MOBILE ASSISTED LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING Ho Dinh Phuong Khanh, M A As technologies have rapidly improved in quality and power, mobile phones with various functions and capabilities have extended[.]
MOBILE-ASSISTED LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING Ho Dinh Phuong Khanh, M.A As technologies have rapidly improved in quality and power, mobile phones with various functions and capabilities have extended into all areas of life, and education is not an exception Nowadays the use of mobile phones has gained increasing popularity among students and they can serve as a tool for learning with a more proactive approach Teachers can also integrate smartphones into their teaching model to engage students in the class lessons and materials In this article, the benefits and drawbacks derived from using mobile technologies are closely observed for both students and teachers Some examples of useful apps and tools that can be used in the classroom are also given I Benefits Connectivity and Interactivity As a sub-area of mobile learning, mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) is defined as the use of mobile technology in language learning A number of studies have shown that learners perceive technology integration as beneficial for their learning; it promotes learning, helps them improve and enhances their autonomy According to Kukulska-Hulme and Shield (2008), the use of personal, portable devices can enable new ways of learning, emphasizing continuity or spontaneity of access and interaction across different contexts Barker, Krull, and Mallinson (2006) stated in their study that the impacts of mobile phone technologies on learning are portability, collaboration and motivation Students can enjoy the convenience of learning every time and everywhere they are Furthermore, being connected to friends through classroom activities promotes collaborative learning, thus creates numerous positives for students As collaborative learning is student-centered; it encourages all involved to support and motivate each other to achieve the learning goal (Valarmathi, 2011) Student-student interaction can be enhanced when using mobile phones to build up ideas with others and exchange data Information can also be easily transferred between teachers and students A useful app is Live Board, which is an interactive real-time whiteboard to teach, learn and collaborate Teachers can use this app to communicate with students, even the absent ones, via live messaging or audio chat To visualize teaching and make the lessons easy to understand, teachers can import images and PDF files or turn the lessons into video presentations The teaching sessions can be recorded and shared on social networks Some mobile apps such as Poll Everywhere, Survey Monkey provide a quick and easy way to create online polls, reflective surveys, and questions Students can use smartphones to provide their answers, and information can be culled for reports Better lesson preparation With the aid of mobile technology, lessons can now be prepared with ease Thornton and Houser (2005) show that mobile devices can indeed be effective tools for delivering language learning materials to the students For instance, Mentimeter is a presentation app that teachers can easily use to get real-time input from online students with live polls, quizzes, tests or post-lecture surveys With this tool, teachers can create interactive presentations, set various types of questions for revising previous knowledge or starting class discussions Students use their smartphones to connect to the presentation where they can answer questions This interactive learning experience motivates students to remain active in class The results and data are easy to collect and they can be used for further analysis or tracking student progress Game-based learning According to Valk, Rashid, & Elder (2010), smartphones have made learning more flexible, easy and have helped to reduce the ultimate inherent conventional classroom learning Teachers can create a game-based learning environment in which materials and activities are designed and facilitated using the mobile technology One example is Quizizz, which provides free gamified quizzes to play in class Quizizz can be used as a fun and engaging way to conduct student-paced formative assessments Teachers can create quizzes with multiple options of question types, edit and customize them to toggle the level of competition and speed As the students finish, teachers can see the live results or download the results directly to their computer, and can analyze the data in a variety of ways They can focus on the needs of each individual student and the class as a whole, then use the information to focus on areas which need review or reinforcement Quizizz can even be assigned as homework so that students can complete on their own Students can also create their own games, further enhancing their learning and involvement in the course Outside-the-classroom practice Mobile learning technology is also useful for doing activities outside the classroom Smartphones with multimedia functions give the students the opportunity to learn in a quick, easy and fun way There is now a wide range of AI-driven apps with voice recognition that offer the students an opportunity to learn vocabulary and improve pronunciation One example is FluentU, with which students can learn Business English from real-life videos like talk shows, news, commercials, documentaries, etc Interactive captions allow learners to tap on any word and see definitions, images and useful examples Another useful app is One LinGo by Pearson English Business Solutions, which offers flashcards for learning new words and business email templates There is also a pronunciation tool that will let learners hear English words and phrases spoken in different accents and at a variety of speeds Research also shows that learners who are given supplemental spoken practice outside of the classroom using their computers or mobile devices usually outperform learners in the control groups in oral proficiency measures (Al-Jarf, 2012) Furthermore, there are studies in which learners show positive attitudes towards mobile-assisted language learning tasks For example, participants using mobile devices in Kessler’s (2010) study reported less self-consciousness and anxiety when completing the speaking tasks Teachers can assign speaking tasks on LMS, which is now also available as a mobile app on the Play Store or App Store, set due dates and send notification messages to their students The students can complete their assignments by using smartphones to record their own voice and upload the finished files online Quick assessment of student progress Assessment plays an important role in determining what learning has occurred, especially when teachers and students have to teach and study online during times of the Covid-19 pandemic It gives teachers an insight into how students learn so that they can find out what needs to be reinforced, provide instructions to guide learning and give students helpful feedback Assessment also enables teachers to measure the effectiveness of their teaching and see if specific learning objectives are being met There is now a wide array of tech-enabled tools available for assessing students, which can benefit both teachers and students in many ways On the part of teachers, they can conduct evaluative work faster When technology is used, students’ results can be found in a digital format that can be easily aggregated Teachers, therefore, will have more time for lesson preparation as the