The Students Helping in Naturalization of Elders (SHINE) Project in Honolulu is part of a national service-learning initiative that helps elderly immigrants pass the naturalization examination for U.S. citizenship. Volunteers commit to ten weeks of service and receive only two hours of orientation and training before they begin working with elders. Eugenia Wang’s 2011 needs analysis indicated a gap in tutor preparation when participants said that they would be willing to take on additional training in basic lesson planning, instruction on general to specific topics, the naturalization process, immigration law, and teaching English to different level learners (Wang 2011) to feel more prepared.

The purpose of this usability study is to examine the ease of use of a website designed to provide tutoring resources for Project SHINE volunteers on their mobile devices. Participants in this study were UH Mānoa students who belong to student clubs and organizations with stated missions of learning through community service. Participants performed a series of tasks based on a usability protocol. Participants used a smartphone fitted with a wireless camera that allowed the researcher to record audio and monitor both the on-screen activity and gestures of the user. The design of this usability study aimed to provide participants with an authentic or as close to real-world mobile user experience as possible and allowed the testing to be conducted at any location.

An increase from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has put schools and teachers under more pressure to develop methods to increase student achievement scores. The data team method allows teachers to collect data, analyze strengths and obstacles, establish goals, review instructional strategies, and analyze results. In 2013, Aliamanu Middle School (AMS), a public school on the island of Oahu, adopted the data team method of collecting and analyzing student performance in order to improve student learning. Until now, there has not been a convenient method for data teams to share their data. The author of this study developed a website to house common assessments and student performance data for teams and administrators at AMS to use to locate, analyze, and share. The purpose of this usability study is to examine the ease-of-use and navigation of a data teams website designed to house data and resources for teachers and administrators at AMS. Participants included ten teachers and administrators, all of whom were give four specific tasks to complete, and a post-survey regarding the navigation and functionality of the website. All ten participants completed each task with ease. Feedback from participants concluded that the site was user friendly, easy to navigate, served a functional role in the data teams process at AMS, but needed to have more colorful fonts and pictures. http://ams204.wix.com/datateam

Educational resources provided to employees at the time of need are referred to as “just in time learning.” “Just in time learning,” by way of an easily accessible website designed for the particular needs of workers within a labor union, may provide stability for that union. The Hawaii Hotel Union has developed a website designed to educate its members about the conflict/resolution process at a particular unionized hotel. This website is the first of its kind for the Hawaii Hotel Union. The purpose of this usability study is to investigate the ease of use and navigation of a website designed to provide union members at the Hawaii Beach Resort with information about how to utilize the three initial steps within their negotiated conflict/resolution process. This study utilized a cyclical design with three groups of participants, including Subject Matter Experts, union stewards, and people that have not been members of a union. Subject Matter Experts were chosen to evaluate content, stewards to compare prior knowledge, and non-union participants to represent new employees. The study design included surveys, field notes, and screen recordings sessions. The study design included four tasks for participants to complete within the parameters of the website.

In an effort to break out of the traditional framework of instructor led coursework, the University of the Rockies is piloting a collaborative peer learning model. In tandem, the university struck up a relationship with George Mason’s Dr. Dabbagh and applied a modified version of the Cognitive Affordance of Technologies Scale framework created by her students. This framework provided key elements of evaluation to review the design elements created in the collaborative peer learning model. This paper provides the initial ideas behind this project that will be carried out in early 2015.