PNC Consortium
(Dec 1 2010)
The Use of m-Learning Practice for Effective
First Year Teaching at College of Business
(City University of Hong Kong)
Presenter: Dr. Ron Kwok
Department of Information Systems
College of Business
City University of Hong Kong
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Problems in Conventional
Large Lectures
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Project Objective
“Create a personalized, interactive elearning experience particularly for large
classes—through the use of mobile
devices (i.e. PDA and notebook) resulting
in better learning outcomes.”
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Vedantic / Socratic Learning Model
 Help students learn by drawing out their
potentials (by asking them questions)
 Effective Interaction between teachers and
students (knowing the students and monitoring
their performance)
 Instant Personalized Feedback
 Keep students Motivated
 Give students a chance to think and
Participate in classes
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Three Stages of the Use of m-Learning
Practice for Effective First Year Teaching
at College of Business:
 Stage 1: Personal Response
System
 Stage 2: PDA System
 Stage 3: iLearn System
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m-Learning Practice: Stage 1
(Personal Response System)
Specifications
Technology: Infra-Red
Range: 30 Feet
Max. no of concurrent units: 60
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m-Learning Practice: Stage 2
(PDA System)
Specifications
Technology: Wireless Lan
Range: Within Wlan Range
(More than 100 Feet)
Max. no of concurrent units: unlimited
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PRS Vs PDA
PRS
PDA
Distance
30 feet
Within range of
Wifi Access
Points
Concurrent
Users
60
Unlimited
Uses
Survey
Survey, Polling,
Digital Assistant,
Dictionary… etc
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Quality and Technology Application:
PDA Project Aims
 Help students learn by asking questions.
Enable effective interaction between
teachers and students (knowing the
students and monitoring their performance).
Provide instant personalized feedback.
Keep students motivated.
 Give students more opportunity to think and
participate in classes.
 Overcome challenges of
large classroom
teaching.
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Quality and Technology Application:
Technology Platform
 PDA (Pocket PC operating system) with Internet
access via wireless LAN at CityU for all students
(and instructors)
 Standard web based infrastructure
 “Off-the-shelf” PDAs with standard wireless
interface (802.11b)
 Applications (interactive exercises, user
interface, server software) designed and
implemented in-house at CityU’s College of
Business.
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Quality and Technology Application:
Wireless PDAs in the Classroom
 Student-instructor interaction in large classes
(100+ students)
 Students use wireless PDAs for:
 Raising questions
 Answering questions
 Feedback during lectures
 Value for co-curricular activities: students can
 Browse the web
 Download instructional materials
 Extensions …
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Solution Features and Functionality
 In-class activities
 Multiple choice Q&A
 Short open-ended Q&A
 “Messenger”
 Attendance
 Online quiz
 Out-of-class activities
 e-Token
Login Page of Mobile Learning System
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Q&A: The Interactive Learning Model
Lecturer Poses a Question
Student #1
Student #2
Student #3
`
Lecturer
Student #n
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Q&A: The Interactive Learning Model
Students Respond using PDAs
Student #1
Student #2
xn
Student #3
`
Lecturer
Student #n
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Multiple Choice Q&A
Teacher’s Screen
1
Which of the following is associated with an
Accounting system?
Database
Ledgers
Graphics
Accountants
Q1: Which of the following is associated with
an Accounting system?
A. Database; B. Ledgers; C. Graphics; D.
Accountants.
Students’ Screen
www.fbpda.com
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Short Open-Ended Q&A
What are the business …
What are the business values of
manufacturing systems in a company?
Teacher’s Screen
Q2: What are the business values of
manufacturing systems in a company?
Students’ Screen
www.fbpda.com
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Uniqueness
Use of PDAs by students to:
 Introduce a unique method to
motivate student learning and
participation in large classes.
 Stretch the boundaries of
communication.
 Make the shyness factor disappear.
 SCMP, 6 May 2006
 Track locations and mark attendance in large
classes.
 Create next generation of wireless campus.
 PC market, 2 May 2006
 Reduce the pressure in student-learning.

Wen Wei Po, 2 May 2006
 Instigate interest in students.
 High Tech Weekly, 4 May 2006
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Media Coverage
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m-Learning Practice: Stage 3
iLearn System
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The Previous Platform - Using PDAs



Students were loaned a PDA device
which connects using the University’s Wifi
infrastructure.
Help students learn by asking questions.
 Effective interaction between
teachers and students (knowing the
students and monitoring their
performance).
 Instant personalized feedback.
 Keep students motivated.
Give students another chance to think and
participate in classes.
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Problems with the PDA platform

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Low speed and convenience compared to
a regular computer
PDA on-screen keyboards means typing
text would take considerable longer time
than a conventional keyboard
Administrative overheads in dealing with
loan of devices
Instructors tend to rely too much on
student helpers in class
Pre-setup work when inputting questions
was not user friendly
Platform not linked with University
registration system, requiring separate
add/drop administrative work
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iLearn – Platform using any kinds of
Internet Devices



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University’s Long-term notebook loan
scheme
Increasing popularity in netbooks/notebooks
Lecture rooms with workstations
More user friendly interface due to increase
in screen size
Regular keyboard enables faster response
to text based questions
Live Chat module allows students to ask
questions, enables two-way interactive
communication
Students can learn from fellow students’ text
based answers when displayed on the
instructor’s screen : peer-to-peer learning
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Students’ Screen: Q&A
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Instructors’ Screen: Text Answers
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Instructors’ Screen: Multiple Choice Answers
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Live Chat
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iLearn – Future Developments


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Personalization features
Integration from Mobiles Phones via Internet
or SMS Gateway
Text mining
Better analysis of students’ results into
concept maps
Polling functions
Generation of students reports for each
course regarding students’ participation
For the instructor to be able to select a
particular student in the User List to view
more detailed information of that student
Channels for students to form project
groups or study groups
Blackboard integration
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Summary
 A unique, attractive and
innovative solution with a rich
set of features.
 Proven to demonstrate better
(perceived) understanding and
higher learning satisfaction
than learners without the
technology
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End of
Presentation
___________
Thank You!
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