Creating location-based mobile learning experiences
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The document summarizes Dr. Elizabeth FitzGerald's presentation on creating location-based mobile learning experiences. It discusses her research into using geospatial data and mobile devices to enable ad hoc learning in informal settings. It provides examples of projects including a "Tree Walk" study and the development of audio narratives and mobile guides to augment visitor experiences in the field. The presentation also analyzes frameworks for authoring user-generated geolocated content to support serendipitous learning based on location.
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Creating location-based mobile learning experiences
- 1. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Creating location-based mobile learning experiences Dr Elizabeth FitzGerald LSRI, University of Nottingham
- 2. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Our story today… • Beginning – Introduction to me and my research – Research into location-based learning • Middle – Tree Walk – Augmenting the visitor experience – Audio narratives in location • End – Ad hoc learning in location – User-generated content for anytime/anyplace learning
- 3. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Who am I? • An educational technology researcher • Biology graduate; ex-school teacher; PhD Computer Science; research fellow at LSRI • Investigating how we can use geospatial data and location to inform learning in mobile and informal scenarios • Particularly interested in the potential of mobile devices to deliver ad hoc learning
- 4. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Related research t Nottingham: • PI project • Tree Walk • Answer Tree • Augmenting the visitor experience athematics education (Tangney @ TCD, Jonker/Wijers @ Freudenthal Institute) eocaching (Clough @ OU) ormal and informal collaborative learning (Lyons @ University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
- 5. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Tree Walk • Investigating how geospatial data can be used in innovative educational settings • “Tree Walk” pilot study carried out: a technology-assisted field guide • YouTube video available, for more details: http://tinyurl.com/cszun7 (starts around 0.55)
- 6. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Tree Walk (1)
- 7. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Tree Walk (2)
- 8. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Tree Walk (3)
- 9. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Tree Walk (4) Issues relating to context: e.g. temporal; spatial; group or individual experience
- 10. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 From tree walks to hill walks • Collaboration with School of Geography to explore different kinds of location-based visualisations • Investigating how tourists can be provided with an augmented experience when they visit the Lake District • Work carried out with Geography students (3rd year UG/MSc) [Priestnall et al, 2009]
- 11. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Aims To assess a range of techniques for exploring the use of digital geographic information to augment real scenes in the field Create a student-led exercise to encourage critical evaluation of these techniques to support the field experience (and mobile tourist guides).
- 12. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Approach • Fieldwork – education in the field... mobile! • 3rd year Geography undergraduates + some MSc • ‘Mobile and Field GIS’ module, focus on appropriate use of Geographic Information in a landscape context • Student presentations • Videos + observation • Follow-up focus groups
- 13. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011
- 14. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Study area ‘On the ground’ study area Study area determined by visibility map
- 15. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Supporting learning about the landscape Eric Robson (Striding Edge Ltd) Sir Hugh Walpole Video
- 16. 1. Computer-generated Acetate Newcastle University, 19 May 2011
- 17. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011
- 18. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 2. Custom PDA-based application
- 19. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Screen visibility is an issue … this is as good as it gets
- 20. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 3. Mediascape on a mobile phone Audio of Wainwright VIDEO from Derwent Water Wainwright OS Photo
- 21. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Phone-based mediascapes
- 22. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 4. Google Earth on a Tablet PC
- 23. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 5. Head-Mounted Display
- 24. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011
- 25. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011
- 26. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Summary of student findings • Computer-generated acetate: + Successful format/simple, ‘electronic acetates’ a vision for the future? - Difficult in windy conditions, predetermined viewpoints a drawback. • Custom PDA application: + Sketching, legend & audio popular (but relevance?) - Stability, incl. GPS connectivity. Screen visibility in bright sunlight. • Mediascape on a mobile phone + Easy authoring (control over media placement) - Screen size and visibility, graphical media less effective. • Google Earth on a tablet PC + Large screen and Google Earth’s data exploration environment popular - Screen visibility, battery life, pen-based interaction (GE designed for desktop) • Head-Mounted Display + Fun, engaging, good for heavily graphical information - Technical complexity, robustness, heavy, not waterproof!
