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JournalofEducationalTechnologyDevelopmentandExchange(JETDE)Volume4|Issue1Article96-2011IntegratingCellPhonesintoaChineseHighSchoolEFLClassroom:Students'Attitudes,TechnologicalReadiness,andPerceivedLearningFeihongWangXinChenWeiniFangFollowthisandadditionalworksat:https://aquila.
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RecommendedCitationWang,Feihong;Chen,Xin;andFang,Weini(2011)"IntegratingCellPhonesintoaChineseHighSchoolEFLClassroom:Students'Attitudes,TechnologicalReadiness,andPerceivedLearning,"JournalofEducationalTechnologyDevelopmentandExchange(JETDE):Vol.
4:Iss.
1,Article9.
DOI:10.
18785/jetde.
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08Availableat:https://aquila.
usm.
edu/jetde/vol4/iss1/991Volume4,No.
1,October,2011Wang,F.
;Chen,X.
;&Fang,W.
(2011).
IntegratingcellphonesintoaChinesehighschoolEFLclassroom:Students'attitudes,technologicalreadiness,andperceivedlearning.
JournalofEducationalTechnologyDevelopmentandExchange,4(1),91-102.
IntegratingCellPhonesintoaChineseHighSchoolEFLClassroom:Students'Attitudes,TechnologicalReadiness,andPerceivedLearningFeihongWangXinChenVirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUniversityWeiniFangXiamenSongbaiSecondarySchoolAbstract:Althoughexplorationsoncellphone-basedlearning(C-learning)inthefieldofteach-ingEnglishasaforeignlanguage(EFL)hasbeengainingincreasingattentioninthelast10years,theexplorationsareconstrainedmainlytodistancelanguageteaching.
Researchershavepointedoutthatmobiledevicesaremosteffectivewhencombinedwithgroupactivities,tradi-tionaleducationalactivities,andotherinformationandcommunicationtechnologies(Librero,Ramos,Ranga,Trinona,&Lambert,2007;Stead,2005).
Thepurposeofthisstudywastoin-vestigatetheintegrationofaC-learningactivityintoatraditionalEFLclassroombylookingatstudents'attitudes,technologicalreadiness,perceivedlearning,andperceivedappropriatenessoftheactivitydesign.
Atotalof96highschoolstudentsfromXiamen,Chinaparticipatedinthestudy.
Students'surveyresponses,reflectionpapers,andfinalprojectswerecollectedandana-lyzed.
Findingsofthestudyindicatedthatstudentsenjoyedtheactivity.
Theyfoundtheactivityinteresting,inspiring,andeffectivefortheirEnglishlearning.
Studentshadnotechnologicalanxietiesrelatedtothecellphoneuse.
ThisstudycancontributetothediscussiononintegratingcellphonesforEFLteachingbyprovidingasampleactivityaswellasstudents'possiblepercep-tionsandattitudestowardtheactivity.
Keywords:Cellphone-basedlearning,Englishasforeignlanguage,Mixedmethods1.
IntroductionCellphone-basedlearning(C-learning),asaninstructionalapproach,hasbeengainingin-creasingattentioninthefieldofteachingEng-lishasaforeignlanguage(EFL)inthelast10years(e.
g.
,Cavus&Ibrahim,2008,2009;Li-breroetal.
,2007;Saran,Seferoglu,&Cagiltay,2009;Thornton&Houser,2001).
Thereviewofliterature,however,indicatedthattheexplo-rationofC-learninginEFLteachinghadbeenlimitedmainlytodistancelanguageteachinginwhichcellphoneswereusedasmobiledevic-estoreceiveoraccessinstructionalmaterials(Ally,2009;Attewell,2005;Cavus&Ibrahim,2008,2009;Saranetal.
,2009).
AsRobersonandHagevik(2008)pointedout,theintegra-tionofcellphonesintothecurriculumcouldbeasvariedasthecellphonesthemselves.
Mobiledevicesaremosteffectivewhencombinedwithgroupactivities,traditionaleducationalactivi-ties,andotherinformationandcommunica-92JournalofEducationalTechnologyDevelopmentandExchangeVolume4,No.
1,October,2011tiontechnologies(Libreroetal.
,2007;Stead,2005).
Forthesereasons,thisstudyexploredtheC-learningapproachfromadifferentangle:integratingcellphonesintoatraditionalEFLclassroominsteadofdistanceeducation.
TheexplorationandresearchinthisprojectwereformedbysocialconstructivistprinciplesinEFLteachingandlearning.
