“Mobile is a strategy more than a technology” states Connie Malamed in her blog post It’s not elearning on a Phone . Malamed gears her blog post to industry, but many of her mobile strategies can be applied to educational learning (Malamed,2012). My experience and interest with mobile learning in the past has focused on the technology not the learning strategies. As an educator, I have not implemented mobile learning within my teaching mostly due to the barriers and myths associated with its use. In “Mobile Learning” by JISC inFoNet, some of the myths outlined with mobile learning include: screens are too small for learning, mobile devices are too distracting to be used for learning, devices are unreliable and can be lost, broken or stolen, no consistent standards, students already know how to learn using their mobile devices, content is not as secure as desktops, student with disabilities can’t use mobile devices, and mobile learning is too expensive. While I can certainly identify with many of these myths (most are simply addressed in Malamed’s post), the main barriers to the use of mobile learning in my teaching are Wi-Fi coverage, attitude, access to resources and cost (the Wi-Fi access has been down all year, overcoming district policy on cell phone bans is an issue, class sets of iPads are costly and unavailable, and not every student can BYOD (Bring our Own Device). Because these barriers seem impassable at the start, many educators, including myself, dismiss mobile learning experiences entirely. The time has come for educators to move beyond the myths and barriers concerning technology associated with mobile learning and begin to explore aspects of mobile learning that focus on Pedagogy, Strategy and Implementation.
In terms of pedagogy, Koole’s Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME) model best suits my perception of mobile learning. Koole’s FRAME Model illustrates how mobile learning is a combination of the interactions between learners, their devices, and other people (JISC, 2014). According to Koole( as cited in JISC 2014), “Mobile learning provides enhanced collaboration among learners, access to information, and a deeper contextualization of learning.” In Koole’s FRAME model, the Device aspect relates to the technical characteristics of the mobile device, the Learner aspect relates to the personal characteristics of the learner and the Social aspect relates to the social environment in which the learning takes place (Kumar). To adopt mobile learning, Koole provides a checklist (Koole as cited in JISC, 2014) which includes questions such as:
Along with addressing the pedagogy behind mobile learning, applying strategies to assist in mobile learning can increase the success of implementation. The “Infokit” in "Mobile Learning" , offer ways to jumpstart mobile learning initiatives by:
· Creating website friendly interfaces for mobile use
· Provide a mobile friendly font to an existing RSS feed(content allowed to syndicate to other places than existing website)
· Set up social media accounts for course updates and relevant news items
· Use mobile-friendly apps or versions tailored to mobile devices(Most popular learning platforms such as are Moodle, Blackboard and Microsoft Sharepoint have online solutions )
Malamed (2012) offers added strategies with the use of: mini-lessons and brief activities, performance support using reference apps and social media channels, digital polls, surveys and questionnaires to get opinions, feedback and evaluations, multimedia recording and playback capabilities of mobile devices to generate content from which others can learn and increase motivation with gamification of the classroom. Being knowledgeable of strategies for use with mobile learning can increase success for implementation.
The best site for implementing mobile learning initiatives can be found at Gary Woodil’s mLearning Road Map . (JISC, 2014)
Mobile learning is fast approaching as the “vehicle for exploring the changing nature of learning in a connected age”(JISC, 2014) If educators can be willing to look past the myths and barriers to mobile learning and focus on Pedagogy, Strategy and Implementation, mobile learning initiatives will be more successful in creating change within our educational programs .
References:
JISC (2014) Mobile Learning. Available at http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/mobile-learning/
Malamed, C. 2012 It’s not elearning on a Phone. Available at http://theelearningcoach.com/mobile/its-not-elearning-on-a-phone/
Kumar, S. Jamatia, B Mobile Device Intervention for Student Support Services in Distance Education Context – FRAME Model Perspective Available at http://www.eurodl.org/?article=447
In terms of pedagogy, Koole’s Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME) model best suits my perception of mobile learning. Koole’s FRAME Model illustrates how mobile learning is a combination of the interactions between learners, their devices, and other people (JISC, 2014). According to Koole( as cited in JISC 2014), “Mobile learning provides enhanced collaboration among learners, access to information, and a deeper contextualization of learning.” In Koole’s FRAME model, the Device aspect relates to the technical characteristics of the mobile device, the Learner aspect relates to the personal characteristics of the learner and the Social aspect relates to the social environment in which the learning takes place (Kumar). To adopt mobile learning, Koole provides a checklist (Koole as cited in JISC, 2014) which includes questions such as:
- How might the use of mobile devices change the process of interaction between learners, communities, and systems?
- How might learners most effectively use mobile access to other learners, systems, and devices to recognize and evaluate information and processes to achieve their goals?
- How might learners become more independent in navigating through and filtering information?
- How might the roles of teachers and learners change and how to prepare them for that change?
Along with addressing the pedagogy behind mobile learning, applying strategies to assist in mobile learning can increase the success of implementation. The “Infokit” in "Mobile Learning" , offer ways to jumpstart mobile learning initiatives by:
· Creating website friendly interfaces for mobile use
· Provide a mobile friendly font to an existing RSS feed(content allowed to syndicate to other places than existing website)
· Set up social media accounts for course updates and relevant news items
· Use mobile-friendly apps or versions tailored to mobile devices(Most popular learning platforms such as are Moodle, Blackboard and Microsoft Sharepoint have online solutions )
Malamed (2012) offers added strategies with the use of: mini-lessons and brief activities, performance support using reference apps and social media channels, digital polls, surveys and questionnaires to get opinions, feedback and evaluations, multimedia recording and playback capabilities of mobile devices to generate content from which others can learn and increase motivation with gamification of the classroom. Being knowledgeable of strategies for use with mobile learning can increase success for implementation.
The best site for implementing mobile learning initiatives can be found at Gary Woodil’s mLearning Road Map . (JISC, 2014)
Mobile learning is fast approaching as the “vehicle for exploring the changing nature of learning in a connected age”(JISC, 2014) If educators can be willing to look past the myths and barriers to mobile learning and focus on Pedagogy, Strategy and Implementation, mobile learning initiatives will be more successful in creating change within our educational programs .
References:
JISC (2014) Mobile Learning. Available at http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/mobile-learning/
Malamed, C. 2012 It’s not elearning on a Phone. Available at http://theelearningcoach.com/mobile/its-not-elearning-on-a-phone/
Kumar, S. Jamatia, B Mobile Device Intervention for Student Support Services in Distance Education Context – FRAME Model Perspective Available at http://www.eurodl.org/?article=447