Stop and Think: Exploring Mobile Notifications to Foster Reflective Practice on Meta-Learning

Nowadays, smartphone users are constantly receiving notifications from applications that provide feedback, as reminders, recommendations or announcements. Nevertheless, there is little research on the effects of mobile notifications to foster meta-learning. This paper explores the effectiveness of mobile notifications to foster reflection on meta-learning by presenting the results of two studies: (1) a formative study with 37 secondary school students offering a daily reflection and reporting exercise about their learning experience during the day; (2) an experiment involving 60 adults to read an eBook on energy-efficient driving for one hour. During that time, the participants received mobile notifications inviting them to reflect in-action. On the one hand, the results from the first study show that students do not have a habit of seeing themselves as learners and developing a “professional” awareness about their daily activity at work/school. On the other hand, the second study explores the effects of different notification types on knowledge gain and motivation. Results envision a higher knowledge gain and motivation for the group assigned with the least complex interactions with mobile devices during the reflection exercise. Finally, these results are discussed and important research questions for future research on mobile notifications are raised.

[1]  Wim Westera,et al.  Reflection amplifiers in online courses: a classification framework , 2011 .

[2]  Marco Kalz,et al.  Beyond the channel: A literature review on ambient displays for learning , 2013, Comput. Educ..

[3]  Alan Reid,et al.  Supporting and Enhancing Undergraduate Learning with m-learning tools , 2008, Proceedings of the International Conference on Networked Learning.

[4]  Wim Westera,et al.  Fostering Reflective Practice with Mobile Technologies , 2012, ARTEL@EC-TEL.

[5]  Kirsty Young,et al.  Direct from the source: the value of 'think-aloud' data in understanding learning , 2009 .

[6]  D. Verpoorten.  Reflection amplifiers in self-regulated learning , 2012 .

[7]  J. Biggs.  THE ROLE OF METALEARNING IN STUDY PROCESSES , 1985 .

[8]  Carrie B. Fried,et al.  In-class laptop use and its e V ects on student learning , 2006 .

[9]  M. Csíkszentmihályi,et al.  Experience Sampling Method: Measuring the Quality of Everyday Life , 2006 .

[10]  CavusNadire,et al.  Using mobile learning to increase environmental awareness , 2009 .

[11]  R. Sternberg.  Metacognition, abilities, and developing expertise: What makes an expert student? , 1998 .

[12]  Janni Nielsen,et al.  Getting access to what goes on in people's heads?: reflections on the think-aloud technique , 2002, NordiCHI '02.

[13]  Stefaan Ternier,et al.  Supporting lifelong learners to build personal learning ecologies in daily physical spaces , 2013, Int. J. Mob. Learn. Organisation.

[14]  Heinz Ulrich Hoppe,et al.  One-to-One Technology-Enhanced Learning: an Opportunity for Global Research Collaboration , 2006, Res. Pract. Technol. Enhanc. Learn..

[15]  Marco Kalz,et al.  Designing a Mobile Learning Game to Investigate the Impact of Role-Playing on Helping Behaviour , 2013, EC-TEL.

[16]  Dogan Ibrahim,et al.  m-Learning: An experiment in using SMS to support learning new English language words , 2009, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[17]  S. Holden.  Education at a Glance , 2006, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education.

[18]  Peggy A. Ertmer,et al.  The expert learner: Strategic, self-regulated, and reflective , 1996 .

[19]  K. Facer.  Learning Futures: Education, Technology and Social Change , 2011 .

[20]  D. Schoen,et al.  The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action , 1985 .

[21]  Jeff Haywood,et al.  Expectations and Reality: Exploring the use of learning technologies across the disciplines , 2008 .

[22]  Norman Longworth,et al.  Lifelong Learning in Action: Transforming Education in the 21st Century , 2003 .

[23]  Patricia Thornton,et al.  Using mobile phones in English education in Japan , 2005, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[24]  Nadire Cavus,et al.  Using mobile learning to increase environmental awareness , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[25]  Marco Kalz,et al.  Where Is My Time? Identifying Productive Time of Lifelong Learners for Effective Feedback Services , 2014, CAA.

[26]  Marco Kalz,et al.  Lifelong Learning Hub: A Seamless Tracking Tool for Mobile Learning , 2014, EC-TEL.

[27]  Patrícia Santos,et al.  Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators , 2014 .

[28]  Lung-Hsiang Wong,et al.  What seams do we remove in mobile-assisted seamless learning? A critical review of the literature , 2011, Comput. Educ..

[29]  C. Watkins.  Learning about learning enhances performance , 2001 .

[30]  R. Ryan,et al.  Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. , 1982 .

[31]  Donald A. Schön.  The reflective practitioner : how professionals think in action , 1986 .

[32]  David C. Novak,et al.  Examining the Affects of Student Multitasking with Laptops During the Lecture , 2010, J. Inf. Syst. Educ..

[33]  David Sherlock,et al.  Learner reflexivity, technology and 'making our way through the world' , 2009 .

[34]  Donald A. Sch.  The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action , 1983 .

[35]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  The Proper Protocol: Validity and Completeness of Verbal Reports , 1994 .

[36]  Marco Kalz,et al.  Mobile authoring of open educational resources for authentic learning scenarios , 2016, Universal Access in the Information Society.

[37]  Marco Kalz,et al.  ARLearn: Augmented Reality Meets Augmented Virtuality , 2012, J. Univers. Comput. Sci..

[38]  Maria Bannert,et al.  Effects of a metacognitive support device in learning environments , 2009, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[39]  Marco Kalz,et al.  "Tap it again, Sam": Harmonizing the frontiers between digital and real worlds in education , 2014, 2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings.

[40]  Marco Kalz,et al.  Pervasive Interventions to Increase Pro-environmental Awareness, Consciousness, and Learning at the Workplace , 2013, EC-TEL.

[41]  Nian-Shing Chen,et al.  The impact of persuasive SMS on students' self-regulated learning , 2012, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[42]  Stefaan Ternier,et al.  Supporting Crisis Simulations with the ARLearn Toolkit for Mobile Serious Games , 2012 .