LEARNING OF ALGORITHMS ON MOBILE DEVICES

THROUGH BLUETOOTH, SMS AND MMS TECHNOLOGY

Ricardo José dos Santos Barcelos and Liane Margarida Rokembach Tarouco

IFF - Instituo Federal Fluminense, UFRGS Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Campos, RJ, Brazil

Keywords: Algorithms, Mobile devices, Mobile education.

Abstract: Teaching Institutions are up against challenges of an advanced technology of learning with the objective of

improving the efficiency of the teaching-learning process. Joining the students’ learning style to the

technologies is important to improve the educational process. This work presents the advantages of using

mobile devices, associated with the students’ learning styles. The learning which is carried out with the use

of mobile devices makes it possible for users to learn at anytime and anywhere.

1 INTRODUCTION

The use of ICTs in the teaching of algorithms was

made possible through the supervision of the

teaching-learning process of this subject at Instituto

Federal Fluminense, in Campos dos Goytacazes,

when it was able to verify the huge difficulty

experienced by the students. The creation of

environments which support this learning is of great

interest, since the knowledge construction process

necessary to the production of algorithms for

programming constitutes an arduous task to the

student, as (Bercht et al., 2005) emphasizes.

There is consensus, among the teachers of the

area, that it is not enough to present an algorithm in

an explanatory way on the board in order to be able

for the student to comprehend it completely, and to

create similar or derived algorithms from that,

neither to become capable of resolving problems

with these instruments (Barcelos and Tarouco,

2009). This work presents the use of mobile devices

to the teaching-learning process of algorithms.

The use of mobile devices as an educational

resource is not trivial because the features of the

pieces of equipment differ substantially from the

ones which are normally used at home and in labs at

schools, chiefly by the size of the presentation area

of the visual pieces of information. Another factor to

consider is the process of transference of the

educational content in a thriftier way, because the

cost of access to the Internet, via cell phone network,

is still very high in Brazil. In this work, it is related

an experience in which it was explored another way

to transfer learning material to students’ mobile

device, using the wireless technology called

Bluetooth and SMS.

(Caudill, 2007) states that mlearning can be

defined as learning through the use of devices and

the wireless technology. According to (Boyinbode et

al., 2008), this learning through mobile devices

(Mobile learning) is observed due to the fact it is

without the permanent physical presence within the

educational process.

To make explicit mobile learning is to define the

use and possibilities about the way how the mobile

technologies will be inserted into the educational

process. (Valentim, 2009) points to the potential that

these technologies enable in terms of learning

strategies such as constructivism, interaction,

curiosity, complexity, collaboration, challenge.

In a learning context for mobile learning, even if

the mobility is one of the pillars, various other

factors must be considered like: i) learning along the

time; ii) the informality and iii) the appropriation of

knowledge by the student.

The use of mobile devices within the learning

process has been performed as a support to the

presential learning, though, the purpose of this work

is to make observed the formal learning of the

school environment, that is, the students have got the

possibility to “download” the learning objects onto

mobile devices for, from then on, these to be

accessed for learning at the moment when the users

consider it to be more appropriate.

This work investigated the use of the Bluetooth

connection that is faster, of easy access for the

498

José dos Santos Barcelos R. and Margarida Rokembach Tarouco L..

LEARNING OF ALGORITHMS ON MOBILE DEVICES THROUGH BLUETOOTH, SMS AND MMS TECHNOLOGY.

DOI: 10.5220/0003483104980505

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computer Supported Education (UeL-2011), pages 498-505

ISBN: 978-989-8425-50-8

 2011 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

student to share data among the various mobile

devices, like: from cell phones to cell phones, laptop

to PDAs, laptop to cell phones, laptop to

smatphones. The SMS technology was also used,

which is the transmission of text messages –

maximum of 160 characters for the sending of

solution of problems, incentive messages, notices of

tasks already performed. The MMS technology

makes it possible the sending of educational objects

with formats besides texts and videos.

