M-learning (Nearpod app) and the writing skills

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the impact of the Nearpod application on the development of writing skills with the interactive learning tools and resources that will allow them to dynamically participate in written lessons. The research applied a mixed approach, that is, the qualitative-quantitative method, focusing on analyzing the variables to know the characteristics of the Nearpod application and determining the collection of measurements and statistical results. The population considered for this study was 33 students with an age range between 18 and 19 years of the second semester "A" of "Pedagogía de los Idiomas Nacionales y Extranjeros" at Universidad Técnica de Ambato. The research lasted six weeks in which eight interventions were carried out. The six interventions were with topics according to the StartUp3 book and activities developed with the tools that have the application to improve the students' writing skills. On the other hand, two interventions were for the pretest and the posttest, they were evaluated using a Key English Test (KET) rubric to determine their level of mastery in written production and analyze the impact of the strategy. At the end of the interventions, quantitative data were collected and analyzed using the "SPSS" program to compare the average. As a result, the mean obtained in the pretest was 6.24 out of 10 points, while the mean in the posttest was 9.24 out of 10. In this way, it was concluded that the Nearpod application allowed to improve the writing skills of the second-semester students because the students learned about the interactive learning resources and allowed them to dynamically participate in the written lessons.