Mobile Learning Practice: Myths and upcoming realities : Nishrin Pathan SEMCOM Mobile Learning Practice: Myths and upcoming realities
Agenda : Agenda Objectives Literature review Myths Need for mLearning Academic Context Support & Facilities mLearning Practices_ India & Abroad Creating material for mLearning Findings Pedagogical implications Future challenges Reference
Objectives : Objectives To study mobile usage in the university campus. To research out mLearning practices worldwide. To explore viability of mLearning in Indian Context. To explore available apps for mLearning . To study pedagogical implications of mLearning .
Literature Review : Literature Review In southern Asia the enrolment ratio has reached 90%, but there still remain more than 18 million children of primary school age who are not enrolled. Similar challenges confront secondary and tertiary education. In developing countries, on average, only 54% of children of the appropriate age attend secondary school currently (UN, 2008, pp. 13-14).
Literature Review : Literature Review More than one-third of the world’s adult population – most living in the developing world – has no access to printed knowledge, new skills, and technologies that could improve the quality of their lives ( Dhanarajan , 2009, p. 46). Inequalities in access to education continue to pose major barriers in the developing world, and the delivery of cost-effective and quality education remains a persistent problem. MLearning , as Visser and West (2005) suggest, can also increase access in those situations where cost represents a significant barrier to learning (p. 132). For those in rural or remote areas where environmental and infrastructure challenges hinder other learning modalities, particularly eLearning, mLearning presents great opportunities.
Literature Review : Literature Review There are 5.3 billion mobile subscribers (that's 77 percent of the world population). Growth is led by China and India. In India 752 million moble subscribers dec 2011, 19m to add in jan More than Half a billion people access mobile Internet worldwide Many mobile Web users are mobile-only Web-enabled handsets - by 2011, over 85 percent High-speed mobile networks (3G) Unlimited data plans Over 300,000 mobile apps have been developed in three years. Apps have been downloaded 10.9 billion times. But demand for download mobile apps is expected to peak in 2013. 2) The most used mobile apps in the US are games; news; maps; social networking and music. Facebook , Google Maps and The Weather Channel Source: http://mobithinking.com/latest-mobile-stats
Myths : Myths Common myths surrounding mobile learning are: T he idea that mobile technologies might somehow be inappropriate or too difficult for teacher as well as learners. The belief that it does not support all types of learners. T he belief that all young people automatically understand new technologies and require little or no training to use them. T he expectation that allowing the use of mobile technologies, particularly mobile phones, in schools and colleges will make it difficult for teachers to control classes and encourage inappropriate behaviour by learners. The belief that it can only be used as a tool to disseminate information. The belief that it is too expensive for rural learners T he belief that expensive, portable equipment provided to learners , especially the young will be broken, lost or stolen .
Need for mLearning : Need for mLearning To adapt to the : Changing environments Student culture “ Going 24 Hours Without Media”
Academic context : Academic context Portable Social Interaction Sensitive to the Context Connectivity Customized
mLearning supports. . . : mLearning supports. . . All Learning Types Behaviorism – Constructivism – Informal or situated learning – Collaborative learning
It facilitates . . . : It facilitates . . . Voice SMS Graphic Displays Downloadable programs Mobile Internet Browsers Mobile translator MS Office Package (Windows) Office Suit (Androids) PDF PPT & Connection to projector Server – group tasks
It facilitates. . . : Audio - Visual (Multimedia) Live lectures, talks Scan to PDF Docs, charts, tables, diagram (math, economics) Converters and equations Can work as external data source ePub It facilitates. . .
mLearning _ in practice : Pan-European research and development program aimed at a target audience of 16-24 age groups. This was the group that was at a risk of social exclusion in Europe. MoLeNET projects TMCNet (US) Over 1,100 schools are using AIU Mobile (American InterContinentle Uni.) mLearning _ in practice
mLearning_Indian Context : mLearning_Indian Context “The Gujarat government has banned the use of mobile phones in schools and colleges, saying it was affecting "educational activities" in the institutes. A resolution passed by the state education department on Saturday said that “….. college students could carry their handsets but were not permitted to use them.” - The Times of India, Aug 2010
mLearning in India : mLearning in India The Biju Patnaik University of Technology started a service in collaboration with SMS GupShup called the BPUTALERT, which distributes information, academic notices and calendars through SMS to students. mGurujee , to download questions and take tests to evaluate themselves. allows people to receive reference content even if they are outside and away from their books. Has reinvented itself as a learning mobile app store and several leading mobile service operators, app stores and handset manufacturers are working with the company.
