I have been reading this part of Niazi's Dissertation at hotel in Bintulu....evening of Wed 6 Oct 2010. 1.3.2 Opportunities in Mobile Learning In recent years, there has been an explosion in the growth of mobile learning in all education sectors. Using mobile learning, however, can make many positive contributions, including the following: a) Mobile learning can provide the facility to access and review course materials, labs, assignments and lectures from every where at every time while learners are waiting for a bus, "on the go", at a coffee time or in the recess time. This method of learning can be an extension of e-learning. b) Mobile learning can help learners to get the "right content", at the right time in the right place. In other words, learners can have intelligent context-aware learning. c) Mobile devices can be employed for collaborative learning. Technically, mobile learning can provide tools for group discussions, group interactions, and sharing experiences and knowledge using the evolved technologies in mobile devices like SMS messaging, phone calls, discussion panels, forums and other features. d) Mobile learning can provide tools for interactive learning. The examples of these kinds of tools are quizzes and games. e) Mobile learning also promotes lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is defined as "all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective" [4]. Job training is an example of this kind of learning. f) Because mobile devices are defined as a private space and provide a sense of freedom, owners focus on the content materials and available resources in the devices for a longer period of time in their spare time. g) Mobile learning can have a tremendous impact on coursework activities and make learning more comprehensive. Perhaps, one potential scenario can be of a student in Botany. Every week, s/he has to go to Nature, identify and gather the sample of some particular plants. For this purpose, s/he uses her/his cell phone to surf the Web, identify samples, and take photos of them. When s/he comes back to the lab, s/he has lots of information and the vastly relevant pictures stored on her/his phone. h) Mobile learning can provide tools for informal learning. Informal learning is an important aspect of our learning experience that occurs in a variety of ways such as completion of work-related tasks [2]. Informal learning is defined as"learning that takes place outside a dedicated learning environment and whicharises from the activities and interests of individuals or groups, but which may not be recognized as learning" [5].
1.4 Problems Facing Mobile Learning Although mobile learning can offer many opportunities to facilitate and enhance learning experiences, there are several challenges and obstacles. In order to identify these problems, we have broken up a mobile learning system into 4 objects including wireless networks, mobile devices, users and educational material (See Figure 1.2). 1.4.1 Issues in Wireless Networks In the last decade, we have seen significant advancements in wireless networks and wireless technologies. However, there are still many challenges in wireless network environments. One of these major problems is limited bandwidth. For instance, GPRS(General Packet Radio Service) enables users to use high speed transmission from 56 up to 114 kbps and continuous connection to the Internet via their cell phones. However, in current network implementations, GPRS data transfer speeds are between 30 and 40 kbps. This transmission rate of data will not be enough for mobile applications while a number of people using mobile phones as a device for learning will be increasing. Hence, there is a need for 3G technologies which enable service providers to offer users a wide range of high quality services in a greater network capacity. Another issue in wireless networks is the cost, including the cost of online connections, MMS and SMS messages. This issue should be considered carefully from this aspect: people who are using mobile learning technology are mostly students with limited budget. They can not afford using expensive systems. Hence, a mobile learning system should be cost effective. Disconnectivity of wireless networks is another problem. In mobile learning, learners are defined as objects which are on the move constantly, as suggested in [16] mobile learning is about "a society on the move". Technically, it is possible to lose the mobile wireless signals due to congestion, node mobility or signal disruption. Thus, we need some strategies to make reliable systems that make learning experience available any time any where. Lack of location-aware services is another issue in developing an intelligent mobile learning system. As we will discuss later in Chapter 3, in order to make the "right content" available for learners, we need contextual information including location-aware data.
1.4.2 Issues with Mobile Phones Problems in mobile phones can be considered from two aspects. One is the diversity of mobile phones. The other is mobile phone constraints. Today, there are thousands of different brands of mobile phones with different capabilities and constraints not only in hardware such as memory, screen size, processing power, battery consumption, resolution, display color and bandwidth limitation; also in software such as operating system and Web browser. Even though, some new generations of mobile phones like smart phones have been improved in processing power, memory and bandwidth, they are still restricted in some other aspects such as screen size, display color and user interface. Hence, from a developer perspective, if we want to develop mobile applications and specifically mobile learning applications for mobile devices, they should support all kinds of mobile devices with various capabilities and constrains. Of course, writing applications for each brand of mobile device is tedious and requires a lot of effort. In addition, maintenance of these applications itself, is a big challenge. We need a strategy to overcome these issues, a strategy to create content once and then reuse it for various target devices. Battery consumption in mobile phones is another issue. The mobile applications require more processing power which demands more of the battery on mobile devices. In order to save battery life on mobile devices we have to make a balance among the processing power, usability, and performance of the mobile application. Small screen size is another obstacle. Perhaps, the key question in mobile learning is .how can we fit learning material onto these small screens without any impact on learning performance?