According to (Sharples, 2007), the future

educational applications and services will need

resources to make it easier its use, like: to download

materials in different types of format, text, voice and

video, to “run” without the use of adaptations, as

well as to make feasible the reduction of the cost of

access to the Internet because the characteristics of

the functionality of the devices differ from

manufacturers.

Figure 1: The convergence Technology and Education.

Figure 1 shows the investigations of this work,

which embody the programming subjects, in

particular in the learning of algorithm, the learning

styles, in particular the students’ ways of learning, as

well as the mobile devices technology, besides the

insertion of the mobile technologies for the learning

refinement. The intersection of these areas is

investigated in the teaching of algorithm and

corresponds to the way how the students learn by

using technologies.

The learning of algorithm has been presenting at

IFF one of the largest indexes of failing. A survey

carried out by the author, at IFF-Campos-RJ, in the

technical course and higher education courses,

points out the presented results in Graphic 1,

encompassing the four late semesters between the

first semester of 2008-1 and the second semester of

2009-2.

Graphic 1 shows, in the semesters 2008-1 to

2009-2, the percentages of failing in the Computer

Science Technical Course, from 2008-1 to 2009-2,

the average of 34% of the failing of algorithm

students. This has become a motivation for an

investigation work aiming at the improvement in

students’ learning. This work investigated the use

Graphic 1: Failed ones in Algorithms.

of new technologies in groups of this universe for

the improvement of the teaching-learning process.

The reasons for this high level of lack of success

are not specific ones of the area. In general,

(Valentim, 2009) and (Jenkins, 2002) observe that

the students do not present self-assurance in the

organization of reasoning, elaboration of strategies

for solving problems, attention, concentration,

stimulus to the process of mental calculation.

Thereby, the skills involved in this process, such as

trying, observing, conjecturing, deducing, and that

constitute what we call logical reasoning, not being

appropriately developed, they interfere in the

learning of practically all cognitive areas, but,

especially, they affect this area of knowledge.

On the other hand, the students show a unique

self-assurance concerning the use of technological

resources. To nullify this difficulty, taking

advantage of the students’ motivation and vocation

for the use of technology, new strategies have been

investigated regarding the use of computer science

resources in education, in order to enhance skills

which aim at the development of the reasoning,

according to (Grabe et al., 2009).

2 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this work is to make it available,

through the Bluetooth technology, the pedagogic

materials of algorithms to the mobile devices. In

parallel, the students are registered by their cell

phone number so that they receive short texts and

messages through the SMS. Texts are sent to absent

students from presential classes, informing them

about the topics taught in presential lesson and

assignments to be developed. Also it was used the

LEARNING OF ALGORITHMS ON MOBILE DEVICES THROUGH BLUETOOTH, SMS AND MMS TECHNOLOGY

499

sending of educational objects by MMS.

The use of this learning way is considered, in this

work, as being a support to the classroom lesson.

According to Azubel (Azubel, 2002), this resource is

indicated to the improvement of learning in two

moments essentially different: (1) right after the

initial learning, when part of the forgetting of the

content can occur, in order to consolidate the content

learned in a more efficient way and, also, to

originate the learning of gradations and subtle

implications, not learned in the first presentation; (2)

after a certain time, when a considerable forgetting

can occur, making it possible for the student an

opportunity to take advantage of (to avoid posterior

presentations) his/her own awareness of negative

factors (such as ambiguity or confusion with similar

ideas) responsible for the possible forgetting.

