Educ Inf Technol

DOI 10.1007/s10639-013-9250-3

Mobile learning and integration of mobile technologies

in education

Jared Keengwe & Malini Bhargava

# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Abstract Mobile technologies have a huge potential to transform education provided

these technologies are designed and implemented in such a way that they are relevant
to the social and cultural context of learning. Clearly, the application, implementation,
and design of mobile technology in the global educational context pose technological
and socio-cultural challenges. Specifically, technology tools and applications that are
familiar in developed nations may pose unique challenges in developing countries, so
‘one size fits all’ or ‘one technology for all contexts’ does not practically work.
Therefore, the authors provide case studies focusing on the pedagogical benefits of
mobile technologies when used as educational tools. Ideally, this article is intended to
stimulate reflections on the subject of m-learning as well as the integration of mobile
technologies in education.

Keywords M-learning . M-technology . Instant messaging (IM) . Learning

environment . Personal digital assistant (PDA) . Mobile healthcare systems (MHS)

1 Introduction

Various studies have shown that there are more Internet-capable mobile phones with
equally advanced features in the World than the actual desktop computers in countries
such as USA, UK, Germany, France, & Japan (rmenardi 2012). For the purpose of
this article, mobile technologies are defined as all those technological devices, which
are portable and lightweight and either through the data cables or through wireless

J. Keengwe (*)
Department of Teaching and Learning, University of North Dakota, STOP 7189,
Grand Forks, ND 58201, USA
e-mail: jared.keengwe@email.und.edu

M. Bhargava
Center for Knowledge, Culture and Innovation Studies, Department of Science,
Technology and Society Studies, Hyderabad, Hyderabad, AP, India
e-mail: mbhibiscusrosa_1998@yahoo.com
 Educ Inf Technol

connections have Internet capability such as mobile phones, PDAs, iPads, and smart
phones. Also, m-learning (mobile learning) is defined as a dynamic learning envi-
ronment through the use of mobile technologies especially in the field of education.
Traxler (2005), defines mobile learning (m-learning) as:
“…any educational provision where the sole or dominant technologies are
handheld or palmtop devices. This definition may mean that mobile learning
could include mobile phones, Smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs)
and their peripherals, perhaps tablet PCs and perhaps laptop PCs, but not
desktops in carts and other similar solutions. Perhaps the definition should
address also the growing number of experiments with dedicated mobile devices
such as games consoles and iPODs, and it should encompass both mainstream
industrial technologies and one-off experimental technologies” (pg. 261–162).
Gardner (1983), in his theory of theory of multiple intelligence, argued that a
person might have more than one cognitive ability. Gardner proposed eight kinds of
abilities or intelligences an individual may have to enable him to understand and learn
about the world such as spatial, linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic,
musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, & naturalistic. Thus, one can argue that since
mobile technologies has the capability for storing audio, video and text files, if
integrated with the learning environment, these tools can reach different learning
styles of the learners. This article employs the sociological perspective to examine
mobile technologies in education and how the two influence one another. Given the
digital context of the 21st century learners, it is imperative to review the applications
of mobile technologies education and how these applications are changing the social
structure of learning environment in different learning contexts as well as how the
learning environments shape mobile technologies. Finally, the authors provide case
studies focusing on the pedagogical benefits of mobile technologies when used as
educational tools.

2 Theoretical framework

Understanding that different sections of the society perceive and interpret mobile
phones differently is important for enabling a meaningful integration of mobile
technologies in education. For example, using the qualitative interview method and
the constructive grounded theory analysis, Soderstrom (2011) evaluated that the
significance and use of mobile phones in the daily lives of the Norwegians’ younger
generation of disabled and non-disabled section is very different. Sample population
for the study by Soderstrom (2011), was selected from the age groups of 16–20, with
12 being the disabled mobile users and the other 12 the non-disabled Norwegians
participants. Soderstrom (2011) showed that for the disabled-mobile users safety was
the most significant feature of mobile phones whereas for the non-disabled partic-
ipants, the social interactions and connectivity were the significant features of the
mobile phones (Soderstrom 2011).
Similarly, in the works of Sey (2011) in Africa, mobile phones were seen to be
used for multiple purposes and mainly used for making connections on personal and
professional level, which was making these mobile technologies an important part of
Educ Inf Technol