1.4.3 Issues in Content Creation As mentioned earlier, there are various brands of mobile devices with different capabilities and constraints. The term "mobile device" here refers to any portable device including smart phones, PDAs, mobile phones, tablet PCs and laptops. Technically, creating educational materials which can be rendered in all of these devices is a big challenge. It needs methods and strategies to fit content into an appropriate format for each device. In addition, it is hard and time consuming for educators to create materials several times customized for each device. We again emphasize on this idea that creating educational materials should be done once and then generated for various target devices automatically.
1.4.4 No Standards for Mobile Learning Systems An addition to the issue in developing mobile learning systems is the lack of specifications and standards [18]. There is even no framework which can help developers to develop mobile learning systems and educators to create their educational materials appropriate for mobile as well as PC platforms. Thus, there is a need to provide a roadmap for educators, a framework for -developers and identify systems requirements and specifications. 1.4.5 Security Generally, one of the major problems in mobile phones has always been the security issue. Today, mobile phones are used for a mass storage of pictures, documents, messages and digital records. In fact, mobile phones are defined as a private and personal space needed to be kept secret. Due to the limited resources in mobile devices and limitation in processing power and memory, security in mobile devices is a big challenge. Processing, encrypting and decrypting security data on mobile devices demand more processing power which can impact the mobile devices performance and battery life. Technically, more processing power requires more battery on mobile devices. Design and implementation of a deviceindependent platform for mobile learning by Niazi, Razieh, M.Sc., University of Guelph (Canada), 2008 |
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
20101006 - Niazi's Dissertation - part 2
20101006 - Niazi's MSc Dissertation - part 1
title: Design and implementation of a deviceindependent platform for mobile learning I am reading this while flying from KL to Bintulu. It's now Wednesday, 6 October 2010. 1.1 Forms of Education Today, there are two forms of education and training. One is conventional education and the other is "distance education". In conventional education, the learners are assembled in a class, in a particular place, at a particular time and with a particular curriculum and taught by a teacher. Unlike conventional education, in distance education there is no particular class, and no particular time. In this form, teachers and learners can communicate at their own choice of time by exchanging either printed or electronic media, or through technology in a real-time communication [33]. In this system, the teacher is separated from the learner and the learner from the learning group [24]. The next development of distance education was e-learning. E-learning which means "the provision of education and training electronically, on the Internet and the Web" [24], removes boundaries of the classes, saves costs of education and makes education available at every time and just for the right person. E-learning helps both instructors and learners to customize and personalize learning content targeted toward enhanced performance. It enables us to take various electronic courses as much as we want and we need. With e-learning, we take advantage of the evolving technologies in Internet including hyper text, video, audio, email, chat, discussion panel and conference system and combine them together, to make a virtual learning environment which has been very successful in the last decade. The following statistics presented in [24] demonstrate the impact of e-learning as a major sector in education and training: • "There were about one million courses on the Internet, 30,000 of them complying with a scientific definition of online, 70,000 of these were listed on the Telecampus portal, with many of them making didactic use of the World Wide Web" • "WebCT kernel alone was used by 5,100,000 students in 123,000 courses, developed by 33,000 university and college faculty at 1,100 institutions in 48 countries" Comments: I wonder what is the current statistics pertaining to e-learning and m-learning. Recently, we have seen significant advancements in mobile technologies and mobile devices. In fact, we have entered in an era of global mobile communication. We are in the Mobile age. This provides us a great opportunity for a new transformation from "electronic" to "mobile" services. As we can see today ebusiness is moving to m-business and e-learning to m-learning. M-learning is becoming the third form of education and training. However, there are several issues in mobile learning. For instance, there are various definitions about m-learning. In addition, given the wide varieties of mobile devices available with different capabilities and constraints, there are many technical challenges in developing mobile learning systems. These challenges include device-independent delivery of content, support for a wide variety of mobile devices, and reusability of educational materials. Hence, in this thesis, we consider these issues. We propose a mobile learning model and the design and implementation of a system to demonstrate that it is possible to create a device-independent mobile learning system for educators and learners that facilitates teaching, learning, and supports a wide variety of mobile devices. 