MESSAGING AND ONLINE FORMS AS A UBIQUITOUS TOOL FOR REAL-TIME FEEDBACK IN UNCONVENTIONAL ENVIRONMENTS J.M. Jiménez Olmedo, B. Pueo, J.A. Pérez Turpin, J.J. Chinchilla Mira, A. Penichet Tomás University of Alicante (SPAIN)
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Abstract Online forms are very powerful tools that have been used in the context of the classroom. From real time interaction between students on a group assignment to the ability to perform collaborative work outside classroom hours, the number of advantages is very large. However, the potential that lies in ubiquitous devices, such as smart phones and tablets, has not been explored so far. In this article, the authors proved that not only is the use of technology feasible but also very advantageous to the point of setting up complex activities in which participants reached goals that lead progressively to additional objectives in an orienteering course, all performed by themselves with the help of technology. Keywords: Forms, whatsapp, real-time, orienteering.
1
INTRODUCTION
Experiences in introducing the online form as a very effective tool to communicate students and teachers in non-regulated environments with very positive results are presented. There has been a lot of work regarding this procedure in the context of the classroom [1], [2]. From real time interaction between students on a group assignment to the ability to perform collaborative work outside classroom hours, the number of advantages is very large [3],[4],[5]. However, there is an open field in the use of these technologies in ubiquitous devices, such as smart phones and tablets, that has not been explored so far. These devices can handle complex processes, such as online forms programmed in different platforms, or the use of advance features that demand high power graphics capabilities, for example, when dealing with 3D environments. The latter means that nowadays, students can bring with themselves a truly powerful computer that weighs only a portion of their regular belongings. In this article, the authors push the use of such tools beyond the regular classroom. To that end, the subject "Physical Activity in Natural Environment" from the Sport Science Degree at University of Alicante was selected for two reasons. First, all the practical work is done outside classroom so there will not be screens and projectors that can give real-time feedback to students. Second, the subject takes place in remote areas, where no electricity can be found, making it difficult to set up conventional computer equipment. These reasons would encourage teachers not to use the online forms since technology seems to be out of hand. However, the authors have proved that not only is the use of technology feasible but also very advantageous to the point of setting up activities in which participants reached goals that lead progressively to additional goals up to the final stage, all performed by themselves with the help of technology.
2
METHODOLOGY
Among different activities in the subject, we have selected an orienteering competition between students for the study. The activity was called Mobile Race and it consisted in an orienteering race with online forms and messaging systems as tools to guide participants in beacons. In the following, both organization details and actors will be presented.
2.1
Setup of the race
For the development of the race, five control points (beacons) were spread across the University of Alicante campus. The total distance between those beacons, when measured walking with a GPS
monitor was 1.3 km, a figure within reasonable limits for young students to perform in an activity. Figure 1 shows the position of the beacons and the track that needed to be accomplished to perform the activity in the shortest possible time.
Figure 1. Beacons and tracks in the orienteering activity.
2.2
Role of the participants
In this activity, there were three roles among participants to ensure that both tests and rewards are achieved correspondingly. •
Organizers. The aim of organizers is to setup the beacon positions, check viability of the track and design tests to be solved in each beacon. This role is played by academics and assistants, who are responsible of the subject.
•
Team leaders. They are responsible of bringing the rest of the team to success. To that end, they are connected both to organizers and participants via a messaging system which provides rapid dissemination of the steps to be done.
•
Orienteering participants. They are distributed in teams that work closely with leaders. Their aim is to reach beacons, perform activities and try to get to the finish line in the shortest possible time.
2.3
Tests
In order to manage the achievements of results within each beacon and let participants search for the next one, there was some test that were compulsory to pass. •
Online forms. These are specific questions with multiple choice answers that can be answered by orienteering participants with their smart phones while they were on the race.
•
Word search puzzles. By using an online application, custom word search puzzles were created for orienteering participants to search four words ranging from four to ten words.
•
Tangram. This is a seven flat shape puzzle with which participants needed to form a specific shape using all seven pieces. By doing so, a hint was discovered to follow the race.
Figure 2.Examples of word search puzzle (left) and tangram puzzle (right) used in the development of the orienteering race.
