20101002 - Hoskyns-Long, Trends in Mobile Learning...podcasting...

Trends in mobile learning: A study of the adoption of podcasting as a learning tool at a community college by Hoskyns-Long, Gail E., Ph.D., Capella University, 2009 , 136 pages; AAT 3359056 My Interest: 1) Mobile learning. 2) Podcasting as learning tool. 3) Moore & Benbaset (1991) – Adoption of Innovation instrument. 4) Hall & Hord (2006) – Stages of Concern Questionnaire – SoCQ. 5) Roger (2003) – Diffusion on Innovation Theory. 6) Validity and Reliability. 7) Descriptive Statistics. 8) Hypotheses testing. Action: To read the Dissertation in future. Motivation The ongoing challenge remains as to how best improve learning and teaching methods for tomorrow's workforce. With the rapid pace of growing globalization and foreign competition, it is imperative that modern day educators embrace new technologies as a method to align their teaching skills with the expectations of a "wired" generation. Podcasting can be one of the innovations used to help fill these needs. Research Goal This quantitative study was designed to explore and discover valuable data that can be used to understand and overcome potential barriers of educators, to adopt podcasting as a learning tool. Methodology The target population of this study included the full-time faculty of a large community college in the state of Michigan. This study incorporated the adoption of innovation instrument created by Moore and Benbaset (1991) and Hall and Hord's (2006) Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ). Moore and Benbaset's instrument is based from Everett Rogers' (2003) popular Diffusion on Innovation Theory. Conclusion This study concluded the majority of educators were slow to adopt podcasting as a learning tool. Overall, the instructors had only a general awareness of podcasting and are interested in learning more about the possibilities of using podcasting as a learning tool. CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW E-Learning to M-Learning 17 Podcasts 19 Podcast Users 23 Teaching and Training Strategies, Styles, and Pedagogies 27 Podcasting Initiatives 33 Adoption of Podcasting 37 Culture, Change, and Global Competition 38 Change and Diffusion Theoretical Models 43 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY Research Design 58 Sample 59 Instrumentation and Measures 61 Data Collection 63 Data Analysis 64 Validity and Reliability 66 Ethical Considerations 67 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS Descriptive Statistics 69 Hypotheses Testing 74 Summary 84

20101002 - Amer, ...Learners' usage of Mobile Learning applications...idioms..

Idiomobile for learners of English: A study of learners' usage of a mobile learning application for learning idioms and collocations by Amer, Mahmoud Atiah, Ph.D., Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2010 , 188 pages; AAT 3413155 My Interest: 1) Mobile learning. 2) Context. 3) Descriptive statistics. 4) Inferential statistics. 5) ANOVA. 6) Independent and Dependent Variables. Action: To read specific parts of Dissertation in future. Research Goal This study explored how four groups of English learners used a mobile software application developed by the researcher for learning idiomatic expressions and collocations. Methodology A total of 45 learners in the study used the application for a period of one week. Data for this study was collected from a questionnaire, the application, and follow-up interviews. Findings Findings in the study show that idiomatic expressions and collocations are particularly difficult for English language learners. All learners in this study averaged less than 70 percent on the quizzes they took during the study, which echoes reported findings in the field regarding the difficulty of idiomatic expressions and collocations for English language learners. In addition, findings show that learners' usage of the application correlated with their average scores on the quizzes. The more learners used the application, the higher they scored on the quizzes in the application. Learners' usage focused mainly on the quiz and game sections of the application. In a week, learners in all groups answered 8,654 quiz questions with an average of 60 questions for each learner. In addition, findings show that usage of mobile devices in general can predict how English learners used the application. Findings also underscore the importance of providing language learners with resources to help them learn idiomatic expressions and collocation. Learners strongly indicated that even within a short period of time, they felt they knew more idioms and collocations since they started using the application. Data from the application show that learners had difficulty understanding idiomatic expressions relating to feelings, such as a chip on your shoulder, or hot under the collar. Findings also show that learners in this study seem to recognize longer idiomatic expressions than shorter idiomatic expressions. Findings also show that learners' have strong positive opinions toward the use of mobile technology in language learning. THREE – METHODOLOGY Research Design Variables in the Study Independent Variables Dependent Variables Participants ALI Participants Participants from the Composition and TESOL Program EFL Learners of English ESL Students not Majoring in English Participants' Confidentiality Procedure Data Elicitation Methods Questionnaire Design Preliminary Questionnaire Experimental Material: Mobile Data Collected Time Spent Sections Used Games and Quizzes Follow-up Interviews Pilot Study Initial Results Preliminary Questionnaire Data Data from Idiomobile Data from the Interviews Data Analysis Descriptive Statistics Measures of Frequency Measures of Dispersion Probability Inferential Statistics Parametric Tests Multiple Regression Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)