Peng, H., Chuang, P.-Y., Hwang, G.-J., Chu, H.-C., Wu, T.-T., & Huang, S.-X. (2009). Ubiquitous Performance-support System as Mindtool: A Case Study of Instructional Decision Making and Learning Assistant. Educational Technology & Society, 12 (1), 107–120. 107 ISSN 1436-4522 (online) and 1176-3647 (print). © International Forum of Educational Technology & Society (IFETS). The authors and the forum jointly retain the copyright of the articles. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than IFETS must be honoured. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from the editors at kinshuk@ieee.org. Ubiquitous Performance-support System as Mindtool: A Case Study of Instructional Decision Making and Learning Assistant Hsinyi Peng and Po-Ya Chuang Institute of Education, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan // hpeng@mail.nctu.edu.tw // poya@dato.idv.tw Gwo-Jen Hwang * , Hui-Chun Chu, Ting-Ting Wu and Shu-Xian Huang Department of Information and Learning Technology, National University of Tainan, Tainan city 70005, Taiwan // Tel: 886-915396558//Fax: 886-3017001 // gjhwang@mail.nutn.edu.tw // carolchu@mail.nutn.edu.tw // danytingting@gmail.com // rumb-73716@yahoo.com.tw * Corresponding author ABSTRACT Researchers have conducted various studies on applying wireless communication and ubiquitous computing technologies to education, so that the technologies can provide learners and educators with more active and adaptive support. This study proposes a Ubiquitous Performance-support System (UPSS) that can facilitate the seamless use of powerful new technologies in the school setting. In order to help the readers visualize these novel technologies in practice, we present one case study of a butterfly-ecology training course facilitated by the UPSS. The aim behind the case study is to inform the design and the development of context-aware ubiquitous computing system and its learning materials. The research inquiry centers around three themes: (1) the critical features to the data-driven decision making of teachers, (2) the perceptions of teachers and students to the UPSS, and (3) implementation issues. The results of the two rounds of formative evaluation indicate positive effects of the UPSS regarding motivation, interactivity, and effectiveness. In addition, teachers’ attitudes and teachers’ pedagogical approaches toward UPSS use are two key factors in the successful implementation of teaching with such innovative technology. This study can be a useful reference for those who are interested in conducting studies applying context-aware ubiquitous computing to educational contexts. Finally, this study presents suggestions and implications for future research and system development. Keywords Ubiquitous learning, Context awareness, Data-driven decision making, Performance-support system, Ubiquitous performance-support system Introduction In 2001, the United States government passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which requires states to develop annual assessments of school and student progress that, as accumulated data, are to help educators improve the learning of all students. Similar to NCLB, policy that the government in Taiwan has established requires administrators and teachers to use data to help improve the quality of education on the island (Hwang, 2003). The educators are confronting complex sources of data from which the educators must make informed instructional decisions (Cagiltay, 2006; Hwang et al., 2008). These new expectations have placed heavy responsibilities on educators, who now are trying not so much to modify as to re-conceptualize educational decision making and who now, also, are simultaneously extending data to these newly re-conceptualized areas, ranging from resource allocation to instructional practices. As a result, educators need adequate performance support to facilitate this transition so that they can become successful in this new working environment. Recent digitalization around the world has been proceeding toward wireless sensor networks, which embed computation and communication components into the environment. These devices detect certain aspects of the contexts of our daily lives, and provide personal support accordingly. Such technology has been called ubiquitous computing (u-computing). In the meanwhile, advances in these new technologies have led to a new research issue in education, that is, the issue of developing a novel learning environment so that students can learn in any place at any time. Moreover, with the help of context-aware (sensor) technology, learning systems can detect students’ learning behaviors in the real world, and hence, students and educators alike can conduct more active and adaptive learning activities (Hwang, 2006). This learning scenario has been called context-aware ubiquitous learning (context-aware u- learning), which has gradually become a popular trend in education (Ogata & Yano, 2004; Hwang et al., In Press).