Related researches

1.6.1 SMS-based Discussions – Technology Enhanced Collaboration for a Literature

Course:

This research presents a communication and discussion toolkit based on sending

short messages designed for use in schools. The approach uses PDAs in a wireless

network to build an environment that emulates sending of short messages with mobile

phones. The system uses PDAs due to the restrictions of using mobile phones in the

classrooms. The messages created by the students are collected in a database and

establish a base for a discussion and analysis later [3].

1.6.2 Adaptive Teaching for Large Classes:

This research uses adaptive technique to trace learners’ performance during and after

a lecture so that the educator is able to quickly adjust course contents to suit the needs of

learners. It is based on two feedback loops established between learners and educator.

The in-class feedback is created by a SMS message based quiz system and the after-class

feedback is realized by an Educator-to-Learner Portal, e-Learning Hub [1], which

provides information on learners’ progress after a lecture.

The adaptive teaching pedagogy exploits interactions between learners and educator.

Under proposed adaptive teaching method, an educator prepares two sets of carefully

constructed assignments, one for in-class test and another for after-class activities. The

in-class quizzes aim to test students’ understanding during a lecture and the after-class

activities are to engage the students with other learning activities. During a lecture, an

educator will give students a quiz whenever there is a need to check students’ understand

on a given topic. Students will answer the quiz questions by sending a SMS message to

an instant feedback system that will be detailed in the next section. The instant feedback

system will automatically grade students’ answers and display a statistic bar chart for

viewing by the educator. From the instant feedback, the educator can address student’s

difficulties immediately and adjust the course contents accordingly to suit students’ needs.

After the lecture, students will log on to an adaptive teaching web site to complete the

assignments at their own pace that are due a few hours before next lecture. The educator

reads the student online submissions to adjust the content and activities for next lecture to

maximize the gain for students. With two feedback loops in place, the educator is able to

deliver well-balanced course contents that match the students’ knowledge level. By doing

so, it makes learning more effective, efficient and meaningful [5].

1.6.3 Using short message service to encourage interactivity in the classroom

The research presented involved students sending their comments, questions, and

feedback as SMS messages in real-time, in class, via their personal mobile phones. Using

a modem interfacing with customized software to produce SMS files, the lecturer can

view the messages and verbally develop the interactive loop with students during class.

The SMS are available online after class, allowing interactive loops to further develop via

threaded comments.

The research aims to develop the interactivity in the classroom to promote a more

active learning environment, facilitate the building of learning communities, provide

greater feedback for lecturers, and help student motivation [8].

1.6.4 Ubiquitous learning website: Scaffold learners by mobile devices with

information-aware techniques

The research shows that students can learn using Desktop PCs, laptops, PDAs and

cell phones in the ubiquitous learning environment. Students’ learning behaviors through

any learning device are recorded to tune the ‘‘default’’ student model in the learning

website. Notifications and adaptive learning support messages are sent to learners by

SMS. Students can then use the mobile learning devices or available computers to

perform learning tasks immediately. Moreover, the learning system can recommend

mentors that questioners can consult using a cell phone according to the constructed

student model. Because students may use different devices when they are in different

places, the learning system should support the presentation of learning materials and

interaction with learners through all devices. This system fulfills the ‘‘ubiquitous’’

learning environment since students can receive instructions, notifications and

recommendations on their cell phones. Students can connect to the learning system later

to browse or interact using portable devices or desktop computers [9].

Our suggested system is a hybrid and integrated from the previous researches with new

features as the following:

1) It is an environment for creating the quiz by the tutor and answering the question

by the students immediately on a web page or SMS without the need of use

papers or pens. And the tutor can choose the technology depending on the

available devices in the class room.

2) It provides an online and live discussion session using the available technology

which involves all students and improves their interactivity and understanding.

3) It provides the tutor with the ability to send next lecture outlines or key points to

let students focus on while they are preparing before the class.

4) It provides the tutor with ability to send an advice to students to show the

weakness point.

5) It provides an administrative tool that lets tutor organize student’s data and trace

his performance.

6) It provides a graphical way to display the overall students’ results which will

increase the cooperation between students to know the correct answer.

7) It enables students to send feed back, question or comments which are stored in a

database to be viewed directly or later.

8) The system keeps Anonymity to avoid embarrassing.