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Monthly Archives: June 2010
Cost-effective developments that enable mobile learning
When we talk about advanced technologies and implementing new methods of learning, one of the first expectations is that of high cost.
In mobile learning, expected costs include those of the mobile device, cost of required software applications and supportive technologies, internet access costs, etc. But are these investments really expensive compared to the alternatives?
Let’s look at some of the key developments that are making mobile learning an affordable reality.
Smartphone computing
If we compare mobile devices to other computing devices (like PCs and laptops), mobile phones are the cost-effective alternative. Mobile phones like smartphones today offer tremendous computing capabilities enabling users to do a lot more and at a cheaper cost than a few years ago. Additionally the mobile phone is now ubiquitous. With this high rate of ownership, the investment cost may not be as expensive as initially perceived.
Technology advances
Today there are more direct applications for teaching and learning as opposed to simple platform-independent tools and scalable data storage. The 2005 web search found that organizations of all sizes were using mobile devices for learning because technological advances meant that there was no longer the need for large infrastructure and support costs, and even small enterprises could deliver mobile learning simply by structuring learning around web-based content that could be accessed from web-enabled mobile devices.
Packet transmission
Opportunities to overcome barriers in usage charges are being offered by technological solutions such as packet transmission technologies, like Wireless Application Protocol/Wireless Markup Language – WAP/WML – applications that work with mobile phone web browsers with a transmission cost that is negligible.
Cloud computing
The economics of cloud computing provide a compelling argument for mobile learning. Cloud-based applications can provide students and teachers with free or low-cost alternatives to expensive, proprietary productivity tools. For many institutions, cloud computing offers a cost-effective solution to the problem of how to provide services, data storage, and computing power to a growing number of Internet users without investing capital in physical machines that need to be maintained and upgraded on-site.
Free learning tools
As noted in the 2008 Horizon Report, it is also becoming easier to create mashups using multimedia and tagged data with online tools. Many free or very low-cost tools that are educative in nature, like capture and display of geolocative data, are available online and they continue to improve in usability and flexibility.
Online books
Using free online tools, authors can create and market books on any topic, and make them available online at low cost or no cost. Despite the work involved open content textbooks, open course notes, and collaboratively-authored textbooks are gaining acceptance in some pockets of academia, as they address the rising cost of textbooks.
Sources:
2009, “Addressing the cost barriers to mobile learning in higher education”, International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation
2009, Horizon Report, New Media Consortium, & EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative
2009, “Mobile learning: transforming the delivery of education and training”, Mohamed Ally
Designing content for mobile learning
We’re entering a phase in mobile learning that is very exciting due to the advances in mobile technology. Today’s generation of mobile phones have larger screen sizes, can play and store quality audio and video, can capture higher resolution of images, have larger storage capacities, and can access the Internet faster.
As a result, we now have an increased ability to not only reach students outside traditional school hours, but reach them through a variety of learning objects. Below are some forms of educative material that work well with mobile phone technologies of today.
Instant Information:
Using a mobile phone is all about immediacy. The need is for quick answers to specific questions. Learning content must reflect this requirement by providing material that enables a user to quickly zone into information. Examples of instant information are definitions, formulae, and equations, etc.
Skill Assessment:
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson. Which year was the cotton gin invented? 1793. Revision is an important part of education, and testing one’s learning using flashcards and quizzes, facilitates easy recall of points likely to be needed in tests.
Collaborative:
Mobile phones provide an easy way to get a group coordinated on a project. Quick and instant feedback, support through video, images and text from multiple sources, and real-time interaction can enable peer-to-peer learning, resulting in better task comprehension and performance.
Learning Bites:
How to change a tyre. Writing a business letter. Simple science experiment procedures. The mobile phone is geared to providing short chunks of learning material at a time. Content that works within this requirement like how-to’s, procedures and short lessons, can easily be adapted into mobile learning content.
Media Support:
Many teachers already use video and audio to support their lessons, and converting these to a digital format, or finding similar material online can be done easily enough. By providing students access to this content, this valuable learning material will be available to them anywhere, anytime.
Mobile Learning in Practice: Ohio State University
Here’s an informative post written by Byron Roush, Instructional Technology Specialist in the College of Nursing, which provides experience-based insight into the principles adapted during their handheld device program.