1.2 Mobile Technology and Mobile Learning By the end of 2007, it is estimated there will be 3 billion mobile subscribers world wide [8] whereas the number of PC users worldwide is expected to reach 1 billion by 2010 [9]. This means more people have mobile phones than PCs. People are very comfortable with their cell phones because of mobility, size and weight. They support different capabilities and services such as voice, SMS for text messaging, email, Internet, MMS for sending, receiving photos, videos, and camera for taking pictures. They can also act as an mp3 player and a mass storage of music, photos, images, and documents. In other words, mobile phones have progressed as a device for both communication and entertainment. However, they still have lots of potential for new additional revolutionary applications and usages. Mobile learning utilizes mobile devices into learning. The term mobile device includes not only cell phones, smart phones and PDAs, but also every portable device which has mobility and portability like laptops and tablet PCs although there are some debates on the inclusion of tablet PCs and laptops in mobile learning [28]. Comments: There are a multitude of definitions on mobile learning. I need to show the similarity and diversity of meanings in my Dissertation. Generally, there are various definitions of mobile learning given in [3], including: "Mobile Learning is e-leaming through mobile computational devices: Palms, Windows CE machines, even your digital cell phone." "The term mobile learning (m-learning) refers to the use of mobile and handheld IT devices, such as PDAs, mobile phones, laptops and tablet PCs, "According to software vendors, mobile learning is 'the point at which mobile computing and e-leaming intersect to produce an anytime, anywhere learning experience.' Translation: It's the ability to enjoy an educational moment from a cell phone or personal digital assistant (PDA)." We can consider these definitions from two aspects: * the use of mobile handheld devices in mobile learning, and * mobile learning (mlearning) is a natural extension of e-learning that goes beyond the e-leaming experience and makes learning even more available and accessible [25]. Futurist Wayne Hodgins said, mobile learning provides "just the right content for the right person in the right place on just the right device at just the right time" [14]. 1.3 Opportunities in Mobile Learning 1. What is the potential of mobile technology to establish pervasive learning environments? 2. What opportunities will mobile learning offer? 1.3.1 Potential of Mobile Technology for Learning Mark Weiser [15, 29], the father of pervasive computing, talked about a third way of computing, in which technology will be hidden in the background of our daily lives. This means technology will support us at every time, in every where and we always have access to it. This definition can be extended for pervasive learning as well. In pervasive learning, education will be available for all people in all scopes from toddlers to seniors, even people who are hard-to-reach, people in rural areas with limited learning resources or people who have been geographically isolated. However, in order to establish pervasive learning environments, we take the following items into account:
• We need pervasive communication networks. Recently, we have seen advancements in wireless LANs like WiFi. But they are only available in hotspots. However, according to some statistics [8], the number of mobile users is growing exponentially and this requires the exponential growth of wireless networks as well. Hence, in the near future the wireless infrastructure will cover many places. Another phenomenon about to happen is the arrival of 3G technologies. These technologies eliminate many of the encountered obstacles in bandwidth, speed, connectivity, data transfer rate and create a great opportunity to establish pervasive environments. • We need connected devices. Ideally, in pervasive computing and consequently in pervasive learning we should have access to technology at any time, from any where. Hence, mobility and portability are two important requirements of connected devices in the context of pervasive computing. Comments: Even 3G is old technology. Now, it is 3GX technology. Mobile operators in Malaysia are offering 3GX, 3G, EDGE and GPRS. Speeds differ very much between 3GX and the snail-speed of GPRS. 3GX enable web and WAP, whereas GPRS is only suitable for WAP. Mobile devices have lots of potential in establishing pervasive learning environments: o Today, mobile devices are light-weight, cheap, small in size, and portable. They support lots of capabilities and services and can be always carried by people. In other words, mobile devices have remarkably improved as a multi purpose device for communication and entertainment, o Mobiles are ubiquitous today. So far, there is a high rate of mobile phone ownership and still increasing, o Another important aspect to consider is the personal nature of mobile phones which are used as a device for entertainment, communication and building relationships with friends. In fact, the young define their cell phones as a personal space that can give them an opportunity to communicate with friends, explore new relationships and provide a sense of freedom. by Niazi, Razieh, M.Sc., University of Guelph (Canada), 2008 |
Sunday, September 26, 2010
20100926 - Pestina, ...Mobile/Wireless User Interfaces...