Various peculiarities are important in the

learning process of algorithms as it follows: i)

coherence with the fundamental objectives of

algorithms and that the teacher must build in the

operationalization of this learning for the students:

i.1) to express in an objective way the ideas, the

concepts and the techniques to the students because

if the teacher presents the algorithms in a confusing

way (confusing ones) in the presential class or by

using transparencies, the students do not understand

the resolution of problems involving this learning

and the expected results of the proposed algorithms

are not clear in students’ responses; i.2) to highlight

the importance of the theoretical results and show

formal rigor in the situations, even in the simpler

ones; and i.3) to valorize the use of techniques in the

resolution of problems; ii) to highlight the critical

thinking, a care to be observed, because the students

own little experience in the resolution of problems

involving mathematics and tend to believe any

demonstration. This kind of behavior must not be

stimulated. It is essential that the students have

critical thinking on any resolution of problems and

are stimulated to obtain new solutions for the same

problem. It will be from healthful doubts and of a

new resolution and perception that the importance of

the theoretical work will be presented. Still in that

sense, a valuable resource is the set of exercises

which make it possible for the students to identify

argumentation failures, errors in algorithms or

algorithms that would be made better; iii) the theory

put into practice. The experience shows that the

students, in general, do not feel themselves

motivated as they consider the learning of

algorithms to be extremely abstract, then, it is

believed that it is important to use real examples as a

didactic resource.

That group of factors is the one that makes it

possible the improvement or the lack of success of

the learning. First of all, it is essential to

comprehend what an algorithm is. Its definition

becomes, thus, important to have a perfect

comprehension of these peculiarities, because the

algorithm is a sequence of instructions in order,

without ambiguities, presented in a logical way for

the resolution of a determined task or problem. The

algorithm is a mathematics formulation, a piece of

code, and finds itself located between the input and

output to transform the first into the second. It is the

way for the solution of a problem and, in general,

through these ways several solutions can be

obtained.

3 CHARACTERIZING THE

TARGET PUBLIC

Initially, it was investigated the students’ age of two

Computer Science Technical Course class groups

Level 1 – Morning and Level 2 – Afternoon at

Instituto Federal Fluminense. The students’ age,

according to Graphic 2, presents four eighteen-year-

old students, six students of the 16-17 age group and

three of the 28-29 age group. In this case, there is a

heterogeneity with regard to the group of students,

because whereas the 15-19 age group can be

regarded as being digital natives, the 45-50 age

group, according to (Prensky, 2001), is characterized

as digital immigrants.

Graphic 2: Algorithm students’ age Level 1 Daytime.

In Graphic 3, with the Level 2 students, this

discrepancy of age does not take place, because all

students can be characterized as digital natives since

the age is between sixteen and eighteen years old.

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Graphic 3 - Algorithm students’ age Level 2 Daytime.

4 METHODOLOGY

Using MLE, Bluetooth and SMS – In stage 1, the

construction of a quiz (questions) about algorithms

with images and sounds using the MLE (Mobile

Learning Engine) was the solution presented in this

work. This system is open source (code free font);

free of charge and with capacity of personalization,

and the access to MLE by cell phone is done through

Bluetooth technology. The MLE is available in two

languages, German and English and offers various

tools, as it is shown by following the items: i)

Didactic Material: It constitutes of a set of pages,

ending with a question with answer alternatives. ii)

Quiz: It is a multiple choice test, true or false, and

questions of short answers. Each attempt is

automatically checked and the teacher can choose by

which way the interaction with the student will

occur, i.e. the answers will be sent, or to present the

right responses to the immediate student’s

correction.

Through the MLE, a special learning object is

constructed called Mobile Learning Objects (MLOs)

that can be stored into the cell phone and

subsequently used, without any connection to the

Internet. This way is considered as off-line. The

learning through the MLOs implements all the MLE

functionalities, including: interactivity among

instantaneous questions with automatic correction,

answer to quizzes, simple and multiple choice

questionnaires.

Learning objects – shaped like videos – were

sent and made available to the students with the

following topics and time duration: i) introduction,

time – a minute and six seconds; ii) types of data,

time – two minutes and thirty-six seconds; iii)

sequence, time – two minutes and fifty seconds; iv)

repetition, time – two minutes and sixteen seconds;

v) decision or selection, time – three minutes and six

seconds; vi) refinement, time – two minutes.

The use of SMS technology in this project was

used in various categories. Three categories of

themes to send SMS messages by cell phone were

selected.

