a b s t r a c tA limitation of current Web-based collaborative learning is the restricted ability of students to create and share individual annotations with annotated documents. Applying Web 2.0 collaborative annotation systems and analyzing students' annotation behavior has attracted attention to improve collaborative learning. This study designed a personalized annotation management system 2.0 (PAMS 2.0) for managing, sharing, and reusing individual and collaborative annotations as well as providing a shared mechanism for discussion about shared annotations among multiple users. The purposes of this study are three-fold: (1) to understand students' perceived attitudes toward the use of PAMS 2.0; (2) to investigate the effects of different annotation sharing scenarios on quantity of annotation and its influence on learning achievements; and (3) to examine the relationship between learning achievements and quantity of annotation. A quasi-experiment was conducted with two classes of college students for fifteen weeks. According to the results of the experiments, most of students in the experimental group are satisfied with the use of PAMS 2.0 for helping them create individual annotations and share their own annotations in collaborative learning context. Majorly students were interested in practical learning scenarios with PAMS 2.0 and thought this system is particularly useful for doing learning tasks. The analytical results of learning achievements show that the use of PAMS 2.0 can increase learning achievements in collaborative learning environments. Moreover, the results show that the influence of annotation on learning achievements becomes stronger with the use of the sharing mechanism.
2015): Evaluating listening and speaking skills in a mobile game-based learning environment with situational contexts, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Game-based learning activities that facilitate students' listening and speaking skills were designed in this study. To participate in learning activities, students in the control group used traditional methods, while students in the experimental group used a mobile system. In our study, we looked into the feasibility of mobile game-based learning activities. One experiment was carried out and the results revealed that the experimental-group students significantly outperformed the control-group students on the verbal post-test. However, the performance of the two groups was equal on the listening post-test. Two variables (the average score for the interactive jigsaw game and the number of designed cards) were found to be the most important factors for influencing students' performance in the verbal post-test. Furthermore, most students had positive perceptions toward learning activities that are supported by a mobile system. These results suggest that game-based learning activities can significantly improve students' speaking skills if driven by a mobile system. Furthermore, these results suggest that learning activities with a mobile system foster students to (1) practice speaking English as a foreign language (EFL) more frequently as well as to reflect on their speech; (2) create meaningful sentences and speak with greater accuracy and confidence; and (3) practice speaking EFL in an authentic context.
It is beneficial for students to experience situational learning, especially for English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. Providing more listening and speaking opportunities could help EFL students with English learning. Our research proposes a listening and speaking practice system employing personal digital assistants (PDAs) for situated learning using contexts with which students would be familiar. The proposed system attempts to help participating EFL students by presenting learning contexts in familiar situations, such as during lunch at school. The results show that the proposed system and designed activities provided EFL elementary school students with listening and speaking practice opportunities in basic vocabulary and simple sentences with the support of familiar, situational learning. In the experiment, the experimental group learned multimedia-based learning materials about food materials at lunch with PDAs. In contrast, the control group learned via paper-based learning materials in class without real contextual support. After the experiment, findings reveal that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in learning achievement. By providing recommended sample voices recorded by peers, students in the experimental group could repeatedly listen to the recordings in familiar situations, thus obtaining more opportunities to practice and interact with peers later. The other significant finding is that the number of peers used to practice speaking English in daily contexts, defined as practice diversity, was significantly correlated to learning improvement. That is, when students practiced speaking English with an increased number of peers, in familiar contexts, their English skills improved. After interviews with students, an interesting phenomenon was identified; students in the experimental group extended their learning from school to home. Furthermore, students' learning was not only a deliberate event or situation -learning also took place spontaneously in their daily lives. Therefore, the proposed system and activities can help EFL students, particularly novices, listen to and speak English in familiar situational contexts.
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