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Monthly Archives: August 2010
US Mobile Learning Revenues Reached $632 Million in 2009
A new report by Ambient Insight called, “The US Market for Mobile Learning Products and Services: 2009-2014 Forecast and Analysis” states that the US demand for Mobile Learning is growing by a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3% and revenues will reach $1.4 billion by 2014.
In 2009, the US overtook Japan to become the top m-Learning market in the world. The robust demand for Mobile Learning in the US consumer and healthcare segments put the US “over the top” to become the top buying country in the global Mobile Learning market.
“The current US Mobile Learning market is being driven by consumers and healthcare buyers, who increased spending on m-Learning even at the height of the recession,” comments CEO Tyson Greer. “The number of consumer-facing Mobile Learning content applications has exploded over the last two years. In the healthcare segment, the demand is being accelerated by the growing mHealth trend. We will release a detailed analysis of the healthcare segment in two weeks.”
Mobile Learning & Geography
The ‘world in your pocket’ is how the advertising usually goes. With mobile devices now being able to offer better connectivity, we are always connected to the world, wherever we may be. But just how literal that saying becomes is apparent when we look at the ways in which mobile learning can be used in the subject of geography.
Geo Mobile Apps
Applications like Google Earth on mobile devices, enable users to visualize and understand land formations, land use, map location details and directional information. GPS apps help students know where they are and understand concepts like latitude and longitude in a spatial environment. With these apps available to view anytime and anywhere, geographical studies become a personal exploration, making it more interactive and exciting.
Global Social Networking
With the internet access on us at anytime, we can reach anyone across the globe easily. So if you want to learn or teach a subject like the Great Barrier Reef, how about getting in touch with students of the same age living in Australia? Social networking can be leveraged to learn about geography from a first-hand perspective. Have students make “geo-pals” in a particular country and exchange images and local information.
Geography Websites
Use sites like Wikipedia Mobile to get updated information, and the National Geographic to travel down the Amazon and watch expedition videos. Access maps, flags and news from around the world in real-time.
Personal Exploration
Field trips, once considered essential for learning geography, can now be easily incorporated into lessons. With compasses, audio & video recording, students can become “expert explorers” documenting their expedition and recognizing flora and fauna by referencing the net.
Today’s generation of touchscreen devices are geared towards spatial usage and personal interaction, and their application in education is enabling students to learn more intuitively, as they explore, feel, touch and play.
Geography in particular, is one subject where mobile devices can help make learning comprensive, through interactive experience and visualization.
Posted in Mobile Learning
Tagged Geo Mobile Apps, geo-pals, Global Social Networking, mobile devices, Wikipedia Mobile
3 Comments
Tools for Mobile Learning Tops List of Educator Tech Wants
Audrey Watters writes about what educators think is one new tech tool they are most looking forward to taking into the classroom with them this fall, in this article, Teachers Pick Their Top 5 Back-To-School Tech Tools posted on Aug 16th.
And at the top of the list is Mobile Learning.
1. The iPad: Mobile Learning
The iPad and Twitter tied for the number of votes in our back-to-school survey. But if you combine those teachers who listed the iPad with those who voted for tablets, along with the shout-out for the 15 netbook mini-lab, then the educators who responded are most excited about bringing mobile hardware in the classroom. Many teachers noted this will be their first experience with 1-to-1 technologies.
2. Twitter: Real-Time Information
It’s not surprising, perhaps, since requests to complete our survey were passed around via Twitter, that many educators who responded said they were looking forward to incorporating Twitter into their work routines this fall. Teachers said they planned to use Twitter as a microblogging tool in the classroom, as a way to communicate with parents and the community, and as a part of a teacher’s own professional development and personal learning network.
3. Google Apps for Education: Cloud-Based Collaboration
Several teachers who responded said they’re looking forward to using various apps in the Google Apps for Education suite this fall. Some teachers said they’re planning to have students submit their assignments or complete quizzes using Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and Forms. Other teachers said they’re looking forward to having students collaborate on projects via Google Apps.
The Importance of Training & Motivation in Mobile Learning
The success of a mobile learning initiative is largely dependent on the knowledge and motivation of its champions. If implementers are themselves unsure of the value and benefits of mobile learning, this doubt will translate to end user confusion and resistance to implementation.
Motivation and its Role in Mobile Learning
Motivation is a key ingredient for success of any new project. Once the “newness” factor wears out, most users and students may either ignore the mobile learning facility or only use it in a limited way. While the initial enthusiasm remains it is therefore essential that users are motivated to explore as many potential capabilities as they can, to be able to find a pattern of learning that suits their personal preference and habits.
There also exists a learning curve when it comes to the adoption of any new technology. While some will quickly adapt and move on, others may resist change. It is important that the benefits of mobile learning are constantly stressed and demonstrated at this point, so that slower adapters do not lose their initiative along the way.
