology that enables websites that are dynamic, vibrant and interactive and allow users to do more than just retrieve information.
Web 2.0 allows for a more interaction-based and participatory access to content on the web where there is a strong emphasis on community and social aspects to the content access and even content creation. Web 2.0 allows users to interact with a website, its content and through it, also with other users, in more ways than before [52]. Web 2.0 has subsequently also had its effect on E-learning systems by making them more participatory and engaging. E-learning systems are now moving towards becoming collaborative learning systems that incorporate many different social based activities to engage the leaner more. Some examples of Web 2.0 applications used in learning are: Wikis, Blogs, Social Networking Sites, Collaborative tagging systems and other mashups that try to combine different social activities into one system [61]. As E-learning becomes more collaborative and engaging, it is also being referred to as Computer based collaborative learning (CBCL), where the focus is clearly on the learning though collaboration.
2.1.3. M-learning
The immobile nature of Desktop PCs has restricted the anytime-anyplace potential of E-learning [6] to when a learner is positioned in front of the PC. While on the move, a learner is not able to access E-learning content and tools. With the ability of wireless internet communications, a mobile device overcomes such a restriction and allows anyplace access to learning content via the mobile device [54]. Mobile Learning or M-learning falls under E-learning but with an emphasis on mobility afforded through mobile technologies, i.e., anytime and anywhere access to learning through use of mobile technologies. In addition to mobility, the fact that a mobile is personal, it affords the user control of the device and as such, over how they learn using the device.
In [6], the authors discuss and identify benefits of mobile connectivity and technologies. Mobile connectivity and technologies empowers the learner to access content
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when and wherever they want, i.e., the learner can control the flow of information. It can also provide collaboration through real-time or instant interactivity irrespective of location or time.
These benefits can also be applied to learning as they support interactive and real-time environments while providing the user with control of what is accessed for learning.
Considering the benefits of mobile connectivity, we can also list some of the benefits of M-learning:
1) Mobility – Anytime –Anywhere access to content
2) Personal nature – Allows personal control and contexts to learning 3) Control of learning – Allows users to control information flow
4) Interactivity – Allows real-time interactive social exchanges with other users
With more than 6 billion mobile subscriptions in the world at the moment and more of those subscriptions gaining access to high speed mobile broadband connections every day [27], the mobile platform is fast becoming the choice platform for accessing cloud content such as rich and high fidelity multimedia. With the proliferation of mobile technologies like smart mobile devices and high speed communication networks like 4G, learners now have access to portable technology that also allows them to access multimedia rich E-learning content from the Cloud at any time and everywhere. Furthermore, mobile devices have become smarter and allow rich software applications to be run on the devices themselves. A quick search on the internet reveals more than a total of 140,000 education categorized applications available on the two most common mobile platforms, IOS and Android [1,3].
Applications can thus be developed that allow various interactive mobile learning activities and when combined with the internet, gain access to learning content from the cloud.
Together, mobility and connectivity present an excellent anytime-anywhere platform for supporting LLL.
In [34] the author discusses a FRAME model – Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education which is depicted in figure 2-3. The model describes M-learning as a process resulting from the convergence of mobile technologies, human learning capabilities and social interaction. This model serves as a useful guide for developing mobile learning systems and environments.
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Figure 2-3: Kloone’s FRAME model for M-learning
The author discusses that M-learning experiences take place within information contexts. Within the information context, the interaction between learner and information content is mediated through the mobile technology. The Device (D), Learner (L) and Social (S) aspects of learning and M-learning are depicted using the three circles. The intersections show an overlap between areas and show how they converge to form M-learning. The area in the middle, where there is a complete overlap of mobile devices, social interaction and learner aspects, depicts an idea situation for M-learning.
The (D) device aspect refers to the functional and physical characteristics of mobile devices such as portability, user interface, connectivity, input/output capabilities, sensors capabilities, software capabilities etc. Since the mobile device is the bridge between humans and content/technology access, it must be built with sufficient physical and psychological comfort. The (L) learner aspect refers to the learner’s motivation, environment, emotions, cognitive abilities, prior knowledge and memories. When designing an M-learning interface, the learner aspects must be taken into account so the interface can be designed appropriately to match the learner capabilities and situation. The (S) social aspect takes into account the social interactions and cooperation. Individuals, within their social contexts, must follow their context’s social norms for social exchange of information to be able to successfully collaborate. The M-learning system must be designed according to the expected social settings and environment.
The (DL) Device Usability Interaction refers to elements from both the device and the learner. This section relates to how the devices accommodates for learner to use the device
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itself. Examples of such accommodations are: Does it provide an intuitive interface? Does it cater to people with learning disabilities? This in turns affects how easy it is for the learner to use the device to perform the desired functions and tasks and thus to their physical and psychological comfort and in turn their satisfaction with the device. The (DS) Social Technology intersection describes how the device enables communication and collaboration amongst multiple learners and systems. This section focuses on the means, such as network connectivity, SNS collaboration capabilities, etc., that are available for information exchange and collaboration between people with various goals and purposes. The (LS) Learning intersection describes how social interactions promote, enable and enhance learning processes.
It focuses on how collaboration through social interactions allows one to extract meaning from multiple social sources. It basically represents a combining of learning and social instructional and learning theories.
