Designing a Groupware with Handheld Devices for Learning Mathematics

This study proposed a groupware and a flow of learning activity to guide students in learning arithmetic word problem with handheld devices. Appropriating the concept of semi-situated learning which was aided by the 4-frame comic embedded into the PDA, this study expected the comic to play as a catalyst to trigger students in articulating some theme associated with the content of the 4-frame comic. The scenario and features of this groupware are presented in the paper and a preliminary study at an elementary school is also described and discussed.