Young users especially, can get frustrated and give up when they are unable to achieve results they expect or do not clearly see value for the effort put it. In these cases, a buddy system, or competitions can help keep the excitement going, and provide obvious immediate benefits instead of hard-to-see long term goals.
Training and its Role in Mobile Learning
Another key component to successful mobile learning implementation is training. This is especially true when facilitators and mentors are needed to guide users. A user facing issues with their mobile learning will not necessarily approach support technicians, but will most likely ask a peer first. If the peer cannot solve the problem, the next person to be approached will be higher in the hierarchy, for example teachers or managers. It is therefore important that mobile learning facilitators are well trained in all aspects of the new technology, and become supportive to any issues that users may have early on.
Proper training will enable these personnel to be able to solve simple issues, which will not only quickly resolve issues but also help demonstrate the technology’s capability, as well its ease of use. With the exception of technical problems, if a facilitator is unable to use the technology themselves, it creates a feeling of disinterest from management, which translates into an unimportant activity in the scheme of things.
While technology provides us with enormous possibility, it must be remembered that users may be limited by personal experiences and capabilities. For adaptation and success in mobile learning, it is important to ensure that people who are using the technology are on board one hundred percent.
Mobile Learning Event HECC 2010 State Conference – “Mobile Learning: The Next Generation”
November 18 & 19, 2010
Crowne Plaza at Union Station | Indianapolis, IN US
The HECC (Hoosier Educational Computer Coordinators) 2010 State Conference is focused on providing those charged with implementing educational technology in Indiana schools with timely information and resources in order to improve communication, efficiency, and the integration of technology.
This conference includes a full day of hands-on workshops and a look at the latest technology in the exhibit hall. Some of the workshops include, Using the iPod Touch in Education, My Big Campus – Lightspeed, & Things students do and know that you don’t.
Learn more about the conference: http://www.hecc.k12.in.us/conference/index.cfm
Information Consumption in a Digital World
In the past, information consumption was overwhelmingly passive, with telephone being the only interactive medium. With the arrival of the Information Age, a new form of data consumption was experienced.
According to a 2009 Report on American Consumers, ‘How Much Information’, because of computers, a full third of words and more than half of bytes are now received interactively. Reading, which was in decline due to the growth of television, tripled from 1980 to 2008, because it is the preferred way to receive words on the internet.
Information Immersion
Along with the rest of society, students began to use the internet to explore websites and research material, obtain access to niche experts, publish articles, read & disburse news, and socialize and share information, all at a very rapid pace.
As a result there was a sudden spike of both information being produced, as well as an increase in channels to receive information such as emailing, messaging, chats, feeds and blog posts. Newer technologies allowed users to receive alerts for every new bit of information, merely minutes after it is published.
Adapting to Excessive Information
Today while more data is reaching us faster, our capacity to absorb and process this information has limitations. Rather than reading long passages of information, users merely “scan” for information, prompting web writers to group chunk information into smaller, consumable portions.
According to Wikipedia, chunking is a method of presenting information which splits concepts into small pieces or “chunks” of information to make reading and understanding faster and easier. Chunked content usually contains bullet lists and shortened paragraphs with increased usage of subheads and scannable text, and bold key phrases.
Trends in Information Consumption
Today our expectations for information equals our need immediate gratification. We want to-the-minute updated information and content, in an easily consumable form.
It is therefore not surprising to see new forms of information consumption (and disbursal) have evolved to keep pace.
Social networking sites like Facebook, enable users to update status messages which are usually short sentences and can include images, links and videos. This allows users to quickly post updates and share common points of interest with their related networks, peers and friends.
Twitter is another popular case study of how the world is changing its method of information consumption. With messages limited to 140 characters, Twitter is today more commonly used as a source of information disbursal rather than a social networking medium.
Education & Content Consumption
In the field of education, content chunking is not a new concept. In his information processing theory, Miller (1956) presented the idea that short-term memory could only hold 5 to 9 chunks of information where a chunk could refer to digits, words, chess positions, or people’s faces.
Chunking coincides with the natural way the human mind functions while taking in new information and applying stored information to new situations. And organizing information into small, manageable pieces so they can be presented on a single screen, takes advantage of this feature of human cognition (Shirk, 1991).
Mobile Learning Bites
Mobile learning brings together the limitations of small screen display with the understanding of how today’s users consume information, to publish learning material in the form of “knowledge nuggets” or “learning bites”.
Examples of this type of microlearning include reading a paragraph of text, listening to a podcast or educational video-clip, viewing a flashcard, memorizing a word, vocabulary, definition or formula, selecting an answer to a question, answering questions in quizzes etc.
By delivering learning content in small, consumable portions, mobile learning enables educators to supplement mainstream education through a method of quick review and research.
Mobile learning therefore facilitates an easier and natural way for student’s to consume information consumption, one that’s works well with human memory and today’s shorter attention spans in a noisy and crowded information world.
