What are the opportunities in the m-learning market?
Consider a market of 5.3 billion cellphone subscribers worldwide, representing 77% of the global population (Favell, July 2011).
Consider developing regions such as Africa and India where 2.2 billion cellphones grossly outnumber 11 million PCs, and semi-literate people rely on cellphones for their communication needs (Kumar, A. et al., 2010). Consider South Africa, where working libraries are found in only 7% of schools but 90% of young people in urban areas use a cellphone (GSMA, 2010). A recent article describes Africa’s mobile phone industry as ‘booming’.
Mobiles are a device most people already own and carry with them out of habit. They are devices people already rely on for news, information, weather, social networking, games, search and maps (Favell, July 2011). Mobiles represent a device people already use for convenient access (such as playing games while waiting or commuting), for performance support (such as finding quick answers to questions using Google or weather apps), and for maintaining social connections (such as through Facebook).
Consider this demographic according to Nielsen: “43% of Us mobile phone subscribers own a smart phone. 62 percent of mobile adults aged 25-34 report owning smartphones. The vast majority of those under the age of 44 now have smartphones. among those 18-24 and 35-44 years old the smartphone penetration rate is hovering near 54%.” (Nielsen, 2011).
According to this info graphic from venturebeat, texting alone, however primitive it may seem, represents a huge market for cellphone use.
Future projections for mobile media
This infographic by Nielsen illustrates the opportunities in the mobile media market in the United States.
Gartner research predicts, “By 2015, companies will generate 50 percent of Web sales via their social presence and mobile applications, according to Gartner, Inc. Vendors in the e-commerce market will begin to offer new context-aware, mobile-based application capabilities that can be accessed via a browser or installed as an application on a phone.”(Gartner Inc. 2011). View the full report by Gartner analysts.
Gartner also predicts, “By 2015, mobile Web technologies will have advanced sufficiently, so that half the applications that would be written as native apps in 2011 will instead be delivered as Web apps.” (Gartner Inc. 2011). Gartner’s review can be accessed here.
Gartner’s research VP, quoted by Dian Schaffhauser of THE journal, predicts, “By 2015, mobile application development projects targeting smart phones and tablets will outnumber PC projects by four to one. The PC is no longer king.”
What’s working in mobile learning?
On Day 2, you looked at example m-learning and provided an evaluation. What kinds of m-learning are working in the real world?
Consumers – Boom in test prep
Ambient Insight found that consumer and healthcare buyers dominated m-learning. Consumers demand content for preschool, test preparation, professional content, language learning, music education, physical education and hobbies like bird guides, astronomy, cooking, fitness, gardening, auto repair, etc (Adkins, 2010). Ambient saw a boom in demand for test preparation content for driving, and professional certification and licensing, and consumer “brain training” edutainment (Adkins, 2010). They argue that technology saturation in K-12 schools (computers, Internet access, interactive whiteboards) inhibits adopting m-learning, however the growing number of K-12 students and higher education students who are taking classes online may represent a market (Adkins, 2010). They also point out that 55-60% of the U.S. workforce does not sit at a desktop computer all day, and could benefit from mobile performance support devices (Adkins, 2010). Ambient sees corporations as late adopters but with the highest growth rate (Adkins, 2010).
Healthcare – More regulations, fewer resources
Ambient Insight found the healthcare market growing with content revenues “soaring” (Greer, 2010). Strict regulations, efficiency and safety initiatives, shortage of clinicians and remote patients are driving more licensing standards, more training requirements, and tracking and reporting systems (Greer, 2010). M-learning supports the new requirements with mobile test prep, mobile access to references, handheld clinical support, and content aimed at helping patients use their own devices for managing their care and records (Greer, 2010). Review their slide deck to see examples of mobile applications.
Language Learning – Cheap lessons on demand
BBC Janala leverages the widespread availability of cellphones in developing countries. For pennies a lesson, Janala delivers English language training to Bangladeshis through three-minute audio lessons accessed by mobile phone. Janala won the Microsoft Education Award at the 2010 Tech Awards, and won Best Product, Initiative or Service for Underserved Segment at the 2011 GSMA Global Mobile Awards.