paperwork is reduced As for students, they benefit because they can get more engaged in the classroom and have the real-time feedback they need for improvement Furthermore, with increased flexibility, students are able to access and complete online assessments at a time that best suits their individual learning styles and needs Here are some examples of online assessment tools that can be used ClassFlow, a cloud-based lesson delivery software with advanced collaboration tools, allows teachers to assess student comprehension in the moment of learning With ClassFlow, lesson preparation and course management can be made easier and more time-saving Teachers can set different questions for different students or groups of students, depending on their ability and learning style, so that they can work through at their own pace In addition, teachers can also poll the whole class to instantly see student responses By immediately identifying and addressing any gaps in knowledge, teachers can then tailor their lessons to the real needs of each student Teachers can also send assignments and instructional materials to students before or after class and monitor their progress using the Assignment Tracker feature Furthermore, ClassFlow allows teachers to import existing lessons from PDFs, Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint or videos This tool is an efficient way to increase student engagement and improve teacher-student communication Students can get interactive lesson content delivered directly to their devices; they can view posts or reminders from their teacher and make contributions to the lesson Next, Edulastic is a user-friendly online assessment system that provides instant view of student learning and growth Edulastic can quickly identify learning gaps with diagnostic and formative assessments, give students differentiated assignments and monitor their progress As an easy-touse tool, Edulastic allows sign on through Google or Microsoft 365 There are also options for paper-based testing as teachers can simply upload PDFs to create a SnapQuiz that is autoscored One tool that is highly recommended by reviewers and professionals is ExamSoft, which is an advanced assessment platform that helps teachers maximize student learning outcomes It offers a testing solution with instant grading and visualized results From the assessment data, teachers can monitor student performance, provide feedback, and identify gaps in the curriculum to make adjustments or improvements What makes ExamSoft special is the software system that can help prevent and deter cheating When students a test on their computers, access to programs, files, Internet usage and screenshot capabilities are blocked during the test, thus ensuring exam security Thanks to its efficiency, ExamSoft has been used by a lot of academic institutions worldwide II Drawbacks The use of mobile phones in the classroom has also met with resistance from educators for a number of reasons Distraction Mobile phones can be used to encourage student participation, but the devices can also create distractions that may cause problems in the classroom Oulasvita (2012) stressed that the use of mobile devices may lead to the development of a checking habit that involves brief and frequent content consumption (e.g., checking emails and Facebook updates) Indeed, it is not uncommon to find students using their phones to chat or text messages when they should be studying As a result, failure to pay full attention to the lessons means that students may miss out on important information given in the lectures One more drawback is that phone use may disrupt learning and draw attention away from the lessons if the phones are not switched to silence mode Uncontrollability and excessive use One shortcoming is that it may not be easy to monitor and keep track of students’ performance on their phones Since performance tracking is difficult, students are likely to avoid doing MALL related tasks if there is no follow-up by the teacher Another commonly cited disadvantage of allowing mobile phone use in the classroom is the potential for cheating Even though there are rules regarding when students can use their phones, misuse usually occurs Students may use their phones to search Google for answers or take pictures of tests or lectures and share with others Furthermore, it has been found that excessive mobile phone use may lead to emotional reactions like anxiety and irritability Also, there may be negative impacts on physical health such as headache, eye strain, body aches, etc Pedagogical concerns One issue is that the tasks used in the m-learning environment must be appropriate There are concerns that some apps are of little value when it comes to learning since they just focus on lowerthinking level like memorizing As a result, they may not be beneficial for such settings as universities where learners feel the need for practical skill practice Next, transferring a classroom task to a MALL one requires certain teachers’ efforts to provide training and support when needed and ensure task completion III Conclusion In short, using technology in the classroom can provide numerous benefits such as active student participation, efficiency, collaboration, communication, extra help, virtual experiences, and much more, but there are also potential shortcomings Whether mobile phones, as an academic tool, are helpful or hurtful depends on when and how they are used A mix of traditional and online activities, therefore, should be used in the classroom Teaching can be easier and more time-saving while student learning, at the same time, can be more personalized, engaging and fun References Al-Jarf, R (2012) Mobile technology and student autonomy in oral skill acquisition In J DíazVera (Ed.), Left to my own devices: Learner autonomy and mobile-assisted language learning innovation and leadership in English language teaching (pp 105–130) Bingley, UK: Emerald Group A Promethean Blog (2016) How Can Technology Aid Learning and Assessment? Retrieved from https://resourced.prometheanworld.com/technology-learning-and-assessment/ Barker, A Krull, G Mallinson, B 2006 A Proposed Theoretical Model for M-Learning Adoption in Developing Countries Department of Information Systems Rhodes University, South Africa (online) http://WWW.http://search.ebscohost.com Kessler, G (2010): Fluency and anxiety in self-access speaking tasks: The influence of environment Computer Assisted Language Learning, 23(4), 361–375 Kukulska-Hulme, A and Shield, L (2008) An overview of mobile assisted language learning: can mobile devices support collaborative practice in speaking and listening? 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Journal of of Technology for ELT 1.2 (April 2011): (May 2021) Valk, J., Rashid, A., & Elder, L (2010) Using mobile phones to improve educational outcomes: An analysis of evidence from Asia The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 11(1), 117-140 http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/794/150 ... and mobile- assisted language learning innovation and leadership in English language teaching (pp 105–130) Bingley, UK: Emerald Group A Promethean Blog (2016) How Can Technology Aid Learning and. .. Fluency and anxiety in self-access speaking tasks: The influence of environment Computer Assisted Language Learning, 23(4), 361–375 Kukulska-Hulme, A and Shield, L (2008) An overview of mobile assisted. .. positive attitudes towards mobile- assisted language learning tasks For example, participants using mobile devices in Kessler’s (2010) study reported less self-consciousness and anxiety when completing