Design-basedre-searchwasbelievedtobespecificallyappropri-ateforstudiesontechnology-enhancedlearn-ingenvironment(Wang&Hannafin,2005).
Thestudyappliedthedesign-basedresearchapproachtoinvestigaterelatedissuesandprob-lemsinordertodeterminepracticalsolutionsinC-learning.
EnglishlanguagecompetencyhasbecomeacrucialassetthatmakescareerdifferencesforChinesepeoplesincetheintroductionoftheliberalpolicyinthelate1970s(Gao,2009;Griffith,2008).
Sincethen,alargeportionofChinesepopulationhasbeeneagertoincreasetheirEnglishabilities.
Inaddition,theuseofcellphonesamongChinesestudentsisveryextensive.
Forexample,Chinesehighschoolstudentshavealmost100percentcellphoneownership(Yi,2010).
OnthecontrarytothepassioninEnglishlearningandthehighper-centageofcellphoneownership,theexplora-tiononC-learninginEFLteachingisinsuffi-cientandhardtolocateinChina.
ThepurposeofthisstudyistoinvestigatetheintegrationofcellphonesintohighschoolEFLclassroomsinChinabylookingatstudents'attitudes,tech-nologicalreadiness,andperceivedlearning.
Theeffortsofthisstudyhavebeentoexplore:a)howcellphonescanbeintegratedintotra-ditionalhighschoolEFLclassrooms,b)theChinesestudents'attitudesandtechnologicalreadinessforusingcellphonesforEnglishlearningprojects,c)theChinesestudents'per-ceivedlearningthroughtheC-learningproject,andd)theappropriatenessofthedesignoftheC-learningprojectforhighschoolEFLlearn-inginChina.
2.
ReviewofLiterature2.
1.
C-learninginEFLTeachingUsingcellphonestofacilitateEFLteachingisoneoftheearliestresearchtrendsinC-learn-ing(McNicol,2004).
BeingpassionateaboutEnglishlearning,theattemptstoapplyC-learn-ingtoEFLteachinghavebeenexploredworld-wide(Roberson&Hagevik,2008).
CavusandIbrahim(2008,2009)exploredsendingtextmessagestoundergraduatestudentsasawaytoteachnewtechnicalwordsinNorthernCyprus.
InTurkey,Saranetal.
(2009)sentmultimediamessagestostudentsinordertoimprovestu-dents'pronunciation.
Libreroetal.
(2007)ex-ploredthepossibilitiesofusingcellphonestoofferformalandinformalEnglisheducationinMongoliaandthePhilippines.
AmongAsiancountries,JapanhadbeenthepioneerintheC-learningresearchtrend.
ThorntonandHouser(2001,2005)providedlearnerswithseriesofmini-lessonsovercellphones.
TaylorandGitsaki(2003)usedthebrowserfunctionofcellphonestoperforminternetsearchesasanlearningactivity.
KiernanandAizawa(2004)conductedatask-basedEnglishlearningactiv-itythroughcellphones.
AlthoughtheexplorationofC-learningwasnotanewtopic,theexplorationofC-learninginEFLteachinghadnotexceededitsorigi-nalformatofdistancelanguageteaching.
Asearlyas1988,TwarogandPereszlenyi-Printer(1988)usedtelephonestoprovidedistantlan-guagelearnerswithfeedbackandassistance.
Today,cellphonesarestillusedmainlyforreceivingoraccessinginstructionalcontentanywhereandanytime(Ally,2009;Attewell,2005;Cavus&Ibrahim,2008,2009;Saranetal.
,2009).
Consequently,theC-learninginves-tigationshavecenteredtwocellphonefunc-tions,textmessaging,andWebaccess.
Inaddi-tion,becausethefocusofC-learninghasbeenputonusingcellphonesfordistanceeducationpurposes,theexplorationofintegratingcell93IntegratingCellPhonesintoaChineseHighSchoolEFLClassroom:Students'Attitudes,TechnologicalReadiness,andPerceivedLearningVolume4,No.
1,October,2011phonesintotraditionalEFLclassroomshasnotbeengainingenoughattention.
Inthelast10years,cellphoneshaveevolvedfromsimplevocalcommunicationgadgetstopalm-sized,high-techpackagesthatcanserveasmini-computers,telephones,andcamerastotransfertext,pictorial,video,andaudiofiles(Prensky,2005;Wang&Higgins,2006).
AsRobersonandHagevik(2008)pointedout,"thedifferentwaysforintegratingcellphonesintothecurriculumcanbeasvariedasthephonesthemselves"(p.
