📝 Abstract

This article focuses on the possibilities of using mobile learning in the Bulgarian preschool education of young children. The state preschool educational regulations are presented and discussed. The problem concerning the children’s safety when using mobile devices in terms of access to information on the Internet is revealed and analyzed. Two conceptual models of applications for mobile learning aimed at preschool children are designed. Their advantages and disadvantages are outlined and discussed. Keywords - mobile applications for children, mobile learning, design of mobile learning component, software engineering

💡 Analysis

This article focuses on the possibilities of using mobile learning in the Bulgarian preschool education of young children. The state preschool educational regulations are presented and discussed. The problem concerning the children’s safety when using mobile devices in terms of access to information on the Internet is revealed and analyzed. Two conceptual models of applications for mobile learning aimed at preschool children are designed. Their advantages and disadvantages are outlined and discussed. Keywords - mobile applications for children, mobile learning, design of mobile learning component, software engineering

📄 Content

(IJCSIS) International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, Vol. 14, No. 5, May 2016

A Conceptual Design of Mobile Learning Applications for Preschool Children

Radoslava Kraleva#, Velin Kralev#, Dafina Kostadinova*

Department of Informatics, South West University “Neofit Rilski”, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

• Department of Germanic and Romance Studies, South West University “Neofit Rilski”, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

Abstract— This article focuses on the possibilities of using mobile learning in the Bulgarian preschool education of young children. The state preschool educational regulations are presented and discussed. The problem concerning the children’s safety when using mobile devices in terms of access to information on the Internet is revealed and analyzed. Two conceptual models of applications for mobile learning aimed at preschool children are designed. Their advantages and disadvantages are outlined and discussed. Keywords – mobile applications for children; mobile learning; design of mobile learning component; software engineering I. INTRODUCTION Mobile technologies have made significant progress in its development within the recent years. They have become an integral part of people’s daily life [1]. Therefore, the great interest in the use of mobile technology in education is easy to understand. It was only a few years ago when the only teaching practices related to computer devices were the distance learning (e-learning) and ubiquitous learning (u-learning). Today it is mobile learning (m-learning) that is in the focus of attention and a number of scientists from all over the world work on its development and distribution. Such research is presented in [2], [3], [4] and in many others. The term mobile learning denotes the use of mobile applications installed on a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) that are used in the education process at school and at university [5]. The implementation of mobile learning is not a simple process, especially when it is aimed at young children’s learning. It is closely related not only with the authors of textbooks, teachers, children (students), but also with the parents who have a crucial influence on the way their children perceive the outer world: they play an important role in the formation of their character, interests and social behavior. The phenomenon of this influence is represented in detail in [6]. The opinion of parents represents an essential part of the process that is associated with the implementation of this new type of learning of young children. In order to obtain an objective assessment of their attitude regarding this subject an inquiry research among parents of children of different ages was made and the results from it were published in [7]. The data obtained from this study revealed that more than 90% of the parents support the idea of using mobile learning. This article came as a natural addition and further elaboration of the analyses and studies made in [7]. To claim that a certain textbook is good and meets the standards it must comply with the State Educational Regulations (SER) for the respective age group. However, these regulations are different for different countries. Therefore, for the purposes of this investigation the SER in Bulgaria must be presented and analyzed. Last but not least, special attention should be paid to the safety of children when using any computing devices that provide connection to the World Wide Web. Unlike similar articles that focus on the technical specification of the software for mobile learning [8], here the optimal balance between the quality of the presented model, the skills of the users (mainly children) and the provision of transparent and safe way of learning will be sought. On this introductory background the main goal of this study may be defined as follows: to present a generalized framework of applications suitable for mobile learning by preschool children, so as the State Education Regulations should be met and the safety of children in terms of access to information on the Internet be provided. To achieve the goal several tasks have been set in this study:  Presenting the preschool SER in Bulgaria;  Discussing the safety of children when using mobile devices;  Analysis of the interface limitations associated with mobile devices;  Summarizing the requirements for mobile learning applications for young children;  Designing a generalized conceptual framework of applications for mobile learning. 259 https://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis/ ISSN 1947-5500 (IJCSIS) International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, Vol. 14, No. 5, May 2016

II. ANALYSIS OF STATE EDUCATIONAL REGULATIONS As mentioned in the introduction, when it comes to developing new learning tools it is important to analyze the State Educational Regulations (SER). Regulations concern

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