Development frameworks for mobile/wireless user interfaces: A comparative study by Pestina, Simona, M.Comp.Sc., Concordia University (Canada), 2002 , 127 pages; AAT MQ68478 My Interest: 1) WAP Usability Findings from Nielsen. 2) Constraints of mobile devices. 3) Strengths & Weakness of each Framework. Action: To read specific parts of Dissertation in future. Research Goal In this research, we investigated the development frameworks for mobile/wireless Web applications with a special consideration to the user interface (UI) component. Motivation The Web applications running on small mobile devices cannot support the full range of the traditional desktop Web functionality. This is due to the devices' physical and computational constraints. Research Outcome We described how the mobile devices' constraints and their increased diversity and connectivity are affecting the traditional UI development tools, methods and concepts. We also analyzed the development impacts that are emerging from the necessity of building consistent user interfaces for different mobile devices and platforms. In particular, we discussed how the current development frameworks could satisfy the constrained mobile environment while preserving the cross-platform usability. We conducted a comparative survey of these frameworks using different criteria such as data processing, data interactivity and presentation techniques, data transfer, security support, cross-platform or device specific availability, scalability, UI modeling techniques, UI delivery mechanism. We exposed the strengths and weaknesses of each framework while highlighting the areas for future improvements. Our survey highlighted the need for a "universal" high-level framework for mobile UIs development. Comments: Softcopy Dissertation is scanned version; can't copy and paste; difficult to blog about it. 2. CHAPTER II – USABILITY CHALLENGES FOR MOBILE / WIRELESS INTERACTIVE APPLICATIONS 2.2 WAP Usability Findings from Nielsen Survey 2.3 Mobile Computing Guidelines 3.1 HTML and Web Clipping Framework 3.2 WAP Framework 3.3 XML Framework 3.4 UIML Framework 3.5 JAVA 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) Framework
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20100926 - Lee, D&D of User Interfaces for Small Screen Computers
The design and development of user interfaces for small screen computers by Lee, Kwang Bok, Ph.D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2003 , My Interest: 1) Usability testing. Note: His write-up on Usability Testing is extensive. 2) Problems of small screen computers. Action: To read specific parts of Dissertation in future. Problem Statement The increasing availability of small size computers, such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Palm pilots or handheld devices, with the ability to transmit information over wireless networks has enormously enhanced opportunities for researchers. However, these devices have difficulty displaying information because of their hardware constraints, such as small screens, small storage, low speed, and low power. Research Goal This thesis introduces two methods for solving these problems. Zoomable User Interfaces (ZUI) First, providing zoomable user interfaces (ZUI) introduces many zooming applications such as a file zoom, a focus zoom, and a search zoom which are based on geometric and semantic zooming methods. The file zooming applications use dynamic zoom-in and zoom-out functions for visualizing large amounts of information on the PDA screen. The focus zooming applications are based on a magnifying glass lens that is a 2D visualization for large rectangular presentations that allows a user to quickly focus on a part of the PDA screen. Finally, the thesis describes the search zooming applications for easy recognition and comparison of the content of files on the screen. Adaptive User Interfaces (AUI) With the proliferation of PDAs, people are using such small devices to access the web; however, the web is not accommodating such access. For small device users, we introduce adaptive user interfaces (AUI) based on an efficient method for extracting readable documents from XML-based files, which will be used for information streams for mobile Internet access. We design a selector for handling information streams to extract the customized information based on the user request for the small devices. The selector's attributes can be adapted from the XML documents, and then works on translating information streams into the new file that will be displayed on the devices. Also, the selector has visual menu interfaces so that users can easily choose each attribute according to their preferences. This is developed to devise an efficient method for the small devices' problems. Usability Testing Furthermore, we prepare usability testing for the applications in order to find usability problems, and then we offer suggestions for improving the usability of the applications. The prototypes and implementations of these approaches will be also provided in this thesis. Comments: Softcopy Dissertation is scanned version; cannot copy and paste; difficult to blog about it. 1.3.3 Usability testing Chapter 5 Usability Testing for Small Screen Computers Page 52 – 87 Content (the entire Chapter 5) looks very good…for my reading. Must read!