In 2005 the College of Nursing implemented a handheld device program for our students and faculty. Simply, the goal of the program is to encourage students to utilize reference tools at the point of care to make better informed decisions more quickly, efficiently and with the most up to date information available. We chose to use handheld mobile devices, at the time personal digital assistants, or PDAs, and now iPods, Blackberries and other devices, because of the mobility in the device, ease of use and additional features of electronic references; including, cross-reference tools, bookmarking and frequent updates.
In five years, the College of Nursing has formed three guiding principles in their mobile learning program: embrace choice by allowing students to select their device, provide instructional support (avoid assuming students will figure it out themselves), and stay focused on information literacy, not technology.
Some Best Practices for Mobile Learning
With mobile learning still in its infancy, standards and best practices are constantly evolving. As more institutions begin to incorporate m-learning into their curriculum, they often face issues in content creation and delivery, interoperability, and accessibility to mobile learning resources.
Since learning through mobile devices is still limited both technically (speed of data access, memory capabilities and media support) and economically (cost of devices, cost of wireless data access), while developing standards and best practices we must give consideration to addressing these barriers.
Here are a few best practices to consider:
Minimize Data Entry: Avoid making learners use their phone keyboards too much as these can interrupt learning, and become tedious and time consuming. At most, keep answers to optional choices or short fill-in-the-blanks to check understanding.
Use Text Support: Structure learning material to be used for general reference, like definitions and how-to guides. This may not allow for complete learning material, but can provide learning support through notes, which can be easily read and accessed quickly.
Avoid Costs to Learner: If the student is incurring costs to learn via their mobile devices, that’s a big problem. So while implementing mobile learning keep in mind downloading costs if any, as well as data access costs.
Test Design Approaches: To figure what content works best you need to try different options. Do you provide a text summary and then ask questions? Do you detail a process and then provide visual support? Do you link to online videos? Try multiple options and see what works best for your students.
Provide Offline Options: Downloading information and content is not yet commonplace and can still be a hindrance to many. Content does not necessarily have to be delivered via wireless connection or the internet. You could also offer PC access though memory cards which can then be “sideloaded” to a mobile device.
Implementing a mobile learning solution? Think ahead!
You’ve understood the concept, you’ve seen it at work, you may even be personally learning on your mobile phone today. But what if you are looking to implement a mobile learning solution on a larger scale? Below are some of the factors you should consider before you begin implementing a mobile learning solution.
What is the learning problem you are trying solve?
Look closely at the issues you are facing with your current training and education methods. Consider what the gaps are and why a mobile learning method would fill these gaps effectively. There may be many ways of overcoming current learning obstacles and before investing into any new technologies, you need to certain that mobile learning is the right answer for you.
What technology will you require?
If you are part of an organization that already provides mobile devices to its students, or a company where staff are all on company-owned phones, rolling out a new, training method may only require software applications to be identified and disseminated. In other cases, your technology requirement may only be software training, or it may extend from software and software training, to hardware like the mobile devices, networks etc. Talk to someone who has already invested in mobile learning or a company like Mobl21 that offers mobile learning solutions, and you’ll be able to get an idea of the kind of technology you might need to invest in.
What skills will teachers/facilitators have to learn?
Think about who will be providing the content and what skills or level of technological understanding they’ll require. It helps to generate enthusiasm early on from your support staff regarding the learning potential of the solution, especially if you will need to provide additional training to teachers. Otherwise you may face resistance while trying to implement mobile learning from your own teachers, which can seriously limit its potential.
What would be the cost of implementation?
Consider all aspects including software and hardware costs, training, implementation, and connectivity. Also talk to a few mobile learning companies and explain your requirements to get an idea of costs. This will also help you understand the details of the implementation process from an expert, as well as give you insight into how other organizations are using mobile learning.
How can you facilitate acceptance?
Organize open discussion with your staff to first measure how receptive they will be to using mobile technology to facilitate their lessons. You may have even have had one them raise the case for mobile learning and if so, make this person your champion. New methods are better received when it appears to come from within the system rather than from the top down. Additionally organize talks and training with experts and particularly expose your staff to positive case studies so they can see the benefits as well as the goal as clearly as you do. Similarly, meet with students and gauge their reactions to the new technology. Organize discussions and contest from time to time to give that little push and keep the momentum going.