their lives. A different study (Oksman & Turtianinen 2004) showed that in Finland,
the most important form of communication among the teenagers was through the
mobile devices like mobile phones. Oksman and Turtianen (2004) reported that
instant messaging(IM) and chats were very popular among Finnish teenagers to
maintain the relationship among their social circle of friends and family. This was
seen as having an ‘electronic life’, a term used to represent this generation (Oksman
and Turtiainen 2004). A crucial conclusion of the study was that mobile technologies
were also gendered as girls had more reservations about the development of technol-
ogy than the boys (Oksman and Turtiainen 2004).
Exploratory qualitative studies on the functions and meanings of mobile technol-
ogies (Caronia and Caron 2004) in Finland examined how the young people had
formed their own social circle using the mobile phones. This culture created by the
use of mobile phones was seen as a social performance which was reflective; and as a
way of encouraging social thinking about topics like ethics, ettiquettes and even
asthetics. Specifically, the study by Caronia and Caron (2004) showed that the use of
mobile phones among the younger generation of Finland was not only about technical
competency but was also seen as requiring strong communication skills to be a part of
their culture. Therefore, from a sociological perspective, the interaction of mobile
technologies and education should recognize the significant differences in the atti-
tudes, values, and assumptions of the society towards the use of mobile technologies.
Socio-cultural factors are important not only for implementing mobile technologies in
education but also for designing and developing these mobile technologies.

3 Integration of mobile technologies in education

Technology when used in education can sometimes lead to unintended consequences

such as the learners becoming dependent on technology and expecting the technology
to solve most of their problems (Routet et al. 2001). Additionally, the use of mobile
technologies in education can be seen as a theatre workshop where one can portray a
character totally different than oneself and show dimensions of multiple personality.
This could be a perfect metaphor for understanding how a teacher and a student
relationship can be interpreted. Although no technology can be without risks, these
risks as described above are shaping the technology. For example, a few years ago,
only a few privileged sections of society had access to mobile technologies. But
today, there are many new user-friendly features accommodating the needs of the
diverse people, and with the cost going down, almost everyone owns a cell phone. So
with many useful aspects of mobile technologies, which cannot be ignored, the
process of integrating mobile technologies seems irreversible.
Despite the challenges, the social implications of mobile learning in different
learning contexts, and the future of mobile learning technologies, applications, and
platforms in education clearly show how important our culture and society is when it
comes to implementing mobile technologies. For example, the study by Liu (2011),
determined that national cultural values influence the technology adoption at indi-
vidual levels by showing the existence of various individual differences prevalent
within a culture. Thus, according to Liu (2011), understanding the culture from a
sociological perspective is very important, not only when designing and developing
 Educ Inf Technol

mobile technologies but even when implementing mobile technologies for educa-
tional purposes to accommodate the knowledge of diverse cultures.
Today’s generation is using the texting services (SMS) of mobile phones more and
more. Watching videos, accessing Internet, chatting with one another, multitasking
while on mobile phones has revolutionized the way we are connecting and commu-
nicating globally, and making the public spaces like their own private spaces with the
use of these mobile technologies. People who are introverts and shy can now talk
with anyone from anywhere and at anytime without the fear of face to face interaction
with free applications like Skype which are making mobile conversation almost
similar to face-to-face conversations. Liu et al. (2011) proposed in their study that
the potential of mobile technologies such as the MHS (mobile healthcare systems)
especially among the asthma patients was shown to be very beneficial. This study
showed how the understanding of the society and its culture is important when
designing and developing mobile technologies especially in education (Liu et al.
2011). The metaphor or the ideology, ‘one size fits all’ may not work practically in
case of mobile technologies. The potential of mobile technologies: to allow access to
anyone from anywhere, anytime and at anyplace, if custom made according to the
social, economical and political needs of an individual or society at large, may now
be realized in a more meaningful way.
Similarly, Wang et al. (2011), in their study reported that in countries like China
and Korea, the adults were using the information technology to connect with one
another more, than for anything else. Whereas in countries like USA, it was found
that the adults were using information technology more to access information rather
than using it to connect with one another. As seen, the context in different countries
can be different and so understanding the cultural backgrounds is important when
designing the technology products from a sociological perspective to make it more
compatible with education in a particular society or culture (Wang et al. 2011). On a
related note, understanding gender differences is important not only for the designers
and developers of mobile technologies but should be taken into consideration along
with the cultural factors that both men and women use and see mobile technologies
very differently and in different contexts. For example, the study by Weber (1999)
had shown how the male dominated military technologies had taken the gender
differences into account when designing the military aircraft cockpits, which were
earlier made by men for men only (Weber 1999). Similarly, in yet another study by
Chong et al. (2011), perceived factors such as ease of use, usefulness, quality of
services and cultural aspects were seen to have significant and positive effects on the
adoption of m-learning in a country like Malaysia (Chong et al. 2011).
In yet another study, Chang et al. (2012) focused on the Smartphone-based mobile
learning initiative in the remote areas of Botswana, which was done with the
physician trainees at the Medical school in Botswana. There is a huge potential of
technology-mediated learning for knowledge sharing process in informal spaces and
even in the privileged and authoritative spaces (Rambe 2012). Twenty-six postgrad-
uate students were interviewed in this study to find out the potential of the
technology-mediated environment for enhancing the informal learning environment
created through the use of mobile phones enabled-social networking site Facebook.
The findings showed that these social media-enabled phones increased the social
learning, digital learning, and construction of new co-production of knowledge.
Educ Inf Technol

