day 1 m-learning: what, where, when, how
I may not be the best person to discuss cellphone m-learning, as when it comes to cellphones, I like to keep it basic. No data, no ‘net access; it’s my rough-photo taking and texting machine. And I like it that way.
My mobile learning takes place on other devices: my iPod Touch and my Macbook. About 10 years ago, I tried to constrain myself to a desktop, and hated it. I want to move! I enjoy learning in mobile ways (which for me includes my mobile devices, but also objects like books) because of the creative juxtapositions between learning objects and contexts that can often occur in transit. When pursuing research, for instance, I still think that few things beat a good wander through the stacks, grabbing books and articles of interest. Flanerie (peripatetic, perceptive observation) has long been my style, in learning/leisure.
Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
David William Price 4:33 pm on November 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your post.
I too have a simple feature phone, but I recognize that will likely change within a couple of years. I’m not really one to choose one device to do everything. Devices have different affordances.
The key aspect to consider is the notion of planning. For many people, carrying a mobile is something they do out of habit. For that reason, it’s become a central part of their lives– they always have it anyway, so why shouldn’t they use it for everything they can in those moments when they are separated from their more substantial hardware?
At this point, my feature phone is another bulky thing in my pocket. And if I want to take decent pictures, I put a camera in my pocket. And if I want to be able to check for restaurants or maps downtown, I take an iPad and hope to find WIFI access. Although I am still behind the curve in mobile, I recognize that I’m really just waiting for sensible data plans.
It’s true that mobile can extend to all kinds of devices… iPods, Nintendo DS (which apparently McDonald’s used in Japan), and all kind of other gadgets. But increasingly, the cellphone is taking over. Consider how Nintendo has discovered that mobile phones are a threat to it’s portable gaming industry! If you’ve got your mobile… do you want to remember to carry other stuff?
schiong 8:22 pm on November 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This was my first cellphone http://cellphones.about.com/library/bl-pi-hp_ipaq_6325.htm
I had it for about 7 years.. until my son accidentally dropped it. I guess it wasn’t kid-proof 🙂
Best Buy Phone Store at Richmond Center is offering $0 on Iphone 4 w/ 3 year plan.
It was tempting. But, I decided not to get it. I have poor vision. I know I would never surf or read articles using a mobile phone. Therefore, having a data plan would just be wasting money.
In my class, I noticed that most of my students have 2 mobile devices.
Out of curiosity, I interviewed some of them.
Student 1: “One is Blackberry to check my emails and the other is an iPhone for everything else”
Student 2: “One is mine. The other one is temporary.”
Student 3: “This one (showing me the phone) is for call. This one (an iPhone) is for research.”
Student 4: “This one (a Blackberry) is my phone. This one (iPod touch) is for games.”
I was intrigued by the student #2’s answer. So, I asked him to explain what he meant by “temporary”.
Student 2: “Sir, you are in Canada.”
Me: ” I think I know that.”
Student 2: “You know … just go to Futureshop or BestBuy and pick any phone you like.”
Me: “I can’t afford to do that with my income.”
Student 2: “You are in Canada. Just pick a phone and return it after few days. ”
Later on, he explained to me that he really likes mobile phones and could not decide which one to purchase.
I can relate what David said about “carrying a mobile is something they do out of habit”.
Several days ago, I challenged my students not to bring their phones in my class. I would give them bonus points if I don’t see them use their phones in my class.
I was surprised … Nobody wanted the challenge.
ifeoma 8:59 pm on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi SChiong
Interesting discussion with your students. They all carry mobiles albeit Iphone and “other” brand. I am curious as to why they seem to prefer the Iphone and its kin, could this be the “cool factor” or is their perception of any other smart phone different from their impression of the Iphone in terms of what it enables them to do? Is this really about what each phone can do? Have they tried any other smart phone for research or gaming? In other words, they do not see that for example the B’berry they have could also be used to do research and listen to music. I would be interested in knowing how student 3 uses Iphone for research, is it research for school work?
If they had to do a school activity on their mobile devices would brand be an impediment or an inspiration? Building on the idea of student 2, if there were a rental for “cool” smart /feature phones for the purposes of learning, would it be something they would be interested in?
ifeoma 8:53 pm on November 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allie,
Thanks for your post. Like you I do not have a data plan on my cell phone but really for financial reasons. I would like a smart phone, infact, I want an iphone4S but still feel it is expensive. The idea of being “on top of things” at work and with my studies while I move around appeals to me a lot but I am limited by costs. I am curious though, if you had a data plan on an Iphone would that have made a difference in what you use for your mlearning? or perhaps one of the constraints of mobile phone- small screen size is a factor?
