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This study examines the relationship between student planning, smartphone use, and course achievement. The ubiquitous smartphone can promote or hinder learning depending upon how it is used. Prior research has explored overall smartphone use (e.g., hours used) and generally found negative relationships with academic achievement. This study investigates the learner's approach to a specific academic endeavor, planning, and how the choice of support tools may relate to self-regulated learning skills and course grade. First-year college students reported on their approach to academic planning and how popular tools such as the smartphone and/or a planner were used to that end. The results indicated a strong relationship between both modes of planning and self-regulated learning skills (planner, R = .305, p < .01; smartphone, R = .157, p < .01). The modes of planning had a differing effect on course grades when controlling for self-regulated learning skills with the smartphone planning demonstrating a negative influence (ß = -.078, p < .05) and the planner or notebook demonstrating a positive influence (ß = .082, p < .05). The findings suggest that teachers and students should critically examine the tools they use to support academic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambitious eco-city initiatives of the 21st century are commonly branded as carbon-neutral, low-carbon, smart-eco, sustainable, ubiquitous-eco and zero-carbon emphasising their sustainability niches. This study focuses on one of these brands—ubiquitous-eco-city (u-eco-city). The principal premise of a u-eco-city is to provide a high quality of life and place to residents, workers and visitors with low-to-no negative impacts on the natural environment with support from the state-of-the-art technologies in their planning, development and management. The paper aims to put this premise into a test and address whether u-eco-city is a dazzling smart and sustainable urban form that constitutes an ideal 21st century city model or just a branding hoax. It, first, explores the recent developments and trends in ubiquitous technologies, infrastructures, services and management systems, and their utilisation and implications for the development of u-eco-cities. It, then, places Korean u-eco-city initiatives under the microscope, and critically discusses their prospects in forming a smart and sustainable urban form and becoming an ideal city model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]