- 27. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Reflections on exercise • Relating digital information to features in the real world – How can digital representations be mapped onto the real world by the user – Information doesn't always relate to neat trigger regions – How do we mimic the in-field expert pointing things out? • In-field evaluation – Asking students to develop their own evaluation schema – Video diaries a promising technique • The role of graphics – Seek alternatives to heavily graphical representations – More emphasis on design of audio for in-field use. • Ease of use – Even tech-savvy students didn’t have time for complex mapping apps – The demand for simplicity was in evidence across all interactions
- 28. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Implications and future work Beginning to exploit real-time Caistor Roman Town, handheld Augmented Reality, East Anglia, UK. Data from Will Bowden and review evaluation (Archaeology) framework Need to develop design rules for mobile field guides which mimic the field expert. Reduced emphasis on graphics, new challenges in making geographically relevant audio. Google Maps Simple but effective? – all new geospatial and Navigation for handheld augmented reality applications will Android 2.0 need to strive to move from being novelty apps to becoming killer apps.
- 29. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Audio in location • Used extensively in mobile gaming, tourism, educational visits and theatrical events • Can be used for directional purposes, orientation or task-based activities/instruction • Provide information, tell a story or create ambient sounds such as birdsong or machinery
- 30. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Spoken audio experiences We have proposed 3 categories: • Audio vignettes • Movement-based guides • Mobile narratives [FitzGerald et al, 2010]
- 31. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Audio vignettes • Short pieces of audio triggered by movement from the user • No history of where the user has been • No adaptivity based on previous movement • Users engage with chunks of audio that are independent of each other and of their relative locations • E.g. Riot! 1831 – interactive play in Bristol [Reid et al, 2005]
- 32. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Movement-based guides • The aim is to adapt information to objects or surroundings • Interaction and adaptivity is based on user movement/ orientation/physical position • E.g. CAGE system [Rudman et al, 2008]
- 33. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Mobile narratives • An audio narrative based on the sequence of movements carried out by the user • Audio heard by a user will depend upon where the user goes to (and has come from) • Differs from a movement-based guide: – Stronger story-telling component – Level of dependency upon the previous audio segment • Can present different perspectives/characters • E.g. History Unwired [Epstein and Vergani, 2006]
- 34. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Case study: A Chaotic Encounter • Movement-based guide + mobile narrative • An entertaining audio story, based on Nottingham folktales, which adapts its content to reflect the listener’s movement patterns • Each segment of audio has a low, medium or high ‘chaos’ rating (low = few characters, mundane storyline; high = many characters, surreal storyline) • User’s movement (speed, direction) determines what chaos rating the next audio segment is • Automatic and manual modes
- 35. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Findings from case study • All enjoyed the audio experiences – very immersive • Some confusion from users when in automatic mode – unsure of what to do • But manual mode less enjoyable due to the interruptions by users having to interact with the system • Some inaccuracies reported with GPS • Additional work being done with conversational narrative for audio guides
- 36. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Ad hoc learning in location • Anyone can be a field guide, through creation and delivery of user-generated geolocated content • Enables learning in location through serendipitous discovery of media placement • In-field authoring and editing of content • Enables reflection by user, either at the time or later on
- 37. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 A framework for authoring Use of language/media Type of Knowledge level Interaction – Landscape domain related to the Contextual aspects communication of content try to include: landscape •form of •suggestion •describe shape, •Domain-specific: Temporal: •authenticity landscape •hint or colour, size • beginner •is this info related to •relevance to •common warning •use emotions or the time of year or the everyday life • intermediate knowledge •conversation personal response seasons? •element of fun where appropriate • advanced •science •is this info related to •practical task •anything unusual •use simple English • specialist time of day? •history •reminiscence (short, commonly- •age-related? or unexpected •contemporary used words) where •short textual (children might not •visibility of the use possible •opportunity for description have the same landscape and its •myth reflection by the •exhortation •avoid jargon but knowledge or level features/landmarks user •symbol do use appropriate of understanding (e.g. ‘look language as an adult) •respect for •art carefully’) Available resources: •Needs prior others and for •be culturally •other people the environment sensitive knowledge? •experts •the story behind •be clear and •leaflets the visible (e.g. concise photosynthesis in •orient the visitor •notices/signs a leaf) appropriately
- 38. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Analysis of existing content • Analysed 3 systems that contained user-created content: – OOKL – Peoples’ Collection Wales – WildMap Number of items (out of 217) Media type: Percentage (%) that contained that media type: … text 204 94.0 … audio 12 5.5 … video 2 0.9 … 1 photo 166 76.5 … 2 or more photos 33 15.2 … web link (URL) 13 6.0
- 39. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Findings – 1 • Landscape domain: – Science: in 36.9% of items; – Art 30%, contemporary use 29%, history 26%, symbol 23%, common knowledge 18%. • Type of communication – Short textual description (88%); – Reminiscence (9%); suggestion or exhortation (7%); practical task (5%); introduction (4%); hint or warning (2%) and conversation (1%).