TYPE OF MOBILE ACTIVITIES THAT STUDENTS ENGAGE THEMSELVES IN : TYPE OF MOBILE ACTIVITIES THAT STUDENTS ENGAGE THEMSELVES IN Type of Mobile activities engaged in Percentage Send and receive emails 82 Send and receive instant messages 68 Send and receive short text messages 88 Send and receive Multimedia messages 50 Transfer files from one place to another through pen drive . 84 Play interactive games through internet or through hand held game devices 58 Transfer photo/audio or other data through hand phones or smart phones 60
Creating Content for mLearning : Creating Content for mLearning Creating content for use on mobile devices can seem very complicated; the range of devices available, using different software and operating systems, may give the impression that a number of different resources will need to be created, a complex and time consuming task. In fact simple m-learning resources can be created easily using existing software, and often creating alternatives will add very little to the process. For example, DSpeech and RoboBraille will convert text files to audio files which users can download and access from an MP3 player within a few minutes at low cost. Different mobile devices will display text in different ways. E-book readers will tend to need text in PDF or ePub formats. You can easily convert Word documents to PDF or to ePub . The JISC TechDis guides to creating content give a good overview of the principles of creating content for varied groups of learners, and the Upwardly Mobile toolkit guides you through the process of creating material specifically for mobile use. free and Open Source software and AccessApps provide a number of free tools to assist you. Using these resources you could be creating interactive and engaging mobile learning resources quickly and easily.
Creating Content for mLearning : Creating Content for mLearning 5 Minute Outliner: http://www.5minutedownloads.com/details-5-minute-outliner.htm Visualize and organize your ideas on your phone. Create outlines, projects and checklists or import them from your PC Atlantic Link Content Point: http://www.atlantic-link.co.uk/home_contentpoint.htm Rapid authoring software with automatic Flash output for Windows Mobile devices. Create fully interactive mobile courses in hours. Cram 1.0: http://www.simpleleap.com/cram.htm Scholastic testing software Cram a llows students to create, study, and share tests on their BlackBerry, iPhone , & iPod Touch. iWriter Solution for creating iPod study tools http://www.talkingpanda.com/iwriter/ Learning Mobile Author Mobile content authoring and publishing tool that allows the rapid design, editing and publishing of trackable mobile learning and testing content http://www.hotlavasoftware.com/index.php?cPath=92&osCsid=41c91867013398cbd23dd4ccee1f6845
Creating Content for mLearning : Creating Content for mLearning Mobile Study Create quizzes for mobile phones (this is one of only two free ones) http://www.mobilestudy.org/ MyLearning Author for Pocket PC A set of easy-to-use software tools that lets you create learning activities to run on Pocket PCs. http://www.m-learning.org/products/mylearning-author-for-pocket-pc.htm mscape authoring too lkit Download, create and share mobile, location–based media (this is one of only two free ones) http://www.mscapers.com/home Podquiz Maker Wizard to produce multiple-choice quizzes and instructional content http://podquizmaker.com/ Toolbook 9.5 Provides support for the Apple iPhone and other enhancement http://www.toolbook.com/preview/ Zirada Drag and drop authoring tool for publishing to Pocket PCs and Mobile Devices http://www.trivantis.com/authoring_tools_zirada_overview.html
Pedagogical Implications : Pedagogical Implications a facilitator of administration teaching aids for practitioners learning support tool for learners. interactive learning experience access anywhere holding notes and e-books are lighter than books, computers, laptops stylus pen is more effective than using keyboard and mouse 3G and 4G will eventually facilitate moving graphics Evaluation _ individual & group
Future Challenges of mLearning : Future Challenges of mLearning Adaptive Learning Limited Text Display Screen size Instant Communication memory or the storage capacity not all young people are the “digital natives” discharged battery can result in loss of important data Bandwidth problem in wireless connection
PowerPoint Presentation : Thank You