Allie 9:59 am on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’m quite comfortable with the screen size and the iPhone/Android interface – I adore my iPod Touch, though I don’t use it much for m-learning (it just doesn’t really suit what I’m learning). *However* I’m planning on learning Javascript, the primary language for Android apps, so convinced am I as a result of this class that apps for e- and m-learning are *on* the *rise*. (I also plan on learning the language to be used on Kindle Fire apps, if it isn’t Javascript – so convinced am I that that inexpensive e-reader/app device is well and truly where it will be at in the education market. Apple’s never made a real go of it in education. Witness the e-mac.)
It is, as y’all mention, the obscene data plans in canada that completely turn me off of smartphones. But it’s other things too. The planned obsolescence that is, imho, rampant in cellphone design really irks me. (For the record, my sewing machine – a portable/mobile as it were!* – is 60 years old, and i’m quite certain that it sews as beautifully now as it did the day it was made. If it sewed any more beautifully, it would have been fit for coco chanel’s studio!). The not-exactly-cheap nokia I bought 2.5 years ago is now throwing fits for no apparent reason (I’m hardly a “power user”), and I’m planning on troubleshooting and macgyvering that thing until completely conks out, if only out of spite.
I’m also annoyed (really, it’s the best word) with the total fetishism (in the anthropological sense, though perhaps the more colloquial understanding of the word is apt too) of cellphones, as is *AMPLY* demonstrated by the students depicted in Stephen’s response. I was shopping for a smartphone with and for my bf about a year ago. As we were stood in Rogers, testing out a bunch of phones, the saleswoman looks at us and says quietly, with absolute sincerity, that at the end of the day, “you *have* to *love* your phone.”
rant over!
but also, i’m intrigued, but also a bit saddened, by how the *service* of telecommunications provision has so rapidly become trumped by the phone-as-commodity. I’m a higher-than-average tech user, but nevertheless, I’m never so interested in the “what does it look like!?” factor as the what does it *do*. And with something as expensive as cellphones – compared to their landline and… partyline!!… antecedents – I’m always thinking of the return on investment.
*I’m not a quilter, but the particular machine I have (a singer featherweight for the other sewers in class) is *beloved* by quilters for its mobility – it’s lightweight and easy to take to quilting and sewing classes. I believe it was one of the first machines to be designed for mobile learning (in sewing)!
Allie 10:08 am on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
forgot to add… in a world where the income gap (within developed countries, never mind between developed and developing) is ever increasing, and we are witnessing the erosion of the middle class, it does bother me that a hitherto $25/month service (what I was paying for a landline until… 2.5 years ago*) has ballooned into $50+/month for what is, in many ways, a much more limited service (unless one has unlimited minutes). And all for (necessary?) mobility. I don’t fault telecomm companies for exploiting this; I just find the whole situation a bit sad.
forgot also to add… I do forms of m-learning and m-educating, but not on a phone… rather, using my *beloved* mobile broadband stick. It’s replaced my home internet service provider – and at less than 2/3 the cost.
*I switched for a bare-bones plan & cheap VOIP** over my wireless internet. It suited my needs then. Texting on the run was a plus.
**voice over internet protocol. calling using my IP address rather than the cellphone companies’ network.
David William Price 11:44 am on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your thoughtful follow-up!
You mentioned that m-learning “just doesn’t really suit what I’m learning”. From my research for this week’s topic, I’ve started to think m-learning isn’t so much about “what” we learn as “how” we learn. It’s not about replacing other devices, but leveraging the affordances of mobile to assist us while we’re out exploring in the world. For myself, I think I should spend more time out in the field interacting with people and less time in my office. I wonder how I could leverage mobile as a performance support… and as a way to collect field data and collaborate… as an Ed Tech’er, I see plenty of examples of good and bad human performance technology… how could I use mobile to help me and my friends and colleagues consider and interpret those real-world experiences?
You also mention “planned obsolescence”. My discussions with a multinational also highlighted the extremely fast pace of change both in hardware and software and the difficulty keeping up. The designer I spoke with basically said they have to choose a form of “lowest common denominator” and target that for their project. Instead of chasing the bleeding edge, we can make strategic decisions… and perhaps HTML5 and web apps will help reduce this kind of churn!
Allie 2:43 pm on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I agree fully with our point about the ‘how’ we learn and I think that I was moving towards that in my 2nd paragraph in my original post when discussing my felt need to move – particularly when learning – and the creative juxtapositions that can take place can be unsettling, confirming, or eye-opening. As an eg., I live across the street from the BC supreme court… I imagine that using an m-learning object within the context of that space… or one of the places around here lawyers like to hang out at… could produce a far different educ exp than the same object in a law school).
One of the affordances of m-learning that I find quite intriguing is that it untethers learners from a given learning environment or context; by the same token, the learning environment – now unpredictable – can (not will!) become more significant to the lesson than ever.
As for planned obsolescence, I’m not surprised to learn (haha!) that the lowest-hanging fruit is core to many design decisions. That being said, I feel quite certain in the argument that for non-techies, Apple’s relative lack of PO in their designs — both cosmetically and technologically — has helped them win many fans/customers. (crikey… my folks are still using an almost-8 year old ibook!)