2012 12th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies

Context Aware Electronic Updates for

Virtual Learning Environments
Laura Crane

Ayodele Awe

Phillip Benachour

Paul Coulton

School of Computing &

Communication Systems
Lancaster University, UK
l.crane@lancaster.ac.uk

School of Computing &

Communication Systems
Lancaster University, UK
a.awe1@lancaster.ac.uk

School of Computing &

Communication Systems
Lancaster University, UK
p.benachour@lancaster.ac.uk

School of Computing &

Communication Systems
Lancaster University, UK
p.coulton@lancaster.ac.uk

context adaptability within higher education information

delivery. Given the individual circumstances and
subsequently, the ambient information which can be
gathered by mobile devices there may be benefits to the
learner if their mobile application were to be aware of these
dimensions of context [5]. As well as the requirement for
context to be integrated into the virtual learning
environment; the technology enhanced learning research
group; the STELLAR network has identified
contextualizing virtual learning environments as one of its
three grand challenges which need to be addressed for the
future of technology enhanced learning [6]. Within recent
literature there are a number studies and developments [7]
which exemplify how location based services can be
included to support the organization of a mobile user.
Where reminders are created and executed on specific GPS
co-ordinates rather than at a defined time of the day. It is
this concept of using other forms of context to deliver
information to a users device while on campus which is of
significance. The paper is organized as follows: section two
reports on a pilot study conducted to explore the use of
space and time as dimensions of context in order to evaluate
their effectiveness and their precedence over one another in
regards electronic updates. Section three proposes a mobile
application and describes the development process involved.
The final section presents the conclusion and further work.

AbstractThis paper proposes a mobile application for

retrieving electronic updates from virtual learning
environments using dimensions of context. Using automatically
generated RSS feeds from a Moodle based virtual learning
environment, information can easily be delivered in a concise
format through wireless networks directly to the students
device. The paper reports on a pilot study carried out to
provide quantitative feedback of students experiences with
electronic updates based on time and location. The design and
implementation of the application proposes activity as a third
dimension of context as a parameter defined by the user to
control the dissemination of information. The development is
part of an overall investigation into the role of different
dimensions of context when disseminating information from a
virtual learning environment to mobile devices.
Keywords-mobile learning; context aware; RSS; virtual
learning environments; ambient information;

I.

INTRODUCTION

Developments in mobile technologies, such as wireless

communication networks, handheld devices, and service
standards enable people to access information and acquire
information in a ubiquitous manner [1]. Mobile devices
allow for portability, connectivity, convenience, expediency,
immediacy, accessibility, individuality and interactivity [2].
These attributes are the reasoning behind both the popularity
and penetration of mobile technologies within general
society as well as their impact within educational
environments. Although mobile applications are used for a
wide range of purposes, their functionality often relies on
executing services based upon a frequency of time. Even
though these are effective in their activity, they have been
proven to generate issues with users [3]. With the
integration of both global positioning systems (GPS) and
assisted GPS functionality in smart phones, location
awareness can now be integrated into information systems
as update points, mostly referred to as location based
services. It is these services scheduling and location- which
are deemed the two fundamental points for context aware
applications [4]. Although location based services have been
utilized successfully for many domains, their use in the
organization of learning still hasnt been fully exploited.
The technology is now available to provide a higher level of
978-0-7695-4702-2/12 $26.00 2012 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/ICALT.2012.219

II. EXPLORING SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DIMENSIONS OF

CONTEXT

Previous work [3] explored the use of space and time as

dimensions of context in order to evaluate their
effectiveness and their precedence over one another in
regards electronic updates. To test both the spatial and
temporal dimensions of context for supporting students and
virtual learning environments; two separate mobile
applications were developed. The temporal mobile
application was a simple RSS mechanism which retrieved
updates for a defined frequency of times per day, and
according to the users preferences. The spatial application
centered on receiving the users position by the integrated
GPS function within the phone itself, and delivering updates
based upon their location.
173

A pilot study was carried out to provide quantitative

feedback of the students experience. The survey consisted
of statements for which the students responses were
measured by a limited scale, such as the five-point Likert
scale. The differences between students attitudes towards
location and time are presented in Figure 1.

Reference
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D
E
F
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the students considered the mobile applications equally

unobtrusive within their own domains. The differences were
subtle, but the locative user felt context aware information
to be more helpful than that of the time-based user.
Although time was deemed a slightly more comfortable
utilization of ambient information. Furthermore, both sets of
users valued the application to be identical for supporting
the organization of their learning and helpful for receiving
course information. After a 20 week period, which spanned
two taught modules, the students were interviewed in depth
about their experiences. The results feedback was recorded
by an audio recorder, but their experiences were
summarized in Table 1 below. Both interviewees agreed that
they didnt object or disapprove of the intrusion into their
own domains, provided the information was safe, secure and
not used for alternative purposes. Location did override the
issue of time being a changing variable on a day to day
basis, as patterns of location do not change to the same
degree. The notion of exit checkpoints for the campus
environment was raised by the location user arguing an
automatic update when arriving or leaving the campus
environment would be extremely useful for supporting her
learning.

