Evaluation in educational technology

The effect of mobile phone screen size on video based learning

Nipan Maniar
University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Email: nipan.maniar@port.ac.uk
Emily Bennett, Steve Hand and George Allan
University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Email: {emily.bennett, steve.hand, mailto:george.allan%7D@port.ac.uk

This research is the first step towards investigating whether the effect that screen size has constrained on video-based m-learning by addressing the :
Research Question 1: Does a learner’s subjective opinion of learning via video differ based on the screen size?
Research Question 2: Does a larger screen size result in a significantly higher amount of information learnt via video, compared with a smaller screen size?
To answer the research questions, three pilot experiments where conducted. The pilots show that there are three types of screen which are, ‘small screen’ is Nokia 6600 mobile telephone, screen size = 1.65 inches diagonal, video playback resolution = 128 x 96 pixels .‘medium screen’ is Motorola E1000 mobile telephone, screen size = 2.28 inches diagonal, video playback resolution = 320 x 240 pixels and ‘large screen’ is Compaq iPAQ H3800 PDA, screen size = 3.78 inches diagonal, video playback resolution = 320 x 240 pixels.
Moreover they define such features that phone may have in m-learning :
Q1. This form of communication could increase access to learning.
Q2. This form of communication could increase the quality of m-learning.
Q3. I wouldn’t mind carrying the mobile device
Q4. Watching the video on the mobile device was fun.
Q5. I would recommend ‘mobile learning’.
Q6. The screen was bright enough.
Q7. The screen size was large enough.
Q8. The overall picture quality was good enough.
Q9. The content of the video was clearly visible.

The result show that students who used 1.65 inches compare with students who used 3.78 and 2.28
inches screen, had a significantly lower subjective opinion of the screen quality and learnt a significantly lower amount. This may be because people tend always to pay more attention for the apparent in a larger screen display viewing. Moreover, the results of the
students who used the 3.78 and 2.28 inches screen were not significantly different from each other. However most students prefer use small screen size of handheld device for m-learning and fewer students own large-screen such as such as a PDA.This is due to the portability in using small screen size of handheld device.

PowerPoint presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/u066945/the-effect-of-mobile-phone-screen-size-on-video-based-learning