Memoire Online - Study on mobile learning contribution on college students assignment with faculty support

I, Francois UWIZEYIMANA, hereby declare that all the work presented in this project'' ON MOBILE LEARNING CONTRIBUTION ON COLLEGE STUDENTS ASSIGNMENTS WITH FACULTY SUPPORT, submitted to PRIST University , Thanjavur, for the award of the degree of Master of philosophy in education by research is an original record of research work carried out by me. This was done under the guidance of T.Selvaraj, M.Sc., M.Pil., M.Ed., M.Phil., assistant professor in Education, Department of education, PRIST University.

The contents of this dissertation in full or in parts have not been submitted to any other institute or university for the award of any degree or membership, associateship,etc. In keeping centre practice in reporting scientific observation due acknowledgement has been made whenever the work described is based on the winding of other investigation.

DEDICATION (DEDICATE)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

«All glory, thanks and praise be to our lord God for giving me strength and wisdom to complete this dissertation successfully.»

I am grateful to PRIST UNIVERSITY V/CHANCELLOR who gave me permission to my data collection. My sincere thanks go to both staff members and students of Prist University who have so much contributed in data collection

It is a real pleasure that I record my deep sense of gratitude and indebt ness to my esteemed and beloved guider Prof. T.Selvaraj, M.Sc., M.Ed., M.Phli., lecturer in Education, Department of Education, PRIST University, for his placement and coordination activities rendered by him in order to undertake this project.

My warm thanks are extended to all the staff members of department of Education, PRIST University, for their moral support and I thank the University Authorities for the facilities provided.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to my wife ABEREYINKA YVONNE for her endless care and special thanks to UWIGIZE Emmanuel, his wife Christine NYEMBO, their daughter GRACE who, financially and morally supported my Master's degree of philosophy in educational studies.

CHAPTER	TITLE	PAGE N0
I	CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK	01
II	REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE	29
III	METHODOLOGY	43
IV	DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION	58
V	SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION	95
	BIBLIOGRAPHY
	APPENDICES

S.N0	Title	Page N0.
1.1	CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY	1
1.2	THE MEANING OF EDUCATION	1
1.3	RECENT TRENDS IN EDUCATION	3
1.4	EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AS RECENT TRENDS	3
1.4.1	Cell phone and mobile history	4
1.4.2	Definition of a cell phone	5
1.5	MOBILE APPLICATIONS AND SOFTWARE	5
1.6	PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING	5
1.6.1	Learning process	6
1.6.2	Learning situation	8
1.6.3	Teacher and teaching situation	8
1.6.4	Meaning and definitions of learning	8
1.6.5	Characteristics of Learning	13
1.6.6	Learning process	13
1.6.7	Learning theories	14
1.7	MOBILE LEARNING	15
1.7.1	From e-learning to mobile learning	15
1.7.2	Mobile learning applications	16
1.8	PROBLEM STATEMENT	17
1.9	HYPOTHESES	20
1.10	OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY	21
1.11	SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY	24
1.12	LIMITATIONS	25
1.13	DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONSTRUCTS	26
1.14	THESIS OUTLINE	28
1.15	CONCLUSION	28

S.N0.	Title	Page N0.
2	LITERATURE REVIEW	29
2.1	INTRODUCTION	29
2.2	STUDY CARRIED OUT IN INDIA	30
2.3	STUDY CARRIED OUT OF INDIA	33
2.3.1	Study carried on mobile learning in Africa	33
2.3.2	Study carried on mobile learning in Asian countries	36
2.3.3	Study carried on mobile learning in Europeans countries	37
2.3.4	Study carried on mobile learning in American countries	39
2.4	CONCCLUSION	42

S.N0.	Title	Page N0.
3	RESEARCH METHODOLOGY	43
3.1	1INTRODUCTION	43
3.2	STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM	44
3.3	VARIABLES SELECTED FOR THE STUDY	47
3.3.1	Institutional variables	47
3.3.2	Research variables	48
3.4	HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY	49
3.5	RESEARCH DESEIGN	50
3.6	METHOD OF THE STUDY	51
3.7	SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUES	51
3.8	TOOLS FOR THE STUDY	53
3.9	DESCRIPTION OF THE TOOL	54
3.10	RELIABILITY, VALIDITY AND SCORING PROCEDURE	54
3.11	STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED	55
3.12	DATA COLLECTION	56
3.13	CONCLUSION	57

S.N0.	Title	Page N0.
4	ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION	58
4.1	INTRODUCTION	58
4.2	DESCIPTIVE STATISTICS	58
4.3	DIFFERENTIAL STATISTICS	58
4.4	TESTING HYPOTHESES	73
4.5	CONCLUSION	94

S.N0	Title	Page N0
5	SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION	95
5.1	INTRODUCTION	95
5.2	NEED FOR THE STUDY	95
5.3	PROBLEM STATEMENT	96
5.4	HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY	97
5.5	OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY	99
5.6	FINDINGS OF THE STUDY	100
5.7	RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE	102
5.8	SUGGESTION FOR FURHER RESEARCHES	102
5.9	CONCLUSIONS	104
	BIBLIOGRAPHY
	APPENDICES