How will you measure success?
The clearer you’ve defined the learning problem, the easier it will be for you to gauge success later on. Look at measurable data such as grades or performance, especially comparing the before and after implementation period. Get anonymous feedback from both staff and students alike. And most importantly, interact with some of your learners one on one to gain insight into general opinion of how the new solution is doing. Remember, it takes time to accept new methods and not all people adapt at the same rate. Give focus to areas of concern, and periodically hold refresher training courses, to keep usage of the mobile learning method active, and visible.
7 ways to make mobile learning fun!
Here are ways in which you can help students to start turning to their mobile phones for learning.
1. Hold a “Dextrous Dexter” competition to see who can find and submit the most number of definitions for a particular word.
2. Text message a Bonus Question AFTER the test and give marks to the first 5 right answers received.
3. Hold a mobile phone treasure hunt. Have students find and photograph (using their phones) five different types of flora and fauna. You could also have them identify or research what they’ve found, on the go, for extra points!
4. Get students to tag places they’ve visited on to a map application like google maps. Then have them start sharing and collating their knowledge of each place with photos and information.
5. Holding an election or just taking a poll? Have students send in their secret ballot through text messaging. This information can then be gathered and tallied with greater accuracy and less error.
6. Encourage students to make online Pals with kids of their age in other countries and have them learn about customs, language and culture, which they can then share in class.
7. Describe some small facts of a famous personality, and have students use their phones to figure out who it is.
For more ideas on how to incorporate mobile learning in your classroom click here.
Trends & Statistics in mobile technology and communications
According to the 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey, American children now spend 7.5 hours a day absorbing and creating media — as much time as they spend in school. Even more remarkably, they multitask across screens to cram 11 hours of content into those 7.5 hours. More and more of these activities are happening on smartphones equipped with audio, video, SMS, and hundreds of thousands of apps.
Growth of the worldwide converged mobile device market more than doubled that of the overall mobile phone market in the first quarter of 2010, a sign the segment is in high-growth mode again.
Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey: Fully 72% of all teens, or 88% of teen cell phone users, are text-messagers. That is a sharp rise from the 51% of teens who were texters in 2006. More than half of teens (54%) are daily texters.
Half of Japan’s top fiction was written via text messages.
According to McGraw-Hill Education, 95% of their textbooks are also offered as ebooks.
With subscriptions expected to reach 5 billion some time this year, as reported by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), cellular phones are arguably the most widely used gadget and the most popular communication tool today. That is about 75 percent of the world’s population
Of Twitter’s active users, 37% use their phone to tweet.
It took mobile phones 14 years to reach 50% of U.S. households — compared with 56 years for the telephone, 20 years for the personal computer, ten years for the Internet, nine years for radio and just five years for television. (U.S. Department of Commerce)
People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook as non-mobile users.
42% of teens say they can text blindfolded.
Third-generation (3G) phones will form the majority of phones, comprising more than 80% of the installed base by 2014.
According to Gartner, mobile usage is set to explode in 2010 with over 1.2 billion getting hands on with web capable handsets.
Sources:
- 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International
- http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS22333410
- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/11-interesting-cell-phone-facts
- http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mcgraw-hill-education-meets-californias-requirement-for-postsecondary-digital-textbooks-ten-years-ahead-of-schedule-88391517.html
- http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/14/live-twitter-ceo-ev-williamss-chirp-keynote/
- http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
- http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/cell-phones-key-to-teens-social-lives-47-can-text-with-eyes-closed-6126/
- Forrster: US Mobile Forecast, 2009 To 2014
- http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1210613
Benefits of Mobile Learning
We’ve taken a look at the challenges in Mobile Learning. Now let’s understand a few of the benefits.
Performance support: With easy access to information, special knowledge is put in the hands of students as a supportive tool. Quick access to lab diagrams, formulae, etc. can immediately impact students performance in a learning environment, facilitating their education.
