Creation Of Android Applications For Teaching And Learning

The Sixth International Conference On Transformations In Engineering Education 2019

Abstract

Mobile Technology enables educators to wind up more portable, synergistic and inventive. This paper depicts development of versatile classroom application called MyClassroom for higher education institutions. The mobile app includes development of an android app for teacher and students to keep students engaged and focused in the classroom. It is designed to give content creators and educators the ability to go paperless and centralize their eLearning materials in one cloud-based location.

Introduction

The exploration demonstrates that students depend for the most part on their mobile phones to keep them sorted out. The date-book, alerts and camera (ordinarily to take photographs of an educator's notes) are includes always utilized by students, the report notes. By and large, this investigation recommends that cell phones are a reasonable learning device for the classroom. There is clear confirmation that numerous students feel that they are getting instructive advantage from the utilization of their gadgets. They are utilizing a significant number of the highlights of their gadgets and regularly finding imaginative approaches to utilize these highlights in their schoolwork, both at home and at school [1].

Griffith [2] stresses that ―students are by all account not the only ones bringing electronic gadgets to school but few instructors are likewise capable at innovation in the midst of the technological gap among them and the students.

PBS LearningMedia [3] reveals that just about 74% of all instructors studied said they utilize teaching digital tools like tablets. In like manner, it is uncovered that a versatile classroom management application is seen to be exceedingly worthy. Specifically, the adequacy of the instructor teachers towards the improvement of a convenient classroom supervisor is high, positive, and empowering.

This paper presents the development of a mobile classroom application. The app provides e-mail cum notification alerts for Tutorials and Quizzes conducted by respective faculty for a batch, one can easily view and download the syllabus, course materials and easy solutions and students can retrieve Past papers and its solutions. Teachers can set reminders for viva, quizzes, practical, lecture cancellations and tutorials. Night mode is being worked upon for reducing strain on eyes while using the app during night time or in low light environment thereby removing the hassle of accessing the intranet everytime for college stuff.

Methodology

Professors and college students are increasingly turning to the messaging tool to stay in touch beyond school hours. Not only are some instructors hosting text-based “office hours” on the platform, they are even pushing important reminders through the app to their students, just in case.

There is a better way of keeping attendance, grades, and class notes than in easily misplaced notebooks or on random pieces of paper. As a digital gradebook and classroom management app, Additio lets you take attendance, calculate grades, and plan your timetable, all on your mobile device, performance analytics and note-keeping. Chances are you’re already familiar with Dropbox. The service and accompanying application are terrific when it comes time to upload and store presentation photos, assignments, videos, and anything else you might need to access while at home or in the classroom. The dedicated app also lets you create and edit Microsoft Office files on your mobile device, and moreover, share file links with your students so you don’t have to clutter their inbox with a cacophony of enormous files.

Using Easy sign-in with any platform, Firebase Authentication aims to make building secure authentication systems easy, while improving the sign-in and onboarding experience for end users. It provides an end-to-end identity solution, supporting email and password accounts, phone auth, and Google, Twitter, Facebook, and GitHub login, and more. Store and sync app data at global scale using Cloud Firestore is a NoSQL document database that lets you easily store, sync, and query data for your mobile and web apps - at global scale. Powerful, realtime crash reporting. Firebase Crashlytics helps you track, prioritize, and fix stability issues that erode app quality, in realtime. Spend less time triaging and troubleshooting crashes and more time building app features that delight users.

Student Portal interface of the Appresults and discussion

This app provides Remote accessibility as per the convenience of the students with basic internet connection, effective student – teacher interactions, Secure Professor Portal, Easy access of the app through existing student and teacher IDs. It is Platform for sharing notes by teachers, Course materials for students in few clicks. The app has all subjects’ previous years’ papers at one single platform which were earlier accessible only via college intranet, thereby providing easier access to the relevant documents and also solutions of the previous year papers at minimal cost. The user need not worry about crash reporting as it is being handled using Crashlytics. App is integrated with Notification system to students about assignment submission, deadlines, practicals, vivas, tutorials, lecture cancellations, etc. For payment, Online net banking payment and PayPal option to help promote “Digital India”. There is Email based query resolving platform “Ask a Doubt”.

In our Payment Module, we’ve used the single payment process. Single Payment is an ideal payment process to execute only one payment at a time. Through single payments, you can receive immediate payment from a customer’s PayPal account or payment card (scanned with card.io). For single payments, your app can accept PayPal and credit-card payments. We’ve also included the net banking option as it provides with a smooth and clean user interface as well as a secure gateway for transaction of currency. User holding accounts in different banks can access them through the net banking option. After logging into the Bank account, the amount of Easy Solution fee is displayed on the top and one can proceed to pay by clicking on the pay button. After the successful payment, the payment id, the amount and the status of transaction is displayed. In the business account of MyClassroom, the transaction logs and the reciepts of transactions are made available to the payer as well as the payee.

Conclusion

We have found great results in our consistent goal to create an app that have some centralized place where teacher can upload course material used during his/her lectures which includes sharing lecture notes and presentation slides, reference documents, etc. with students making it easier for students to access it rather than teacher uploading it on Google classroom or sending all these documents via email which gets lined up with all other unnecessary documents/emails and ultimately make it difficult to search.

Acknowledgements

We thank Prof.(Dr.) Sridhar Iyer and Prof. (Dr.) Mrinal Patwardhan, IIT Bombay and their team for their valuable inputs and sharing their knowledge and expertise.