In this chapter we explore how an innovative mobile learning activity, designed by the authors can be implemented by mathematics classroom teachers. The focal part of the activity involves spatial orientation tasks that are executed with the support of customized mobile technologies in an outdoor setting. In this chapter, we present a comprehensive account of our research efforts spanning a five-year period and focus on providing didactical and technological support for teachers’ informed orchestration of the technology enabled learning activity.

This paper discusses the development process and evaluation of a reference software architecture within the field of mobile learning. The architecture implements the workflow of preparation - activity - analysis & reflection of (data collection) activities supported by mobile applications. A number of challenges, like portability, flexibility, or expandability are important to address in mobile learning. To overcome the mentioned challenges in this field, we are proposing a web-based architecture that is supposed to serve as a foundation for the development of software solutions in the field of mobile learning. We discuss scenario descriptions needed for the evaluation and present three implementations in this field that serve as candidate architectures. With the support of those candidates, the reference architecture is proposed. Important system quality attributes are identified and then applied for an evaluation of the architecture using the SAAM method. We conclude by discussing that the proposed architecture does not only fit the field of mobile learning but can also be adapted to a general solution regarding the workflow of: preparation - activity - analysis & reflection of mobile (data collection) applications.

This chapter describes our research efforts related to the design of mobile learning (m-learning) applications in cloud-computing (CC) environments. Many cloud-based services can be used/integrated in m-learning scenarios, hence, there is a rich source of applications that could easily be applied to design and deploy those within the context of cloud-based services. Here, we present two cloud-based approaches—a flexible framework for an easy generation and deployment of mobile learning applications for teachers, and a flexible contextualization service to support personalized learning environment for mobile learners. The framework provides a flexible approach that supports teachers in designing mobile applications and automatically deploys those in order to allow teachers to create their own m-learning activities supported by mobile devices. The contextualization service is proposed to improve the content delivery of learning objects (LOs). This service allows adapting the learning content and the mobile user interface (UI) to the current context of the user. Together, this leads to a powerful and flexible framework for the provisioning of potentially ad hoc mobile learning scenarios. We provide a description of the design and implementation of two proposed cloud-based approaches together with scenario examples. Furthermore, we discuss the benefits of using flexible and contextualized cloud applications in mobile learning scenarios. Hereby, we contribute to this growing field of research by exploring new ways for designing and using flexible and contextualized cloud-based applications that support m-learning.

The wide availability of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets among students as well as the included positioning technologies, high definition cameras and other sensors, together with continuous Internet access bring many new opportunities for developing mobile applications supporting learning activities. However, there is an immense fragmentation of operating systems for mobile devices. HTML5 is a promising approach to tackle this challenge. Mobile web applications run within browsers and nowadays, most mobile devices possess a browser that interprets HTML5. Nevertheless, the educational domain seems to ignore this potential and relies on the development of native applications. In this paper, we analyze the opportunities, advantages and drawbacks of developing mobile applications supporting learning activities with HTML5 compared with developing them natively. To illustrate our ideas, we present a couple of showcases that already rely on HTML5, which allow us to further review the development opportunities for mobile HTML5 applications in general, as well as specifically in educational settings.

The continuous evolution of learning technologies combined with the changes within ubiquitous learning environments in which they operate result in dynamic and complex requirements that are challenging to meet. The fact that these systems evolve over time makes it difficult to adapt to the constant changing requirements. Existing approaches in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) are generally not addressing those issues and they fail to adapt to those dynamic situations. In this chapter, we investigate the notion of an adaptive and adaptable architecture as a possible solution to address these challenges. We conduct a literature survey upon the state of the art and state of practice in this area. The outcomes of those efforts result in an initial model of a Domain-specific architecture to tackle the issues of adaptability and adaptiveness. To illustrate these ideas, we provide a number of scenarios where this architecture can be applied or is already applied. Our proposed approach serves as a foundation for addressing future ubiquitous learning applications where new technologies constantly emerge and new requirements evolve.

In recent years, it is becoming more common for people to use applications or devices that keep track of their activities, such as fitness activities, places they visited, the music they listen to, and pictures they took. These data are used by the services for various purposes, but usually there are limitations for the users to explore or interact with them. Our project investigates a new approach of visualizing such Quantified Self data, in a meaningful and enjoyable way that gives the users insights into their data. The paper discusses the feasibility of creating a service that allows users to connect the activity tracking applications they already use, analyse the amount of activities, and then presents them the resulting information. The visualization of the information is proposed as an avatar that maps the different activities the user is engaged with, along with the activity levels, as graphical features. Within the scope of this work, several user studies were conducted and a system prototype was implemented to explore how to build, using web technologies, such a system that aggregates and analyses personal activity data, and also to determine what kind of data should and can be collected, to provide meaningful information to the users. Furthermore, it was investigated how a possible design for the avatar could look like, to be clearly understood by the users.

This paper discusses the efforts carried out related to the design and development of a web-based framework that allows designing, deploying and executing mobile data collecting applications. Furthermore, it also allows analyzing and presenting the data that is generated during the mentioned process. The fact that the framework is completely web-based provides a platform independent execution of the mobile application on any mobile device with a web-browser. As a result that the whole life-cycle of creating, executing and discussing a mobile learning activity is implemented in pure web-based manner separates this work from similar efforts. In the course of this work, the current state of development of two of the components, the authoring tool and the mobile application is presented. This framework was introduced to teachers in an activity to follow up an initial study. On the basis of a workshop with teachers, we performed an explorative study regarding the technology acceptance and usability of two components of the proposed framework. The results are discussed and analyzed in this paper.

In this paper, we describe an approach for designing and developing technological solutions to support teachers in creating their own outdoor teaching activities. We elaborate on one particular case, TriGO, in which primary school students perform outdoor tasks to experience concepts and constructions in the field of mathematics. The application designs and an initial evaluation of the developed technological solutions is provided based on the results obtained from school activities performed with more than 10 teachers and 50 students.

This chapter describes our current research efforts related to the contextualization of learners in mobile learning activities. Substantial research in the field of mobile learning has explored aspects related to contextualized learning scenarios. However, new ways of interpretation and consideration of contextual information of mobile learners are necessary. This chapter provides an overview regarding the state of the art of innovative approaches for supporting contextualization in mobile learning. Additionally, we provide the description of the design and implementation of a flexible multi-dimensional vector space model to organize and process contextual data together with visualization tools for further analysis and interpretation. We also present a study with outcomes and insights on the usage of the contextualization support for mobile learners. To conlcude, we discuss the benefits of using contextualization models for learners in different use-cases. Moreover, a description is presented in order to illustrate how the proposed contextual model can easily be adapted and reused for different use-cases in mobile learning scenarios and potentially other mobile fields.

This poster discusses work on the design of a visual-based programming language for physical computing and mobile tools for the learners to actively document and reflect on their projects. These are parts of a European project that is investigating how to generate, analyze, use and provide feedback from analytics derived from hands-on learning activities. Our aim is to raise a discussion about how learning analytics, intelligence, and the role of learners’ documenting their work can provide richer opportunities for supporting learning and teaching.