Similarly, Ekanayake and Wishart (2011) conducted a study to find out how the
mobile phone cameras could be used in teaching and learning subjects like science in
a country like Sri Lanka especially during the planning, implementing and evaluating
lessons in their curriculum. The results of the study showed that the use of the mobile
phone cameras helped the teachers in preparing their lessons better and in addition the
use of mobile phone cameras in the class increased the learners’ interest and resulted
in active participation, enhanced interaction and collaboration.

4 Mobile technologies in education: Case studies

The need to increase access to education is the greatest educational challenge of the
21st century. Imagine the huge cost of infrastructure and manpower to educate
millions, especially the underprivileged sections of the society (Bean 2012). The
following projects from a sociological perspective show how the integration of
mobile technologies into education serve as excellent solutions when designed,
developed and implemented strategically (Bean 2012).

4.1 Tessa (teacher education in Sub Saharan Africa)

The project Tessa was done in Africa and stands for Teacher Education in Sub
Saharan Africa. Tessa originated in 2005 in collaboration with the Open University,
UK and many other International Organizations. Tessa has already reached 400,000
primary school teachers in Africa (Bean 2012). Tessa has made it possible to train
teachers and educators at primary school level by providing them course design
guidelines developed in collaboration with other teachers and educators from around
the globe. These open source educational materials are accessible through the Internet
in the form of an open source platform from around the globe.
In a report by Ngimwa (2012), commissioned by the Open Learning Network
(OLnet) project to discuss the results and the experiences of the six fellows from SSA
(Sub Saharan Africa) about their experiences with the open source data bank of Tessa,
terms like ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ mentioned in the report were intriguing. Ngimwa’s
report (2012) discussed the perspectives of the insiders, and according to the report,
‘insider’ information helped the fellows to understand the cultural boundaries of these
societies involved with Tessa project. Similarly, Ngimwa’s report (2012) concluded
that the socio-cultural factors play a big role when adopting OLnet. Projects like this
demonstrates the important role of the social and cultural aspects of a society when
integrating mobile technologies in education. Clearly, the contextual perspective of a
society is very crucial, as ‘one size fits all’ does not work everywhere.

4.2 SimSchool

SimSchool is a classroom-based simulator for teachers just like the ‘flight simulators’
for pilots. SimSchool is a simulator of a classroom and for teachers and educators to
use around the world. SimSchool won the Next Generation Learning Challenges
grant from Educause and Wave 1 award in 2011 (Benson 2011). The pilot testing of
SimSchool for teacher training was in its beginnings and they were hoping that
 Educ Inf Technol

collaboration and support with teachers, and educators from around the globe might
help them in realizing their goal of making SimSchool into a ‘realistic simulator for
teacher training’ just like the ‘flight simulator’ for pilots (Zibit, and Gibson 2005).
Integration of SimSchool with mobile technologies could also impact in a significant
way the educational arena around the world.

