A personal learning environment (PLE) approach to mobile teaching and learning on a short-term study abroad

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Abstract

This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research examines the effectiveness of a personal learning environment (PLE) approach in using mobile technology for experiential learning during a study abroad to China. Thematic qualitative analysis of 21 undergraduate students' written post-trip reflections on their experiences revealed valuable benefits and challenges of the PLE utilizing students' personal mobile devices in real time. Recommendations are offered for program leaders, educators, and trainers with a vested interest in learners’ engagement and experiential learning. Sharing these findings with the teaching community at large makes unique and significant contributions to the SoTL literature.

Introduction

Recent efforts to improve and modernize higher education outcomes have placed an increasing emphasis on enhancing creative and engaging learning methods. One teaching strategy of note is experiential learning that creates a dynamic process to deliver knowledge through experimentation, experience, observation, and conceptualization (Kolb & Kolb, 2005). The core concept of experiential learning typifies “a lived experience that learners can reflect, think and act” (Girvan, Conneely, & Tangney, 2016, p. 130). A short-term study abroad is a prime example of experiential learning, which advocates for faculty-student engagement and promotes students’ experiences through group discussions and critical reflection (McKeown, 2009). By traveling and studying in an unfamiliar social environment, students gain the potential to change their worldview and improve their global knowledge and connectivity through international and experiential learning (Tarrant, Rubin, & Stoner, 2014).

In the past decade, a growing number of hospitality and tourism educational institutions have offered short-term study abroad programs to help students broaden their international perspectives and achieve competitive advantage in the global economy (Kim & Jeong, 2018; Rivera, Murphy, & Khalilzadeh, 2018). Prior literature demonstrated various benefits associated with short-term study abroad programs. For example, Behnke, Seo, and Miller (2014) examined 185 students' experiences and satisfaction across 11 short-term study abroad programs. They revealed that most students favored their study abroad experience, which led to advanced cross-cultural perceptions, enhanced academic experience, and a potentially brighter career. These extensive journeys also pose challenging logistics, such as the structure for assignments during the trip, and difficulties with assessing students' learning competencies in real time (Kim & Jeong, 2018). For example, student reflection and journaling is considered an optimal method of assessment found in study abroad programs, which requires coordination between the instructor(s) and students, both during and after the trip (Panvini, 2020). Students might find journaling activities to be cumbersome in traditionally written or electronic formats, while instructors might encounter challenges with receiving and grading journaling assignments throughout the duration of the course. In recognition of the significance of study abroad programs as a prime form of experiential learning, it is important to explore innovative methods for evaluating students’ real-time learning and the associated outcomes to improve teaching strategies.

Following the “bring your own device” (BYOD) concept in experiential learning, mobile devices have recently been integrated into classrooms, which have opened new possibilities for creating an effective teaching and learning experience, rendering students and instructors more flexible communication and interactions (Heflin, Shewmaker, & Nguyen, 2017). One of the emerging trends is to leverage mobile devices to create a personal learning environment (PLE), in order to engage students in an individualized environment, where they can manage their own learning activities and meet their study needs (Conde, García-Peñalvo, Alier, & Piguillem, 2013; García-Peñalvo & Conde, 2015). The present Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research was designed to assess the use of mobile technology in creating a personal learning environment (PLE) and engaging college students in experiential learning during a short-term study abroad program to China. Specifically, the objectives of this research were (1) to evaluate the benefits of using mobile technology to create a PLE as it pertained to the students’ study abroad journaling experience; and (2) to explore challenges students may have encountered in their PLE which would indicate areas of improvement.

The findings from this SoTL research offer unique contributions to the literature by integrating the theoretical perspectives of a personal learning environment (PLE), “bring your own device” (BYOD), and mobile technology in understanding an experiential teaching and learning strategy during a short-term study abroad program. The results of this research also offer valuable guidance on how to better motivate learners to participate in these mobile activities during an experiential learning process, and eventually foster more interactive and effective teaching strategies.

Section snippets

Mobile learning (m-learning)

The use of mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablets, has become an increasingly predominant learning tool in the classroom (Domingo & Garganté, 2016; Heflin et al., 2017; Sung, Chang, & Liu, 2016). Mobile learning, or m-learning, can be defined as any type of learning within a variety of learning spaces, inclusive of the mobility of technology, the learners, and the mobility of learning in general (El-Hussein & Cronje, 2010). With such features as affordability, portability, and

Methodology

This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research project was designed to assess study abroad students' perceptions on the use of mobile technology for journaling their assigned reflections within a PLE. This aim aligned with the intended purpose of SoTL research which, according to Boyer's (1990) seminal work, endeavors to study teaching techniques in order to improve student learning and share findings publicly with the teaching community. From the personal learning environment (PLE)

Profile of participants

Twenty-one (21) undergraduate students enrolled in two hospitality management-based courses, participated in the short-term study abroad to China and agreed to take part in the research (see Table 1). The majority of participants (85%) were between the ages of 18 and 30, and 15% were between 31 and 75 (n = 3) years of age. The majority of participants (65%) had never lived in another country, while two participants were foreign exchange students from other Western countries (Ecuador and

Discussion and conclusions

This SoTL qualitative research investigated the use of a mobile application for the purpose of journaling (i.e. reflection assignments) during a short-term study abroad to China. Utilizing a personal learning environment (PLE) approach in the mobile “classroom”, the findings revealed helpful teaching and learning strategies for study abroad instructors and the greater teaching community at large. Results from this research uncovered two overarching themes: (1) Benefits and Advantages of the

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Wei Wei: Conceptualization, Design of study, Data curation, Formal analysis, Data analysis and interpretation, Writing - original draft, preparation, Writing - review & editing. Cynthia Mejia: Conceptualization, Design of study, Data curation, Formal analysis, Data analysis and interpretation, Writing - original draft, preparation, Writing - review & editing. Ruoxi Qi: Writing - original draft, preparation, Data curation, formatting.

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