Mobile Collaborative Learning
Abstract
Mobile technology is a well-known part of life for the most children and adults in Norway today. Over the last several years, a lot of research has been done to improve this technology and it seems like a mobile collaborative learning system can be an important tool for learning in the future. By using ubiquitous computing and context-aware computing, the technologies are integrated into the environment and enable the user to move around and learn in a natural environment. This leads to many challenges in areas such as Computer Supported Cooperative Learning, Intelligent Tutoring Systems and it also involves pedagogical challenges. This Master Thesis aims to develop a mobile collaborative learning system based on some pedagogical theories. The vision for the system is to provide functionality enabling the users to increase their learning in a ubiquitous collaborative environment. By building user models based on heterogeneous users, the system is able to compare users. Stereotypes and facets are gathered from Gardner s multiple intelligence, Dreyfus stages and Hofstede s cultural dimensions. The findings show that the pedagogical theories give a promising approach, appropriate for strengthening the users learning process. There were performed a pre-test, an experiment, and one post-test about the system. The experiment was performed by a upper secondary school class at The Trondheim Cathedral School and a group of students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The result from the survey indicates that the pupils had no time or had to much to do in school too perform the experiment, they also stated that the network coverage was a poor to work in practice. The result from the student group indicates that the prototype system work and the user models are being updated. Keywords: collaboration, ubiquitous, context, user model, stereotypes, Gardner s multiple intelligences, Dreyfus s stages, Hofstede s cultural dimension