T.N0	Titles	Page N0
1.7.1	Comparison of mobile learning and e-learning	16
3.7.2	table explains the sample and size of the sample in institutional variables	52
4.3.3	Frequencies of sample used in female and male students in using 24/7 wireless internet on mobile device for empowering their learning	59
4.3.4	Frequencies of sample used to study if continuous support and training for mobile learning based on gender teachers	61
4.3.5	Frequencies sample used among students of different level of performance on mobile learning in respect of working assignments	62
4.3.6	Frequencies of students and teachers in use of mobile technologies in learning practices among students in respect of working assignment.	64
4.3.7	Frequencies of sample used to study mobile literacy, skills as well as effective use in respect of mobile working assignment.	65
4.3.8	Teachers sample used based on their experience	67
4.3.9	Frequencies of sample used to study mobile literacy, skills as well as effective use in respect of mobile working assignment in undergraduate and postgraduate students.	69
4.3.10	Frequencies sample showing teachers with B. Ed and/or M. Ed and those without B. Ed and/or M. Ed that mobile teaching and learning application	71
4.4.11	Difference mean between teachers and students to use mobile technologies, for learning practices in respect of working assignment	73
4.4.12	Difference between teachers and students in need of technical and pedagogical support to integrate mobile learning	75
4.4.13	Difference between female teachers and male teachers on continuous support and training for mobile learning	77
4.4.14	Difference among Engineering, Education, Arts/Science as well as Business department students in mobile learning skills, literacy as well as effective use in different departments	79
4.4.15	Difference between students of undergraduate studies and students of postgraduate studies in mobile learning skills, literacy as well as effective use in different departments	80
4.4.16	Deference among teachers based on their teaching experience in implementation of mobile learning technologies	82
4.4.17	Difference between teachers and students on Investigation of mobile learning in respect of working assignment	84
4.4.18	Difference between female and male students in using 24/7 wireless internet on mobile device for empowering their learning	86
4.4.19	Difference among students of different level of performance on mobile learning in respect of working assignments	88
4.4.20	Difference between teachers with B. Ed and/or M. Ed and those without B. Ed and/or M. Ed that mobile teaching and learning application	90
4.4.21	Difference between teachers and students in using mobile device as social material perspective than learning tool	92

F. N0	Title	PAGE N0
1.6.1	Elements of learning process	7
1.6.2	three learning types and the differences between traditional learning	11
3.5.3	RESEARCH DESEIGN	50
4.3.4	Frequencies of sample used in female and male students in using 24/7 wireless internet on mobile device for empowering their learning	60
4.3.5	Frequencies of sample used to study if continuous support and training for mobile learning based on gender teachers	61
4.3.6	Frequencies sample used among students of different level of performance on mobile learning in respect of working assignments	63
4.3.7	Frequencies of students and teachers in use of mobile technologies in learning practices among students in respect of working assignment.	64
4.3.8	Frequencies of sample used to study mobile literacy, skills as well as effective use in respect of mobile working assignment.	66
4.3.9	Teachers sample used based on their experience	68
4.3.10	Frequencies of sample used to study mobile literacy, skills as well as effective use in respect of mobile working assignment in undergraduate and postgraduate students.	70
4.3.11	Frequencies sample showing teachers with B. Ed and/or M. Ed and those without B. Ed and/or M. Ed that mobile teaching and learning application	72
4.4.12	Difference mean between teachers and students to use mobile technologies, for learning practices in respect of working assignment	74
4.4.13	Difference between teachers and students in need of technical and pedagogical support to integrate mobile learning	76
4.4.14	Difference between female teachers and male teachers on continuous support and training for mobile learning	78
4.4.15	Difference among Engineering, Education, Arts/Science as well as Business department students in mobile learning skills, literacy as well as effective use in different departments	80
4.4.16	Difference between students of undergraduate studies and students of postgraduate studies in mobile learning skills, literacy as well as effective use in different departments	81
4.4.17	Deference among teachers based on their teaching experience in implementation of mobile learning technologies	83
4.4.18	Difference between teachers and students on Investigation of mobile learning in respect of working assignment	85
4.4.19	Difference between female and male students in using 24/7 wireless internet on mobile device for empowering their learning	87
4.4.20	Difference among students of different level of performance on mobile learning in respect of working assignments	82
4.4.21	Difference between teachers with B. Ed and/or M. Ed and those without B. Ed and/or M. Ed that mobile teaching and learning application	91
4.4.22	Difference between teachers and students in using mobile device as social material perspective than learning tool	93

We are living a technology lead society in different sections of our daily life. The field of education has not been put apart, by observing only in different schools, colleges and universities as well, the technological use has been being a must wherever the continents of the world. However, the scale of implementation of that technology involvement is not the same in every educational institution. In field of education, previously they said the educational technology to understand mostly the use of computer in implementing some related tasks. Today educational technology involving so many things related to what materials, teaching aids that teacher should use and how he should use it both efficiently and effectively to perform his profession. As new trend in education, mobile device is used in technological perspective, so both teachers and students try to use it to improve their duties.

I was interested in conducting a research on contribution of mobile learning on college students' assignments with faculty support. Most objectives of this study were the following:

1. To find out that Students and instructors (teachers) need technical and pedagogical support to integrate mobile devices and applications in formal and informal learning environments

2. To find out that mobile devices and 24/7 wireless internet access empower students to take responsibility for their learning particularly in working assignments.

The full project is composed by five chapters such as introduction, related literature review; methodology used analysis and interpretation, finally findings and conclusions.

From the findings it is clear that mobile devices are used informally and need technical and pedagogical support for both students and teachers. Besides, difference view has been observed in different variables of this research.

In this chapter Meaning, Definition, Need for the study, statement of the problem, hypotheses, objectives, significance, organization, methodology and related literature in summary and limitation of the study are discussed in this study.

Before entering deeply in developing the theoretical framework of my research topic I would like to explain the meaning of the term'' education'' widely as it is my field of study. Many scholars, researchers, educationists, educators as well as teachers traditionally and nowadays have been trying to define the concept education. In this research project concluding my master of philosophy in education I would like to add my little contribution about the meaning of that term. Let us first make a look to our previous researchers as well as educators in defining education.

Webster defines education as the process of educating or teaching (now that's really useful, isn't it?) Educate is further defined as «to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of an individual» Thus, from these definitions, we might assume that the purpose of education is to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of students. Unfortunately, this definition offers little unless we further define words such as develop, knowledge, and character. ( http://www.TeachersMind.com)

What is knowledge? Is it a body of information that exists «out there»--apart from the human thought processes that developed it? If we look at the standards and benchmarks developed by many states--or at E. D. Hirsch's list of information needed for Cultural Literacy, we might assume this definition of knowledge to be correct. However, there is considerable research leading others to believe that knowledge arises in the mind of an individual when that person interacts with an idea or experience.

