What needs to change to grow m-learning?
What’s holding other learners back from m-learning?
These concerns were collected from the ETEC 522 class that originally used this educational resource.
Anxiety
Some prefer to keep their cellphone use and their learning separate, safe and familiar. Potential misconceptions include m-learning not being ready for “prime time” because people are anxious about it. A potential answer to the misconception is to provide anxious learners with exposure to m-learning. Others are uncomfortable with having their cellphone use and m-learning tracked by employers. Some fear that they will be too engrossed in m-learning in public places and make themselves easy targets for thieves and assailants.
Cost
Some perceive m-learning as expensive. They point to the costs of smartphones, data plans and roaming charges. If they purchase an expensive device, they don’t want to spend further on applications for educational purposes. They may have other gadgets they’ve purchased in the past that they rarely use, and they question the return on investment. Educators also consider the “digital divide” or the possibility that some learners will not have access to m-learning because they can’t afford the devices or the service or they have much more primitive devices than m-learning requires. Some parents limit their children’s cellphone use to emergencies. Long-term contracts with monthly fees and costly termination charges also dissuade learners from upgrading their cellphones. Other costs include setup time to install apps for educators on their cellphones and train them in usage.
Potential misconceptions include believing that every student must own their own cellphone, that all cellphones must be expensive smartphones, and that meaningful learning requires constant and expensive connection to the Internet. Potential answers to the misconceptions include sharing or loaning devices, using apps or activities that require cellphone functions common in less expensive devices, and using downloadable apps or WIFI.
Data Plans
What kind of data plan do you need? Take a look at this chart from My Cell My Terms. If your data plan isn’t unlimited, how much would it cost for your users to download and use your content? How much will your data plan cost and what are your options? Take a look at Compare Cellular’s cell phone plan comparison tool. What do you think of My Cell My Terms’ concept of designing your own plan and having carriers bid for it? Does it really have to be this complicated? Or this expensive? Nielsen says data usage is going up… and costs are going down: take a look at this report from the summer.
Lifestyle
Some see no need for m-learning due to their lifestyle. Those who are sedentary and spent most of their time sitting at home or work with a computer, and commute by driving a car, m-learning may seem a needless compromise. Others prefer to provide themselves with “downtime” rather than cramming learning into every free moment, regardless of the capabilities of their cellphones. Some find environments too distracting to concentrate on m-learning and find they don’t absorb much.
Frequent changes in hardware and operating systems
The cellphone industry experiences rapid changes in devices. Hardware upgrades and changes in operating systems happen frequently, challenging IT departments. Existing LMSs and other systems may require upgrades to interact with apps newly released for smartphones. Older devices may still be common, however, and learning resources may still have to target lowest common denominator requirements rather than the latest and most exciting hardware.
HTML5
How do you produce apps to satisfy every kind of phone? What do you do about Flash content on your website and e-learning that won’t run on iOS devices? What do you do now that Adobe has killed Flash for mobiles? HTML5 is supposed to be the cross-platform Flash-replacement that will enable powerful web apps to run on any HTML5-capable device, including mobiles. Take a look at this video interview from mobiThinking on the role of HTML5 in m-learning.
Hardware limitations
Common complaints include mobile screens being too small for extensive reading, scrolling and navigating being frustrating, and keyboards (physical or virtual) being too small and subject to too many errors. Mobiles may not allow easy highlighting and annotating of resources. Batteries limit the amount of usage and recharging is a regular necessity. A potential misconception is that “meaningful learning” requires a lot of reading and typing. A potential answer is to avoid replacing laptop computers and textbooks with cellphones, but instead use the cellphone for brief refreshers, how-to’s, job aids, and performance supports for concepts already learned.
Service complaints
Cellphones can provide cellular voice communication, 3G cellular Internet access, and WIFI Internet access. Their access to the Internet fails, however, when the service provider’s network fails or is unavailable in a particular location. Some networks may provide slow browsing speed. A potential misconception is that m-learning requires Internet access. A potential answer is to use downloadable apps and to update any required information in the app only when Internet access is available.
Software complaints
Some devices do not feature many apps, perhaps because developers are reluctant to develop on those platforms.
Institutional complaints
Some institutions ban cellphones. They fear learners will be distracted by their devices, cheat, compromise each other’s privacy with photos and videos, establish inappropriate relationships with teachers via texting and email, or risk their own safety doing m-learning in the real world outside the classroom. Even in institutions were cellphones are allowed, curricula may be too large and too rigid to allow for creative m-learning. Potential misconceptions include meaningful learning requiring lots of reading and typing, learning only happening in classrooms, and constant monitoring and controlling being required for students to learn. A potential answer is to avoid trying to use mobiles as textbooks or full-scale e-learning or laptop replacements, and to leverage mobiles to provide refreshers and skills practice, to offer performance supports that help learners use their knowledge for real problems outside the classroom, and to help learners collect audio and visual data from their efforts to take back to the class for sharing.
How are others using m-learning?
Some of the following activities come from a study by teachers in three schools in the UK where cell phones were banned. The teachers explored the potential for cell phones to support learning in schools. The full report can be found in this post by Thomas in the Open Education blog. Other activities were collected from the ETEC 522 class that originally used this educational resource.
Quick referencing
- Looking up quick facts, conversions for measurements, dictionary entries
- Using graphing calculator app
Refreshing
- Reviewing learning materials regularly while on way to work, walking, waiting
- Practicing with drill & kill games
- Sharing and demonstrating concepts with the mobile
Tracking
- Timing experiments with stopwatch
- Setting due dates and study times in calendars
- Synchronizing calendars and timetables and setting reminders
Recording
- Capturing notes and thoughts
- Recording interviews
- Capturing real-world images, audio, video to share with the class
- Photographing apparatus and results of experiments for reports
- Photographing development of design models for eportfolios
- Photographing texts/whiteboards for future review
- Recording a teacher reading a poem for revision
Transferring
- Bluetoothing project material between group members
- Transferring files between school and home
Communicating
- Sending SMS & email reminders
- Answering questions by email (personal or institutional) and texting
- Informing students through texting and tweeting
- Coordinating meetings and planning activities
- Connecting to school learning platforms, LMSs for studying, activities, seeing grades
- Accessing revision sites on the Internet
- Using mobiles as clickers for interactive polls / quizzes
Developing
- Creating short narrative movies
- Creating collaborative stories with photos, audio, video
- Posting and commenting on student blog entries
Consuming
- Downloading and listening to foreign language podcasts
- Watching videos
- Reading the news
Locating
- Using GPS to identify locations
- Navigating on campus or when lost
Managing
- Creating lesson plans and assessments through LMS or Google Docs and calendar
- Entering grades through Google Docs
Next Steps
- Assignment: What one change would you require to adopt m-learning for your own teaching and learning?
- Assignment: How might you use m-learning in teaching and learning?
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