2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Research and Development of a Novel Learning Support Environment on Synchronized Multiple Devices with Affordance
| Project/Area Number |
20K19939
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| Research Institution | Kyushu University |
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Principal Investigator |
Lu Min 九州大学, 基幹教育院, 助教 (60750007)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | learning support / mobile learning / multiple devices / learning dashboard / learning analytics / human-centered design / cross-platform / affordance |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
As one of the essential components of the proposed multi-device learning environment (MDLE), learning dashboard tools have been focused on and progressed well in this FY. From the students' learning logs, the reading behaviors on e-book systems were visualized and analyzed to figure out the relations between the students' learning styles and reading patterns and the connections to their performances. The learning dashboard tools can be used as supplementary to teaching materials for self-regulated learning.
An interactive user interface for course recommendations in university environments was designed based on an investigation of course choice motivations. The visualizations of courses' categories, types, and relations on an interactive web UI based on different criteria were realized and evaluated. The visualization techniques can also be applied in the future development of MDLE.
As the implementation of MDLE has been focusing on a specific application scenario that is groupwork-based practice courses with in-door and out-door activities, instead of providing a one-fit-all solution, the project developed fundamental components for an MDLE prototype supporting in-door & out-door group work to create georeferenced hand-drawn map content. The completed components include a server-side Python package and a client-side Javascript module, which deals with data structures and geometric calculations. The front-end web interface and back-end APIs are under development for a mockup web app of MDLE.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
The study and development of learning dashboard tools as an essential component of the proposed multi-device learning environment (MDLE) is on schedule and had more outcomes than expected.
The development of MDLE prototypes is delayed as this research changed its scope from a one-fit-all solution to a concrete application scenario and switched its focus from a face-to-face classroom learning environment to an in-door & out-door group work style learning environment. The changes of directions required more time to reform the original research design as well as the prototype design, thus delaying the development schedule.
The original plan underestimated the complexity of the system, especially the integration of multi-device synchronization and the existing learning management systems in actual use. The adjusted development plan is pursuing a more reasonable goal: a mockup application for formative evaluation. The development is catching up but is still slightly behind the original schedule.
The evaluation of MDLE depends on the progress of prototype development, and in the meantime, the COVID-19 situation made it difficult to organize user experiments or conduct fieldwork, thus being behind schedule.
Overall, the current progress is slightly delayed than schedule.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In FY2022, the project will first complete the mockup prototype of the proposed multi-device learning environment (MDLE) as soon as possible for a formative evaluation. It will focus on the technical verification of the synchronization among the user's mobile devices and multiple users based on the combination of WebSocket (for timely data, e.g., locations and messages) and RESTful APIs (for infrequently changed data, e.g., map data and media). The preliminary results are planned to be concluded and presented at a conference.
The mockup prototype will then be extended to an actual web app with a real back-end handling essential user management and map content data storage and distribution for user experiments in an actual class. The project will seek proper collaborators in universities or high schools whose classes require collaborative mobile learning. The operational log will be gathered as a data source for the visualization in the learning dashboard for reviewing the learning process. The users' behaviors and feedback will be collected with log data, questionnaires, and interviews to evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of the application. The results are planned to be concluded and published in a journal paper.
Finally, the whole project will be concluded, and the results are expected to be published in conferences and papers. At the end of the project, new directions for future research, such as stretching the developed prototype to include classroom/online learning environments, will be explored.
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| Causes of Carryover |
There is a very small amount of balance (433 JPY) left in this FY, which is not necessary to be spent. The amount is planned to be used in the next FY together with the budget for article costs or miscellaneous fees.
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Research Products
(5 results)