Many philosophers of different centuries had been continuing to outline their thoughts corresponding to the meaning and definition of education. However, when you make a deep look into their contributions, everyone had been trying his best and ending in half contribution. Make a look here below:

This is hardly a new argument. In ancient Greece, Socrates argued that education was about drawing out what was already within the student. According to this philosopher, it is so clear that a new born is coming with a lot of assets. As parents, educators and other as well have to facilitate that infant to bring out the richness is having inside. (As many of you know, the word education comes from the Latin e-ducere meaning «to lead out.») At the same time, the Sophists, a group of itinerant teachers, promised to give students the necessary knowledge and skills to gain positions with the city-state.

Some educators, educational stakeholders, and so forth put out controversial meaning, if you try your best in understand what said by Socrates, he had wanted to show us that all requirements needed so as to live are enclosed in a man, only teachers duty is to take a key and open the child's mind according to psychologists advice. But some other opposed to that, likewise, Sophists considered education as to fill knowledge in child. Let's see to others definitions.

The meaning we assign to a word is a belief, not an absolute fact. Here are a couple of examples. «The central task of education is to implant a will and facility for learning; it should where grandparents, parents, and children are students together.» ~Eric Hoffer

«No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.»~Emma Goldman

«The only purpose of education is to teach a student how to live his life-by developing his mind and equipping him to deal with reality. The training he needs is theoretical, i.e., conceptual. He has to be taught to think, to understand, to integrate, to prove. He has to be taught the essentials of the knowledge discovered in the past-and he has to be equipped to acquire further knowledge by his own effort.» ~Ayn Rand

«The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think--rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men.» ~Bill Beattie

Change, challenges as well as innovative trends have been being observed in current platform of education. Nowadays we are living technology lead society, and it is known that education is a long life process. «Education prepares the society for the initial cultural stock inherent in determined plans of modernization». Elvin Toffler's book (1970) `Future Shock' tells us about it.

Toffler argued that society is undergoing an enormous structural change, a revolution from an industrial society to a " super-industrial society". This change overwhelms people. He believed the accelerated rate of technological and social change left people disconnected and suffering from "shattering stress and disorientation"

Through day to day activities we learn, we receive knowledge and skills. But new features of technology in communication have tried to influence the educators and teachers how to teach; they have also affected students how to learn. Not only here but also in highest authority of education like educational policy maker, educational planners, they have been influenced by current technology.

In field of education we do say technology or simply educational technology in sense that a teacher well trained, tries his/she best to analyze, design, develop, implement and evaluate process and tools to enhance learning so that the output should be good.

Educational technology is defined by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) as "the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources."

Educational technology refers to the use of both physical hardware and educational theoretic. It encompasses several domains, including learning theory, computer-based training, online learning, and, where mobile technologies are used, m-learning. Accordingly, there are several discrete aspects to describing the intellectual and technical development of educational technology:

We do understand the meaning of educational technology in four important keys as the Wikipedia website continues to explain

b) educational technology as technological tools and media that assist in the communication of knowledge, and its development and exchange

c) educational technology for learning management systems (LMS), such as tools for student and curriculum management, and education management information systems (EMIS)

There is no doubt that mobile learning technologies are coming from the broad field of educational technology. The m-learning is an involved element of this field said above.

The use of mobile phone is not the current innovation, some years ago the invention of cell phone in the world got light. We are going to make a glimpse of its invention here below. The word «Telephone» is derived from the Greek words for «far» and «sound.» Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of telephone, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland .His mother, who was deaf, was a portrait painter and musician. His father taught the deaf to speak and wrote textbooks on visible speech ( www.yahoo.com).

By continuing Alexander found that Cell phones represent a type of technology that has been around for little over fifty years. However, it has only been recently that many people began to use cell phones as a major part of their everyday life. In the past, cell phones were used by business people to conduct their business. In today's society, one member of every residence owns a cell phone. Cell phones are interesting, useful and play a major role in our lives by bringing people closer together and keeping in constant touch with one another.

What is a cell phone? Cell phones are defined as sophisticated radios. They are a type of wireless communication device that uses many small cells with a base station and a cell phone tower at the centre of each cell. These cells have extensive frequencies that allow thousands of people to use cell phones at the same time ( www.yahoo.com)

In information, technology and communication we need mostly two main types of software including OS software and Application software. The operating system software is the main or the platform that other software or application software are fixed so as to better function.

According to Ben Feigin, (2001). The following are the current useful operating system software: Android, BlackBerry, Windows, iPhone os, Palm OS, Symbian os. Due to this technological development we have changed our mode of living in different sectors of daily life. Before the OS said above were used only in systems or laptops but now they should be reduced in installed in mobile device. Most of the mobile devices using those OS, are called smart phones. Ben continued to explain the meaning of a smart phone in these words: «Phone that runs a complete Operating System, Offers a standardized platform for development, Able to execute arbitrary 3rd party applications.»

The knowledge of human behaviour is taken under consideration to facilitate a teacher to deliver and impart skills to students. In the field of learning psychology, educator is able to understand who need help, which kind of help she/he wants, when I should give that help and how I should deliver it? All those questions are responded by the study of learning psychology as well as educational psychology. Psychology helps the teacher to get answers to these questions. It tells us that learning becomes more effective if factors like motivation and interest are taken into consideration by every teacher. The knowledge of psychology has helped the teacher in modifying her approach to the teaching learning process.

In order to develop and understand very well this topic, to talk about learner it's also a key point. In classroom or out of it the learners are totally different; they have innate abilities as well as capabilities which show individual differences. Besides, overt, covert, conscious or unconscious of every learner is making difference.