- 40. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Findings – 2 • Use of language/media related to the landscape – 30% written in simple English; clear and concise (21%); and without unnecessary jargon (15%) – 68% of items contained more detailed descriptions (of shape/form/colour – as both text and images) – Emotions or personal responses apparent in 10% of the items – Visitor orientation mentioned in 6% of items
- 41. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Findings – 3 • Knowledge level of content – Age-related/domain-specific content present in a very small number of items (2% and 1%) – Need for prior knowledge in only 5% of items • Contextual aspects – Temporal issues in only 7% of media items – Most commonly-mentioned resource was actual item or artefact (found in 14% of the items) – Other available resources were not well-used (e.g. other people; models/physical representations; notices and signs; experts and leaflets)
- 42. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Findings – 4 • Interaction (try to include) – Most prevalent aspect was that of ‘the story behind the visible’ = 25% of items – Something unusual or unexpected: 13% – Relevance to everyday life: 13% – Authenticity: 12% – Opportunity for reflection by the user: 11% – Respect for others and for the environment: 6%
- 43. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Impact of this work • Content analysis can guide creation of social media/provide framework for authoring and aid metacognition • Help curation of social media + tagging/filtering; potential for personalisation • Media created should be of higher quality • Use the framework to structure learning aims and outcomes
- 44. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Summary • Whistle-stop tour of location-based mobile learning • Selection of case studies – Overview of related research – Tree walk, augmenting the visitor experience, audio guides • Ad hoc learning in location
- 45. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 References • Carlson, A. (2001). "Education for Appreciation: What is the Correct Curriculum for Landscape?" Journal of Aesthetic Education 35(4): pp97-112. • Epstein, M. and Vergani, S. (2006). History Unwired: Mobile Narrative in Historic Cities. Proceedings of the Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI ’06), Venezia, Italy, pp. 302-305. • FitzGerald, E., Sharples, M., Jones, R. and G. Priestnall (2010) Guidelines for the design of location-based audio for mobile learning. Proceedings of the mLearn 2010 Conference, Valletta, Malta, pp 24-31 • Priestnall, G., Brown, E., Sharples, M. and Polmear, G. (2009). A student-led comparison of techniques for augmenting the field experience. Proceedings of mLearn 2009, Orlando, Florida, pp. 195-198. • Reid, J., Hull, R., Cater, K. and Clayton, B. (2005). Riot! 1831: The design of a location based audio drama. Proceedings of the 3rd UK-UbiNet Workshop, Bath, UK, pp. 1-2. • Rudman, P. D., Sharples, M., Vavoula, G. N., Lonsdale, P. and Meek, J. (2008) Cross-context learning. In L. Tallon and K. Walker (eds.) Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience: Handheld Guides and Other Media. Lanham, MD: Alta Mira Press, pp. 147-166.