4.3 MILLEE (mobile and immersive learning for literacy in emerging economies)

Similarly, MILLEE Project is an excellent example that demonstrates how it has been
successful in creating meaningful learning environments in developing nations by
taking into account the context of different social, cultural, economical, and techno-
logical factors of a society. Dr. Matthew Kam started MILLEE project in the year
2004 when he was a doctoral student in the University of California, Berkley (source:
www.millee.org), with an aim of helping developing countries improve their literacy
levels through the use of computer games. Works of Brewer et al. (2005) showed that
the initial research works of MILLEE included exploratory works by the MILLEE
researchers which included spending time with the local stakeholders in the devel-
oping countries to get a better understanding of the learning context and culture.
Brewer et al. (2005) argued that interdisciplinary approach would give them a better
understanding of the social issues such as gender inequalities to make Information
communications and Technology (ICT) successful in developing nations and they
would like to focus on regions where the income per year is less than $2,000 and
mainly concentrate on regions like India, Bangladesh, Brazil and Uganda. Further,
they argued that worldwide diffusion of technology would further enhance the
concept of their project (Brewer et al. 2005).
Studies of Brewer et al. (2005) evaluated that many efforts of integrating technol-
ogy in schools in rural areas had given positive results and they felt that by integrating
sound educational principles with technology, could positively impact education in
these rural areas. Brewer et al. (2005) further evaluated their hypothesis by conduct-
ing random experiments involving approximately 2,933 students in 32 schools by
creating courseware in local languages in the states of Andhra and Karnataka, in India
along with Azim Premji foundation, which contributed to their motivation for the
project. Similarly, Brewer et al. (2005), discussed about Digdarshan, which in 2,000
used a solar powered computer in a rural school in Uttar Pradesh, India and students
were able to use this computer in small groups and learn from CD ROMs containing
contents in the local Hindi language. As of 2005 Digdarshan had reached 700 schools
and 700 are already on their way (Brewer et al. 2005). Thus, a strong foundation for
MILLEE project was created. MILLEE project in collaboration with the partial funding
from Nokia, CA, (www.millee.org, 2009) got access to approximately 450 mobile
phones from Nokia for free, and Professor Matthew Kam, the founder of MILLEE
project focused in using mobile phone-based games to teach English in rural areas of
India. The initial studies of MILLEE project found that using games in mobile phones
significantly increased the learning ability of the participating learners.
A study by Kumar et al. (2010) also showed that cellphones had the potential of
reaching out education to millions of underpriviledged individuals in developing
nations. They conducted participant observations to find out the potential of mobile
learning in the everyday lives of these rural children in India. They established that
Educ Inf Technol

there was enough motivation among these young rural children in India in using these
mobile phones for educational purposes but the social context cannot be ignored
(Kumar et al. 2010).
The concept of using of games for teaching purposes in the MILLEE project is
supported by the study of Kam et al. (2006) that showed the importance of understand-
ing the culture, the values and beliefs of particular society. In addition, taking into
account the perspectives of important stakeholders such as the parents, local teaching
and facilitating staff is important when designing the software used (Kam et al. 2006).
MILLEE project conducted many small studies in the states of Andhra Pradesh by
taking 800 children in 40 villages for understanding the design and development of
mobile-phone based games to be used for educating these children. The MILLEE
project shows that the use of mobile technologies as a learning tool can have
tremendous capability for reaching out to millions and helping to improve the literacy
level in emerging economies. However, the cultural and social contexts of a society
play a big role in making projects like MILLEE successful and feasible.
Kam et al. (2009) conducted exploratory studies in 3 communities in North and South
of India, which showed that a lot had to be learned when designing computer games for
making them an effective educational tool in Indian context and culturally meaningful for
the rural children in India. The study evaluated 28 local village games the rural children
played with the exisiting video games to make them more effective for these rural children
in Indian context (Kam et al. 2009). The study by Kam et al. (2009) shows that ‘one size
fits all’ may not work for mobile phones based games in different countries, as they should
be relevant to their culture, belief, attitudes, meanings and knowledge.

4.4 $100 Laptop (one laptop per child)

From a sociological perspective, One Laptop Per Child project was to make $100
laptops, for developing nations, which had received praises as well as their share of
criticism. According to the BBC News online, the idea of distributing low cost
laptops to the children in the developing nations was first proposed by Dr. Nicholas
Negroponte founder of the project with an intention of offering just education and not
technology. After 5 years since the idea was born, Dr. Negroponte had unveiled the
first prototype of the laptop in 2005. The $100 dollar project was ‘One Laptop Per
Child’ project was also supported by Miami-based One laptop Per Child Association.
In addition, many success stories of this One Laptop Per Child, have shown how they
are playing a part in impacting education in a positive way. For example in one of the
many success stories of One laptop per child, it was found that in one of the schools
in Khairat, India, the attendance went up by 100 %. Also teachers collaborated with
their peers and students from neighboring schools were encouraged and motivated to
generate new ideas. Similarly, in India, at a commercial price of Indian Rupees
Rs.2999 ‘Aakash’ a tablet PC was released in the year 2011.

