What is Mobile Learning?

STIPULATIVE DEFINITION: All learning is mobile.

Finding Traxler’s definition too confining, my stipulative definition is very broad: all learning is inherently mobile. I think our brain and bodies are our ultimate mobile learning devices. Anthropologically, we want toextend our learning by adding McGyver-like extensions to our brains and bodies to supplement meeting our needs and interests. Excellent point.


Mobile devices? – I say YES!

I think all humankind technology has endeavored to be mobile technology. I think books are a type of mobile technology assisting our mobile brains. I think ships and airplanes are mobile technology, extending the mobility of our bodies.

Traxler’s definition apologetically tries to graft on mobile learning definitions to another technology – brick and mortar schools. Higher learning institutions, like a university, are a type of technology because they are man-made creations to “host” our learning. Further, a designated physical location is a type of a technology. This physical technology (school) is supported by other systemic technologies, or “software.” Bureaucracy is the software to make schools function. Bureaucratic software technology are such things as degree programs, administrative procedures, and academic standards. Traxler’s article presupposes that mobile learning should be incorporated into higher learning institutions and that higher learning institutions are a foundation of learning. In his article he implicitly positions the institution/teacher/class before the learner. I question whether higher learning institutionsare the best model for learning.

Do schools exist for learners? Or do learners exist for schools? I think these are important questions that need to be asked because I see schools as, in fact, a type of technology. Schools and higher education are solutions for education (not necessarily learning) in an industrial society. I see schools of the past 100 years as obsolete. I would venture that schools and learning institutions of the past 100 years or so are aberrations in overall history, just as Todd Rundgren states that our modern music industry is an aberration in the history of music.

Is it time to liberate the learner from the classroom? Is it safe?

Rundgren, T. (2008). Time for the Music Industry to Evolve. The Entertainment Gathering 2008 Monterey, CA, Dec 13th, 2008. Video 26 minutes on Fora.tv. Retrieved on January 18, 2009 .

Traxler, J. (2007). Defining, Discussing, and Evaluating Mobile Learning: The moving finger writes and having writ… . International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(2).

OSTENSIVE DEFINITION:Mobile learning requires particular critical literacies and creates particular information and social challenges.

For an ostensive definition, I turn to Henry Jenkins’ white paper on “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century.” Instead of focusing on the technology, he focuses on the societal elements of learning and the requisite skills to be literate within a world of volatile technological learning apparatuses. As a businesswoman and an IST grad student, I find his categorization more helpful (and hopeful) than the Traxler theoretical discussion on the dissemination of mobile learning within the preexisting higher learning order. Jenkins categorizes problems that learners, educators, families, citizens and leaders are having with the accelerated adoption of participatory culture. His categorizations speak strongly to me as an educator and reflect the problems I witness in my classes, as well as personally in my professional development and graduate student roles. Good.

In short I would emphasize Jenkin’s categorizations as a starting point for my mobile learning definition.

Mobile learning’s legacy to learning and learning theory could be to set discourse limitations to develop a political and pedagogical framework to address three problems within participatory culture:

The Participation Gap / the unequal access to the opportunities, experiences, skills, and knowledge that will prepare youth for full participation in the world of tomorrow.
The Transparency Problem / The challenges young people face in learning to see clearly the ways that media shape perceptions of the world.
The Ethics Challenge / The breakdown of traditional forms of professional training and socialization that might prepare young people for their increasingly public roles as media makers and community participants.”

From Jenkins 2006.

Additionally, mobile learning can start obsoleting itself into a regular definition of “learning” by encouraging additional literacies (beside textual) to be included in the definition of what it means to be a critically literate person in today’s world. This definition would always be redefining itself as certain literacies have limited lives.

Henry Jenkins has identified and categorized the following skills as important for successful practice within a participatory culture. I think these are important literacies to develop, extend and co-opt when designing mobile learning solutions.

Play / the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving
Performance / the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery
Simulation / the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes
Appropriation / the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
Multitasking / the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details.
Distributed Cognition / the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities
Collective Intelligence / the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal
Judgment / the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources
Transmedia Navigation / the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities
Networking / the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information
Negotiation / the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.

Framework for designing Mobile learning solutions

Jenkins, H. (2006) Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Retrieved on January 18, 2009 )

LEXICAL DEFINITION: Negotiate Your Definition via Your Role

While my initial lexical explorations sought to pursue a comparative positioning of several types of learning, I have re-aligned my lexical definition based on practicality. A lexical definition needs to be something workable, something that functions for me, the learner. But then I think of me, the instructor. And me, the instructional designer. My role influences my lexical definition. These are the definitions that have emerged thus far for me.

