Enabling Context Aware Applications in Learning Environments

Abstract

The increased prevalence of smart mobile devices presents myriad opportunities to utilize their unique capabilities in learning activities. Mobile devices not only allow learners to carry out learning activities anywhere and anytime, but also provide a platform for personalized and context-aware learning. Also, mobile devices presents ways to increase the efficiency of classroom activities. For example, activities such as attendance taking can be automated through the use of mobile devises and context-aware applications. It will greatly reduce the time spent on these activities and give instructors more time to focus on other important learning activities. This thesis reviews the state of the art in the context-aware learning and proposes a general architecture for implementing context-aware learning applications. This thesis also discusses the use of context-aware applications in classrooms and proposes the Smart Classroom Framework (SCF) to provide the foundation for the rapid development and deployment of classroom context-aware applications.