research-article

EduPaL: Enabling Blended Learning in Resource Constrained Environments

Authors:

Pongsakorn Sukjunnimit,

Ramrao WaghAuthors Info & Claims

ACM DEV-5 '14: Proceedings of the Fifth ACM Symposium on Computing for Development

Pages 73 - 82

https://doi.org/10.1145/2674377.2674388

Published: 05 December 2014 Publication History

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Abstract

In developing regions, intermittent internet and high infrastructure costs are making it difficult to transit from assembly-line models of education delivery to effective technology enabled blended learning. This motivates the need for a low-cost system which can work with intermittent internet connection. In this paper, we propose EduPaL, a plug-and-learn solution which utilizes a low cost USB flash drive as a portable learning platform. Students can use the EduPaL client installed in the USB to download and consume educational content, including videos and quizzes. EduPaL tracks students' learning activities, and allows students to take notes and ask questions to the teacher. These learning activities are analyzed to create visualizations, in order to help teacher identify students, or topics that need more focus in the classroom. We conducted a semester long exploratory study with 30 students in an Indian university. EduPaL was found to be used by students at different times of the day and in different locations (hostel, home, lab), thus providing ubiquitous learning even without continuous internet connectivity. The teacher used visualizations to understand students' engagement, and inferred measures to improve student learning and video lectures.

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Index Terms

EduPaL: Enabling Blended Learning in Resource Constrained Environments
1. Applied computing
  1. Education

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Reviews

Reviewer: Barrett Hazeltine

EduPaL, a portable learning platform, is useful when the Internet connection is intermittent and cost constraints are important. The platform is based on a low-cost universal serial bus (USB) flash drive used individually by each student. Students must also have access to a computer with at least intermittent Internet access. Content, such as videos, is downloaded onto the flash drive when possible and accessed at the student's convenience. Software on the flash drive monitors student usage, such as how much of a video was actually watched. The usage data is transmitted back to the teacher's module, which includes fairly elaborate data presentation tools. The data presentation tools allow the teacher to visualize which videos posed problems to students and also student preparation for a particular class. The system, then, offers both anytime/anywhere access to the student and usage visualizations to the teacher. It has been tried in a class of 23 students over one semester, with generally favorable results in terms of student learning and student acceptance. The instructor can use familiar learning management systems; Moodle was employed here. EduPaL appears to be an effective system that addresses a real problem. The presentation is clear, with helpful examples of the visualizations. Online Computing Reviews Service

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Published In

ACM DEV-5 '14: Proceedings of the Fifth ACM Symposium on Computing for Development

December 2014

142 pages

ISBN:9781450329361

DOI:10.1145/2674377

General Chairs:
Anitha Kannan
Microsoft Research
,
Krishnaram Kenthapadi
Microsoft Research
,
Shankar Kalyanaraman
Facebook
,
Program Chairs:
Marshini Chetty
University of Maryland, College Park
,
Vanessa Frias-Martinez
University of Maryland, College Park

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Published: 05 December 2014

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December 5 - 6, 2014

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ACM DEV-5 '14 Paper Acceptance Rate 11 of 37 submissions, 30%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 52 of 164 submissions, 32%

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642547
Shohel MShams SAshrafuzzaman MAlam AMamun MKabir M(2022)Emergency Remote Teaching and LearningHandbook of Research on Asian Perspectives of the Educational Impact of COVID-1910.4018/978-1-7998-8402-6.ch011(175-200)Online publication date: 2022
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8402-6.ch011
India GY VO ADiwakar NJain MVashistha ASwaminathan MKitamura YQuigley AIsbister KIgarashi TBjørn PDrucker S(2021)Teachers’ Perceptions around Digital Games for Children in Low-resource Schools for the BlindProceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3411764.3445194(1-17)Online publication date: 6-May-2021
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Access critical reviews of Computing literature here