3).
Cellphonefunctions,suchasadictionary,acamera,games,andacalcu-latorcanallbeusedforeducationalpurposes(Cui&Wang,2008;Lucking,Christmann,&Wighting,2010).
Inotherwords,C-learningcandefinitelygobeyondthedistancelearningapproach.
Researchershavepointedoutthatmobiledevicesaremosteffectivewhencom-binedwithgroupandtraditionaleducationalactivities(Libreroetal.
,2007;Stead,2005).
Inthisstudy,groupsettingandtheintegrationofthetraditionalclassroom-basedinstructionalapproachwereimportantfeatures.
CellphoneswereusedasconvenientdigitalgadgetsinsteadofinstructionreceiverstocontributetohighschoolEFLteachinginChina.
2.
2.
C-learninginEFLTeachinginChinaChinaistheworld'slargestwirelessmarket(Leske,2008).
In2009,Chinasold35.
65mil-lioncellphones(Wang,2009).
ThecellphoneownershipamongChinesestudentsisveryhighwithalmost100percentcellphoneownershipamonghighschoolstudents(Yi,2010).
TheconceptualdiscussionsonC-learninginEFLteachingareextensiveinChina.
SomeEng-lishlearningWebsitesalsosendmini-Englishlessonstotheirmembersthroughcellphones.
DespitetheheateddiscussionandcommercialpromotionofusingcellphonesfordistanceEnglishlearning,theempiricalexplorationonC-learninginformalEnglisheducationsettingswashardtolocateandfewhavehadpaidat-tentiontotheactivitydesign.
Researcherssug-gestedthatthesuccessofC-learningdependedonanappropriateactivitydesigntopersuadestudentstousecellphonesforeducationalpurposes(Libreroetal.
,2007;Prensky,2005;Pursell,2009).
Therefore,aC-learningactivitywascarefullydesignedforthisstudy.
3.
Method3.
1.
ActivityDesignandProcedureWang(2010)suggestedacombinedtask-basedlearningapproachforintegratingcellphonesintotraditionalEFLteaching.
Thecom-binedtask-basedlearningapproachusesWil-lis'(1996)task-basedlearningasthedesignframework,specifiesthetasktobeauthentic,andrequiresthetasktobeconductedinacol-laborativelearningsetting.
Willis'task-basedlearningincludesthreecomponents:task,plan-ning,andreport(Willis,1996).
Inthetaskphase,studentscompletethetaskwithoutthedirectinvolvementoftheinstructor.
Intheplan-ningphase,studentspreparethereportabouttheirresultsandtheirdiscoveries.
Atlast,inthereportphase,studentsreporttotheentireclassorexchangetheirreportswithotherstudentstocomparetheresults.
Wang(2010)alsosuggeststheconceptoftechnologytransparencyforC-learning,whichemphasizesthenaturalintegra-tionofcellphonesintolearningactivities.
Inotherwords,theuseofcellphonestocompleteaspecificlearningtaskshouldbeconvenient.
Puttingtogether,accordingtoWang(2010),thedesignofaC-learningactivityforEFLteach-ingincludesfourprinciples:1)eachactivityincludesthreecomponents:task,planning,andreport;2)theactivityisauthentic;3)theactiv-ityshouldbeconductedcollaboratively;and4)theintegrationofcellphonesshouldbenatural.
FollowingthedesignprinciplessuggestedbyWang(2010),inthisstudy,studentswereputintosmallgroupsconsistedofthreeorfourstudentstoworkonanauthenticlearningtask:94JournalofEducationalTechnologyDevelopmentandExchangeVolume4,No.
1,October,2011presentingEnglishstreetlogosandsignsinXiamen,ChinabyusingMicrosoftOfficePow-erPoint.
StudentswererequiredtolocateandtakepicturesofEnglishstreetlogosandsignsbyusingtheembeddedcameraintheircellphonesafterschool.
Aftertakingthepictures,membersofagroupgatheredtopooltheirpic-turestogethertodevelopaPowerPointpresen-tation.
Inordertoprovidestudentswithmorecontrolofthetaskandencouragecreativity,eachgroupwasallowedtochoosetheirowntopic,angle,andapproachtocompletethetask.
Afterthecompletionoftheproject,eachgroupsharedtheirpresentationswiththerestoftheclassintheformofpeerteaching.
Theentireactivitytookfourweekstocomplete.
Thedatacollectionhappenedshortlyafterthecomple-tionofthelearningactivity.
3.
2.
