1. Using SQLite to
promote mobile
language learning
Presenter:
Bill Zhi QUAN @ AUT

2. Vision of all
• Learner autonomy
• To forge independent,
autonomous & self-
directed learners

3. Special importance
• For a bachelor’s degree
120 credits per annum
8 hr x 40 weeks = 320 hr
< 1 class hr daily
• Most learning has to
happen out of the
lecture room
• Autonomous learning is
a must-have skill for
tertiary students
• How? Tech knows.

4. 1. Convenient access
• On-demand, stand-by
• Not restricted by physical
locations and equipment
• Both formal and informal
• Mobile tech, more powerful,
deep penetration

5. Mobile learning
• New behaviours
• Portable: anytime,
anywhere, at the point
of need;
• Personal: in and beyond
the classroom, self-
directed
• New trend:
• in the U.S., over 50% of
middle school students use
smartphones and tablets
for in-class and at-home
study; for high school
students, the percentage is
above 60%
(Harris Interactive, 2013).

6. 2. Responsive materials
• Traditional but interactive:
• Can present appropriate content to address queries
• May give feedback to their performance (automatic,
immediate; probably yes/no)
• Structured and interrelated data

7. SQLite
• Standard Query Language
• A light, fast and compatible
relational database
management system
• Easy to build and maintain
(Excel medium)

8. My proposal
• Synergy: traditional materials on static paper
reorganized in the form of database on Android
• Two levels of data manipulation:
Simple – dictionary reference
Sophisticated - multiple-choice questions (MCQ)

9. Dictionary
• Direct mapping:
• 2-column database
(entry + definition)
• Also: (entry + inflections
+ senses + examples)

10. MCQ
• multiple-choice question
• E.g.
Do you play cricket? Yes, I ………
A. play
B. do
C. have
D. am

11. MCQ
Features:
• Knowledge-based (largely recalling or reproduction)
• Flexible (suitable for various disciplines)
• Easy to use, esp. large-scale
Widely used in language testing and beyond
Able to provide immediate feedback
MCQ on mobile?

12. Conditional responses
• Loading all parts
• Right – go to next,
cyclic;
• Wrong – stop;
activate instruction

13. TOFEL vocabulary exercise

14. Demo 2

15. Gaming elements
ExDraw (“exercise draw”)
• Random selection
• Endless cycles
• Vibration as alert
• Graded achievements

16. Five grades
• Motivation
• Progress and
performance records
• May share no. of
solved problems and
rating on social media

17. For other disciplines
• Esp. for study of medicine and law
• Multiple choice questions in haematology
• Echocardiography Board Review: 400 Multiple Choice
Questions With Discussion
• Cardiovascular MRI: 150 Multiple-Choice Questions
and Answers
• Anatomy. 1800 Multiple Choice Questions
• …

18. Demo 3
• Questions &
answers: Evidence
• Long text body, detailed
explanations
• A 10-inch tablet

19. Further development
• Go web
• Island hopping:
Sequential & progressive
MCQ; May leap to
advanced levels with
outstanding performance

20. Summary
• Interactive response, although yes/no dichotomy;
• Enhance fingers-on learning from pocket to palm;
• Facilitate informal and fragmented learning;
• Only suitable for discrete-point MCQ

21. Listen2U