My view as a learner

Mobile learning is that which occurs as I navigate my life and make sense of my environment.

My view as an instructor

Mobile learning is that which the learner receives, interacts and broadcasts in order to community build, communicate, and cultivate rich learning opportunities.

My view as an instructional designer

Mobile learning is that which is available through a portable device which pulls information "just in time" and connects the learner to a community of practice (shared learning environment).

Good. I can see your strong point of view.

Mobile Devices & Infrastructure

The e-lecture of this material was very insightful for me. The categorizations really helped me identify where and what my own limitations and interests are in mobile learning.

I have no interest to be universal in my knowledge or use of mobile learning devices or solutions. Everything changes too fast; it is more important to know where to get quality information and know about credible resources.I try to follow a typical business approach – KISS - keep it simple. This means that I have systems that I use for learning, continuously check out new learning technology and pedagogy, and actively journal my lessons learned from implementing my core instructional products and incorporation of new ideas.

Since I work in South Korea and have chosen to focus on learners in a marginalized context, what is important for me is to identify what experience and devices my learners have and simultaneously let them explore better solutions for learning. I find that applications are those that have the most flexibility to meet the needs of my students. Yes.With a selection of applications which can be aggregated into a uniform space (I choose the social network of Ning), I can accommodate learners at many levels of mobile learning technology exposure. Good.

My Devices

Mylo

Mylo or my life online is a mobile device I purchased this past summer, but am really only using as a MP3 player. It is a wireless device with a mini key board and touch screen. It has RSS, podcasting, Skype, Facebook, web, photo, video and camera. It is an integrated device with several widgets.

I thought it had camera with video (thus also recording audio) but it does not at this time. The camera doesn't take good quality photos. The wifi is unpredictable and slow.

For educational purposes, I think it can be used to download instructional videos and podcasts. It can receive RSS feeds for classes. The communication tools (Skype, Facebook, chats in general) help connect learners to others. The wifi web access can (in theory) pull any online content (from self initiated to checking in on Oncourse).OK.

Tablet PC

Lightweight laptop, notebook, touchscreen pc, keyboard, wifi, webcam, microphone in, finger print id, dvd, pen, swivel screen, you name it you can connect it.

I introduce my laptop to everyone as my new boyfriend. I love the power and flexibility it gives me. But I think most important to me is OneNote. I can capture stuff from all over the web and my computer and it documents where and when it came from. I can organize in a manner that is convenient to me; it lets me easily cross reference and connect even when copy and pasting. I can take screen shots of anything and turn it into a jpg. I can audio and video record. It takes my hand writing with my pen device and can convert it automatically to text.

For educational purposes, this is a wonderful tool to push or pull info, create and communicate.

Cellphones in Korea

My students almost all have cellphones. They average 10-150 text messages daily. They also use the Korean to English (and vice versa) dictionary regularly. The students don’t necessarily have internet access as it is deemed too expensive especially when internet is ubiquitous here - labs, own computers, computer labs. Students also use their cameras frequently.

Top ways to connect learners to learning in my EFL environment:
SMS, electronic dictionary, photos, video, audio, voicemail.

Activities or Tasks through cellphones

SMS "telephone" game or scavenger hunt

Would love to find a phone dictionary which keeps a history of daily words looked up, which could then be uploaded to the instructor and I could incorporate these into online activities (puzzles, crosswords). Or better yet, they could be made into personalized practice materials by the learner to supplement their particular learning style(flash cards with photos, quizzes, stories, videos, mnemonic songs, riddles, word/pic journal).

Photos.Discovery events, capture pics, upload with written work to our

Video. Can be mixed with movie maker to make a story, an explanation, etc.

Audio. Can record me in class, or record authentic use for further review, questioning of content

Voicemail. Opportunity to practice speaking, but with a "do over" component until they get it right.

What I’ve learned from my peers.

While it was interesting to read about the different technology, much of it was not useful to my context. An iPhone is not popular in Korea. Blackberries don’t exist – well, don’t work ( ). What differs significantly is cost to access the phone and internet services from the US to South Korea.

Devices such as the Kindle are very interesting to me, but I choose to have integrated hardware and will wait until I can just download or purchase the software or application and run the services the Kindle provides on my tablet PC. It was helpful to find out about Sony's version , Netbook computers (ASUS Eeepc) and Adobe Digital Editions for e-reading. I have a list of websites which have EFL reading material. Additionally, I use the plethora of Internet text, video, and audio to create activities based on my learners’ interests. This “realia” is then scaled or scaffolded for them to connect the material to their zone of proximity through appropriate instructional tasks, problems, and projects.

