The goal of this study was to explore whether differences in student academic indicators exist between taking a course face-to-face (F2F) and taking a course via distance education (DE). Three hundred and eighty five students were enrolled in a course offered, both, as F2F (n = 116) and as DE (n = 269). Course content, instructor, textbook…

This study describes the development of a ubiquitous cooperative learning environment using proposed annotation services, wireless communication devices, and the Jigsaw method of cooperative learning. The purpose of the study is to investigate the potential benefits of studying digital course materials with embedded annotations. The SQ3R study…

A number of studies have evidenced that handheld devices are appropriate tools to facilitate face-to-face collaborative learning effectively because of the possibility of ample social interactions. Group Area Network, or GroupNet, proposed in this paper, uses handheld devices to fill the gap between Local Area Network and Body Area Network.…

Recent advances in ubiquitous computing technologies have brought reality augmentation of traditional objects to context-aware and social supports. Although a significant proportion of students prefer poring over traditional paper textbooks over electronic books, few studies have enhanced reading practice of traditional books with ubiquitous…

In this paper, we analyse how contextualised media can be used to support learning. Additionally, the advantages of contextualised learning and the types of learning that are fit to be supported are discussed. Our focus throughout the paper will be on lifelong learning, and the integration of formal and informal learning therein. However, we…

Computing devices and applications are now used beyond the desktop, in diverse environments, and this trend toward ubiquitous computing is evolving. In this study, we re-visit the interactivity concept and its applications for interactive function design in a ubiquitous-learning system (ULS). Further, we compare interactivity dimensions and…

Museums are one of the most important institutions providing students with the opportunity to gain knowledge, experience cultures, and develop different interests in an informal learning setting. As information and communication technology (ICT) has become more popular, many researchers have also become concerned with how to use mobile devices to…

Recent progress in wireless and sensor technologies has lead to a new development of learning environments, called context-aware ubiquitous learning environment, which is able to sense the situation of learners and provide adaptive supports. Many researchers have been investigating the development of such new learning environments; nevertheless,…

In distance education, communications among students, educators, and administrators have been one of the most important problems. The distance education programs in The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) span not only Hong Kong but also many cities over a large area in China. To improve and monitor the quality of communications among students,…

Recent trends reveal that models of culture aid in mapping the design and analysis of information and communication technologies. Therefore, models of culture are powerful tools to guide the building of instructional products and services. This research examines the construction of the culture based model (CBM), a model of culture that evolved…

The structure and composite nature of a learning object is still open to interpretation. Although several theoretical studies advocate integrated approaches to the structure and aggregation level of learning objects, in practice, many content specifications, such as SCORM, IMS Content Packaging, and course authoring tools, do not explicitly state…

With the rapid advance of stand-alone e-learning systems, we believe a sharable and interoperable portal platform capable of integrating various existing learning systems is critical for the future development of e-learning systems. We highlight two problems as the root causes for current ineffective sharing of learning resources: learning object…

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is essential to career development for teachers. Teachers can develop their own PCK by research-based activities such as action research and lesson study, with a particular emphasis on the employment of classroom practice, information technology, and collaborative learning. However, in recent studies, most of…

The popularity of web-based learning systems has encouraged researchers to pay attention to several new issues. One of the most important issues is the development of new techniques to provide personalized teaching materials. Although several frameworks or methods have been proposed, it remains a challenging issue to design an easy-to-realize…

This paper addresses issues of using computer technology to support in-classroom teaching and learning regarding one of the most frequent problems in such scenarios: the students' attention. First, it presents the distraction and focus of attention problems that arise while using computer technology with off-the-shelf software for supporting…