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20100926 - Karlson, Interface & Interaction Design for one-handed Mobile Computing [touchscreen mobile phone]
Interface and interaction design for onehanded mobile computing by Karlson, Amy Kathleen, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, 2007 , 282 pages; AAT 3297319 My Interest: 1) How she developed the Design Guidelines & Interaction Techniques. 2) How she tested/evaluated the Design Guideline – the 4 Applications. Action: To read specific parts of the Dissertation in future. Motivation Mobile phones are not only a ubiquitous social accessory, but rapid technology advances have transformed them into feature-rich, Internetenabled mobile PCs--a role once reserved for touchscreen-based personal digital assistants (PDAs). Although the most widespread phone styles in circulation feature the classic combination of numeric keypad and non-touchscreen display, larger touchscreen devices are gaining ground, as indicated by the fervor surrounding new devices such as Apple's iPhone and LG's Prada phone. Yet as devices evolve, users will remain constrained by the limits of their own visual, physical, and mental resources. Research Goal My research has focused on the specific limitation that mobile users often have only one hand available to operate a device, which can be especially problematic for touchscreen-based devices, since they are frequently designed for two-handed stylus operation. Considering the growing volumes of data that small devices can now store and connect to, as well as the expanding cultural role of mobile phones, improving usability in mobile computing has potentially enormous implications for user productivity, satisfaction and even safety. My own exploratory surveys have suggested that one-handed use of mobile devices is very common but that today's hardware and software designs do not support users in performing many tasks with only one hand. Motivated by these findings, the research goal of this dissertation is to contribute substantial knowledge in the form of empirically backed design guidelines and interaction techniques for improving one-handed usability and operation of mobile devices, with particular emphasis on those with touch-sensitive displays. The guidelines for one-handed mobile device design are the product of a series of studies conducted in pursuit of foundational knowledge in user behavior, preference, thumb capabilities and touchscreen-thumb interaction characteristics for singlehanded device use. Methodology I also demonstrate the application of these guidelines through the development and evaluation of four applications. Two involve designs for navigating among programs, one provides an interface for searching large data sets, and the last offers a generalized mechanism for controlling arbitrary touchscreen interfaces with a thumb. Each of these applications explores a different one-handed interaction technique and offers perspective on its viability for one-handed device use. Chapter 2 Foundations: Why Design for One-Handed Mobile Devices? 2.1 Related Work 2.1.1 Effects of Device Size on Design 2.1.2 Attention and Mobility 2.1.3 Impact of Form on Physical Resource Demands 2.1.4 Strategies for Reducing Hand Requirements 2.1.5 The Role of Audio in Mobile Interaction 2.2 Exploratory Study 1: Field Study 2.2.1 Method 2.2.2 Measures 2.2.3 Results 2.2.4 Discussion
2.3 Exploratory Study 2:Web Survey 2.3.1 Method 2.3.2 Measures 2.3.3 Results 2.3.4 Discussion 2.4 Conclusion Chapter 4 Applications: Touchscreen Design Strategies for One-Handed Mobile 4.1 Overview 4.2 A Comparative Design Strategy 4.3 Related Work 4.7 AppLens and LaunchTile Formative Study 4.7.1 Participants 4.7.2 Measures 4.7.3 Materials 4.7.4 Tasks 4.7.5 Procedure 4.7.6 Results 4.8 Discussion 4.9 Conclusion Chapter 5 Applications: Search Strategies for One-Handed Mobile Computing 5.1 Motivation 5.2 Related Work 5.6 User Study 5.6.1 Participants 5.6.2 Method 5.6.3 Equipment 5.6.4 Tasks 5.6.5 Measures 5.6.6 Procedure 5.7 Study Results 5.7.1 Task Times 5.7.2 Percent Correct 5.7.3 Satisfaction 5.7.4 User comments 5.7.5 Usability Observations 5.8 Discussion 5.9 Conclusion Chapter 6 Applications: A Technique for Generalized One-Handed Interaction 6.1 Related Work 6.4 Study 1: Direct Interaction vs. Peripheral Hardware 6.4.1 Independent Variables 6.4.2 Tasks 6.4.3 Hypotheses 6.4.4 Implementation and Apparatus 6.4.5 Method 6.4.6 Participants 6.4.7 Procedure 6.5 Study 1: Results 6.5.1 Task Times 6.5.2 Error Rate 6.5.3 Satisfaction 6.5.4 Preference 6.5.5 Discussion 6.6 Study 2: ThumbSpace vs. Shift for Palm-Sized Touchscreen Devices 6.6.1 Independent Variables 6.6.2 Implementation and Apparatus 6.6.3 Tasks 6.6.4 Method 6.6.5 Participants 6.6.6 Procedure 6.7 Study 2: Results 6.7.1 Task Times 6.7.2 Error Rate 6.7.3 Input Choice 6.7.4 Satisfaction 6.7.5 Preference 6.8 Discussion |
