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Designing a mobile language learning system based on lightweight learning objects

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Abstract

This paper investigates the possibilities in the area of application of mobile technologies for language learning. The primary goal is to design a mobile system for learning of the Japanese language with a clear separation of content and presentation, and to leverage the learners’ interest in the Japanese language. Both the technical and the language learning perspectives are discussed. A reusable, lightweight model of learning objects with compact content and a reduced metadata set is presented. These objects are stored in a simple learning object repository that can deliver them to any client over the Internet. A mobile application is designed to use the learning object repository as its content provider, while defining its own method of presentation suitable for smaller screens of mobile devices. For the purpose of evaluation, an experiment was conducted within the e-learning system at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade. Research findings have indicated that the developed mobile application has a positive effect on the students’ interest in the subject matter.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, Grant no.174031.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, Jove Ilića 154, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Miloš Milutinović, Aleksandra Labus, Zorica Bogdanović & Marijana Despotović-Zrakić

  2. Institute for the Serbian Language of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Đure Jakšića 9, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Vukašin Stojiljković

Authors
  1. Miloš Milutinović
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  2. Aleksandra Labus
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  3. Vukašin Stojiljković
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  4. Zorica Bogdanović
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  5. Marijana Despotović-Zrakić
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Correspondence to Miloš Milutinović.

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Milutinović, M., Labus, A., Stojiljković, V. et al. Designing a mobile language learning system based on lightweight learning objects. Multimed Tools Appl 74, 903–935 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-013-1704-5

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