2.4
Organization
Once every aspect of the race has been depicted, the organization of the race will be covered in the following. The academics, as organizers of the activity, placed a word search puzzle in every beacon to let participants find specific keywords that would help them to reach the next control point. Before starting the activity, one person from each team is chosen as the team leader. This person, in turn, must choose five people to create a whatsapp group to exchange the information needed to perform the race. Once teams and whatsapp groups have been correctly created, a link to fill an online form is given to the team leaders, whereas a map with the location of the beacons is handled to teams. Then the team leader opens the form to tell his or her team in which order they must find the beacons. All forms were configured to display a single combo-like question with ten different keywords. From these possible answers, only one was present in the word search puzzle of the corresponding beacon. If the team failed to answer correctly, an error page in the form was opened that sent teams to an alternative page with a different question and beacon. The latter means that hitting the right answer was crucial to the development of the race. As soon as the group finds the word in the word search puzzle, they sent it to the team leader via a whatsapp message. Then, the team leader should answer the questionnaire to indicate the group what the next checkpoint was and the possible words that would be in the next word search puzzle. To succeed, this activity must be performed in close conjunction with each other, in a truly collaborative work.
Figure 3.Teams working in the tangram solve as an example of mental challenge designed within a physical activity such as orienteering. All group members should participate in the tangram puzzle solve to discover the sentence that was hidden in the back of the tangram (see Figure 3).
Through the results of the responses in real time, the teacher can check how much time is left for each team to complete the race. Once fully completed, orienteers must return to the initial beacon, so the teacher can give them a final tangram with a shape to form. By its completion, the race is finished.
3
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Before starting the activity, an online form was handled to students to retrieve information about two dimensions which would be needed to the success of the initiative. First, they were asked about their knowledge in the use of Google forms and second, about specific details of their smartphones (operating system and WiFi internet connection within the University of Alicante campus).
Figure 4. Google forms knowledge claimed by students. Figure 4 shows the amount of expertise claimed by students related to the use of online Google forms as end users. As depicted in the graph, only 2.8% never used online forms, which was very encouraging for academics to set the activity. Since students are asked to work with online forms as end users only, this figure assures that no problems with the tool will arise in the race field.
Figure 5. WiFi connection capability for students’ smartphones on University of Alicante campus. The second requirement was the WiFi connection capability of orienteers on UA campus. Due to the widespread wireless network across European universities called Eduroam, University of Alicante offers free WiFi network for students on campus. Therefore, the vast majority (92%) of students can receive and send data with their smartphones, regardless of the data plan that may or may not have with their phone companies.
Figure 6. Operating System (OS) of students’ smartphones. Finally, although not crucial for online forms, a survey to retrieve the operating system of students’ smartphones was made. Both android (Google) and iOs (Apple) with 81% and 15% respectively, dominate the sample, which makes it possible to use both online forms and whatsapp messages simultaneously. As discussed above, the advantage of online forms rely on the fact that they can retrieve important data in real time to stablish a link between participants and academics. Table 1 shows the bits of information taken from the answers of two different races, starting at 15:05 h and 17:05 h. Race A Start 15:05:00 Arrival time
Beacon 1
Beacon 2
Beacon 3
Beacon 4
Beacon 5
What they have in common all these words?
G1
15:51:22
Turtle
Camaleon
Serpent
Lizard
Snake
Five animals are reptiles
G2
15:55:41
Hoopoe
Parrot
Eagle
Dove
Partridge
Poultry
G3
16:05:27
Bear
Tiger
Leopard
Cheetah
Panther
They are carnivorous
G4
16:06:22
Cow
Bull
Giraffe
Buck
Deer
Herbivores
G5
15:56:54
Hippo
Whale
Beluga
Delfin
Otter
Mammal that lives in humid areas
G6
16:02:03
Snail
Mussel
Oyster
Barnacle
Octopus
Molluscs
G7
15:46:24
Fly
Mosquito
Bee
Wasp
Louse
Insects
Race B Start 17:05:00 Arrival time
Beacon 1
Beacon 2
Beacon 3
Beacon 4
Beacon 5
What they have in common all these words?
