Task-based student-centred approach in mobile learning to support 21st century skills in English subject

Abstract

Mobile learning has been expanding across different sectors of education worldwide. Student-centred learning is a learning style that emphasises students’ full participation in teaching and learning process in the classroom. Students are given the opportunity to make choices based on the problem given by educators. The 21st century skills in learning have been widely used in today’s education system. Thus, if today’s students want to compete in this global society, they must be proficient communicators, creators, critical thinkers and collaborators (the “4Cs”). There are various mobile learning approaches have been implemented in the education sector. However, one major challenge in mobile learning is to find the most suitable approach for teachers and students to adapt with it. Thus, finding and applying a suitable mobile learning approach is crucial to support teaching and learning in the classroom. This research proposed a task-based student-centred approach to support 21st century skills in English subject in a mobile learning enviroment. A prototype tool was developed to keep track students’ progress and performance in their group works. The research finding shows that the proposed approach could help students in mastering the 4Cs skills. Moreover, the students also gave positive feedback on the prototype tool.