Noriko Uosakia, Mengmeng Lib Hiroaki Ogatac and Yoneo Yanod

a Center for General Education, The University of Tokushima,

Japan b,c,d Dept. of Information Science and Intelligent Systems

Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokushima, Japann.uosaki@gmail.com

TokushimaWe are from here

English Education in Japan

OUTLINE

1. INTRODUCTION2. SURVEY RESULTS3. SYSTEM DESIGN4. METHODS5. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK

1. INTRODUCTION (1/6 )

Problem in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) education in Japan

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Lack of learning time at school

ComparisonJapan:

630 – 650 hrs during 6 years of junior and senior high school (Takeuchi 2007),

112.5 hrs (the case of Univ. of Tokushima)

Canada:

1200 hrs is necessary to achieve basic level of French language in Canada (Ito 1997).

1. INTRODUCTION (2/6)

How should we cope with this shortage?

If time to study in class is limited,there is no other way but to learn outside class.

1. INTRODUCTION (3/6 )

How should outside-class learning be carried out?

Solution : Mobile Learning!

What kind of mobile device is the best fit for EFL learning?

1. INTRODUCTION (4/6)

1. INTRODUCTION (5/6)Uosaki and Ogata (2009) (mlearn2009 Proceedings p.94-102.)Unstableness of wireless LAN, which might not

directly be related to PDA function itself, caused loss of class time.

Short duration of battery and bother of using stylus caused some user unfriendliness.

It was difficult to run the class without help from some technical staffs.

Its implementation is costly. The model used here cost about 60,000yen (US$600) per each. Therefore it might be difficult for this project to be applied in emerging countries.

Disadvantages of the use of PDA

PDAs are far from the best fit device!!

Our choice is

Mobile phones! Survey result : 99% (293 out of 296 students) own mobile phones.

1. INTRODUCTION (6/6)

2.Survey Results (1/2)

Survey on pros and cons of mobile e-mail use in class (left) and mobile browsing in class (right)

Survey on pros and cons of mobile e-mail use in class (left) and mobile browsing in class (right)

They prefer e-mail!

◆Comments from the students about the use of mobile phones in class

 It is good if it's fun.I think it is convenient.I want to use it.I think it is good and it sounds a new idea.Mobile screen makes my eyes get tiredWeb browsing is costlyWhat if mobile phones get out of order or lost?

2.Survey Results (2/2)

3. System Design (1/6)

Cyclic Model of Learning (based on Takeuchi 2007) ‘Class’ means not only learning in-class but also learning outside-class and it allows teachers to incorporate students’ self-learning into classroom activities (Sumi & Takeuchi 2008).

Mobile learning

(1)(3): push mode

(4): request mode

AMELSS (adaptive mobile-based English learning support system )

Overview of AMELSS

Automatic HTML mail

delivery

All the tests results

English levels and

field of interests

access to RSSs

The procedures (1/3)Preliminary Stage: pre-tests and questionnaires

Stage (1)Preview mails with multiple-choice quizzes

3. System Design (3/6)

The procedures (2/3) Stage (2) In-class learning

3. System Design (4/6)

Scanned textbook

target words

The procedures (3/3)

Stage (3) review mails with quizzes Students receive mails until they make a correct

answer. The system reports most frequently mistaken word

ranking lists the instructor reviews accordingly in the next class.

Stage (4) extended adaptive learning Students request extended learning contents by

sending blank e-mails and receive customized contents.

3. System Design (5/6)

Mail Delivery Schedule (Sample)

3. System Design (6/6)

4.Methods (1/3)

You may think : the more often students receive e-mails, the

more effectively they will be able to learn vocabulary.

Is it true?

4.Methods (2/3) Experiment 1 : To test the most effective

frequency of mail delivery. Five groups (20 students each) will be

tested after three month trial, compared between pre- and post-tests.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 5Group 4Group 3

once a daytwice3 times

4 times 5

times

4.Methods (1/3)

Experiment 2 : To test the usefulness of customized learning contents in stage 4.

Two groups will be tested after three month trial, compared between pre- and post-tests.

Group A40 students

Group B40 students

5. Conclusions and Future Works (1/2)

◆Advantages1) Easiness of its implementation2) Close link between in-class learning and

outside-class learning4) Able to learn anytime, anywhere 5) Reduce teachers’ heavy workload during

semester6) Customized contents help enhance

motivation to learn more. ◆Disdvantage 1) Unfairness for the students who do not have mobile phones

Aim of the system : to compensate the lack of learning time of English

For the further development of AMELSS

5. Conclusions and Future Works (2/2)

should be taken into accountCooperative learning

Thank you for your attention!