4. Qualitative research

This chapter describes the qualitative research that was done after the experiment, to obtain reasons for the results the experiment yielded.

After the research had completed, the reflective reports of both groups were marked, using the standard  evaluation criteria. Comparison of the marks of both groups did not reveal any significant differences, both in terms of contents of the reflection or the quality of the reflection.

After the course, a short evaluation took place, in which the students indicated they did not use their moblogs very frequently during the course (in spite of all the support); some even said they had used it to a minimal extent. In order to find out the reasons why the students had been reluctant to use their moblogs during the course, the researcher chose to conduct a semi-structured group interview with the experimental group (1B). According to Baarda & de Goede (2001), an interview is especially useful for learning why people choose or choose not to do certain things, as opposed to just gathering what people do. In addition, if an interview contains many open questions that require elaborate answers from the respondents, an oral interview is to be preferred to a paper-based questionnaire. Another benefit of using oral interviews is that it allows the researcher to follow up on certain questions. If a respondent e.g. indicates that they have not fully understood the question, the interviewer can clarify.
Downside of conducting oral interviews is that respondents may be prone to answering what the interviewer may like to hear, instead of telling their true thoughts (Baarda & de Goede, 2001). In this case, the students generally indicated they did not see the added value of moblogging in learning, even though they knew the study programme was looking for positive results in this area. It seems that the point of social desirability can therefore be dismissed.
According to Baarda & de Goede (2001), another downside is that interviews do not always yield reliable information, because a respondent may not always be aware of their own behaviour. This is certainly something that could play a role in this interview. For example, what if a student indicates that they do not see the point of using mobile phones in formal learning processes, but subconsciously use it anyway, for example by texting a fellow student, asking them for feedback?
For reasons of practicality, a group interview as opposed to individual interviews was chosen.

Thirteen students were present during the group interview.

The group interview showed that the group had not really used moblogging to its full extent during the research; i.e. they only tried to use their phones a number of times because of the research, but they also continued using the reflection tools they used during previous courses, like a paper-based log book, or their e-portfolio log book. Even if there had been any differences in the quality of reflection, this could not have been because of the use of moblogging; for that, the usage was too little.

Below you can find the questions used in the group interview. Below each question you will find a summary of the students’ answers.

• How often did you use moblogging to record reflections during the learning process?

Most students (11) indicated they recorded their reflections at least a couple of times, especially at the beginning of the course. Two students never started because of technical difficulties that occured a number of times during the course of the research (e.g. connection drops, the moblog system that was temporarily unavailable). Technical difficulties were discussed in the sessions that were held during the research, but these students failed to mention their difficulties in these sessions. The students indicated they especially tried it at the beginning of the course, because of this research project but also out of curiosity to try new ways of recording reflections.

“T tried it a few times at the beginning of the course, right after the  mobile blogging workshop. After a while I stopped. I found it easier to just grab a pen and jot down my experiences, in stead of fiddling with the keypad of my mobile phone.”

“I took a picture of when we were working together on a report, but I never uploaded it to my blog. I did upload them at first, but then I stopped seeing the point, and I had captured the experience anyway. I just accessed the pictures on my phoen, without going to the moblog system.”

“I liked uploading short reflections to Numpa at first, it was a fun way to post reflections. Then I found that this way was actually too limited, the message size is too short to really post useful information. I also tried to type in text messsages and save them on my phone in stead of uploading them to Numpa. This also seemed to work ok for me.”

• Which functionalities did you use to record them: photo, video, audio, etc. Did you like these? Why (not?)

Most students tried either taking pictures or uploading short messages to the Numpa server. One student used their mobile phone as a voice recorder and used this way of recording reflections throughout the course. This was a method that had not been described in the manual or discussed in the workshop, she found out this method herself.

“I thought it was a very quick way of recording reflections. In stead of writing stuff down, I could just grab my mobile and speak out my thoughts about the project and record it. It has helped me to write a coherent reflective analysis report in the end”.

Students also indicated that they saw it as a fun way to try new methods of recording reflections, but when the experimentation phase was over, most of them saw no use for it and they stopped using it. The sessions that were held during the course of the research did not encourage them to pick it up again.

“It’s fun at the beginning, fiddling around with all these new possibilities

• Did you use your mobile phone throughout the course, or was there a time when you stopped using it? If so, when?

Most students (11 out of 13) indicated they stopped using their moblogs well before the end of the course. Only two remained using their device until the end of the course and continued updating their moblogs.

• If you did stop, why?

The students indicate a number of reasons for this.

- it did not become a part of their natural routine:

“After a while I reverted back to my paper-based log book and my portfolio. I often ‘forgot’ that I could have used my mobile for recording something that had happened during the project. It’s just not in my system to use a mobile phone for that, and I doubt that it ever will.”

- Technical difficulties, or technical boundaries:

““Now, it’s just too much of a hassle. You have to take out your mobile phone, activate the camera or the video function, shoot something, then create an MMS message to upload your multimedia and wait for this all to finish. After a few times you stop uploading your pictures, and even later you just stop alltogether. The manual that we were given at the beginning of the course gave clear instructions on how to set up your mobile and I know that we had sessions in between that we could use for technical questions, but you do not want to rely on these, you just want to go on.”

• If you stopped, what would have to change in order for you to use it?

A number of students indicated that if moblogging software would be incorporated on their device, and the software would be really user-friendly, they might actually use it:

“I wish my camera phone just had a simple button that said something like ‘upload to blog’, I might have used it then. Creating messages to upload stuff is just too much of a hassle.”.

“I just couldn’t get the MMS settings right; uploading an MMS would just occasionally work, but most of the time it did not. It is probably because of my phone contract, the manual and the meetings did not help me resolve these issues. This just frustrated me alltogether. I could have used SMS instead but I didn’t like that, because it was too simple. Moblogging should be as simple as sending a text message though”.

•  Would you use your mobile phone again (e.g. in another course) to record your reflections? If so, how?

Only one student indicated that they might use moblogging again in the future, for a different course and outside of this research project.

“I do not think we are that generation yet, the generation that incorporates their mobile phone into everything. It’s just a part of our personal lives, I would not want to see it as an instrument of learning. That connection would just never come up in my head. A mobile phone is something you use for your personal use and your free time.”

Perhaps if they make the technology easier to use, I would use it. Now it’s just too much of a hassle to seriously consider using it”.

The qualitative research shows a number of reasons why students did not use moblogging to its full extent. The next chapter discusses flaws in the research methods used, and recommendations for further research.