Since this in an OER itself, I decided I wanted to look at the major trends, opportunities, and influences that will likely shape the future of mobile learning in the next 10 years. A literature review of sorts, that we can easily refer to in order to establish what the future of mLearning will look like. There is SO much to be said on this topic, that I hope I did it justice in this little snippet. After running the OER on podcasts with my team in week 11, it seemed like the perfect medium to explore further! So below you can find my A3: the first section of a faux-cast I wrote, recorded, and edited for this assignment.
Episode description:
Following the last few episodes of current directions in mobile and open learning, we turn to looking at what the future of mobile learning might hold. However, rather than picking and studying a single blade of grass, we’re drawing lines around the playing field.
References
Ally, M. & Prieto-Blazquez, J. (2014). What is the future of mobile learning in education? RUSC, 11(1), 142.
Asiimwe, E.N., Grönlund, A., & Mathias, S. (2012). Practices and challenges in an emerging m-learning environment. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 13(1), 103-122.
CommLab India (2017, May 12). Facing These Challenges with Mobile Learning? Check Out the Solutions. Retrieved from https://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-development/mobile-learning-challenges-and-solutions
Designing Digitally (2018, March 29). What to expect for the future of Mobile Learning. Retrieved from https://www.designingdigitally.com/blog/2018/03/what-expect-future-mobile-learning
Fritschi, J. & Wolf, M. A. (2012) Mobile Learning for Teachers in North America: Exploring the Potential of Mobile Technologies to Support Teachers and Improve Practice. Paris: UNESCO.
Hanon, E., Orlandi, I, McKerracher, C., & Ramkumar, S. (2016, Oct 10). An integrated perspective on the future of mobility. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/an-integrated-perspective-on-the-future-of-mobility#
Hylén, J. (2012). Turning on Mobile Learning in Europe: Illustrative Initiatives and Policy Implications. Paris: UNESCO.
Isaacs, S. (2012). Mobile Learning for Teachers in Africa and the Middle East: Exploring the Potential of Mobile Technologies to Support Teachers and Improve Practice. Paris:UNESCO.
Johnson, L., Adams, S. & Cummins, M. (2012). NMC Horizon Report: 2012 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Lugo, M. T. & Schurmann, S. (2012). Turning on Mobile Learning in Latin America: Illustrative Initiatives and Policy Implications. Paris: UNESCO.
Möller, T., Padhi, A., Pinner, D., & Tschiesner, A. (2019, Dec 19). The future of mobility is at our doorstep. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/the-future-of-mobility-is-at-our-doorstep#
Moore, C. (2020, June 22). Now Is the Time to Embrace Mobile Learning. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/6/now-is-the-time-to-embrace-mobile-learning
Nimblechapps (2015). Future of Mobile Learning. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@kevalpadia/future-of-mobile-learning-challenges-and-opportunities-92a522c74dd1
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Sharples, M., Taylor, J., & Vavoula, G. (2005). Towards a Theory of Mobile Learning. Birmingham: The Open University,
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Hi Jamie, You’ve done an excellent job outlining mobile learning and how it has changed over the past few years and where it can go. It is a great intro for anyone looking to learn more about it and something that I would recommend to my colleagues. I love the statement that mobile learning is “…more than moving current education efforts onto digital platforms”. This reminded me of the current apps out that there are still skill and drill but in mobile format. These types of apps can be seen as being helpful for practicing but that does not equate to meaningful learning.
Hey Julia,
Totally! It’s a battle I fight a lot with clients, who say that their digital educational strategies are all in place, but from my perspective are hardly ‘optimised’ considering the potential out there 🙂 thanks for saying it’s a great intro podcast, that was totally the intention with it.
Appreciate the feedback!
Hi Jamie, this is a wonderful take on the A3 project and an engaging voice at that. I started to listen to many more of your podcasts also to get better insights into the future of the ed. tech. I like the highlights of key points such as how mobile learning cannot be stationary, and you can take it wherever you want to different learning spaces. The importance of size, price and connectivity is crucial to make it work for sure.
The environmental footprint that you mentioned is important if mlearning or any technology based learning is to take off. We already have billions of devices in the world. Leveraging existing hardware with proper learning design is as important today than the new hardware that keeps getting pumped out. Companies and organizations should be proactive in providing consulting to schools and the larger educational environment to help mlearning take off.
I find that many teachers and instructors who have been teaching for decades (30+ years) might not have the research or skills to develop complex mobile learning but some do with the readily available tools. Also, open mindedness in higher leadership needs to accept new ideas that challenges the status quo in education. Politics need to take a back seat and open the door to a transformative experience for the learners in the coming decades.
Loved this podcast.
Luke
Hey Luke,
Thanks for this response. Indeed, the environmental impact is a big consideration. We already send tons and tons of electronic waste to landfills each year, and reuse and recycling of these materials have big health and safety barriers to overcome too. I agree that proactivity, collaboration, good leadership, and a shift from the status quo is needed. Whilst politics may need to step back, we will still need policy that supports and encourages new methods of learning to be seen as legitimate, and for lifestyles to be possible in which people can learn on the go.