- 46. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 Thanks for listening… elizabeth.fitzgerald@nottingham.ac.uk http://lsri.nottingham.ac.uk/ejb Acknowledgements: Gary Priestnall, Mike Sharples, Rob Jones, Brian Elliston, James Goulding, Adam Moore, Tim Brailsford and students from the School of Geography
- 47. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 My PhD: overview “The use of learning styles in adaptive hypermedia” • I wanted to find out if these user models were beneficial, from a quantitative perspective • Two case studies: – WHURLE • a revision guide, used with undergraduates • visual/verbal learning style preference – DEUS • a web-based e-learning system, used with primary school children • global/sequential learning style preference
- 48. Newcastle University, 19 May 2011 My PhD: outcomes • 2 key contributions to the field: – Learning styles used in this way do not seem to be effective at “improving learning” – The issue of objective user evaluation, from a quantitative perspective, that address the limitations/controversies of the study • Encouraged debate amongst researchers and practitioners in relation to appropriate modelling of user characteristics • Statistical analysis, sample size and effect size
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Abstract: Mobile computing is now a reality for many of us in our everyday lives. We are continually on-the-go and demand that our technology keep pace with us. An emerging area of mobile computing is that of location-awareness, where our smartphones and PDAs utilise GPS or cell tower triangulation to provide location-based services and apps, direct to our devices, wherever we happen to be. In this talk, I will discuss the potential for mobile learning to take place in location, via a series of case studies, and also present an educational framework to guide the design of location-based learning experiences. I will also demonstrate how user-generated content can be used to provide location-specific knowledge or data, drawing upon examples from historical and biological subject areas
- PI project – Designing for Evidence-based Inquiry Learning across Formal and Informal Settings The University of Nottingham and the Open University are partners in a £1.2m project to help school students learn the skills of modern science. The three year project, funded by the UK ESRC and EPSRC research councils, is developing a new approach of 'scripted inquiry learning', where children aged 11-14 investigate a science topic with classmates by carrying out explorations between their classroom, homes and discovery centres, guided by a personal computer. Some researchers are focusing specifically on mathematics education. Brendan Tangney [CRITE, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland] is investigating learning mathematics via mobile technology in a real‐world setting (e.g. estimating the height of a building/monument using the accelerometer of a phone (angle) and GPS distance, or calculating it with estimates on the basis of photographs). Monica Wijers and Vincent Jonker [Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands] discussed their work with MobileMath, a GPS‐based game to help students learn maths and geography by creating a virtual shape in a real world playing field. Jonker is looking to extend this work with an idea called “living points of interest [POI]”, The current idea behind LivingPOI is to design gameplays for a set of 6 mini‐games that fit within the boundaries of a playground at school where all children have a RFID‐tag (passive or active) and where three RFID readers are placed around the playground in order to log all geo‐positions during a 10 to 20 minutes gameplay. Jonker’s ideas for mini‐games include: • development of an epidemic virus • making geographical patterns like squares, triangles • measuring density during a game where all children move from one place to another on the playground Lyons: investigated the use of mobile devices to support co‐located, synchronous collaborative learning activities in formal learning environments (classrooms) and informal learning environments (science museums) Cook: In the 1930’s Vygotsky proposed the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) as follows: “ It is the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential problem solving as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.” (Vygotsky, 1978/1930) user generated content and augmented communication contexts Augmented Context for Development – components include the physical environment (e.g. Cistercian Abbey); (ii) pedagogical plan provided in advance by the tutor; (iii) tools for visualisation/augmentation oriented approach that create an umbrella ‘Augmented Context for Development’ for location based mobile devices (acts as part of the substitute for Vygotsky’s “more capable peer”); (iv) learner co-constructed ‘temporal context for development,’ created within wider Augmented Context for Development through (v) Collaborative learners’ interpersonal interactions using tools (e.g. language, mobiles etc) and signs; (vi) these aforementioned elements (i-v) lead to intrapersonal representations of the above functions. CELSTEC - Within the MACE project – delivery, creation, and metadata enrichment of architectural content on mobile devices. The MACE content can be delivered to the mobile device using location‐based and augmented reality browser, such as Aloqa and Layar that utilise the available contextual metadata. On the basis of search filters, where the created content is enriched with metadata specifying certain values of these filters the “ContextBlogger” client uses a GPS location‐based filter that provides the users with MACE content about the real‐world objects in their vicinity. The client combines social software, a weblog, with information about the context of a learner. With “Locatory”, an augmented reality game has been developed. The game builds upon an open source augmented reality framework for mobile devices to render virtual artefacts that are laid over an image of the real world. The goal of this project was to explore learning scenarios especially games the make use of Augmented Reality (AR).