G1
17:55:45
Hoopoe
Parrot
Eagle
Dove
Partridge
Poultry
G2
17:59:14
Turtle
Camaleon
Serpent
Lizard
Snake
G3
18:05:21
Bear
Tiger
Leopard
Cheetah
Panther
G4
18:03:28
Cow
Bull
Giraffe
Buck
Deer
Horns
G5
18:00:14
Hippo
Whale
Beluga
Delfin
Otter
Aquatic animals
G6
17:57:56
Snail
Mussel
Oyster
Barnacle
Octopus
Crustaceans
G7
18:02:54
Fly
Mosquito
Bee
Wasp
Louse
Insects
They are reptiles, are scaly skin, land and oviparous. Mammals, quadrupeds, carnivores
Table 1. Data compilation retrieved by online forms from participants in two races. For the first race, group 7 was the first to arrive to the finish line with a total time of 41 minutes and 24 seconds, according to the time stamp capture by the form (15:46:24), whereas group 4 was the last one spending 1 hour, 1 minute and 22 seconds (16:06:22 as time stamp). The quickest group
answered Fly after completing the search word puzzle in beacon 1, then they went to the second beacon to answer Mosquito, and then Bee, Wasp and finally, Louse for the fifth beacon. As with other groups, before continuing to the next beacon, they must have replied with the correct answer to the team manager. Once all beacons are reached and all answers accomplished, a final challenge is presented to participants in the way of a question regarding all partial answers. For the group 7, they were asked what they have in common all these words, so they answered insects correctly. A similar analysis for the second race depicts worst best times since the quickest group delayed 50 minutes and 45 seconds, but better worst times with 1 hour and 22 seconds. In order to gain knowledge about the activity and received feedback from students, a Critical Incident Questionnaire [Brookfield] was made by students at the end of the activity. This questionnaire was used to discover how participants have experienced the orienteering activity. The aim was to check if student responses differed from what academics expected. The questionnaire asks for three specific, open questions: 1. What did you like the most about this activity? 2. What did you like less about this activity? 3. What would you change about this activity? For the first questions, there were many encouraging answers that emphasized the novelty of the activity and the use of technology. Since collecting all answers may not be of interest for the reader, a word cloud with the 57 opinions, 900 words, was created (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Word cloud for answers to What did you like the most about this activity? Figure 7 shows that technologies, mobile and work were the most cited words, which suggest that the activity is very well perceived by students in the terms related to the objective of the race. Similarly, the answers to the second question were used to form a cloud word, depicted in Figure 8.
Figure 7. Word cloud for answers to What did you like less about this activity? This time, apart from mobile, which was also present in the firs question, the words puzzles, slow and tests are displayed as the most unpleasent items about the activity. According to the latter and by retrieving meaning from answers, tests in the form of word search puzzles and tangram puzzles are perceived as troublesome and make them go slower than they would wanted to win the race.
Figure 8. Word cloud for answers to What would you change about this activity? Finally, Figure 8 displays the result of word clouding the answers of the third question, an opportunity for students to suggest enhancements that would improve the activity for future editions. Again, puzzle is displayed as the most cited one, which corroborates the findings from the second question: puzzles may be the weak part when positive perception of the activity is under test.
4
CONCLUSION
This paper has explored the use of online forms and messaging systems in unconventional educational environments with benefits for students and teachers. An outdoor activity was proposed which mixes the full duplex communication (incoming and outgoing data) of messaging systems and the ability for the organizer of the activity to monitor answers coming from participants via online forms. The activity is an orienteering race that aims at working collaboratively towards a final stage in the shortest period of time. During the race, both physical and intellectual requirements must be accomplished by students as they run from beacon to beacon in the shortest time possible and they face rational tests before continuing to the end. The technical requirements for academics to set up the proposed activity are relatively simple. An environment with WiFi connection, such as the majority of campuses, and smartphones with connection capabilities from the students’ side, is just needed. As shown by the results, the use of online forms may not be a drawback since the majority of students are competent at a user level. Results have also shown that participants have experienced the proposed intellectual/orienteering activity very positively, although it was very demanding from the physical and from the intellectual point of view. Indeed, the main complaints that were expressed openly in a Critical Incident Questionnaire were the difficulty of the search word puzzle and the tangram puzzle in each beacon. Although these tests were not designed to peak arduousness, the stress level in a real competition may have created this subjective perception. All in all, by adjusting both puzzle tests in future editions, the activity may benefit for the technological tools present in ubiquitous devices with a better perception by participants.
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