If there is no behaviour change there no learning. We can't also say that there is learning without taking a certain long or short period of acquiring knowledge. It takes a certain amount of time to learn something new.

According to Mangal S. K. (2000) after knowing the learner and deciding what learning experiences are to be provided, the emerging problem is to help learner in acquiring these learning experiences with ease and confidence.

Hence, it deals with the nature of learning and how it take place and contains the topics such as laws, principles and theories of learning; remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking, reasoning process, problem solving, transfer of training, ways and means of effective learning etc.

We are going to make a little comment on above learning process as drawn by S.K.Mangal. Before starting learning a person him/herself feels a gap or a lack of knowledge. Because of that type of gap feelings of skills, knowledge as well, he/she decides to learn it. He/she makes an internal decision of searching and learning. While studying new skill we use many ways and techniques which should help up learn but also depending on the way used we should fail to learn. Mangl called these as varied responses. When you fail he called it unsuccessful attempt or barriers for your objectives. He continued to call successful attempt for achieved objectives.

According to Mangal S. K. (2000) learning situation deals with the environment factors and learning situation which come midway between the learner and the teacher. Topics like classroom climate and group dynamics techniques and aids which facilitate learning, evaluation techniques, and practices, guidance and counselling etc. which help in the smooth functioning of the teaching learning process.

Any learning process is taken in a fixed place in a determined time so as to be called such qualified learning.

It suggests the techniques of teaching. It also helps in deciding what learning situation should be provided by teacher to learner according to his mental and physical age, his previous knowledge and interest level. By describing the learner's characteristics, what teaching aids are appropriate for the particular subject?

Educational Psychology emphasizes the need of knowing the self for a teacher to play his fole properly in the process of education. it throws light on the essential personality traits, interests, aptitudes, the characteristics of effective teaching etc., so as to inspire, help teacher handle the stress, conflict and anxiety by giving insight in their own personality.

Learning, in psychology, the process by which a relatively lasting change in potential behaviour occurs because of practice or experience. Learning is also a process of acquiring modifications in existing knowledge, skills, habits, or tendencies through experience, practice, or exercise.

Gates and others «Learning is the modification of behaviour through experience»

Henry, P smith «Learning is the acquisition of new behaviour or strengthening or weakening of old behaviour as a result of experience».

Crow and Crow «Learning is the acquisition of habits, knowledge and attitudes. It involves new ways of doing things, and it operates in an individual's attempt to overcome obstacles or to adjust to new situations.»

M. L. Bigge «Learning may be considered as change in insights, behaviour, perception, motivation or a combination of these.»

In interpretation of these different educators `definition of learning we should conclude by getting these four keywords: Practice, process, experience finally change in learning.

General literary and dictionary definitions of learning refer to «the acquiring of knowledge or skill». Usually when we learn, we try to increase and organize and retain knowledge meaningful way. This information can be acquired step-by-step or stored at once. One may argue learning helps the learner to adapt to circumstances, contexts and requirements of life. Specifically, learning can mean a relatively stable alteration of behaviour, thinking or sense and emotional processing driven by experience, comprehension, awareness and insight. Memory, recall and application take important roles in this alternation process. In other words, learning is a constant alteration of knowledge or of the cognitive structures that causes specific changes in motor skills or verbal skills, which result in changes in individual behaviour (Bednorz and Schuster 2002).

Learning can be intentional, incidental or implicit (Bednorz and Schuster 2002). For intentional learning, facts can be verbalized. Central to implicit learning, skills or complex contexts have to be controlled. You can learn through self-determination, by actively doing something or by co-operatively interacting with others. In all of these ways you gather know-how and develop skills or comprehension. Through verbal learning, motor learning (Bednorz and Schuster 2002) or socialization activities, one begins the learning process with perception and cognition of motor skills. Usually, the amount of knowledge available for real context application relates directly to its presentation form and interaction during the learning process. Learners often easily remember what they learned and apply it at workplace or in daily life if they personally experience it. This retention is strongly based on the learner's memory ability, but memory and learning should not be confused. Dr. Eric R. Kandel1 defines the difference between learning and memory as (Kandel 2007): «Learning is how you acquire new information about the world, and memory is how you store that information over time.»

Over the past two decades, learning is no longer limited to the one-way traditional learning (push model) and is moving toward becoming a multilateral process. Formal learning is considered as a push model, and informal learning as a pull model. Informal learning, a process of everyday life, can happen through interactions as unscheduled activities and as a part of an intentional motivated process of knowledge and practice in the course of practical adaptation and skill development. Piaget's constructivism theory posits that learning is an active process in which learners build the knowledge according to their own cognitive activities (Piaget 1974).

In constructivism, the learner's focus is compared to a black box, a field with knowledge, which provides a view of where learning becomes an active process in order to understand the world. Radical constructivism questions whether knowledge can be impartial. In social constructivism, social interaction of knowledge construction is stressed. To engage learners more in the learning, they should actively participate in the process and should not simply act as passive receivers of information. Beside this constructive viewpoint on learning, we partook in the ongoing discussion on the practical design of a learning application. There the learning activities are analyzed on specific interactions supported or processed by the application. Learning can be categorized into four groups: self-learning, presentational, instructor-initiated and collaborative

types and the differences between traditional learning part (a) and (b) and new types of learning (c).

In this Figure, part (a) represents the presentational learning type based on teacher transmission learner reception. In this model the teacher is an information presenter to the learners who do not communicate with each other. Part (b) represents instructor initiated learning whereby teachers share information and learning materials with learners.

Learners can also interact and communicate amongst themselves during this process.