StudyDesignThisstudytookthedesign-basedresearchapproachtoinvestigateissuesandproblemsrelatedtotheC-learningproject.
Indesign-basedresearch,researchersandtheinstructorcollaborativelymanagedtheresearchprocess.
Throughthisapproach,theinstructorandtheresearcherdesignedandimplementedtheinter-ventionsystematically,aswellasrefinedandimprovedtheinitialdesignthroughtheactivity(Wang&Hannafin,2005).
Thisstudyappliedmixed-methodsdatacollectionandanalysisapproach.
Mixedmethods,asdefinedbyCre-swell,Clark,Gutmann,andHanson(2003)are:thecollectionoranalysisofbothquan-titativeandqualitativedatainasinglestudyinwhichthedataarecollectedconcurrentlyorsequentially,aregivenpriority,andinvolvetheintegrationofthedataatoneormorestagesinthepro-cessofresearch.
(p.
212)Thereasonofcollectingbothquantitativeandqualitativedatawastohaveacomprehen-siveviewoftheresearchquestionsandfind-ingsbybringingtogetherthestrengthsofbothresearchmethods(Creswell,2005).
Thisstudycollectedavastamountofdataincludingstu-dents'surveyresponses,students'reflectionspapers,andtheirfinalprojects.
Thequalitativeandquantitativedatawerecollectedconcur-rentlywiththesamepriority.
Theintegrationofthedatahappenedatboththedatacollectionandanalysisstages.
3.
3.
ParticipantsAtotalof96second-yearhighschoolstu-dentsfromXiamenSongbaiSecondarySchoolparticipatedinthelearningactivity.
Theytookpartinthegroupactivitysuchastakingpicturesandthepresentationdevelopment.
Participants'agesrangedfrom16-to19-years-old.
Amongthem,91studentscompletedthesurvey,whichyieldedafinalsampleof74studentswhohadusableresponses.
Atotalof93studentscom-pletedthereflectionpaper.
Intermsoftheparticipants'technologybackground,alltheparticipantsknewhowtocreateaPowerPointslideshow.
Thepartici-pants,ingeneral,presentedtwotosixtimesintheclasseverysemester.
Inaddition,thepar-ticipantsusedcellphonestomakephonecalls,takephotos,andtexteachotherduringtheirdailylife.
Someparticipantsevenusedcellphonesforwebsurfingandgameplay.
3.
4.
InstrumentsTheresearchersdesignedanddevelopedtwoinstrumentsfordatacollection:asurveyquestionnaireandaguidedreflectionpaper.
Thequestionnairewasusedtoevaluatetheap-propriatenessoftheC-learningapproachforEFLteachinginChina.
Thesurveyquestionsweredividedintofiveparts.
PartIincludedsix,4-pointLikert-scalestomeasureparticipants'technologicalreadinessforC-learningactivi-ties.
Scalesrangedfrom"1=Idon'tknowwhatthismeans,2=Idon'tknowhowtodothis,3=95IntegratingCellPhonesintoaChineseHighSchoolEFLClassroom:Students'Attitudes,TechnologicalReadiness,andPerceivedLearningVolume4,No.
1,October,2011Icandothis,4=Icandothiswell"inresponsetodifferentcellphonefunctions.
PartIIandPartIIIcollectedstudents'attitudestowardsusingcellphonestocompletethelearningtaskaswellastheirperceivedlearning.
Theycon-sistedof13,5-pointLikert-scalesrangedfrom"1=Stronglydisagree,2=Disagree,3=Can'ttell,4=Agree,5=Stronglyagree.
"PartIVcomprisedtwoopen-endedquestionsaskingaboutthreethingsparticipantslikedordislikedthemostinthelearningactivity.
PartVdealtwithparticipants'demographicandotherrel-evantinformation.
Areflectionpaperwasusedtocollectpartic-ipants'thoughtsandreflectionsofthelearningactivity.
Becausetheinstructorwasconcernedthatstudentsmighthaveproblemsorganiz-ingtheirthoughtsforthereflectionpaper,shesuggestedtheinclusionofleadingquestions.
Basedondiscussionswiththeinstructor,eightleadingquestionswereincorporated,includingquestionsabouttheoverallperceptiontowardtheactivitydesign,perceivedeffectivenessoftheactivityforEnglishlearning,problemsandissuesoftheactivity,andsuggestionsforim-provingtheactivity.
Theinclusionofthelead-ingquestionsmadethereflectionpapersimilartoasurveywithopen-endedquestions.
Figure1:Screenshotsofstudents'PowerPointslides.
