For this forecasting project, I chose to describe a FICTIONAL app that does not exist now. The app is presented on a website where the product page mimics the app description on Apple’s App Store to introduce key terminologies and concepts of Mobility, so it is a parody of a real app on the App Store. The context & rationale and research pages provide a more detailed explanation for the urge to create the app, at the same time summarizing theoretical groundings and current literature on mobile learning, or more specifically, mobile-assisted language learning. I had fun designing the logo, curating the screenshots and putting the website together. The website was built with “mobile first” in mind, so please feel free to browse it on your phone. I’d also like to invite you to participate in the padlet activity to test out the posts and comments features of the app, suppose you’re an English language learner, ESL, EAL or a native speaker. Thank you in advance!
Website link: https://etec523a3.weebly.com/
Hi Ceci-
Thanks for putting together such an interesting A3! This is the second A3 I’ve been assigned to review where the author designed a fictional app or technology. I think it’s a fantastic way to approach the assignment and am feeling a bit regretful that I didn’t go that route with my own A3 submission. It really makes learning engaging and fun, so great job!
Your QuoteLover’s app is particularly interesting to me for two reasons- one is that I’m a very big reader, and I’m often googling quotes from my favorite novels to share with friends, so I think I would find this app very useful in my day to day life. The other reason is that I’m just a single-language speaker, and I’ve tried on several occasions to learn other languages- French, German, even Japanese using language apps such as DuoLingo, but have not had much success. I find the apps to be engaging and fun, but the lessons just don’t “stick in my brain” the way they should, and I haven’t been able to grasp an actual basic command of any language. I think some of the points you cover in your “Research” section might address why.
The pedagogical framework of mobile learning that you highlight- iPAC- focuses on a major dimension of mobile learning that I feel has been largely absent from this course: Authenticity. Authenticity, in this context, refers to opportunities for contextualized, situational learning. When going through much of the course material this term, I’ve learned alot about the opportunities that mobile learning offers, I’ve learned a lot about different facets of mobile learning technology, from 5G to AR to Gameification. We’ve talked a lot about collaboration, design and connectivism, but something we haven’t really touch on much is the potential for mobile tech to offer learning in context.
I think the idea of contextualized learning is important in many ways but particularly on the subject of language acquisition. One of the reasons why I was never really able to learn an active command of any language from using other language learning apps is that the lessons tend to be totally devoid of context. Most apps just try to teach you basic vocabulary and phrases. What’s great about QuoteLovers is that you’ve addressed this gap and have cited the appropriate theories (social learning, Vygotsky, iPAC) to support your case for contextualized language learning.
As mobile learning trends continue in the future, I think it’s important that educators and developers keep context in mind. Mobile technology has tremendous potential, but simply dumping information without context isn’t a very good approach to learning. Things like AR and Gameification can make learning interesting and fun, but I think it’s important to also use these developing technologies in way that highlights why we’re learning what we are, and how this knowledge can be used, well, authentically in a real world practical context. Great job on making that a part of your OER, I found it to be very thought provoking.
Have a great summer!
Hi Jordan,
Thank you so much for your positive and detailed feedback. I really appreciate it! I enjoyed your presentation on the mobile trends in corporate training as well. It is so well laid out and informative. You’re right that it is equally important to exploit the authentic nature of m-learning while exploring education mediated via mobile devices. Your comment brought me back to one of the mobility perspectives we discussed during week one of this course: Does Context Rock.
Why do students today find little meaning in school subjects? Yi mentioned in his A3 research that many scholars argue that “the current content-based knowledge is pretty powerless facing real-world problems in a domain (Bransford et al., 2000; Gardner, 1991; Gee, 2004; Shaffer, 2007; Gee, 2013a)”. Binal also said in her response to week 1 discussion that “when students feel that the education they are receiving is relevant to them, in fact specifically tailored to their needs and abilities, they will be more invested in it”.
Educators should harness the mobile media’s ability to “touch down” (Vogt, week 1, context rocks), fully exploiting its affordances of discerning or responding to the motivations of the people around them instead of offering identical experiences to everyone. Absolutely agree with you, we could have spent more time unpacking this topic. Thanks again! Enjoy the summer 🙂
Hey Ceci,
I think this is such a fun app idea, and it really embraces the reality of what learning will look like in mobile contexts. When learning breaks out of structured classroom confines, everything and anything becomes a learning tool. This allows things that already exist in the app-sphere to adjust slightly and directly intend to distribute bite-sized, fun, learning content to user’s devices.
Your site and concept for this A3 is a great example of what this may look like in the future 🙂
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for the comment! This is the best recognition that I could have hoped for. You’re absolutely right – with the perpetual contact individuals have through mobile networks, the boundaries between school and home, work and leisure, and any other endless combination of multiple spaces are becoming increasingly permeable. It is true that our leisure time is also learning time, just that we’re learning in an informal way 🙂
Hi Ceci! Great job on your website! It is really easy to navigate on mobile and on computer. I learned a lot about language learning and quotes, and I really liked the iPAC framework you presented for mobile education. Authenticity, collaboration, and personalisation summarizes the main objectives and considerations of mobile education very nicely. Your app QuoteLover seems like a great way to encourage English learners to learn through collaboration and conversation on a mobile platform. The audio input function reminds me about a language learning app I used, which had a feature to record yourself saying a dialogue and comparing it to a native speaker. Thank you for sharing your resource!
Hi Linda,
Thank you so much for your positive feedback! I appreciate that the projects in this course give full play to our different professional experiences and personal interests in relation to the ideas and concepts we explore in mobile and open learning. Our group is definitely distributed and uses the affordances provided to participate, share, collaborate, learn and understand. It is really great to see each one of us bringing their background, experiences, perspective and knowledge to the Mobile Forum and making it such a richer learning environment. Glad you liked iPAC, which I think is a cornerstone theory in mobile learning.
Hi Linda,
I also appreciate your comment on the audio function. I forgot to include this in my reply yesterday: the reason I set the feature of having quotes read aloud by Siri is to highlight one of the dimensions of mobile learning, i.e. personalized learning. Personalisation is crucial for mobile learning. It allows mobile users to access learning resources in the form and media relevant to their language skills, abilities and personal preferences. We always have different types of learners, don’t we?