Facilitating Academic Service-Learning with Android-Based Applications and Ubiquitous Computing Environment

This study proposes an integrated system to support Academic Service-Learning (ASL) activities, which combine the community service and experiential learning. The whole integrated system includes the mobile system, the online headquarter system and cloud computing platform. First, the Android-based mobile system is designed to assist participants providing service for community and to help them getting information and online troubleshooting advice from backend server. Besides, it is also developed to facilitate mobile learning and collaborative learning modes to complete the tasks in service programs. Second, the web-based system is constructed for administrators and instructors to offer information and missions to each learner in community service. Further, his/her progress can be closely monitored via the on-line system, too. Finally, the Apache Hadoop cloud-computing platform is used to calculate and analyze the information gathered from whole process while participants are serving the community. In the end of our study, the proposed applications were tested using heuristic evaluation method for one semester with a total of 20 students from undergraduate courses at Tung-Nan University in northern Taiwan. The results show that participants hold positive views to the interface design, stability, interactivity, and instructional potentials of the integrated system.