Manage different learning requirements: All students absorb information at different speeds in different ways. Educational pedagogies currently support advanced tracks and special classes to manage these needs. Mobile learning is ideally geared to enable students to learn at their own speed, by uniquely catering to their requirements in a personalized way.
Enhancing two-way interaction: Mobile learning facilitates direct communication between teachers and students, in a way that may encourage students shy or hesitant to communicate more openly than they would in class. Additionally, teachers of large classes can use the direct interaction as a way of giving special attention where required.
Special education: Advancements in technology are facilitating those with learning disabilities in many ways. Mobile technology has tremendous potential to benefit those with special needs or learning disabilities. With several unique applications catering to overcoming learning challenges and physical impairments, learning through mobile devices enables challenged students today to compete with their peers on a more equal footing.
Reaching fringe students: Mobile learning enables educators to reach out to students who cannot or do not have exposure to continuous and regular education. With access to learning materials, these students can be still be brought within standardized curriculum, and their learning encouraged and monitored.
Access the experts: With the ubiquitous spread of mobile devices, everyone is now within reach of a mobile phone. As a result, students today can read views and blogs of industry experts, follow real-time conferences and webinars, and interact with professionals right from their homes or classrooms, overcoming the problems of distance, and expenditure.
Challenges in Mobile Learning – Part 2
In this post we will continue to discuss the challenges of Mobile Learning. (Click here to read the first post on Challenges in Mobile Learning)
Isn’t this just a high-tech package for the same old dull and boring content?
With evolving learning tools, pedagogies must evolve too. From drawing on chalkboards to using OHPs (Overhead Screen Projectors), playing alphabet songs to computer learning, our methods of instruction change with changing technologies.
While current learning pedagogies are still trying to incorporate mobile learning methods, it is definite that today’s students lean more towards active discovery as opposed to age-old passive absorption. And mobile learning is all about providing interactivity in learning.
If the goal is education, content cannot be “dull and boring”. Learning and learning material must be dynamic for it to be assimilated by the information-overloaded students of today.
Flashcards, quizzes, podcasts, videos, historical speeches, graphic timelines, real-time global collaboration, satellite maps… a whole interactive encyclopedia of information is available in a few clicks. Using it effectively just requires some creative application.
What about the digital divide? Not every student is tech savvy.
While it is valid that some students still have no access to technology, what is also true is that mobile technology is now globally available and pervading every aspect of our lives.
In the 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, 75% of 12-17-year-olds now own cell phones (up from 45% in 2004).
Implementation of m-learning methods early in schools is also an effective way to overcome this digital gap. Classrooms provide the ideal equal learning ground, with students able to mimic peers and quickly learn from each other. Mobile learning will also enable students to exchange data, find information and collaborate, all vital skills for today’s wired world.
How will I measure learning effectiveness?
The same way you do today. Ask questions on lessons that have been revised, have students write papers and assign projects which require subject understanding to be completed.
Additionally choose mobile learning applications that enable you to create content which you know will be of value to your students. Some applications, like Mobl21 provide you with the flexibility to create notes and flashcards and even monitor which learning material your students are working on.
While new technologies are always exciting, creating the habit of using the mobile phone for learning, requires effort and persistence on the part of both the teacher and the student.
Webinar on Mobile Learning Implementation
Webinar: “Mobile Learning: Ensuring Implementation Success”
Date: Thursday, June 3, 2010
Time: 1-2 pm EST / 10-11 am PST
Summary:
The emergence of mobile technologies is changing the way we learn. Join us for a FREE, 1-hour webinar on how you can implement a successful mobile learning program today!
The Presentations:
Lance Dublin, co-author of the ASTD capstone book, “Implementing e-Learning” and the Chief Solution Architect of Dublin Consulting.
To be successful you need a established implementation plan that ensures your learners are engaged, your managers are motivated, and your organization is energized. Lance will present the proven I-3 Change Implementation Model, and share with you what works and what doesn’t – and why.
Supra Manohar, VP Emantras, will discuss laying the groundwork to get a mobile initiative started, implemented, and successful.
- Requirements for K-12, Higher Ed, and Enterprise
- Definition of basic mobile learning functions
- Mobile adopters – case studies and best practices
- Utilizing the Mobl21 community and team
