Abstract:

Traditionally, teachers are dealing with the problem related to the lack of information regarding whether the students are following properly a class and they are acquiring and understanding properly the concepts discussed during the explanations.

A partial solution to this problem consists of the tests, questions or exercises resolution during the class, but in these cases, teachers only have a full picture of the whole class understanding after the end of the class when he/she marks. Even more, a teacher has to spend and important part of the following class to repeat and reinforce the concepts not well understood in previous sessions. These situations negatively affect the learning pace of the class.

In parallel, mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and lightweight laptops are becoming more popular among the students. In many cases, the presence of these devices in the class is an inhibitor of the learning process of the class because they distract students, but in other cases, they can be used as a way to obtain real-time feedback not needing to spend an important effort in gathering individual answers from all of them.

The purpose of this research work consisted of identifying how the use of mobile devices and apps can contribute to obtain real-time feedback from the students regarding the correct understanding of the concepts explained.

The following specific objectives were stated:
- Define a method to take advantage of the mobile devices use to prepare a class, follow it and obtain feedback from the students on the correct understanding of the concepts presented during the teaching sessions.
- Provide the teachers and students with a set of apps for the class preparation to send feedback in real-time regarding the concepts explained in a class answering test questions using mobile devices.
- Evaluate the efficiency and attractiveness of the classes driven by the continuous use of mobile technologies to engage the students’ active participation during the class.

A full version of this article describes the teaching methodology to promote the students’ active classes preparation and participation during the theory sessions.

Even more, IOS and Android mobile apps that compose the mClassSuite solution will be presented in a full paper:
- mTeachPlan focused on the creation and management of the teachers guidebook for a subject that is integrated with pre-existing e-learning platforms (i.e. Moodle).
- mTeachClass that enables the professor to present the teaching elements of a class including videos, slides, documents, highlight main ideas, launch test questions to the students or access answers provided by the students in real time.
- mClassTest that helps the students to send questions and doubts to the teacher previously or after a class and to answer the test questions launched by the teacher.

The results obtained from the implementation of this method and tools in the Principles of Software Development and Agile Software Development Subjects of Computer Science Degree at Carlos III University of Madrid during 2013-2014 academic year are discussed in a full paper.

The results addressed are:
- Students’ level of understanding of the theoretical concepts presented during the classes.
- Improvement of the students’ capability to apply in a practical way the concepts discussed during a subject.
- Students’ subjective evaluation of the teaching method and the mobile apps developed during this research work.

Keywords:

m-learning, Real-time questionnaires, Students Feedback, Social MOOCs, Higher Education.