Statement Posed
The mobile application capabilities meet my
requirements
Using the mobile application is a frustrating
experience.
The mobile application is easy to use.

TABLE I.

I found the application useful in supporting my

learning activities.
I feel the mobile application intrudes into my
own personal domain.
The content is suitable and relevant for my
personal use.
The retrieval of updates is appropriate.
The mobile application didnt support the way I
organize my learning.
Using contextual information is helpful for
receiving course information.
Mobile devices fail to have an important place in
the learning environment.
Update rates should be at a single time or point.
Using my ambient information (time / location)
makes me feel uncomfortable.
I would use a mobile based virtual learning
environment in the future.
Overall, I was satisfied with using the mobile
application for receiving information about my
modules and courses.

Point of
Interest
(e) Intrusion
into Students
Domain

Temporal
Response
No, unless the
movements are
collated and
recorded for an
alternative
purpose.

(d) Support
for the
organisation
of learning

It did, but not

schedule and
routine changes on
a daily basis,
therefore the
application must
also understand
this.
It did, but not
schedule and
routine changes on
a daily basis,
therefore the
application must
also understand
this.
No not at all.
Only those who
have something to
hide.

(i)Perceived
Helpfulness

Figure 1. Quantitative Responses from Study with an importance placed

upon statements d, e, i, l.

(l)
Contentment
when using
ambient
information

From an analysis view point, four questions were focused

upon: Support for the students organization of learning (d),
intrusion into students domain (e), the helpfulness for
receiving course information (i) and contentment when
using students ambient information (l). The key points
which can be deduced from the graph were that both sets of

174

RESPONSES OF THE FOUR KEY POINTS

Spatial Response
No, unless the
movements are
recorded for other
purposes. Always
the option of simply
ignoring the
message or turning
off phone.
I generally do the
same routes around
campus, and visit
the same places on a
daily basis.

Yes, but Exit

Checkpoints on
campus, when you
hit a checkpoint it
could update before
you go home.

Level of interest,
depends on usage by
those who are
running the systems.
If this was the case I
would be
concerned.

Further, the interview raised the focus of the fluidity of time

and schedules against the immovability of a location. Both
participants raised the issues of security and purpose of the
data which is being recorded and used, and that it must
remain for the purpose intended.

is being delivered by the server. The RSS output from

Moodle is cultivated at a set interval according to the server
hosting the Moodle environment. This frequent output from
Moodle is of the RSS 2.0 standard, which means it adheres
to the item structure. Each of the XML feeds contains any
number of items, which can be limited from within the
Moodle environment itself. Each item represents an activity
or story which has been generated by the module; in this
case course announcements or associated updates. Therefore
the feed for the application with include title, description,
date/time of publication and finally a link to the original
page on the virtual learning environment as a correctly
formatted RSS 2.0 parser. One area of the design which
works well with the direct access to the APIs is that of the
tracking system which records the timestamp, latitude,
longitude and the type of alert which has been received by
the user. This is carried out in AJAX and stored on a remote
SQL server via a hosted PHP script, which does not affect
the users experience in receiving the updates from the
virtual learning environment.

III. DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION:

The application was designed to offer the user the option of
receiving RSS updates from the Moodle based virtual
learning environment dependent upon either their time,
location or their activity. Rather than use three separate
applications, the menu system allows the user to select their
choice and then the application to run in the background. A
screenshot of the application is shown in Figure 2 below.

IV. CONCLUSION & FUTURE WORK

This paper proposes a mobile application for retrieving
electronic updates from virtual learning environments using
dimensions of context. Based on results using the time and
space dimensions, a pilot study revealed that location
awareness for example does appear to be a feasible
technology to be implemented. Further work can focus on
investigating how the user can define the schedule or
location updates through activity, rather than being defined
by the applications functionality. The application has the
potential to sustain student engagement with their modules,
and provide an innovative method for accessing
information. Further work will focus upon the
implementation and larger study of the context-aware
mobile application across a campus environment.

Figure 2: Screenshots of Application running on Android Mobile Phone

The architecture of the application will be arranged in a

series of layers with communication proceeding down the
stack from the presentation layer down to the data layer and
then back up to the presentation layer. It is the JQuery and
JavaScript which controls the decision mechanism for
executing behaviours based upon both users preference and
current context. Figure 3 denotes the different layers of the
mobile application and how they interact to perform the
functions necessary to pull the RSS feed and display it
dependent upon context.

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]
[5]

[6]
[7]

Figure 3. The layered system of the mobile application

When constructing the RSS retrieval mechanism, it is

imperative to understand the capabilities of the XML which

175

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