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Despite seamless vocabulary learning studies having been implemented for about 10 years, little is known about what seamless vocabulary learning studies are, how they were conducted, what the learn...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a mobile User-Generated-Content (m-UGC) tool on enhancing primary students’ vocabulary learning motivation and learning outcomes. A total of 40 primary students in Hong Kong participated in this study. The results showed using the m-UGC tool could increase primary students’ learning motivation and significantly improve their vocabulary learning.

This paper reports a one-year study on the project of ''Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) for seamless science inquiry'' in a primary school in Hong Kong. BYOD in this study refers to ''the technology model where students bring a personally owned mobile device with various apps and embedded features to use anywhere, anytime for the purpose of learning''. The study aims at investigating (a) what advancement of content knowledge students made in their science inquiry in a seamless learning environment supported by their own mobile device; (b) how the students advanced their content knowledge in science inquiry; and (c) what students' perception is regarding their learning experience supported by their own mobile devices. The topic of inquiry was ''The Anatomy of Fish''. Data collection included pre- and post-domain tests, self-reported questionnaire, student artifacts, class observations and field notes. Content analysis and a student artifact tracing approach were adopted in the data analysis to examine and trace students' knowledge advancement. The research findings show that the students advanced their understanding of the anatomy of fish well beyond what was available in the textbook and they developed positive attitude toward seamless science inquiry supported by their own mobile devices.

Recent studies have explored English vocabulary learning in environments where students used mobile technologies for prescribed vocabulary learning tasks, or tested designed personalized learning systems to enhance student vocabulary learning for short periods of time in language related courses. Dictionary use via mobile devices has mostly been used for referential purposes. Referential use refers to applications that provide student access to content such as dictionaries, e-books, etc. at places where learning activities occur, taking advantage of the portability and mobility of mobile devices. Research on free student use of mobile devices to foster incidental vocabulary learning in non-English courses remains scant, and no in-depth studies have been carried out to investigate the value of dictionary use on mobile devices for incidental vocabulary learning in higher education. This one-year multiple-case study investigated undergraduate students' dictionary and other uses of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to enhance their incidental vocabulary learning in an English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) university. The research findings show: (a) the students made various uses of the PDA to improve their vocabulary learning, namely, referential, situated, constructive, reflective, explorative and conversing uses, (b) the students adopted integrated uses of the tools on the PDA and the computer for their incidental vocabulary learning, and (c) the integrated use of the PDA and the computer shaped the vocabulary learning activities and vice versa. These research results indicate that PDAs can be used in more flexible, novel and extended ways for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) vocabulary teaching and learning in higher education, taking student needs and contexts into consideration.

Despite the fast development of digital technologies and the booming of seamless learning pedagogical practices, mobile-assisted seamless learning generally happens only in specific and defined learning episodes leveraged by a uniform type of mobile devices. How school students use their own devices to support their seamless learning and what affordances of the mobile devices students would like to use for supporting their seamless learning have rarely been discussed and explored. This chapter, from an ecological perspective, discusses how seamless learning happens using the concepts of affordance network (functionally bound possibilities in an environment), effectivity sets (the attunement and employment of affordance network), and “niches” (sets of affordances or experiences), and develops a framework to examine the “niche” for seamless learning. Implications of the framework are explored. A seamless inquiry into understanding “anatomy of fish” is cited as an example to elaborate the framework.

This chapter reports on an in-depth one-year empirical research into examining five undergraduate student mobile device uses in context. Data collection methods include: student reflective e-journals, student artifacts, observations, interviews, field notes, and memos. Three complementary streams were involved in the data analysis. Seven interacting factors in context that could either facilitate or inhibit mobile device use were identified and discussed.

This chapter reviews and discusses research on applications of handheld devices in education. The author classifies these applications into six categories based on their functions: educational communication, managing, multimedia access, games and simulations, data collection, and context-aware applications. Each category is examined individually and the consequences arising from these applications are analyzed. The author posits that handheld educational applications, in many cases, have duplicated traditional practice, and that these uses do not seem to have much impact on educational practices. Continued research is needed to focus on longitudinal studies of how students’ perceive and use handheld devices for their own needs in contexts that change their educational practices.

In higher education literature, no in-depth studies have been identified that investigate the value of integrating incidental vocabulary learning using mobile devices into undergraduate students' academic studies. This one-year multiple-case study investigated undergraduate students' dictionary and other uses of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to enhance their incidental vocabulary learning in an English-medium (EM) university. The research findings show that the students made a variety of uses of PDAs to improve their vocabulary learning in the course of academic studies both in- and after class. The research results indicate that PDAs can be used in more flexible, novel and extended ways for English as a foreign language (EFL) vocabulary teaching and learning in both informal and informal learning environments in higher education.

The paper reports on a small pilot study to explore the role of Short Message Service (SMS) in English as Second Language (ESL) vocabulary learning for mobile audiences. In this study, SMS was integrated into web-based vocabulary learning. Ten participants were involved in this study. An online test system was set-up for recorded assessment data collection, and an open-ended questionnaire interview was conducted via e-mail to collect qualitative data. The research findings show significant improvements in the learner performance and in their attitudes towards using SMS in their vocabulary learning.