Part (c) shows collaborative learning, which is evolving. In this type of learning, the teacher's role adapts to a collaborative member group process in which all collaborate in the learning process and it occurs via discourse and discussion between members and the teacher. In Web 2.0, observed learning via the Web 2.0 appears as an active learning process of knowledge production combined with social support. Michael Kerres points out that for education is an open system and that a closed learning environment becomes open to a gateway into the web to existing resources (Kerres 2006:6). As a result of this, the relationship between teacher and content changes and teachers are no longer owners of the knowledge; instead, they become pathfinders or learning consultants who provide opportunities for learning In Web 2.0 the lines between learners and teachers are blur. New learning methods, ownership and authorship are difficult to determine. Discriminating between consumers and producers of knowledge becomes a challenge. Participant in Web 2.0 learning environments may contribute and receive something from their community. Transparency in the knowledge process and steps of knowledge construction can help participants to better understand material. Frescha and colleagues (Frescha et al. 2004)emphasis on providing awareness says: «To enable people to not only learn side by side but together, it is crucial to provide awareness not only about the other team members' state but also about the team itself and the activities carried out in its context.»

Teaching and learning activities can be categorized into four areas of dissemination, discussion, discovery and demonstration (Siemens and Tittenberger 2009). Dissemination: preparing the specific learning assets and key components to face the learners in process. Discussion: conducting the learning process into a bilateral contact based on the activity to push the learner into a thinking phase. Discovery: involving learners in the learning process by «doing it themselves». Demonstration: presenting the learning materials as a self-assessment and evaluating by the teachers.

According to the above rationale, it may be argued that people with learning disabilities should interact directly in their own learning process. They need guidance in the process of dissemination by the teacher, tutor or the interactive system. Our interactive approach partly supports social interactions, the possibility to ask for teacher help and working with others to share results. The presentation of activities and results is important development of methods is ongoing. These can be implemented to support the target group to make small presentations for their results and enable teachers to create a meaningful visualization for learning. In the well-known didactical model of Reggio education (Lewin-Benham 2008) presentation

Yoakum & Simpson have stated the following general characteristics of learning: Learning is growth, adjustment, organisation of experience, purposeful, both individual and social, product of the environment.

6. Learning is responsive to incentives. In most cases positive incentives such as rewards are most effective than negative incentives such as punishments.

7. Learning is always concerned with goals. These goals can be expressed in terms of observable behaviour.

8. Interest & learning are positively related. The individual learns bet those things, which he is interested in learning. Most bys find learning to play football easier than learning to add fractions.

The act of acquiring new knowledge is not done in one second or in a little amount of time. It takes a certain long period according to what to be learned and who is going to learn as well as the area in which you are going to receive knowledge. This is not enough because the material used and the facilitator of learning all is involved. Here below we are going to show the process of learning.

Learning is a process. It is carried out through steps. Learning process involves

1. A motive or a drive: Motive is the dynamic force that energizes behaviour and compels an individual to act. We do any activity because of our motives or our needs. When our need is strong, enough we are compelled to strive for its satisfaction. Learning takes place because of response to some stimulation. As long as our present behaviour, knowledge, skill and performance are adequate to satisfy all our needs, do not feel any necessity to change our behaviour or acquire new knowledge and skills. It is this requirement, which initiates a learner to learn something.

2. Goal: Every individual has to set a definite goal for achievement. We should always have a definite goal for achieving anything. If a definite goal is set then learning becomes purposeful and interesting.

3. Obstacle /block /barrier: The obstacle or block or the barrier is equally important in the process of learning. The obstacle or the barriers keep us away from attaining the goal. The three important elements in the process of learning as said above is a skeleton of education. Even if at this third element is so called, but it's a crucial point. Without challenge you can't bring change and we know very well that no behaviour change there is not learning. The block or the barrier is an essential step in the learning process.

A theory is a many times verified hypothesis in different areas of the world. After verifying through research a prediction should become a theory. The learning theory is a checked principal in field of education especially in learning. The explanations about the event and the process of acquiring knowledge are commonly under name of learning theory.

One is in providing us with vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. The theories do not give us solutions, but they do direct our attention to those variables that are crucial in finding solutions.

Through theories of philosophers we gain new concepts and terms. In field of learning we gained three essential ones as following: Cognitive, constructive, and behaviourism as well. By going deeply we do understand behaviourism as taking conclusion based on observed facts only. This is done also in field of learning. The cognitive theories go beyond and concluding all facts based on brain works.

We will discuss the behavioural theories under two broad categories: S-R theories.

1.S-R (Stimulus-Response) theory with reinforcement conceptualized by E.L Thorndike in Trial and Error theory and B.F Skinner in Operant Conditioning

2. S-R (Stimulus-Response) theory without reinforcement by Pavlov in Classical Conditioning.

Mobile learning is a widely accepted term for describing a learning process with mobile technologies. With advanced technology, cell phones should be used for educational solutions and individualization of learning is so enhanced. In mobile learning the following elements are included: personalized learning, learner centred design, user interaction design, user interface design, e-/m-learning standards, and feedback during the learning process.

AS we live changing life in all styles of living, in field of education especially teaching and learning department; the new techniques and methods of delivering knowledge and skills have been being found. In recent trends of education, to deliver and to acquire knowledge as well has been improved by current technologies development. In this point we are discussing about both e-learning and m-learning.

According to Saeed Zare(2010)»Mobile learning inherits many features of e-learning although they have many differences such as knowledge input, output, memory capacity, application types etc. This overlap brings the basis of pedagogical learning theories from e-learning to mobile learning and even results in new learning theory implications in mobile learning». The author explained above that the use of cell phones as means of delivering knowledge and skills is a born kid of electronic learning (E-learning).

Ally points to mobile learning as a delivery of electronic context-based learning content on mobile devices (Ally 2009); «however in e-learning solutions, content delivery is via personal computers. By transforming learning content from e-learning platforms to mobile learning applications, the limitations in the presentation of content, processor performance and learning activities appear. To cover the limitations of small presentation screens on mobile technology, the learning strategies should be designed with consideration to aspects significant to individual learners. The mentioned considerations can have more complexity with different types of mobile devices as they have each different screen features. The new generation of mobile technology is trying to address these limitations in convergence. Ally 2009 continued to say that E-learning applications have the possibility to be executed in multitask environments and learners can access different references and hyperlinks. With mobile devices, multitask functionality is still developing.

