1. James Madley Supervisor: Dr. Brett Wilkinson EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HANDHELD DEVICES IN EDUCATION ENVIRONMENTS

2.  The Questions  Background  Past Research  Past Research – Results  The Technology  Methodology  The App  Evaluation  Timeline  Questions OVERVIEW

3. Evaluation of the effectiveness of handheld devices in education environments 1.What are teacher and student attitudes towards tablet PCs in class? 2.What effect do tablets have on the mathematical learning of students? THE QUESTIONS

4.  DynaBook: Mobile education device concept proposed by Alan C. Kay in 1972. [5]  Mobile devices have overtaken desktop computers in usage. [1]  Computer-aided learning may provide significant benefits for low-achieving students. [6][7] BACKGROUND The DynaBook

5.  Several experiments over the years.  Until the last ten years, focus has been on more traditional computing.  Research involving more recent mobile technology more scarce.  [Mobile devices] make the educational process flexible and adaptable for students. [4] PAST RESEARCH

6.  Majority of studies show improvement but there is a large variation on just how great the effect technology has on learning. [2][9]  Student reactions to using technology for learning are nearly always positive.  Teachers more cautious and sceptical, especially when they lack training.  Novelty a source of motivation for students. [10] PAST RESEARCH - RESULTS

7. Hardware  Google Nexus 7 tablets Software  Android 4.1+ THE TECHNOLOGY Google Nexus 7

8.  Establish relationship with a primary school.  Perform experiment with middle/upper primary students.  Learning programme based on mathematical topics students are expected to learn for their age.  Topics chosen with teacher input and/or NAPLAN test material. METHODOLOGY

9.  Test students in control and experimental groups.  Introductory session to introduce the tablets to the students.  An app will be developed taking into account recommended design factors for education software. [3][8] METHODOLOGY

10. Type  TBD  Gamification aspects highly likely Development Tools  Android SDK with Eclipse IDE  libgdx (or another 2D graphics library) if the app design includes animation THE APP Mathmateer (Freecloud Design, Inc.), Brain Tuner Pro (GreenGar Studios), and Dragonbox (WeWantToKnow)

11.  Pre and post testing  Pre: Get performance baseline.  Post: Judge impact of learning format on control and experimental groups.  Satisfaction questionnaire  Reactions to tablets from students and teachers.  App user experience.  Interview teachers  Obtain detailed understanding of teacher opinions. EVALUATION

12. TIMELINE

13. Summary  Evaluate the effect tablets have on student learning.  Focus on learning improvement and satisfaction of tablet devices. Future research  Perform on-going experimentation and analysis.  Expansion of test material; are tablets effective in other subject areas? CONCLUSION

14. References [1] Alvarez, C., C. Brown and M. Nussbaum (2011). "Comparative study of netbooks and tablet PCs for fostering face-to-face collaborative learning." Computers in Human Behavior 27(2): 834-844. [2] Cheung, A. C. K. and R. E. Slavin (2013). "The effectiveness of educational technology applications for enhancing mathematics achievement in K-12 classrooms: A meta-analysis." Educational Research Review 9(0): 88-113. [3] Elissavet, G. and A. A. Economides (2000). Evaluation factors of educational software. Advanced Learning Technologies, 2000. IWALT 2000. Proceedings. International Workshop on. [4] Furió, D., S. González-Gancedo, M. C. Juan, I. Seguí and M. Costa (2013). "The effects of the size and weight of a mobile device on an educational game." Computers & Education 64(0): 24-41. [5] Kay, A. C. (1972). A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages. Proceedings of the ACM annual conference - Volume 1. Boston, Massachusetts, USA, ACM. [6] Ketamo, H. (2003). "An Adaptive Geometry Game for Handheld Devices." Educational Technology & Society 6: 1. [7] Ng, W. and H. Nicholas (2009). "Introducing pocket PCs in schools: Attitudes and beliefs in the first year." Computers & Education 52(2): 470-480. [8] Oztekin, A., Z. J. Kong and O. Uysal (2010). "UseLearn: A novel checklist and usability evaluation method for eLearning systems by criticality metric analysis." International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 40(4): 455-469. [9] Pilli, O. and M. Aksu (2013). "The effects of computer-assisted instruction on the achievement, attitudes and retention of fourth grade mathematics students in North Cyprus." Computers & Education 62(0): 62-71. [10] Scharf, F., S. Gunther, T. Winkler and M. Herczeg (2010). SpelLit: Development of a multi- touch application to foster literacy skills at elementary schools. Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2010 IEEE. [11] Siozos, P., G. Palaigeorgiou, G. Triantafyllakos and T. Despotakis (2009). "Computer based testing using “digital ink”: Participatory design of a Tablet PC based assessment application for secondary education." Computers & Education 52(4): 811-819. QUESTIONS?