Novices' perceptions and experiences of a mobile social learning environment for learning of programming.

ABSTRACTIn this paper we report programming novices' perceptions and experiences of a Mobile Social Learning Environment (MSLE) designed to support the learning of programming through enabling increased novice-to-novice interactions. By capturing and analysing such interactions early it is hoped that instructors may identify misunderstandings and misconceptions of novice programmers, and provide timely feedback to alleviate novices' misunderstandings. The MSLE incorporates the use of mobile devices as well as the access to dedicated social networking sites. Novices from three different universities, each with different modes of delivery, participated in this research. Novices' perceived advantages of the MSLE include among other things instant access to discussions, increased interactions, instant feedback in a student-student context, and the ability to share ideas and views anytime, anywhere. Novices have experienced increased interactions among themselves and improved engagement with learning in the MSLE. Novices were able to form learning communities and able to share knowledge and ideas about programming language with each other. Some novices were able to provide assistance to others, hence indirectly, strengthening their own knowledge of programming. The cost of mobile devices and Internet charges on the other hand were perceived as disadvantages of a MSLE. Small screens, lack of programming applications for smart phones, laptops' battery life and distractions from other internet media were some of negative experiences observed by novices who used the MSLE.