The use of cell phones is based on specified application commonly known as programs or software. There are two types of software such as operating system software and application software. In O/S software we should say the following: symbian O/S, android O/S, blackberry O/S, iOS, window O/S.

According to website http://cmer.cis.uoguelph.ca/ Operating System is a piece of software responsible for management of operations, control, coordinate the use of the hardware among the various application programs, and sharing the resources of a device. At this website they continue to explain that mobile OS is a software platform on top of which other programs called application programs, can run on mobile devices such as PDA, cellular phones, smartphone and etc. There are many mobile operating systems. The followings demonstrate the most important ones: - Java ME Platform - Palm OS - Symbian OS - Linux OS - Windows Mobile OS - BlackBerry OS - iPhone OS - Google Android Platform (cmer.cis.uoguelph.ca). The application software daily using are installed on one of the above operating system. Based upon the need such as education, business, medicine and forth; engineers develop the applications related to the field. In our field of education we have some learning applications.

A recent rapid advancement in the capabilities of mobile devices along with a decrease in price has enabled the mobile phone to become ubiquitous. In fact, day to day globally there are a good number of people using mobile devices in different purposes. `'Although estimates are lower for rural areas, it is predicted that 80 percent of people living in rural communities have access to a mobile network. In fact, in places where infrastructure barriers have prevented developing countries from accessing the Internet, the majority of people access the Internet from their mobile devices'' (International Telecommunication Union, 2010).

This is a real sign to conform without doubt that world people lifestyle has been being changed due to advanced mobile devices.

According to Pamela Pollara(2011) Said that We can instantly access email from mobile devices, read articles, pay bills, send checks, buy clothing, play games, interact with others through social networking and SMS, and even check into a flight at the airport with a mobile boarding pass. Mobile devices are allowing users to perform a variety of tasks that once took multiple avenues to accomplish with the ease of a few clicks and touches, anytime, anywhere.

As you see today technology is leading the world in deferent sectors of life. This has pushed me to look into educational sector, how the technological influence impact in that domain. The recent trends in education are now observed by any one.

But how are mobile devices changing the way we learn? Although the use of mobile devices is, for many, necessary for survival in mainstream society, in field of education the use of mobile phones are still prohibited in many institutes of higher education. Pamela Pollara(2011), in her doctoral project introduced the dichotomy which continues to exist between society and education, however, how will education ultimately fare? The challenge for education is continuing to grow as students born in the digital and mobile age are approaching learning from a very different perspective than their predecessors.

Learners are increasingly using digital tools and constructing and sharing knowledge in new ways (Looney & Sheehan, 2001; Kimber et al., 2002).

These students, which Prensky (2001) labels «digital natives,» are conflicting with faculty who are often viewed as «digital immigrants.» Because «digital natives» and «digital immigrants» often have different expectations of what learning is and how it should be done, effectively teaching new generations of students with traditional methods will become increasingly more difficult. Students are beginning to demand more flexibility, alternative modes of delivery of instruction, and more multimedia-enriched and interactive course materials (Lam & McNaught, 2006).

As technological world educators, to sit, to research as well as to find out current pedagogical strategies, should increase the new understanding and how define spaces dedicated to learning. Ultimately, shifting paradigms will benefit both students by increasing achievement and learning outcomes and universities by helping them remain competitive with alternative educational outlets (Collis & Wende, 2002; Prensky, 2004).

Incorporating mobile learning is just one potential way to meet the needs of both students and universities in the digital age.

While the rapid advancement in the capabilities of mobile technology has enabled users to perform a wide variety of tasks on one device, the decrease in cost has had both positive and negative effects, especially with relationship to education. The change has happened so fast that researchers have not had an ample amount of time to understand how these devices can best be used for learning. While educators wait for the research to catch up, the research that does exist becomes less relevant each day as technology continues to evolve and ownership continues to increase.

Current research has yet to fully explore the potential of integrating mobile devices beyond a single classroom activity, nor has it explored the potential of letting students use personal mobile devices as educational tools inside and outside the classroom. This gap in the research, combined with the fear of educators that mobile devices can only distract students from learning and provide a vehicle for cheating, has led to the banning of mobile devices in classrooms and so, educators must respond to this need and recognize that mobiles are increasingly relied upon outside the classroom not just as social and entertainment devices, but as learning tools also. Mobile devices are becoming increasingly prevalent in a variety of fields.

Doctors, for example, are increasingly using their smart phones to access medical information like looking up information about drugs, investigating drug interactions, and even prescribing from their mobiles. In fact, a recent survey regarding physician's views with emerging technology found that 95 percent of physicians that owned smart phones reported downloading applications to access medical information (Dolan, 2010).

New technological developments have also led to the FDA approval of a mobile application that allows doctors to diagnose a stroke by viewing 3D images of brain scans on the doctor's smart phone, which may help patients in rural areas who may not have access to neurologists (Belcher, 2011).

A study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research that compared the accuracy of neuroradiologists who used this app to a traditional workstation, found that the app results were 94 to 100 percent accurate.

The use of smart phones is prevalent in other fields as well. Journalists are using the various functions of smart phones to write, record audio and video, take photos, and keep abreast of breaking news (Vaataja, Mannisto, Vainio, & Jokela, 2009).

Above examples are few of many showing the importance of using mobile devices in our daily activities including education. Pollara(2011) continued to say that among the various 21st century skills that researchers believe are becoming increasingly essential for success in life and work. For example, researchers and government are calling for students to be able to apply technology effectively through ICT (Information, Communications, and Technology) literacy.

This includes using technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information and using digital technologies (including mobile technology) to access, manage, integrate, evaluate and create information to successfully function in a knowledge economy (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011). And so, if these skills are necessary for success, there is a responsibility on the part of educators to prepare students to navigate mobile devices as educational tools and engage them in meaningful practice for their future careers.

