Abstract
The use of collaborative activities in education has proven to be an effective way to enhance students’ learning outcomes by increasing their engagement and motivating discussions on the learning topics under exploration. In the field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), the use of information and communication technologies has been extensively studied to provide alternative methods to support collaborative learning activities, combining different applications and tools. Mobile learning, a subset of TEL, has become a prominent area of research as it offers promising tools to enhance students’ collaboration and it provides alternative views for teaching and learning subject matter in relevant and authentic scenarios. While many studies have focused on the pedagogical opportunities provided by mobile technologies, fewer are the efforts looking at technological related aspects. Hardware and software issues in this field still remain as challenges that require a deeper level of study and analysis. This paper presents and discusses the findings of a deep analysis based on the outcomes of three mobile collaborative learning activities and their requirements. These results have helped us to identify a number of arising challenges that need to be addressed in order to warranty Quality of Service (QoS) in these collaborative M-learning activities. Moreover, the paper offers a view on current practices in M-learning activities, which evidences the lack of research addressing software engineering aspects in mobile collaborative learning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aseere, A.M., Millard, D.E., Gerding, E.H.: Ultra-Personalization and Decentralization: The Potential of Multi-Agent Systems in Personal and Informal Learning. In: Wolpers, M., Kirschner, P.A., Scheffel, M., Lindstaedt, S., Dimitrova, V. (eds.) EC-TEL 2010. LNCS, vol. 6383, pp. 30–45. Springer, Heidelberg (2010)
Chan, T., et al.: One-to-One Technology-Enhanced Learning: an Opportunity for Global Research Collaboration. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning 1(1), 3–29 (2006)
Dillenbourg, P.: Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches. Advances in Learning and Instruction Series. Elsevier Science, Inc. (1999)
Gil de la Iglesia, D.: Uncertainties in Mobile Learning applications: Software Architecture Challenges. Licentiate thesis, Linnaeus University (2012), http://lnu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:524874/FULLTEXT01
Gil de la Iglesia, D., et al.: Enhancing Mobile Learning Activities by the Use of Mobile Virtual Devices – Some Design and Implementation Issues. In: Proceedings of INCoS 2010, pp. 137–144. IEEE Computer Society (November 2010)
Gil de la Iglesia, D., et al.: Towards a Decentralized and Self-Adaptive System for M-Learning Applications. In: Proceedings of WMUTE 2012. IEEE Computer Society, Takamatsu (2012)
Hastings, D., McManus, H.: A framework for understanding uncertainty and its mitigation and exploitation in complex systems. IEEE Engineering Management Review 34(3), 1–19 (2006)
Herrington, J., et al.: Using mobile technologies to develop new ways of teaching and learning. In: New Technologies, New Pedagogies: Mobile Learning in Higher Education, pp. 1–14. University of Wollongong (2009)
Herskovic, V., et al.: Modeling groupware for mobile collaborative work. In: Proc. of CSCWD 2009, pp. 384–389. IEEE Comp. Soc., Santiago (2009)
Jones, V., Jo, J.: Ubiquitous learning environment: An adaptive teaching system using ubiquitous technology. In: Proceedings of ASCILITE 2004. Beyond the Comfort Zone, pp. 468–474. Australiasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (2004)
Kukulska-Hulme, A., et al.: Innovation in Mobile Learning: A European Perspective BT. Inter. Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning 1(1), 13–35 (2009)
Kurkovsky, S.: Multimodality in Mobile Computing and Mobile Devices: Methods for Adaptable Usability. IGI Global (2010)
Looi, C.K., et al.: Collaborative activities enabled by GroupScribbles (GS): An exploratory study of learning effectiveness. Computers & Education 54(1), 14–26 (2010)
Neyem, A., Ochoa, S.F., Pino, J.A., Franco, D.: An Architectural Pattern for Mobile Groupware Platforms. In: Meersman, R., Herrero, P., Dillon, T. (eds.) OTM 2009 Workshops. LNCS, vol. 5872, pp. 401–410. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)
Neyem, A., et al.: A Patterns System to Coordinate Mobile Collaborative Applications. Group Decision and Negotiation 20(5), 563–592 (2011)
Ogata, H., et al.: Computer supported ubiquitous learning environment for vocabulary learning. International Journal of Learning Technology 5(1), 5–24 (2010)
Rogers, Y., et al.: Enhancing learning: a study of how mobile devices can facilitate sensemaking. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 14(2), 111–124 (2010)
Sharples, M., Taylor, J.: Towards a theory of mobile learning. In: Proc. of mLearn 2005 (2005)
Sharples, M., et al.: Mobile Learning. In: Balacheff, N., et al. (eds.) Technology-Enhanced Learning, pp. 233–249. Springer, Netherlands (2009)
Tarkoma, S.: Mobile Middleware: Architecture, Patterns and Practice. John Wiley & Sons Inc. (2009)
Tuulos, V.H., Scheible, J., Nyholm, H.: Combining Web, Mobile Phones and Public Displays in Large-Scale: Manhattan Story Mashup. In: LaMarca, A., Langheinrich, M., Truong, K.N. (eds.) Pervasive 2007. LNCS, vol. 4480, pp. 37–54. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)
Weyns, D., et al.: A Survey on Formal Methods in Self-Adaptive Systems. In: Proc. of FMSAS 2012 (2012)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Gil de La Iglesia, D., Milrad, M., Andersson, J. (2012). Software Requirements to Support QoS in Collaborative M-Learning Activities. In: Herskovic, V., Hoppe, H.U., Jansen, M., Ziegler, J. (eds) Collaboration and Technology. CRIWG 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7493. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33284-5_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33284-5_16
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-33283-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-33284-5
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)