96JournalofEducationalTechnologyDevelopmentandExchangeVolume4,No.
1,October,20114.
ResultsandDiscussionStudentsweregroupedinto22teamswitheachgrouphaving3to4members.
Attheendoftheactivity,eachgroupdesigned,developed,andsharedaPowerPointpresentationwiththerestoftheclass.
Studentstookapproximately697photosofstreetlogosandsignswithsomerepeatingimagesandthemes.
Studentsdemon-stratedtheircreativitythroughvariouswaysoforganizingtheimagesfortheirpresentations.
Figure1showsthescreenshotsofsomeofthePowerPointslidepages.
SomegroupstriedtoorganizeimagesaccordingtothemessuchasEnglishwordsusedinbanksorsupermarkets,whereassomegroupsextendedEnglishwordswithsamplesentences.
Somegroupsusedtheentireslidepagetoshowasingleimagethattheythoughtwasparticularlyinteresting,whereassomegroupsusedPowerPoint'sani-mationfunctiontopresentagroupofimagesoneslidepage.
4.
1.
TechnologicalReadinessforC-learningBasedonthequantitativedata,studentshadsufficientcellphoneskillsfortheC-learningactivity.
AsshowninTable1,responsestoallofthequestionsabouttechnologicalreadinesshadmeanscoresaround3.
5or3.
7.
Therefore,generallyspeaking,studentswereabletouseavarietyofcellphonefunctionsfortheC-learningactivitysuchastakingpictures,delet-ingandeditingpictures,andexportingpicturesfromcellphonestocomputers.
Table1.
Students'TechnologicalReadinessforC-learningQuestionsNMinimumMaximumMeanStd.
DeviationQ1.
Operatevariousfunctionsofmycellphone(e.
g.
SMS,camera,playingmusic).
73353.
71.
485Q2.
Takepicturesbyusingtheembeddedcameraofmycellphone.
74353.
73.
477Q3.
Exportpicturesfrommycellphonetoacomputer.
74253.
73.
531Q4.
Deletepicturesinmycellphone.
74153.
73.
746Q5.
Findandsharepicturesinmycellphonewithothers.
72253.
58.
550Q6.
Editandorganizethepicturestode-velopaPowerPointreport.
74253.
36.
674ValidN(listwise)71Althoughstudentswereskillfulwithcellphoneusage,severaldisadvantagesofcellphoneswereexposedfromthequalitativedata.
Somestudentsclaimedthattheircellphones'screensizesweretoosmalltocheckthequal-ityoftheimagesimmediately.
Somestudentsblamedthelowresolutionoftheircellphones'embeddedcamerafordeterringthemfromget-tingclearpicturessometimes.
Inaddition,acoupleofstudentsmentionedthattheydidnothaveadvancedcellphoneswithanembeddedcamera.
Onestudentindicatedthatheactually97IntegratingCellPhonesintoaChineseHighSchoolEFLClassroom:Students'Attitudes,TechnologicalReadiness,andPerceivedLearningVolume4,No.
1,October,2011didnothaveapersonalcellphone.
ThisresultindicatedthatalthoughstudentsmighthavesufficienttechnologicalskillsforconductingaC-learningactivity,thelimitationsofacellphone'sfunctionmightaffectthesuccessful-nessoftheactivity.
Otherthanmakingsurethatstudents'cellphoneshavethefunctionthatisrequiredforalearningtask,instructorsshouldalsopaycloseattentiontotheperformanceofthatfunction.
Forexample,foraC-learningactivitythatissimilartothisstudy,instruc-torsshouldchecktheperformanceofthecellphone'sembeddedcamerasuchasresolution.
Table2.
Students'AttitudestowardCellPhoneUsageQuestiionsNMini-mumMaxi-mumMeanStd.
DeviationQ7.
Ilikebringingmycellphonealongwithmeonadailybasis.
74153.
49.
895Q8.
Thecamerainmycellphoneisfuntouse.
74153.
571.
048Q9.
Iusethecamerainmycellphonefrequently.
74153.
821.
025Q10.
Itisconvenienttousethecamerainmycellphonetocompletethislearningproject.
74254.
12.
776Q11.
Ibelievecellphonescanbegreatlearningtoolsinthefuture.
74354.
26.
684Q12.
IbelievecellphonescanfacilitateEnglishlearning.
74154.
09.
797Q13.
ItisfuntousecellphonestocompleteEng-lishlearningprojects.
74054.
01.
944Q14.
Ifeltcomfortableinteractingwithotherstudentstocompletethelearningproject.
74254.