Urban Planet Mobile sells English language lessons to Indonesians using a delivery mechanism usable by 95% of cellphones: an embedded audio link downloaded as a ringtone by SMS, a service that won Best Mobile Learning Innovation at the 2011 Global Mobile Awards.
ALPS – Performance support and evaluation for interns
Five universities created the ALPS program to improve their students’ experience of assessment and learning while doing internships in one of 16 different health and social care programs (JISC, 2011). Previously, students in internships lacked reliable access to tutors, job aids, reference guides and computer resources (JISC, 2011). ALPS now provides a mobile resource to assist students with taking a history, doing an examination, and accessing medical texts during practice (JISC, 2011). ALPS includes mobile assessment tools that prompt students to collect feedback from supervisors, colleagues and clients during their internships, with students requesting assessments from supervisors right after working with a patient (JISC, 2011). Students upload work to tutors for assessment, and tutors can monitor student progress and schedule follow-up visits to workplaces (JISC, 2011).
To review the lessons learned from implementing ALPS, review this plan for implementing a mobile learning project. To understand how well ALPS is working, review this evaluation of the ALPS mobile assessment project.
What are the challenges of the m-learning market?
There’s plenty of excitement about m-learning, but once you decide to adopt mobiles for your venture, you have to consider a lot of complications.
Which learning theory?
- Drill and kill behaviourism (like test prep)?
- Building and reinforcing mental models and heuristics through cognitivism?
- Authentic situated learning with performance support scaffolds?
- Another approach?
Which hardware and operating system?
- Will you target smartphones (BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone), feature phones, or both?
- What screen size will you target to limit scrolling of your content?
- What kind of data input will you require (touch, keyboard)? How well does that work with your target phone’s interface?
- How much processing power and storage space does your venture need? How does that affect battery life?
- Will you develop an app (and choose BlackBerry, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, or a feature phone platform) or target the mobile web?
- How do you handle the frequent changes in hardware and frequent operating system updates? How might those break your learning venture?
- Have you already invested in Flash? How will you adapt to this news: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/11/adobe-mobile-flash-dead/
- Will you develop in HTML5 to provide Flash-like capability cross-platform? How do you feel about the standard not being finished yet?
- How much data transfer will you require to use your mobile concept? How much will that cost your users on their data plans?
- What support services will you provide for configuring, install, updating, repairing, and replacing?
- How will you reach people without your targeted mobile device? Will you buy extra mobiles and loan them out?
- How do you handle people who already own a smartphone that isn’t compatible with your plan? What if they demand to be able to use their own gadgets with your learning venture?
What tracking?
- What integration do you need between your m-learning and existing LMSs and HR systems? How will you track completion of study and grades?
- How will you measure the success of your m-learning venture? Will you implement the assessment and tracking concepts in this article?
What does the mobile web look like?
Does your web resource work on mobile?
Next Steps
- Assignment: Design your own m-learning venture by answering the following questions:
- describe a problem in teaching/learning/performance
- how do the affordances of mobiles help solve that problem?
- what learning theory / approach will you use?
- how will your m-learning solution use mobile affordances?
- what is a similar successful solution in the marketplace (m-learning or not) already?
- what challenges will you face in implementing your solution and getting market traction?
- what changes do you need for your mobile solution to grow in the marketplace?
What m-learning ventures have other learners proposed?
- an app for clinicians that features knowledge management (collecting questions and practices), job aids (providing how-to’s) and collaboration, with powerful search
- an app that allows parents and teachers to monitor student progress by reviewing student tests, quizzes, essays, and assignments and share comments
- an app that monitors student performance and automatically prompts students to do remedial work and to schedule tutorial sessions in available blocks of time with educators
- an app to develop language learner vocabulary by allowing learners to input words they find interesting and receive ongoing examples and practice questions for those chosen words
- an app to scaffold English as a Second Language (ESL) learners through authentic practice using listening and communicating through text, speech and interaction with other learners
- an app that applies lesson plans to field trips and requires learners to perform actions in real world locations, with the actions validated and ‘scored’ in real time (Mobile Muse)
- an app that scaffolds learners through doing science experiments and physics demonstrations in the real world rather than relying on simulations and textbooks
- an app to check and practice spelling and collaborate through sharing and texting
- an app to practice secondary school level math using global question banks
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