SOMA Service-Oriented Mobile learning Architecture Fabian Kromer Andreas Kuntner

SOMA A Framework for simple implementation of mobile learning applications on Next-Generation Smartphones or a Swahili word meaning „learn!“

Schedule Time Requirements analysis Case study Android prototype State of the art research Framework design Technology research Where we are now Master thesis Effort 3

SOMA is … A framework for developers – Reducing implementation effort for using smartphone technologies – Gathering rich user response A mobile learning platform – Using modern technologies and intuitive controls – Presenting XML structured content on mobile devices – Connected to social networks A prototype for Google Android SDK – Including proof-of-concept plugins: Single & Multiple Choice, „RegEx“ – Including a sample e-learning course 4

SOMA is … A framework for developers – Reducing implementation effort for using smartphone technologies – Gathering rich user response A mobile learning platform – Using modern technologies and intuitive controls – Presenting XML structured content on mobile devices – Connected to social networks A prototype for Google Android SDK – Including proof-of-concept plugins: Single & Multiple Choice, „RegEx“ – Including a sample e-learning course 5

SOMA is … A framework for developers – Reducing implementation effort for using smartphone technologies – Gathering rich user response A mobile learning platform – Using modern technologies and intuitive controls – Presenting XML structured content on mobile devices – Connected to social networks A prototype for Google Android SDK – Including proof-of-concept plugins: Single & Multiple Choice, „RegEx“ – Including a sample e-learning course 6

SOMA is … A framework for developers – Reducing implementation effort for using smartphone technologies – Gathering rich user response A mobile learning platform – Using modern technologies and intuitive controls – Presenting XML structured content on mobile devices – Connected to social networks A prototype for Google Android SDK – Including proof-of-concept plugins: Single & Multiple Choice, „RegEx“ – Including a sample e-learning course 7

The SOMA solution How did the use of a Service-Oriented Mobile Learning Architecture enhance the overall learning experience in mobile learning environments? 1.SOMA can increase the learner’s motivation 2.SOMA did not improve the overall learning progress 8

State-of-the-art solutions Project mg-bl (mobile game-based learning) : – Client-server infrastructure KnowledgePulse (RSA micro learning) : – New learning methods Moodle (Modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment) : – Plugin environment Linguamo (mobilefive) : – Security aspects (content encryption) 9

The SOMA project Hosted on Google Code Compiled versions of SOMA for Android 1.6 and

The SOMA prototype Live demo 11

Questionnaire – Questions concerning – mobile phone usage – e-learning experience – > 70 responses – in the age of 12 to 55 – mostly students (children, teenagers) Survey 12

Sample course Realisation of a sample course – Consisting of 98 multiple-choice questions – First aid content 13...

Results: Opinions Students criticised – design – handling – lack of intuitivity... but it was just a prototype Students liked – the use of mobile phones for taking e-learning courses – instant feedback 14

Results: Opinions Teachers liked – instant feedback – time saving in class (no need to correct tests) – possibility to react to student's needs immediately Teachers requested – options to see what student actually do on their mobile devices 15

Results Impact on the learning process: – Increasing motiviation through novel learning methods – Higher probability of getting distracted – Weak students don‘t get better results Social network integration failed: – Students don‘t want to publish scores – Mostly due to fear of bad performance 16

Problems Limited amount of students participated actively Students did not use SOMA at home Software performance problems Sabine Graf‘s learning style approach is not sufficient for mobile learning environments Lack of testing devices 17

Conclusions & future perspectives SOMA was not designed for multiple choice questionaires Looking forward to new fields of applications 18

Conclusions & future perspectives SOMA was not designed for multiple choice questionaires Looking forward to new fields of applications 19

Conclusions & future perspectives SOMA was not designed for multiple choice questionaires Looking forward to new fields of applications 20

Conclusions & future perspectives SOMA was not designed for multiple choice questionaires Looking forward to new fields of applications 21

Conclusions & future perspectives SOMA was not designed for multiple choice questionaires Looking forward to new fields of applications 22

Thank you!