22.
745Q15.
Thisprojectwasimplementedverysmoothly.
73254.
03.
745Q16.
Thisprojecthasbeenapositivelearningexperienceforme.
74154.
38.
716Q17.
Usingcellphonesforlearningpurposesconfusesmemorethanithelpsme.
74152.
341.
114Q18.
LecturesarebetterthangroupactivitiesformetolearnnewEnglishwords.
73153.
40.
968Q19.
TheprojecthelpsmetolearnEnglishvo-cabularyinitsreallifesituations.
74154.
07.
926ValidN(listwise)7398JournalofEducationalTechnologyDevelopmentandExchangeVolume4,No.
1,October,20114.
2AttitudestowardtheC-learningActivityTherewere13surveyquestionsinvesti-gatingstudents'attitudestowardsusingcellphonesastoolstocompletethelanguagelearningactivity.
AsshowninTable2,ques-tionsNo.
7,8,and9wereaboutstudents'atti-tudestowardscellphoneuseingeneral.
Theirmeanscoreswere3.
49,3.
57and3.
82.
Inotherwords,onaverage,studentsagreedthattheylikedusingcellphones.
QuestionsNo.
10to19exploredstudents'attitudestowardsusingcellphonesforthisspecificC-learningac-tivity.
ExceptforquestionNo.
18,themeanscoreswereabove4.
0.
Thatistosay,studentsarepositiveaboutusingcellphonestocom-pletingthelearningactivity.
AsshowninTable3,thisstudyalsofoundthatthereweresignificantcorrelationsamongstudents'expectedprojectgrades,theirprefer-encesofbringingcellphonesonadailybasis,andthefeelingoffunofusingcellphonestocompleteEnglishlearningprojects.
Inotherwords,themorefunstudentsfoundinusingcellphoneseitherfordailyuseorforlearning,thehighergradestheyexpectedforthislearn-ingactivity.
Table3.
AttitudesandExpectedProjectGradesQ7Q8Q9Q10Q11Q12Q13ExpGprojectPearsonCorrela-tion.
252*.
401**.
213.
088.
069.
125.
369**Sig.
(2-tailed).
032.
000.
070.
459.
560.
292.
001N73737373737373Accordingtothequalitativedata,studentsbelievedthatusingcellphoneshelpedthemunderstandmoreincompletingthelearningtask.
TheyalsobelievedthattheapplicationofcellphonesintolearningEnglishimprovedtheirEnglisheducationinmanyways.
SomeparticipantstookC-learningasanewmethodtolearnEnglish.
Forexample,onepartici-pantmentioned,"ThecamerafunctionofcellphonesenablesanewwaytolearnEnglish,becauseitcanrecordeverythingthatiswor-thytobememorizedanywhere,anytime"(Participant.
37).
Insummary,theseresultsindicatedthatstudentswerebothpositiveaboutusingcellphonesforlearningpurposesandthisC-learn-ingactivity.
Themorethestudentsenjoyedus-ingthecellphone,themorethestudentslikedtheC-learningapproach.
Thisfindingisalsoconsistentwithresearchers'beliefthattoday'sstudentsare"digitalnatives"(Prensky,2001)whogrowupwithinteractivedigitaltools(Oblinger,2003).
Matchingthelearningstyles,habits,andinterestsofthestudentswithappro-priateinstructionalstrategiesisveryimportanttoproduceeffectivelearningoutcomes(Pren-sky,2001).
4.
3.
PerceivedLearningResponsesofthesixclose-endedsurveyquestionsexploringstudents'perceivedlearn-ingindicatedthatstudentsfeltthattheylearnedalotinthisC-learningactivity(seeTable4).
Allquestionshadmeanscoresroughlyaround4.
Studentsbelievedthattheirmemorizationandunderstandingofnewwordswereenhancedbyparticipatinginthislearningactivity.
99IntegratingCellPhonesintoaChineseHighSchoolEFLClassroom:Students'Attitudes,TechnologicalReadiness,andPerceivedLearningVolume4,No.
1,October,2011Thequalitativeresponsesfromthestudentsalsosupportthesurveyfindings.
Allstudentsbe-lievedthatthelearningactivitywasappropriateandmeaningfulbecausethey"liketakingpic-tures"(Participant88),andtheyfound"Englishisnotmerelyinbooks"(Participant27),"Eng-lishiseverywhere"(Participant41).
ByseeinghowEnglishwasappliedindailylife,studentswerekeenlyawareoftheimportanceoflearn-ingthelanguage.
