PROMOTING AUTONOMOUS WORK OF STUDENTS WITH THE MILAGE LEARN+ APP
1 Algarve University (PORTUGAL)
2 Universidade Aberta (PORTUGAL)
3 University of Extremadura (SPAIN)
4 Nord University (NORWAY)
About this paper:
Conference name: 11th International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Dates: 6-8 March, 2017
Location: Valencia, Spain
Abstract:
There is an increasing number of students using smartphones and tablets in schools. Mobile devices gained popularity as an educational tool and there are many schools that use them frequently in educational activities to improve learning.
It is also important to note that these students are the generation of digital games and social networks. We cannot ignore that they are no longer the same for which the education system was designed a few decades ago. See, for example, the prospect of Heide and Stilborne (2000), for whom "the technological revolution has produced a generation of students who grew up with multidimensional and interactive media sources. A generation whose expectations and world views are different from those that preceded it" (p. 27).
In this context it is wise to consider the integration of digital media and mobile devices (tablets, phablets, smartphones), allowing students to set personal goals, to manage educational content and to communicate with others in the right context.
According to Fernandes and Ferreira (2012), the use of information technology made many changes in the way of teaching and learning. The use of mobile devices that are widely available is also giving the opportunity to students and teachers to change the teaching/learning process.
In this paper, we explore the MILAGE LEARN+ App that we developed for smartphones and tablets to provide activities that students can do in the classroom or at home and increase the time they spend learning and practicing mathematics. With this app students solve mathematic activities and are helped by the presentation of videos with the problems resolutions. Students can use this app in the classroom or outside the classroom in a blended learning model to solve problems. When students have difficulty in solving a problem they can watch the resolution of it. In this way, we want to provide the same opportunities to low-achieving students that may struggle to learn the materials covered in class. Students have also access to complex problems that may provide additional stimulation for top performers students. In this way, we can provide a platform that is capable of accommodating students with different mathematic skills.Keywords:
Autonomous work, m-learning, b-learning, flipped-learning, mathematics.