The Senteo entry was interesting to read about. It reinforced my experience that learning devices in class require a unique knowledge bank. I like that it provides immediate feedback to the student. However, I feel there are several classroom methodologies that would also provide this type of immediate feedback but with the important additions of people (teacher attention, peer awareness, cooperation, and collaboration) which are infinitely important to community building within the learning context of schools.

This is through and attentive.

My Ideal Mobile Learning Devices & Environment

Webcam capture:

Webcam embedded in a baseball hat or tiara

Headphones & Microphone

Headphones – listening device

Microphone – capture or input device

Headphones are wireless and can be drop earrings that can be put into the ear.

Visual display screen

Glasses – sunglasses, etc.

Rimless glasses like the ones in Tombraider 2

Hard drive, usb connections

Pendant necklace

Wireless - GPS, microphone, visual touch screen, USB ports, pen input device, cellphone, alarm, calendar, to do list, playlists, RSS feeds, camera

Watch, arm warmer, or wrist band

Touch screen removable

Portable key board

Rings, gloves type on any surface for input


Yes, that would be good!

Nice use of graphics.

Maria's Mobile World
Students would be able to capture images and sound.

Students would be able to access communities of learning and information through the internet.

Students could push or pull information in a timely and fashionable manner.

Students would be using the devices for personal creations & collaboration tools.

Students would be playing, performing, simulating, appropriating, multitasking, extending their mental capabilities through virtual and mobile tools, collaborating, judging, navigating transmedia, networking and negotiating. (Jenkins, 2006)

There would be public spaces that are designed as interaction areas – private for the user and to not invasive to others in the space.

There would be “NO ACCESS” zones to limit use for public safety.

There would be “LIMITED ACCESS” zones for only noninvasive interaction (limits online voice and sound and perhaps some imaging).

OK.

Pedagogical underpinnings

Conversation Theory

Students could:

  • Provide a shared space for conversation between learner vs. learner, learner vs. teacher, and teacher vs. teacher.
  • Give learners a tool to control their own activity.
  • Provide learners and teachers with a space and time to reflect on their learning and teaching actions.

Activity Theory

Students could:

  • Take into account socio-cultural differences from learners’ environments.
  • Provide learners with tools to address problems in their own context.
  • Provide learners with a way to clarify and transform their learning gains in their own context.

Situated Learning Theory

  • Include authentic activities in authentic contexts.
  • Provide opportunities to watch or listen to experts.
  • Provide learners a way to listen to or to experience various positions
  • Give learners chances to collaborate with other learners.
  • Give learners chances to reflect and articulate their learning gains.
  • Evaluate learners’ performances with more authentic methods.

ARCS Model

Assuming the learning is engaging in learning to solve or learn something for their context, then automatically the learner will filter materials by relevance.

If learning materials do not grab attention, or provide confidence or satisfaction, then they would not be as popular and not be used as often. Learners would be able to cut/paste from several different materials to “customize” a learning material suitable to their learning style. This assumes that materials are credible and that the learners have the literacies to source, identify, rank, prioritize, and judge materials that are useful.

Behaviorism

Simulated play and use of physical activities (learning to play tennis, flying an airplane) could be introduced through immersive virtual environments like Second Life or with a Wii. Environments or activities that cannot be “customized” to the learner are introduced through behavioristic methods, but the learner chooses the pace.

  • Provide learners with instant feedback.
  • Repeat learning activities, returning positive reinforcements to learners’ correct responses.

Cognitivism

This is an area that I think we need a lot of study to better enable learners. Movement from simple recall to in depth reflection, needs more consideration to develop social practices for learning, negotiate meaning in a public space, manage information input and output, and identify new social behavior rules to manage cognitive load sensitively when interacting with learners of differing cognitive familiarity.

  • Avoid providing too much information at once.
  • Provide learning content that fit learners’ pre-existing knowledge.
  • Provide learners with chances to understand or organize learning materials in advance.

Constructivism

My vision of mobile learning is totally constructivist in nature. The primary pedagogic goals of mobile learning should be to:

  • Provide realistic settings for learning.
  • Expose learners to multiple perspectives by letting them share their perspectives with others.
  • Help learners to interpret materials and to construct knowledge meaningful for them.

OK.

Target learners and design issues

Learning Styles
It is very important to me to make English accessible to my learners by having several different ways to interact in English. Kinesthetic learning is very important to supplement the heavily auditory and text based elements of learning a language.

Can you describe four learner styles in Kolb’s model? Kolb’s model can be used as a tool when we design mobile learning. Having a handy model makes the procedure easier and more reasonable.