5 Mobile technologies and pedagogy

Mobile technologies can significantly benefit pedagogy, organization, strategy, and

content with their ability to address the different learning styles of the learners and by
 Educ Inf Technol

making the educational materials available to anyone, anytime, anywhere, and in

different versatile formats like podcast, videos, or audio recordings etc. Students and
medical trainees working in remote field areas can stay connected with their teachers
and make use of mobile devices to access information from anywhere and at anytime.
A doctor can access solutions from web MD; learn some practical ideas by watching
virtually a live surgery or podcast lectures; or have the ability to access patients’
history from anywhere to guide the patients; or enable the patients to communicate
with a doctor anytime from anywhere. Thus, the social life of an individual is no
longer restricted within the four walls of a building as it is interconnected with the
world through social networking sites and other technology applications accessible
through mobile devices.
From a pedagogical perspective, the potential of mobile technologies can be signif-
icant. For example in healthcare education, Traxler (2005) noted that mobile technolo-
gies can be used as supporting technologies for patients when used for alerts, reminders,
learning a language, motivation, and guidance. Thus, mobile technologies can provide
an informal learning platform, which is portable, light weight, and can lead to sponta-
neous and private learning as seen in the study (Traxler 2005). Similarly, students were
reported to make use of the PDA and other mobile devices to streamline videos to view
remote surgeries, images and even lecture podcasts and in future for viewing simulation
of the actual medical procedures (Blenkinsopp 2007).
Knowledge develops through interactions among human beings and these social
interactions lead to knowledge transformation. Thus, in Kekwaletswe (2007) opinion
IM (Instant Messaging) capability of mobile phones can help in creating learning
environments for enhancing the knowledge transformation. Sharples (2007) argued
that we have entered a mobile age where people are carrying mobile devices with
them everywhere. The mobile technologies have the ability to encourage informal
education from anywhere, anytime and anyplace (Sharples 2007). Mobile technolo-
gies are mediating technology and the main focus should be on understanding that
“…new learning applications emerge through interaction and communications be-
tween key participants in the development cycle” (Sharples 2007).
The study by Sirajul and Gronlund (2011) can help us identify some of the
opportunities and challenges when integrating mobile technologies for teaching and
learning in developing countries. These researchers argue that the major development
of the agriculture sector in developing nations is measured in terms of the farmer’s
knowledge about the existent and emerging market opportunities and how much
increase in their income is achieved. Their findings showed that younger generation
and families with children were more likely to have mobile phones than the other
sections of the society and the literacy level played a significant role when it came to
using the SMS feature of the cell-phones. Sirajul and Gronlund (2011) evaluated that
on an average only 37 % rural population in these villages had their own phones
which were used mainly for communication purposes; 20 % used the SMS feature
and out of this only 5 % were active users of the SMS feature, but the overall attitude
of the rural population to use these mobile phones for getting professional informa-
tion was significant. They noted that the farmers were not able to get the proper
overview of the market and market prices because of the existing middlemen at
different levels of the agriculture sector in Bangladesh. Further, the low literacy rates
were posing a challenge for using the SMS effectively.
Educ Inf Technol

6 Conclusion

Mobile technologies have a huge potential to transform education provided these

technologies are designed and implemented in such a way that they are relevant to the
social and cultural context of learning. Clearly, the application, implementation, and
design of mobile technology in the global educational context pose technological and
socio-cultural challenges. Specifically, technology tools and applications that are
familiar in developed nations may pose unique challenges in developing countries,
so ‘one size fits all’ or ‘one technology for all contexts’ does not practically work.
Clearly, understanding the cultural boundaries and social environment of the devel-
oping countries before implementing mobile technologies for teaching and learning
can play a significant role for their success. Additionally, it is clear from this article
that we need to focus more closely on the interface between mobile technologies and
society and their implications in education.
Mobile technology if used appropriately; and designed and developed in a
context can have huge social implications in the society in a positive way.
Clearly, mobile technologies and society interact with each other and shape
each other, for example an article by Hanganu (2012), show…by 2015, 80 %
of the people would be using mobile devices to access the internet and other
application such as the cloud and open source platform; and mobile technology
will be playing a big role as is already seen happening in many UK universities
(Hanganu 2012). Finally, the 21st century is the digital age where teaching and
learning is not limited to traditional classrooms. Thus, there is need for innovative use of
mobile technology to make education available to anyone, anywhere, anytime and at an
affordable cost across the globe.

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