- Audio vignettes: Short pieces of audio triggered by movement from the user - No history of where the user has been - No adaptivity based on previous movement Users engage with chunks of audio that are independent of each other and of their relative locations E.g. Riot! 1831 – interactive play in Bristol [Reid et al , 2005] Movement-based guides, where the aim is to adapt information to objects or surroundings, and the interaction and adaptivity is based on user movement; The aim is to adapt information to objects or surroundings. Interaction and adaptivity is based on user movement/ orientation/physical position E.g. CAGE system [Rudman et al , 2008]. Mobile narratives, where an audio narrative is performed based on a sequence of user movements. Audio heard by a user will depend upon where the user goes to (and has come from); Differs from a movement-based guide: Stronger story-telling component Level of dependency upon the previous audio segment Can present different perspectives/characters E.g. History Unwired [Epstein and Vergani, 2006] These three forms of audio guide have some common properties and requirements (e.g. audio as the main means of delivery), some differences (e.g. whether the audio should be independent of previous location, adaptive to it, or cumulative), and some dependencies on the particular design goal (e.g. whether, and how, the users should be explicitly informed of the relation between their movement and the audio).
- The CAGE system was a prototype movement-based guide designed for a city art gallery (Rudman et al. , 2008). The location of the user was determined by an ultrasonic positioning system that was accurate to about 10cm. The user received audio through headphones, that continually adapted to: the nearest painting (as determined by the ultrasound positioning system); the length of time at a painting (the system assumed that the longer a person stayed at one place, the more they were interested in that painting); and the previous time at the position (the content was only repeated on request).
- ‘ MyArtSpace’ was a project that encouraged children visiting an art gallery or museum to record their experiences, using mobile devices, through the collection of artefacts (coded with 2-letter tags) and also enabled their own creation and upload of images, sounds and text. These multimedia were accessed after the trip and facilitated later reflection in a classroom setting, thus bridging informal and formal learning (Vavoula et al. , 2009). MyArtSpace has now evolved into OOKL and is used by museums and other venues across the UK to digitise, re-present and promote the artefacts contained within each venue so that visitors might find a new way of interacting with them, both at the time of the visit and afterwards. Initially with an emphasis on museums, art galleries and botanic gardens, there is also the potential to use OOKL in open spaces and zoos. In the past, the user base has largely consisted of schools and their pupils; however OOKL can also be used now by the general public. The data examined from OOKL consisted of ten different ‘stories’ that were published and made available to the OOKL community via the OOKL website. The ten stories comprised of 117 media items (an average of 11.7 media items per story). A story is created by a user as a reflection of their visit to a particular location or venue; the user records and uploads media items when visiting the location (images, audio or text – mobile creation of video is not currently supported) and later organises these into a record of their visit, which can be viewed online or downloaded as a PowerPoint file. The stories were selected at random but attempted to include a number of different venues in order to test the framework as extensively as possible. Venues included Kew Gardens, the D Day museum, a National Trust park, an environmental education centre in London and various urban locations. Peoples’ Collection Wales (Casgliad y Bobl) is a bilingual online resource and mobile phone app (Trails Cymru) aimed at collecting, interpreting, distributing and discussing the cultural heritage of Wales . It is a repository for existing digitised content from authoratitive sources as well as allowing users to upload their own multimedia relating to Welsh life and the history of Wales and its people. It allows for different sorts of categories to be created, such as themes, collections, stories or groups. Geographical trails can also be produced, that relate to location-specific artefacts; these trails can be created or viewed via a GPS-enabled mobile phone (Android OS or iPhone) to enable learning to take place in location. It is not geared towards a particular age group, but is inclusive to a large user base, whilst serving those primarily living in or visiting Wales. http://www.peoplescollectionwales.co.uk/ Wild Maps is one of the tools provided by WildKnowledge, a company that specialises in delivering and uploading of mobile content via the Web for educational purposes. Like OOKL, it has a background in providing services and platforms for schools although it too has expanded to include new audiences such as tourists and also those working in