For all these said above on the technological advancement in different lifestyle sectors, have been pushing me to make a deep look for the real contribution of mobile learning on college students' assignments while supported by their particular faculties.

1. There is no significant difference between teachers and students that mobile technologies in learning practices are high and continue to increase among students in respect of working assignment.

2. There is significant difference between students and instructors (teachers) to need technical and pedagogical support to integrate mobile devices and applications in formal and informal learning.

3. There is no significant difference between female and male that the continuous support and targeted training resources should produce positive change in students' mobile learning in respect of students' assignments.

4. There is significant difference between students of ENGINEERING, EDUCATION DEPARTMENT students, students of BUSINESS DEPARTMENT and ART/SCIENCE students ,that effective use of mobile technologies is less about tools and students' digital literacy skills including ability to access, manage and evaluate digital resources in respect of mobile learning as well as students' assignments.

5. There is significant difference between students of undergraduate studies and students of postgraduate studies that effective use of mobile technologies is less about tools and students' digital literacy skills including ability to access, manage and evaluate digital resources in respect of mobile learning as well as students' assignments.

6. There is significant difference among experienced teachers with 0-1 year, 1-3years, 3-6 years, 6-9years and those of 10 or above years of experience that Wide-scale implementation of mobile learning devices (technologies) depends upon clear university policy, device availability, and accessible technical and pedagogical support in respect of students' assignments.

7. There is no significant difference between teachers and students that investigation on mobile learning practice and their impact on students' academic life are not done accordingly.

8. There is no significant difference between female students and male students that use mobile devices with 24/7 wireless internet access empower students to take responsibility for their learning particularly in working assignments.

9. There is no significant difference between students with 0-49 marks, 50-59 marks, 60-69 marks, 70-79 marks, and 80-89 marks, 90-100 marks that students feel more successful and demonstrate high level of performance by using mobile learning devices in respect of working assignments.

10. There is no significant difference between teachers with B.Ed and/or M.Ed and those without B.Ed and/or M.Ed that mobile teaching and learning applications have power to change the way teachers think about their teaching.

11. There is no significant difference between teachers and students that the students use mobile devices to connect, communicate and collaborate with other students as they create personalized mobile learning experiences.

In order for a mobile learning initiative to be employed at the university level, students and faculty must see a need for educational use. In addition, both students and faculty must be ready and open to the potential benefits of a change in the teaching and learning environment. The purpose of this study is to understand how undergraduate students are currently using mobile devices informally for educational purposes.

It will also investigate the perceptions of faculty and compare the perceptions of faculty and students with regard to mobile learning and mobile device use in the classroom. The study will also explore how the formal use of mobile devices inside and outside the classroom could impact student learning, engagement, and participation. Finally, the study will examine if students and faculty are ready to adopt the use of mobile devices in the classroom.

In this study,» Mobile learning contribution on college students' assignments with faculty support At Prist Universit in Thanjavur » the research will attempt to achieve the following objectives:

3. To describe how there is no significance between teachers and students that mobile technologies in learning practices are high and continue to increase among students

4. To find out that Students and instructors (teachers) need technical and pedagogical support to integrate mobile devices and applications in formal and informal learning environments.

5. To describe that the continuous support and targeted training resources among female male teachers should produce positive change in students' mobile learning in respect of students' assignments.

6. To show that here is significant difference between students of ENGINEERING, EDUCATION DEPARTMENT students, students of BUSINESS DEPARTMENT and ART/SCIENCE students ,that effective use of mobile technologies is less about tools and students' digital literacy skills including ability to access, manage and evaluate digital resources in respect of mobile learning as well as students' assignments.

7. To describe that there is significant difference between students of undergraduate studies and students of postgraduate studies that effective use of mobile technologies is less about tools and students' digital literacy skills including ability to access, manage and evaluate digital resources in respect of mobile learning as well as students' assignments.

8. To find out that there is significant difference among experienced teachers with 0-1 year, 1-3years, 3-6 years, 6-9years and those of 10 or above years of experience that Wide-scale implementation of mobile learning devices (technologies) depends upon clear university policy, device availability, and accessible technical and pedagogical support in respect of students' assignments.

9. To seek out that there is no significant difference between teachers and students that investigation on mobile learning practice and their impact on students' academic life are not done accordingly.

10. To find out that mobile devices and 24/7 wireless internet access empower students to take responsibility for their learning particularly in working assignments.

11. To show that students feel more successful and demonstrate high level of performance by using mobile learning devices in respect of working assignments.

12. To show that mobile teaching learning applications have power to change the way teachers think about their teaching.

13. To find out that students use mobile devices to connect, communicate and collaborate with other students as they create personalized mobile learning experiences.

Since mobile learning is still in its infancy, there is still much work to be done.

Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, current research has yet to catch up with the

advancement of technology and the unique societal changes that are becoming evident as dependency on mobile devices increases. This study aims to fill in some the gaps the currently exist in the research and help build a foundation for future research in mobile learning.

Although early research provides encouraging results for the use of mobile devices to

support teaching and learning (Kukulska-Hulme et al., 2005; Kennedy et al., 2006; Yordanova,2007), revealing that students would like to use mobile devices to learn, that students are motivated and engaged while using mobile devices (Al-Fahad, 2009; Wang et al., 2009; Rogers et al., 2010), and that achievement levels increase when students use mobile technologies

(McContha et al., 2008; Shih et al., 2010; Wyatt et al., 2010; Hsu et al., 2008; Williams & Bearman, 2008), studies have yet to understand how personal mobile devices can and are being used for learning inside and outside classrooms, and can be integrated as educational tools. This is becoming even more essential due to the recent rapid growth in personal ownership of mobile devices. And so, this study will not only provide information about how students are currently informally using their own personal mobile devices for educational purposes inside and outside of the classroom, but also how students would view a more formal use of mobile devices for educational purposes.

