Innovative Web-based and mobile learning technologies have the potential to improve students’ academic achievement and may serve as one method by which traditional teachers can meet the needs of the digital generation. In a recent article published in the
International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies (
IJWLTT), two New Zealand professors explore how “Short Text Messaging Service” (SMS) could be used as a supplemental tool for ESL students.
"AR is a reflective process that ‘seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice’ (Reason & Bradbury, 2001, p. 11)," write the authors. "It is also a participatory process that aims to solve a problem or to introduce a positive change through practical intervention and scientific enquiry." This process uses two or more iterative cycles and is often used in educational research, write professors Krassie Petrova of Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand and Chun Li, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
Their study followed the academic progress of 20 Auckland University of Technology ESL students during the 2008 2nd semester.
“The participants were recruited from amongst the 27 students enrolled in a one year English language class for international students who had already met the minimum level of L2 proficiency and were required to achieve at a specified higher level prior to commencing discipline study,” write Professor Petrova and Professor Li. “Participation was voluntary; all students were eligible to take part in the research however they were required to own an SMS capable mobile phone and to be contactable during the research process.”
The researchers altered the SMS study support structure after the mid-semester break to reflect students’ feedback regarding the usefulness of their system. At the conclusion of the study, the authors found that “the data show improvement in the average test grade aligned with peaks in mLearning activity (more pronounced in cycle two compared to cycle one).” They continue,
“Second, participants themselves acknowledged the contribution of the service towards improving their performance. In other words, higher engagement with the service may have lead to better performance in tests” (emphasis added).
This article appears in a recent special issue of
IJWLTT, Volume 6, Issue 3, on Globalization, Education and the Knowledge Economy. It covers a range of essential research on crowdsourcing, immersive instructional design, team performance, collective efficacy, and mobile-assisted language learning. You can read the Editorial Preface for this special issue online
here.
IJWLTT would make an excellent addition to any university library. Kindly consider recommending
IJWLTT to your university librarian by filling out our
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