Research for Practitioners: Can Text Messages (SMS) Support Learning?

Do you take the time to read through examples provided inlearning experiences and explain to yourself why the author took each step? The mostsuccessful learners do. Studies have found positive results for providingsupport for learning strategies, particularly for at-risk learners. Yet toomuch intervention and the cure may be worse than the disease. How do we providesupport on a manageable basis?

The study

Goh, T.T., B.C. Seet, and N.S. Chen, (2012). “The Impact ofPersuasive SMS on Students’ Self-Regulated Learning.” British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(4).

The question

Support for learners, particularly those identified as “atrisk,” is demonstrably valuable, but learner support provided beforehandtends to dissipate quickly, and ongoing methods can be onerous. Could a lighterweight intervention help?

This study looked at using a common technology for reachingindividuals—text messaging—to see if such a method could provide ongoingsupport in less intrusive ways.

The methods

One of the major requirements in the study situation was supportfor time management. The institution used an SMS system that allowedinstructors to send messages to students by groups. Messages includedsupporting time management by reminders of assignments and class meetings, andproviding motivational support.

The principles that B.J.Fogg (2003) espoused for persuasive technology provided guidance in thedesign:

• Simplification suggested SMSmessages,
• Personalization was theresult of using the students’ actual schedules as a basis,
• Suggestion led to notices about assignment due dates and classmeetings appearing at timely opportunities,
• Conditioningled to using positive achievement messages, and
• Tunneling supported sequencing activities in a sensible approach.

Themessages took the forms of suggestions to review materials before class, remindersof times and rooms for classes, and motivational messages such as “You’ve madeit to week five.”

The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaires (MSLQ),with 31 motivation items, 31 learning strategy items, and 19 resourcemanagement items, turned out to be an ideal assessment instrument, as well as using learners’ grades. A control group design balanced the experimental intervention.The subjects were first-year university students.

The results

I almost stopped reading this study when I realized that theMLSQ report had 81 items, and they reported three significant results. It mightseem meaningful to get correlations between learning strategies elements andthe interventions, particularly when the elements are for self-efficacy,organization, and self-regulation. However, with 80 items, a .05 cutoff wouldsuggest four significant results just by chance (a caution on experiment design)!

Fortunately, there were significant impacts on the finalgrade, a promising result. The experimental group receiving messages had anaverage grade of 70.66 versus an average grade of 62.67 for the control group.

Implications for eLearning design

We too often neglect meta-learning (learning to learn) strategiesin our approaches. Having support for these strategies, in addition to all elsewe do for our learners, is likely to increase the learning outcomes. Simpleapproaches to supporting learners through the learning process have worked inother media, such as early efforts to increase persistence in onlinelearning. Moreover, mobile technologies—the essentially ubiquitous text message—is a viablemechanism and in many ways an opportune channel for providing such learning support.

We can and should not only extend the learning process untilwe can ascertain that the outcomes will persist, but consider supporting thelearning process itself, not just the domain learning.

Reference

Fogg, B.J. (2003). PersuasiveTechnology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. San Francisco:Morgan Kaufmann.