Somestudentspointedoutthat"theconfidenceoflearningEnglishwasen-hancedbecauseEnglishwasallaroundusandwasnotashardaswhatIthoughtbefore"(Par-ticipant38).
Theyalsofoundthislearningactiv-ity"inspiredthemtofindothereffectivewaystolearnEnglish"(Participant37).
AllbutonestudentbelievedthatthisC-learningactivitybenefitedtheirEnglishlearn-ingbecause"thisactivityhelpedthemlearnnewEnglishwordsinarelaxedenvironment"(Participant85),and"connectedtheknowl-edgewithdailylife"(Participants28,38,40,41,42),sothat"theycouldbetterunderstandandmemorizethoseEnglishwords"(Partici-pants38,85,86).
OnlythestudentswhodidnotthinktheactivitywasbeneficialtoEnglishlearningtooktheactivityasmerelyashortpe-riodofentertainment.
Moststudentsalsoheldthatinadditiontoimprovingtheirmemorizationandunderstand-ingofEnglishwords,thislearningexperiencealsoenlargedtheirvocabulary,increasedtheirinterestsinlearningEnglish,andenhancedtheirlanguagesenses.
Otherthanthoselearn-inggains,mostofparticipantsfoundthecol-laborativelearningarrangementoftheactivityimprovedtheircommunicationandcooperationskills.
Friendshipamongpeerswasstrength-enedatthesametime.
4.
4.
AuthenticActivity,CollaborativeDesign,andUsingCellPhonesThedistinguishingdesignfeaturesofthisC-learningactivityweretheauthenticactivity,thecollaborativelearningapproach,andusingcellphonetofacilitateEnglishlearning.
Thesethreefeaturesturnedouttobestudents'favor-itethingsinthisactivityaswell.
Table4.
Students'PerceivedLearningfromtheC-learningProjectQuestionsNMini-mumMaxi-mumMeanStd.
DeviationQ20.
TheprojectishelpfultomylearningofnewEnglishwords.
74154.
03.
740Q21.
Ilearnedalotthroughthisproject.
74153.
97.
721Q22.
IcanmemorizeandunderstandEnglishvocabularybetterthroughthesetypesoflearningactivities.
73153.
95.
832Q23.
Ienjoyedsharingwithandlearningfrommygrouppeerswhenworkingontheproject.
74154.
20.
776Q24.
MyunderstandingofnewEnglishwordswasenhancedbylearningfromothergroups'reports.
73154.
00.
833Q25.
Iwanttohavemoresimilarlearningproj-ectsinthefuture.
74154.
08.
976ValidN(listwise)72100JournalofEducationalTechnologyDevelopmentandExchangeVolume4,No.
1,October,2011Whenaskedtolistthreethingsthattheylikedthemostintheactivity,moststudents(n=51,69%)listedgroupcollaborationandcommunicationasoneoftheirfavoritepartsofthislearningactivity.
Theybelievedthatthecollaborativelearningapproachincreasedtheirteamspirit,exercisedtheirabilityofcollabora-tion,encouragedthemtoshareandlearnfrompeers,andenhancedthefriendshipbetweengroupmembers.
Forexample,oneparticipantstated,"Inthisactivity,Isharedthelearningprocesswithmyteammembers,andlearnedalotfromthem"(Participant68).
Anotherpar-ticipantsaid,"Theinteractionandcommuni-cationbetweengroupmembersenhancedourunderstandingofeachother,andcultivatethespiritofunityandcooperation"(Participant4).
Manystudents(n=22,30%)foundusingcellphonesforEnglishlearninginterestingandconvenient.
Tomostofthem,"Itis[their]firstexperienceusingcellphonestolearnEnglish"(Participant13).
Participantscommentedthat"theactivitywasinteresting…[and]thatcellphonescannotonlybeusedforhavingfun,butalsoforstudy"(Participant30).
Anotherpar-ticipantsaid,"Usingthecommunicationtool,cellphones,tohelpEnglishlearningmakesmefeelthatlearningEnglishisnotconfinedtotheclassroom"(Participant3).
Students(n=33,45%)alsoenjoyeddiscov-eringEnglishwordsusedindailylife.
ThroughsearchingEnglishlogosonthestreets,theyfoundlearningEnglishcanoccuranywhereanytime,insteadofbeingrestrictedtotheclass-room.
TheyexperiencedrealfunoflearningEnglish,"LearningEnglishisnolongeronlyforexamination,butmorerelaxing"(Participant13).
Asoneparticipantstated,"Englishcanbefoundineverydaylife.
