Mobile Based User-Centered Learning Environment for Adult Absolute Illiterates

Abstract

Education plays a vital role in the success of any community. Countries with increased literacy rate have improved their status on the world map. In recent years, the use of e-learning methodologies has been significant. However, majority of the previous methodologies are focused on the formal education or toddlers. The technoliteracy solutions for children are not suitable for adults and those designed specifically for adults are text dominant and require the users of these applications to be functional literate. Moreover, users' interest (sense of belonging) is not taken into consideration in existing solutions. To address the aforementioned issues, a user study is conducted to collect users' interests. Another highlight of our study is that we develop our system as a mobile device application to facilitate our target user group. Based on the collected interests, a 3D virtual learning environment is designed and developed for adult illiterate learners. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed environment, an experimental study is carried out with users. The results show that the proposed learning environment significantly improves adults learning.

A Survey on Mobile Learning for Adult Learners: State-of-the-Art, Taxonomy, and Challenges

“…Nevertheless, the majority of the studies that were found in the literature focused mainly on determining the methods and approaches with regard to the content and technical presentation [1]. Even though the study of 'acceptance' has been tested and evaluated in many situations, it still needs to be refined owing to different technologies (including m-Learning) and the need for different approaches within different contexts or environments [41].…”

“…Teaching and learning strategies have also presented opportunities to adult learners seeking information in various ways regarding their preferences and learning styles. These can be used efficiently for some activities such as question and answer sessions, cooperation, game-based learning, decisionmaking, and problem-solving in specific learning situations [1], [23], [91].…”

“…Rapid expansion has resulted in leading education and information technology companies into providing many m-learning products. However, m-learning currently focuses on secondary and primary education rather than tertiary [1]. There are limited considerations towards higher education 2 learners when most of them possess adult characteristics [2].…”

Digital Graphic Design Systems for Sustainability in Teaching Aids for the Illiterate

“…Recently, educators have turned their attention to 3D virtual environments because they have great potential to simulate near-real-life experiences in a cost-effective way that makes them suitable for learning from traditional binary applications. (Inayat ur-Rehman & Azra Shamim, 2016) Technology for adults with low levels of literacy has facilitated effective communication with mobile application, and interaction with mobile technology through touch screens is a simple and easy mechanism for adults with limited literacy skills. Continuous learning is essential for literacy-free people, adult literacy programs and associated program applications play an effective role in raising literacy levels and supporting their day-to-day tasks in education.…”