1. Administrative Messages: They are content

messages specifically about the operational and

administrative part of the course. For instance,

messages informing the availability of the contents,

activity hand-in deadline, and the contents taught at

the presential lesson etc. Example of messages sent:

i) Two days left to hand in the assignment about

If…Then…Otherwise; ii) The content of the August

04th presential activity was the construction

If…Then...Otherwise; iii) Today, August 11th, we

are starting the If…Then…Otherwise.

2. Pedagogic Messages: Content messages

related to the subject of the course. For example, tip

about sites with related content, reading suggestions

etc. Example of messages: i) Send a message to a

classmate about which questions of the assignment

you have already done; ii) Ask another classmate

which questions of the assignment he/she has done;

iii) Do you have any difficulty about the problems to

be solved?

3. Motivational Messages: They are messages

that enable the motivation for the learning and the

resolution of proposed problems and the individual

objectives: i) messages which rouse students’

interest in the learning of algorithm. ii) messages

that are usually out of the context of the course like,

for instance, “have a good holiday” or “U had a

good performance in the activities grade 8,5” iii) Are

you going to solve problems this holiday?; iv) When

you are to solve problem 5, try If…Then; i) Have a

good weekend!; Enjoy the holiday!.

The work had as a return text messages sent by

SMS, by phone-call or by e-mail. Example of

messages of replies sent by students: i) Thanks for

the Information; ii) Nice holiday! 4U2.

The learning object constructed to be used on

mobile devices demanded a series of observations

like: size of characters, colors, sounds, among

others. The sequence of Figures 2, 3, 4, 5 presents

the contents on the mobile device.

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Figure 2: Representation of data types.

Figure 3: Example of algorithm using logical expressions.

Figure 4: Example of sequencing algorithm.

Figure 5: Example of algorithm using priority.

Besides this technique of videos with contents of

algorithms, demonstrative videos of functioning

were produced using one of the techniques called

Table Test, presented by (Szwarcfiter and

Markenson, 1994) and (Medeiros and Dazzi, 2002),

that consists of following instructions of the

algorithm in a sequential and accurate way, storing

the possible values of the variables to verify the

procedures used in the designing of the algorithm.

Figure 6: Table test on the mobile device.

Figure 7: Table test on the mobile device.

Figures 6 and 7 show the construction sequence

of the table test. This test makes it possible to

compare the results to the objective of the algorithm

and the possible errors during the execution. The

teachers also use them in learning environments

through the web. It is a technique which prioritizes

the visual perception.

5 DIFFICULTIES AND

DISCUSSION

As soon as the students were informed about the cell

phone use as an educational device, the reaction was

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very reticent because they do not “believe” and also

do not understand how the cellular could be used in

educational activities. In so far as they acquired

knowledge about the methodology to be used, it was

observed that the learning with the use of

technological resources and the attitude changed.

The results appeared from individual interviews

with the students, taking into consideration punctual

questions like the use of the student’s cell phone

(access, didactic-pedagogical perspectives, interface,

cooperation, synchronous and asynchronous tools,

adequacy and usability. It was observed that only

one of the students did not have a cell phone with

the Bluetooth function. Initially, the students were

apprehensive with regard to learning by using the

mobile devices for the learning and also how the

pieces of information about this content, that is, how

to learn using these devices, not only with theory,

but also to resolve problems. Miscellaneous

students’ accounts were important in this work:

Student F1: “I did not have a hard time using my

cellular, but how are we going to learn?”. Student

M1: “The activity was very interesting, because the

classes are always the same”. Student M2: “I was

convicted of not having a flowchart of algorithm in

the cell phone”.

The results obtained showed that students own a

developed technological view, and the relations of

them with the videos were the best ones because

they manifested the desire to access and watch the

video related to the content to be taught in the

presential lesson of the day.

We can state that the students identified

themselves with the format of the objects, mainly

when they had entire knowledge of their learning

styles. Thus, they requested the materials that would

better provide them with learning; however they also

accessed other format of objects.

