enabling flexible learning with mobile and wireless technologies

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enabling flexible learning with mobile and
wireless technologies

• John Traxler
• University of Wolverhampton

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overview of issues for institutions to consider
when using mobile and wireless technologies to
support more flexible learning
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based on

• JISC Landscape Study on the use of mobile and
  wireless technologies for learning and teaching
  in the post-16 sector
• Mobile Learning A Handbook for Educators and
  Trainers
• Both with Agnes Kukulska-Hulme of IET, OU

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PSPs
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PSPs
Project started April 2003 Roger Kneebone Harry
Brenton
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PSPs at Imperial

• A new role, the Perioperative Specialist
  Practitioner (PSP), will expand the surgical
  team, providing preoperative/ postoperative care
  through the patients journey.
• PSPs will become key surgical team members,
  providing continuity of care. Work will include
• Preoperative assessment
• Communication with patients and their relatives
• Performing procedures
• Recognising and managing routine postoperative
  problems
• Calling for help when necessary
• Managing discharge process
• Teaching members of the surgical team

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PSPs at Imperial

• The majority of PSPs had not used a PDA before
  the project
• Participants like using PDAs, but only if they
  save time
• Foldable keyboards are essential for written
  reflections
• Current technical problems in activity logging
  are a significant obstacle to everyday use
• Ready access to medical reference material would
  be valued
• From observation and interview studies

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Using Personal Digital Assistants to Support
Students
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the issues

• non-traditional students
• parents, mature, no formal qualifications
• unused to higher education
• substantial part-time work
• attendance and performance at-risk
• personal information management skills
• complexity of mass HE
• rooming
• modularity
• timetabling

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handheld computers

• because
• performance/ functionality
• memory/ speed/ battery
• build quality/ reliability
• image/ style
• leisure/ entertainment
• preloaded applications
• software costs and choice
• And SONY sponsored us!

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smartphones at Sussex

• SMILE Project
• Sussex Mobile Interactive Learning Environment
• Sussex University COGS
• course Interactive Learning Environments
• students
• 19 third-yr u/g, 9 p/g students
• Rose Lucking et al

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smartphones at Sussex

• O2 XDA with full Internet access
• MS Office, email, browser, logging, GPRS, yahoo
  group, QuickTime, media player
• based on conversational theory

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smartphones at Sussex

• Students logged onto course web-site at normal
  lecture time and followed PowerPoint presentation
• used interactive polls
• joined online discussion
• Issues (from feedback)
• ownership
• reliability
• ergonomic
• functionality

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mobile learning

• any educational provision where the sole or
  dominant technologies are handheld or palmtop
  devices
• including mobile phones, smartphones, personal
  digital assistants (PDAs) and their peripherals
• not stable, no consensus, too technocentric

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mobile learning

• mobile learning is technology supported learning
• spontaneous, personal, portable, lightweight,
  situated, bite-sized, unobtrusive, disruptive,
  ubiquitous, informal, pervasive
• constrained, minimal, primitive
• costs differently

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mobile learning
e-learning
PC
m-learning
MMS
Tablet PC
laptop
SMS
PDA
smartphone
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mobile learning
a new paradigm???
e-learning
intelligent
personalised
interactive
media-rich
m-learning
institutional
structured
spontaneous
multimedia
usable
?
situated
portable
massive
hyper-linked
context-aware
lightweight
accessible
informal
personal
connected
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mobile learning modes
usability
PC
laptop
PDA
latency
connectivity
SMS
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mobile learning modes
Based on Code of Practice for the assurance of
academic quality and standards in higher
education Collaborative provision, and
flexible and distributed learning (including
e-learning)
predominantly FDL e-modes
predominantly f2f modes
cohort learners
on-site learning
off-site learners
lone learners
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mobile learning - pedagogies

• supports a range of
• conceptions of teaching
• styles of learning
• has a range of affordances
• depending on institution, curriculum, devices,
  costs etc
• deserving a place in the blend
• uniquely enables situated learning
• exploits dead time

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strategic issues - overview

• those issues that the mobile learning community
  must address if mobile learning is to become
  viable on a large-scale sustainable basis
• issues governed by
• Resources
• ie finance
• Culture
• ie organisation, its practices, values and
  procedures
• Organisational change
• does technology-based change in HE/FE differ from
  other organisational change?
• does mobile/wireless-based change in HE/FE differ
  from other technology-based change?

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strategic issues - overview

• implies parity with other forms of provision and
  delivery in terms of
• costs, funding, resourcing
• quality, validation
• reliability
• scaling and sustaining
• monitoring and evaluation
• legal expectations

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strategic issues - resourcing

• projects
• fixed-term/small-scale access to funds
• perhaps refine or answer research questions
• part of institutional project economy
• niches
• small-scale but sustainable
• specific subjects
• eg nursing, TP
• specific pedagogies
• fieldwork
• particular constituencies
• eg EO, assistivity, WP, full-cost added-value

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strategic issues possible trends

• Popular, retail and commercial markets driving
  mobile device design and pricing
• Education appropriating/adapting mobile devices
• intended for commercial, business, leisure
  markets
• Slowly increasing urban and campus connectivity
• favouring laptops over PDAs and phones

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strategic overview possible trends

• Institutional caution on mobile learning with
  PDAs
• SENDA, usability
• network security
• diversity/fluidity of devices, platforms and
  systems
• lack of staff expertise
• interoperability with VLEs, portals,
  e-Portfolios, learning objects
• procurement, maintenance, ownership issues

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strategic overview possible trends

• PDAs in education squeezed by
• smarter phones (PIM functions, universal
  ownership),
• USB sticks (content delivery, cheap),
• laptops (wireless connectivity, reformist
  technology)

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strategic overview possible trends

• SMS breaking through to institutional/large-scale
  use,
• assuming tariffs stable
• operators trying to develop GPRS, MMS and 3G
  markets (and recoup licence fees)
• increasing but unsupported PDA use by academic
  staff but possibly even greater laptop usage (and
  home-working)
• continued concern about cost issues, working day,
  stress

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strategic overview possible trends

• continued difficulties funding second-generation
  pilots or large-scale trials with PDAs in FE/HE
• eg across institutions, across subjects
• inclusion arguments for funding mobile
  technologies gaining some ground in HE/FE
• WP, EO, SENDA etc
• retention

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Thanks for your attention

• Questions and Reactions?
• John Traxler