How can mobile SMS communication support and enhance a first year undergraduate learning environment?

Jones, Gerladine, Garbriele Edwards, and Alan Reed. “How Can Mobile SMS Communication Support and Enhance a First Year Undergraduate Learning Environment?” ALT-J, Research in Learning Technology 17.3 (2009): 201-218.

Jones, G., Edwards, G., & Reid, A. (2009). How can mobile SMS communication support and enhance a first year undergraduate learning environment? ALT-J, Research in Learning Technology, 17(3), 201-218.

Abstract
In this paper we discuss a case study investing how the academic and personal development of first year students on an undergraduate sports education degree can be supported and enhanced with mobile SMS (Short Message Service) communication. SMS-based technologies were introduced in response to students’ particular needs (in transition to Higher Education) and characteristics (adept mobile communicators). Despite being unaccustomed to using their mobile phones for academic study, students willingly accepted SMS communication with their tutor via a texting management service. This communication was used in concert and integrated with a more traditional learning and reaching context (lectures and a virtual learning environment). Drawing on evidence from two student surveys, focus groups and a tutor’s journal, we illustrate how mobile SMS view of the learning environment we use Laurillard’s (2002) conversational framework (Laurillard, D. 2002 Rethinking university teaching: a framework for the effective use of learning technologies. 2nd edition. London: Routledge.) to analyze and discuss the role of texting in supporting student transition to higher education.

Summary
In the UK, there is a ten per cent rate of first year students in higher education who will drop out within their first year. One reason for this is because students “feel isolated and insecure” (202). Many researchers have stressed the importance of creating connections with students as they deal with transitioning to higher education. Previous studies have indicated that SMS communication with students helps them feel better. Rau, Gao, and Wu (2008) found that students felt “’cared for, and felt bonded strongly with the instructor and classroom activities’” (as cited by Jones et. al., 2009, 204). The main disadvantage found by other researches was that some students found receiving SMS communication for academic purposes “as an attempt to colonize and intrude on social spaces” (204).

This study was done with first year undergraduate students at the University of Bath. The purpose of this study was “to establish networked opportunities for leaning that more effectively support students on this unit and motivate student participation” and use “SMS to promote greater connectivity between tutor and student and student and course content” (206). Before coming to campus, students were given a survey to learn about their current SMS communication use. SMS messages were sent to the students in the course at specific times when students were not in another lecture. These texts could be read by the tutor and downloaded into a spreadsheet for easy reading.

An example of a text sent out to a student:

“Hi Tom. A Reminder 2 lk at & comment on the reading improvement video-Moodle (Act 4.1) Pls txt in wht u hve learned from the video b42 session Gabriele” (208)

A survey was taken of the students with an 88% response rate. 36% of the students said the texting added “convenience/accessibility/gaining attention” and 32% of the students said the texting helping by “prompting them to take action” (209). Overall, students liked the texts that served as reminders about work, although, there was a small group of students that did like the texts. The focus group showed that some students had a difficult time texting back in answers to the tutor due to the space limit and both the tutor and the students had a hard time reading some of the texts when someone would create their own abbreviations. It is important to note that the all of the texts sent to the students from the tutor were academic in nature, containing course information. The careful of mix formal interaction by providing course information with the personal touches of the students’ names in the texts might be why the texts were accepted by most of the students.

This study shows how text messages between tutors and students can:

1. “Increase the opportunity for tutor student interaction

2. Adopt a highly personal mode of communication

3. Stimulate regular out-of-class activity, our approach aligns well with strategies for supporting a successful transition “ (212)