Under the aspect of the used technology, the

students presented difficulty in the transmission of

videos notebook/cell phone. In this methodology,

they pointed out the delay to “download” the files

into the devices. In the execution of the system,

problems appeared due to the low memory of the

cell phones regarding the size of the file to be sent.

Some of the difficulties in the construction of the

educational objects are related as it follows: i) the

diversity of cell phone models. In relation to the

materials to be consulted by the students, there was

the necessity of installing the software Java in two

cell phones – program required for the mobile

devices, as they did not contain the necessary

“plugins” to run the materials, that is, the devices

which do not ‘run” files with .doc, .pdf. format. The

solution found was to convert the files with .txt

extension (in text format), though, in a short way,

because in this format they do not contain the

illustrations of the original material, serving just as

fast consultation about the concepts over specific

subject.

Another difficulty reported by students was the

cost, in the case of the sending of SMS to other

students and teachers, impairing the interactivity.

Concerning the educational difficulties, the students

“would like to have more consultation material

during the learning out of the classroom”, more

didactic material, i.e. videos with other contents of

algorithms.

In a general way, the students understood that the

use of this technology for the learning was of great

importance and they expect that its use converts

itself into positive results in their performances in

the learning. The fifteen students answered the

questions on a Saturday and Sunday and on their

way work/school and, mainly, when they did not

have access to the computer.

6 RESULTS

With regard to the male students’ learning styles,

only one with visual and kinesthetic learning style as

well as male student with preference to the auditory

learning style did not obtain approval.

Concerning the female students’ learning styles,

only one with visual and kinesthetic learning style as

well as male student with preference to the auditory

learning style did not obtain any approval.

The failed students were interviewed and

reported that the experience regarding the

knowledge of their own learning styles was

beneficial to the learning and attributed the weak

performance to extra-class problems, because they

missed the examination. Though, they even reported

that would like to keep on in the process and be re-

evaluated based on the support with educational

objects.

Graphic 4 shows the result in the subject of

Algorithms of the students of the Computer Science

Course in the year 2010-1 that the performance was

satisfactory, because in the year 2009-2 the index of

failing was of (29%) and in the year 2010-1 this

index was of 13%.

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Graphic 4: Performance and algorithms 2010-1.

Through accounts, the students attributed to the

satisfactory performance in this subject several

factors, as it follows: i) the use of mobile devices

making it available the access to the course content,

what enhances the motivation and learning

opportunity, as the performance shows. Practically

by just one click, contents are found which permits

students to learn wherever they are, despite the

limitations of the home responsibilities, work hours,

trips etc. Besides, since the students achieved the

success and progress through exercises, they state

that they have being motivated to learn more by the

use of pieces of technology; ii) Another factor was

the strategy of learning of algorithms in an

individual way made possible by the convergence of

information and communication technology with the

strategy used; iii) the learning of algorithms through

the opportunity of interaction among the students.

The availability of the learning objects must include

the opportunity for the students to interact with other

students and with the teacher in order to report the

difficulties and the solutions found in the resolution

of the proposed problems. The students understand

that the mobile devices are becoming integral part of

the teaching.

7 CONCLUSIONS

The use of mobile learning in the teaching of

algorithms led to a significant improvement on the

students’ performance, because it made possible the

collaboration, giving a good opportunity for the

support of multimedia such as videos, graphics. The

learning through the mobile devices in consonance

with the students’ learning styles, as well as their

motivation with the insertion of this technology

made the teaching of algorithms more attractive and,

consequently, made it possible to improve the

learning.

Regarding the fifteen level 1 students, fourteen

students participated actively of the assignments and

thirteen obtained approval without need of a third

exam to be retaken. It can be, therefore, stated that

the experience contributed to the development of the

logical thinking and made it easier the supervision of

the academic trajectory. It was verified in these

students the improvement of the abstraction, of the

logical reasoning and of their learning performance,

confirming a differential with regard to the ones who

did not take part into the project, even though,

evidently, other factors can also have interfered into

the learning.

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