[I]suddenlyfoundEng-lishisontheside.
Itisawonderfulfeeling.
Ilikeit"(Participant21).
Anotherstudentsaid,"Thislearningactivitywasclosetodailylifeandwasbasedontheenvironmentwelivein.
WelookedforEnglishinourdailylife,soIfeelEnglishiseverywhere"(Participant79).
Otherstudents'favoritepartsofthisactivityincludedsharingthefinalproductswithotherstudentsthroughpresentations,findingdiffer-entEnglishwritingstyles,andtheflexiblede-signofthislearningactivity.
Overall,studentsfoundthatthroughthislearningactivity,theynotonlylearnednewEnglishwords(n=20,27%),butalsounderstoodandmemorized(n=20,27%)theseEnglishwordsbetter.
4.
5.
LimitationsAlthoughthisactivitywasgenerallywel-comedbythestudents,itwasnotwithoutlimi-tations.
Students'concernsoftheactivityweremainlyaboutthelimitedtimeforcollectingresourcesandpresentingtheirfinalproducts,limitedareasforlocatingEnglishlogos,lim-itedqualityofsomecellphones,andcollabo-rationissuessuchasroletaking,free-riders,andgroupnumbers.
Forexample,somepar-ticipantscomplainedthat"itwasawasteoftimetotakealargeamountofpictures"(Par-ticipants9,24,85).
Fortheseconcerns,stu-dentsalsoprovidedsuggestionsaccordingly.
Studentssuggestedmovingtheactivitydur-ingbreaks(e.
g.
,winterbreak,summerbreak,nationalbreak)toextendtheactivitytime.
IntermsofthelimitedareaswithEnglishsignsandlogos,studentssuggestedextendingthesearchareatoincludeplacesoutofthecity.
Forexample,theycouldtakepicturesofEng-lishstreetlogosduringtheirtravelstoothercitiesinbreaks.
Somestudentssuggestedin-cludingdigitalcamerasandotherdigitalde-vicesasoptionaltoolstosolvethepossibletechnicalproblemscausedbycellphones.
Thecollaborationapproachismostlywel-comedwhilealwaysaccompaniedwithsomeproblems.
Studentssuggesteddividingrolesforeachgroupmemberandhavingflexiblegroupsizes.
Inaddition,anumberofstudentsalso101IntegratingCellPhonesintoaChineseHighSchoolEFLClassroom:Students'Attitudes,TechnologicalReadiness,andPerceivedLearningVolume4,No.
1,October,2011mentionedthattheyhopedthattheinstructorcouldbemoreinvolvedintheactivitysuchasprovidingsuggestionsandhelpingwhentheyweredevelopingPowerPointpresentations.
In-spiredbythisactivity,somestudentssuggestedincludingEnglishwordsfrommovies,songs,andsomebrandnamesinfutureactivities.
5.
ConclusionThisstudyreportedChinesehighschoolstudents'experiencesofusingacellphonetocompleteanEnglishlearningactivity.
Specifi-cally,thispaperreportedstudents'technologi-calreadinessforintegratingcellphonesintotraditionalEnglishclasses,students'perceivedlearningoftheactivity,andstudents'attitudestowardthelearningactivity.
ThedesignofthelearningactivitywasbasedonWang's(2010)combinedtask-basedlearningapproachforEFLteaching,whichemphasizedtask-basedlearningwithauthenticactivitydesign,collab-orativelearningapproach,andnaturalintegra-tionofcellphones.
TheappropriatenessofthisC-learningactivitydesignwasalsoexploredbylookingintostudents'feedbackandcom-ments.
FindingsofthisstudyindicatedthatthisC-learningactivitydesignwasappropriateforChinesehighschoolEFLteaching.
Theactiv-itywaswelcomedbystudents.
StudentsfoundC-learninginterestingandeffectiveforlearn-ingEnglish.
ThisstudyisaninitialexplorationofintegratingC-learningintotraditionalEFLteaching.
Furtherexplorationsondifferentac-tivitydesignsandacademiclevelsareexpect-edtogeneralizetheC-learningapproachtoabroaderaudience.
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Re-trievedfromhttp://www.
zhichidai.
com/news/shehui/1054.
htmlContacttheAuthorsFeihongWang,Ph.
D.
VirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUni-versityEmail:fwang06@vt.
eduXinChen,Ph.
D.
VirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUni-versityEmail:chenxin@vt.
eduWeiniFang,Ph.
D.
XiamenSongbaiSecondarySchoolEmail:winnie1268@163.
com