DLS – The Mobile Learning process is the final outcome of combining the different aspects described above. It is the result of integrations of the Device, Learner and Social aspects. M-learning provides enhanced collaboration among learners as a result of its mobile and social characteristics.
As can be deduced, the FRAME model has characteristics related to the requirements of LLL such as mobility and social collaboration. We can conclude that by using the FRAME model as a basis for system design, we can create a system that also supports LLL.
2.1.4. Location-based contexts and learning
Figure 2-4: Delivering only context relevant Content to the Learner
Informal and LLL takes place in different environments. This places constraints on the learning system to deliver content that is relevant to the learner’s current environment and situation. The figure above depicts the nature of having access to content but only delivering content that is relevant to the context. The learning system has to anticipate typical tasks and
E-learning
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scenarios through modelling of different contexts. This holds true especially in mobile environment [66] where environments and learning contexts can change as quickly as the learner moves.
Figure 2-5: Application using Location context to provide relevant content to the user.
Since learning has now become mobile with M-learning, the location has become an important context, both in terms of the learner’s physical location and also the opportunities for learning to become location sensitive [8]. In learning, the location of a learner can be used as one of the contexts to provide relevant content and is referred to as Location-based learning.
Mobile devices are starting to come equipped with sensors such GPS, RFID, etc. which can capture contexts including location, and this can be used to deliver an experience and content that changes according to the location [5]. Previous research work shows the use of Location-based learning in tour Location-based applications, simulation gaming, field trip applications, etc.
where the location is used to identify context and deliver content accordingly.
2.1.5. Exploratory Learning
Exploratory learning is a learning approach where learners are encouraged to explore, experiment, discover and learn on their own [9,58]. Exploratory learning allows the user to engage in explore and discover activities to achieve learning. With reference to this work, we refer to explore and discover type activities using mobile devices, applications and location-based contexts to explore and discover physical locations to learn about them.
2.1.6. Crowdsourcing
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or
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suppliers. [44] The reason for getting a large group to contribute is so that each may, relatively easily, perform a small portion of the task in order to achieve the overall task, goal or objective. In [24], the authors discuss a number of areas and examples of crowdsourcing, showing that crowdsourcing is common and that it can be useful when leveraged to complete tasks.
Crowdsourcing can be considered a type of social collaboration as it allows many people on the internet to come together to work, either directly or indirectly to achieve a bigger common goal. With relation to this work, we look at crowdsourcing to complete content creation and publishing tasks for learning systems. One prime example of an existing and successful execution of crowdsourcing for content generation is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a free-content encyclopaedia available for everyone to use on the internet. It leverages crowdsourcing to create and edit all its articles and has proven to be very successful. In [67], the authors use similar Crowdsourcing to generate content for a more defined E-learning system.
2.1.7. Social networking services
Figure 2-6: Social networking services, platforms and sites
Social software is software built around the goal of allowing users to communicate and interact with each other in some form or another [63]. SNSs are the fastest growing type of social software [56]. As can be seen from the figure above [41], many SNS sites exist today.
An SNS site may allow users to build and maintain social connections or relations among people based on real-life connections, jobs, interests, hobbies, activities or all of the above.
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From the SNS user’s point of view, the basic idea of an SNS site is to establish an online identity and presence, and to then build an online social network around that identity.
One of the first tasks of users on SNS sites is usually to set up their “Main Page”, a web page that will showcase their identity and their activity on the SNS site. Setting up their identity, may also refer to as setting up their SNS site “Profile”. After setting up their
“Profile”, users proceed to start building connections and social networks. Building social networks entails finding connections which is commonly known as finding “friends”. The connections may or may not be real-life ones. They can be strictly online-only connections.
After finding connections, the SNS sites offer some form of “contact management” to keep a track of all the connections. The social-network building and maintaining task also involves communications and exchanges of messages with connections. SNS sites offer such messaging capabilities either by way of private messages or also by posting not-so-private messages to their connections “Main Pages”. “Group pages” such as wikis or blogs also offer a method for a larger number of non-connected SNS users to exchange messages and carry out a discussion.
With the basic building blocks and functions identified earlier, users then proceed to build and maintain their connections, communities, groups and networks. The basic idea of SNSs is to allow online social contact with others in a user friendly and easy to do manner. By allowing multiple users to communicate and exchange message, SNS sites inherently support user interaction and implicitly enable collaboration based activities such as knowledge exchange, networking and community building. Such activities can also be part of what is called social and collaborative learning platforms [33] and also thus support LLL. Research has also suggested that SNSs can be used for learning purposes [42,48,59,60]. Authors in a research study [40] discuss some of the education potential of SNS sites and show that students did claim to use SNS sites for informal learning purposes, albeit that was not their
With the basic building blocks and functions identified earlier, users then proceed to build and maintain their connections, communities, groups and networks. The basic idea of SNSs is to allow online social contact with others in a user friendly and easy to do manner. By allowing multiple users to communicate and exchange message, SNS sites inherently support user interaction and implicitly enable collaboration based activities such as knowledge exchange, networking and community building. Such activities can also be part of what is called social and collaborative learning platforms [33] and also thus support LLL. Research has also suggested that SNSs can be used for learning purposes [42,48,59,60]. Authors in a research study [40] discuss some of the education potential of SNS sites and show that students did claim to use SNS sites for informal learning purposes, albeit that was not their