the healthcare sector. WildKnowledge has a suite of four tools:WildForm, WildKey, WildImage and WildMap. WildForm is a way of recording data electronically, replacing traditional pen-and-paper forms. It can automate some of the data gathering, such as date/time/GPS location etc. WildKey is an interactive decision tree (or branching database) tool that provides mobile decision support and was originally created to support biological field work, where pupils would use WildKey to identify flora and fauna. WildImage allows users to annotate images with metadata (named ‘Designated/Personal Interest Points’) that can itself contain images, text, web links, audio, video, forms and quizzes. WildMap, which was used here, allows users to create trails or tours that contain specific interest points (i.e. media items). Community-created WildMaps can be published on the WildKnowledge website and downloaded to any web-enabled mobile device. Three community-generated maps were available from the WildKnowledge website, however two of these were either empty or had been used as tests and only contained ‘trial’content. The remaining map contained 68 interest points (media items) which were then analysed using this framework. The map was a tour around a churchyard and focussed mostly upon the gravestones/stonework and the natural surroundings of the area.
- However, these are still quite low numbers and suggest that the majority of the content analysed could be understood by a large sector of Internet users. For contextual aspects (column 5), temporal issues relating to the year or seasons were mentioned in 6.9% of media items most commonly-mentioned available resource in the area was that of an actual item or artefact (found in 13.8% of the items) Other available resources were not well-used: ‘other people’ and ‘models/physical representations’ were only mentioned in 3 items out of 217 (1.4%), whilst ‘notices and signs’ only mentioned in 1 item (0.5%) and experts and leaflets not at all.
- Under the final column from Table 1, of ‘interaction’ (column 6), the most prevalent aspect was that of ‘the story behind the visible’ - 25% of items. something unusual or unexpected was apparent in 13.4% of the items. relevance to everyday life (12.9%); authenticity (12%), opportunity for reflection by the user (11.1%) and respect for others and for the environment (6%).
- But remains untested with real users or teachers
- The major contribution of this work relates to the experimental approach and data analysis, which states that for certain groups of users, some types of learning style do not seem to provide an effective way of providing personalised learning. In particular, this research focuses on the use of visual/verbal learning style amongst university students and sequential/global learning style amongst 9-11 year old children. The evidence for these conclusions is quantitative in nature and uses participants’ test scores as the basis for testing with several statistical techniques including ANOVA, Chi-square (2) tests, Pearson correlations and multiple regressions. The minor contribution addresses the issue of objective user evaluation, concentrating on a quantitative methodological perspective. It is clear from a survey of existing research that empirical evaluations are either not widely practiced or are not conducted to an appropriately high quality yet it seems to be the best way to quantifiably test the effect of a particular intervention. Whilst it is true that quantitative methods do not give us all the information that might be gleaned from a user trial, they are a useful and scientifically-accepted measure of success. Qualitative methods are also helpful but they tend to give different information, such as why something has happened, not if it has happened in the first place
- The major contribution of this work relates to the experimental approach and data analysis, which states that for certain groups of users, some types of learning style do not seem to provide an effective way of providing personalised learning. In particular, this research focuses on the use of visual/verbal learning style amongst university students and sequential/global learning style amongst 9-11 year old children. The evidence for these conclusions is quantitative in nature and uses participants’ test scores as the basis for testing with several statistical techniques including ANOVA, Chi-square (2) tests, Pearson correlations and multiple regressions. The minor contribution addresses the issue of objective user evaluation, concentrating on a quantitative methodological perspective. It is clear from a survey of existing research that empirical evaluations are either not widely practiced or are not conducted to an appropriately high quality yet it seems to be the best way to quantifiably test the effect of a particular intervention. Whilst it is true that quantitative methods do not give us all the information that might be gleaned from a user trial, they are a useful and scientifically-accepted measure of success. Qualitative methods are also helpful but they tend to give different information, such as why something has happened, not if it has happened in the first place