“A transformative experience for the learners in the coming decades” is what we’re all hoping for and working towards!
Glad you enjoyed the faux-cast 😀
Hi Jamie,
You’re a great hostess! Really enjoyed your episode, loved your voice and the faux-casts in the first and last section. It was so smartly designed.
You’re presenting the topic of mobile learning to us in such a pleasant way. I like how you start with the definition of mobile learning and then dive into the different aspects of it. From the sociocultural contexts to the challenges, you’ve discussed how 21st century learning/education is impacted by the rise of mobile learning very well. I also appreciate that you brought up those important ideas and concepts in mobile learning, such as personalized learning, situated learning, contextual learning, life-long learning, and informal learning ect. Great job! Followed you on soundcloud 🙂
Hey Ceci,
Glad you enjoyed it. I felt it was really important to circle back to the definition of what we’re actually talking about, because the phrase “mobile learning” means lots of different things to different people.
Thanks for the encouraging feedback!
Hi Jaime,
Thank you for an amazing podcast on mLearning . I really like how you created a catchy name for it and described its many important highlights. You have researched this topic in length and I appreciate you sharing your insights of the major aspects. I enjoyed your explanation of the major trends and opportunities of how mLearning will shape our society. I agree with you that size, price and connection are aspects in technology that are constantly changing and what motivate our decisions often in tech. With the challenges to overcome in wide scale integration, it had me thinking about mlearning for the elderly. I know you have touched on this from an educator’s perspective, but it was something that came to mind. Will mlearning support the elderly in a way that allows for their daily tasks to be more easily met? Just a thought.
I also enjoyed that you said a different type of education will be required. I completely agree. I have already found that change during our time in remote learning past March. The impacts of mlearning on students as well as teachers and how we have to change our pedagogical approach in teaching. Since mlearning is becoming more present in schools and students daily learning, it is our job as educators to adapt and sustain connections with our students.
You mentioned a great description of distributed learning. I think it will be very personalized with mlearning as you will have so many opportunities for students to take their tools with them. Because mlearning will transform the way people interact, I wonder what other forms of mlearning will be needed to ensure that our student and teacher relationships can stil remain face to face.
Thank you for a very thorough project!
Hi Kat,
You raise such an important point, and one I must admit I hadn’t considered. We spent a lot of time focusing on digital literacy for new generations of learners and educators needing to make shifts, that looking at how to include elderly populations in new conceptions of education and lifelong learning seems to be entirely overlooked.
I think, in an ideal world, as learning becomes more integrated into daily lives and personalised environments it will reintegrate with communities and social dynamics. So this may not necessarily mean that the elderly are using the tech to learn themselves. Instead, they may have their questions answered by family members who can use tech to do research, may have devices that can be used more intuitively than current systems that need to be used (imagine voice interaction devices), or just be involved in teaching/learning projects happening around them. At the end of the day, mLearning would be optimised if it becomes situated in a different approach to education altogether, and this different approach goes with big shifts in societal structures away from what we have today, and thus has the potential to include groups that are often sidelined such as the elderly.
Thanks for bringing up this prompt, it’s a really important one. Glad you thought the project was thorough and that there were things you enjoyed!
Hi Jaime,
WOW. What an incredibly passionate and professional podcast you have created. It was inspiring to listen to your knowledge on the subject and your clear passion for where M learning is going in the future. Some points I took with me and found interesting was
1) Defining mobile learning before moving forward – the term is used incredibly broadly and I like the way you specifically defined what the words mean to you and society.
2) The discussion on how predicting the future is uncertain business. As we saw this year, your ability to predict the next ten years is an impossible task and that should be noted.
3) We have had huge growth in the size, price and connectivity of mobility.
4) I love how you mentioned our work places are far removed from our educational settings. I completely agree – I wonder how and when this will shift with regards to face to face interactions, especially after the remote learning phase of the pandemic.
5) You mention personalised learning which I have taken too over my last few courses! Personalization refers to, “instruction that is paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and tailored to the specific interests of different learners. In an environment that is fully personalized, the learning objectives and content as well as the method and pace may all vary” (Bray, 2012). This connects incredible well to providing education for all over the entire planet – we are so connected and able to share and teach all over the place. The learning content can be so varied based upon students interests, motivations or maybe even local needs.
Thank you somuch for your great work.
Lindsay
Bray, B., and McClaskey, K. (2012). Personalization v differentiation v individualization.
Retrieved from
https://education.alberta.ca/media/3069745/personalizationvsdifferentiationvsin
dividualization.pdf
Hey Lindsay,
I love nothing more than a clearly organised response, and I’m glad there were so many things you enjoyed!
The quote you shared about personalized learning is really nice, and important in my eyes too. So often we think of personalized learning as an AI driven method for apps to cater to individual students, which makes learning sound like an isolated activity you undertake with a machine. This idea of personalized learning has never quite sat well with me, so I love how that quote frames personalized learning as something that still happens within an environment and beyond the scopes of a screen.
Thanks for the feedback and for sharing such a great resource 🙂