In addition, if universities are to accept the use of personal mobile devices in the classroom both faculty and student perceptions of mobile learning must be analyzed. Most prior research that has analyzed student perceptions, however, has only focused on the implementation of one mobile learning activity in a particular classroom. Research has yet to understand attitudes and perceptions of mobile learning on larger scale. In addition, studies have also failed to understand the faculty perspective, which would be an integral part of launching a mobile learning initiative in the university classroom. Even in one large-scale survey in which faculty and students were both surveyed, separate results were not provided or analyzed for both groups

(Bottentuit Junior & Coutinho, 2008). This study will investigate both student and faculty perceptions on a larger scale, investigate any differences that may exist between them, and analyze those differences with regard to readiness and adoption.

This study will also be significant insomuch as it will provide information about how

mobile devices are changing the way students learn and think about learning. The study also aims to understand how the presence of mobile devices enter university classrooms and how this may influence the traditional student-teacher dynamic. The study will also investigate any potential barriers that may prevent the effective use of mobile devices in classrooms as educational tools.

The study is expected to inform researchers and educators about the current informal uses of mobile devices in the classroom and help educators and administrators understand if there is a need to explore more formal mobile learning initiatives at the university level. The study is also expected to reveal the potential uses for mobile learning inside and outside the classroom. The results of the study may help faculty understand if and how to best incorporate mobile learning strategies into teaching and learning.

While a large-scale survey at a particular university may offer insight into the preferences of today's learning with mobile devices, it may be limiting in its generalization. The results may be representative of the region or the university in which the participants are located. Choosing to limit the study to undergraduates was purposefully done to ensure that participants had exposure to and were familiar with the capabilities of mobile devices. Most undergraduates would have a similar age range and thus would most likely be considered «digital natives» (Prensky, 2001). However, while including graduate students may have offered unique perspective, the age range of participants and their exposure to mobile devices and therefore their

perspective about the appropriate and potential uses of mobile devices in the classroom may have

Applications: «Apps;» A downloadable web-based or device-based program that provides access to information, content, gaming and/or allows users to perform tasks easier.

Distance Learning: Any learning done at a physical distance from a university.

Ease of Use- the degree to which an individual believes that he/she is able to accomplish tasks with ease.

E-Learning: Learning that can be done on-campus or off-campus, but is always done when time and space must be dedicated to learning.

Formal Use: Use of mobile devices for learning activities that are designed and/or implemented by the instructor of a class.

Informal Use: Use of mobile devices for learning that is not prompted by the teacher in the classroom. Informal use may occur at the will of the student inside or outside the classroom.

Instructionally-Sound Applications: Applications that have been designed with educational theory and instructional design principles in mind.

Mobile device: Any mobile technology with multiple functions and capabilities, especially the ability to access the Internet.

Mobile Learning- (M-Learning) The process of using a mobile device to access and study learning materials and to communicate with fellow students, instructors or institutions (Ally, 2009). Mobile learning can be done anytime, anywhere.

Mobile learning (mLearning) is defined as the provision of education and training on mobile devices: Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), smartphones and mobile phones.( Fintan Costello et al. 2009)

Perceived Use- the degree to which an individual believes he/she should be able to perform certain tasks on a mobile device.

Smartphone: a mobile phone with computer capabilities. Smartphones can download material, access the Internet, take photos and videos, compose and send emails, and download applications that allow users to easily complete various tasks.

GSM: (Global System for Mobile Communications): The most widely used communication protocol. GSM is used generally for mobile telephone calls. GSM enables 9.6 Kbps data transfer rate.

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service): GPRS allows users to be connected to the network at all times. GPRS transfer rate is between 30 and 100 Kbps and only the traffic generated by the user is billed.

Bluetooth : Bluetooth wireless technology is a short-range radio technology.

UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System): UMTS is known as third generation (3G) mobile communication system. This technology is capable of data transfer speed up to 2 Mbps. This speed is appropriate for different media like animations and videos.

SMS (Short Messaging System): Short Message Service is a feature available with some wireless phones that allow users to send and/or receive short alphanumeric messages (Martin, 2000).

MMS (Multimedia Messaging System): MMS is used for sending pictures or music files

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol): WAP is the first global standard for internet

services over mobile phone networks. It is capable of displaying «mini websites».

Pocket PC: Pocket PC term is used for Windows CE or Windows Mobile operating system based handheld computers. These devices have same capabilities with Palm based handheld computers.

computers that have Palm, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile or Symbian operating systems. These devices have processors up to 400 MHz and they have RAM and ROM memories, small screen and keyboards. Most of them have office applications and internet browsing capabilities.

The present study (research report) is consisting of six chapters followed by bibliography and appendices. The first chapter deals with the introductory of research problem are explained in order to get clarity of term. Meaning, Definition, Need for the study, statement of the problem, hypotheses, objectives, significance, the definitions of terms, organization, methodology and related literature in summary and limitation of the study are discussed in this study

Chapter II is dealing with review of related literature. The earlier researches done in India and abroad regarding the variables selected are discussed. The research gap of the study is also identified. Understanding the variables, conceptualizing the variables and avoiding the duplication of work.

Chapter III is presenting the methodology used in the study, including a description and rationale of the sample, the data collection procedures, a description of instrument development, and the methods of analysis of the data.

Chapter IV shows the tabulation, analysis and statistics about statements in the instruments used in this study.

Chapter V will draw some conclusions according to results of the study and makes some recommendations for further researches.

In this introductory chapter of this project we have been trying to build the conceptual framework of the research. The statement of the problem, hypotheses, objectives, and organization of the work has been framed in this part. The definition of keywords related to the topic has been widely explained.

Study on mobile learning contribution on college students assignment with faculty support

DECLARATION

DEDICATION (DEDICATE)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

INTRODUCTION