Home > Knowledge centre > What is m-learning?

What is m-learning?
Hot off the press, we are pleased to present the Mobile Learning infoKit. Launched at ALT-C 2011 The infoKit
offers valuable advice for any organisation starting out in m-learning, as was compiled with interviews and
contributions from all the main thinkers, creators and educators in this space See the overview presentation
(below) for a great introduction to m-learning, and if you want more you can download the entire infoKit
at http://bit.ly/mobilelearninginfokit
Many months in development, this infokit was put together by Doug and those nice people at Jisc infoNet as a
service to the education community. Thanks all!

Definition of mobile learning

Over the past 5 years there have been wide ranging debates about how to define, precisely, what mobile
learning is. The difficulty in reaching a consensus is partially because of the rapid evolution of this as a field,
and partially because mobile learning works best when it is a part of something else.
Our current best definition comes from the eLearning Guild who defined it as:
Any activity that allows individuals to be more productive when consuming, interacting with, or creating
information, mediated through a compact digital portable device that the individual carries on a regular basis,
has reliable connectivity, and fits in a pocket or purse.
Our previous best definition came from the MoLeNet project, in the UK that added the key words "facilitate,
support, enhance, extend" reminding us that m-learning works best when added to something. They defined it
as:
the exploitation of ubiquitous handheld technologies, together with wireless and mobile phone networks, to
facilitate, support, enhance and extend the reach of teaching and learning

------------------

mLearning - the basic concepts

Edit 0 6…
Terms that might you will encounter during the next few weeks, but that might be unknown to
some (these concepts are described really quickly to keep it simple):
Mobile learning: putting it very loosely: it is learning that can happen via a device at any time and/or any
place the learner or teacher feels like. This means mLearning can happen inside of the classroom,
outside of any training room, individually, amongst a random group (like us), or amongst
colleagues/students… From the moment learning is taken out of any time frame and place, it can be seen
as mobile. For those who like a more academic definition look at the MobiMOOC definition here.

Mobile devices: any device that is portable (by humans) is a mobile device. This includes basic cell
phones or basic mobile phones for banking, sms health alerts, learning), smartphones (a mobile phone
with more capacities and most of the time including a Wifi option), netbooks (small laptops), notebooks,
laptops, iPods, mp3 players (great for language training), tablet pc’s (including iPads), eBooks, Flip video
camera’s (exchanging video’s via social media), … any device that can share media and is portable can
be seen as a potential mobile learning device.

Mobile Operating System: smartphones are small computers, as such they use an operating system to
interact with the software that is added to the smartphone. It is crucial to know which type of mobile
operating system you will be using in your mobile project, as this will define which type of software you
will be able to install on your smartphones. If you are unsure on what type of mobile operating systems
there are, look at unit 1 of the QR code module.

Mobile tethering: "Tethering" is the use of your cell phone -- or other Internet-enabled mobile device -- as
a modem for another device, usually a notebook or PDA. The connection is made either with a cable
(USB or serial) or wirelessly through bluetooth (or, in the good old days, via infrared or IrDA). (quoted
fromAbout.com)

Ubiquitous learning: is learning which happens across devices and across contexts (Link)

Augmented reality: augmented reality happens when the reality we perceive through our eyes is
enlarged by adding information to it. Adding information to our real environment can only happen if we
have a camera attached to a screen, as such smartphones are increasingly used to add extra knowledge
to our surrounding world, enabling us to access information when it is most relevant. Link for more
information.

Learning in the ‘cloud’: this term simply refers to learning online by accessing and sharing resources on
the web. Learning is said to be ‘in the cloud’ when it is not linked to one specific place (e.g. gmail is not
hosted on your computer, it is hosted on many servers that are always accessible, as such it is like a
cloud floating and not attached to one place).

QR codes: a lot of new mobile learning is built around Quick Response codes or QR codes. Augmented
reality for instance is sometimes using QR codes to trigger a mobile device to deliver extra information on
top of the reality that surrounds us. That is why a basic introduction course to QR codes is provided (if
you are new to the concept of QR codes, the course will take you about 1 hour to go through). A QR code
is the mobile version of the barcodes you can see on cans in the supermarket. If you want to know more
about them look at the short course.

Online learning: is learning through the use of a computer and the Internet.
-----------

Home > Knowledge centre > Pedagogy

Pedagogy
Some useful resources on the pedagogy of mobile learning are:

Free e-book: Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training edited by Mohamed
Ally (2009)
'This collection is for anyone interested in the use of mobile technology for various distance learning
applications. Readers will discover how to design learning materials for delivery on mobile technology and
become familiar with the best practices of other educators, trainers, and researchers in the field, as well as the
most recent initiatives in mobile learning research.' http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120155

JISC TechDis Advice and Guidance on M-learning

'A good deal of the value added by m-learning is not to do with specific technology or resources but the new
things that can be done given the portability of the technology and the resources. This section examines
alternative ways of using the same features of a portable device to create completely different learning
experiences and argues that the more engaging the task, the more likely it is to create the motivation that
reduces access barriers.'
http://www.techdis.ac.uk/index.php?p=9_5_32_4

Pedagogy in the Mobile Learning Environment, by Josie Taylor

 'Recent developments in pedagogy, moving away from the transmissive, behavioural models and more toward
the constructivist or socio-cognitive models, place the active learner at the heart o activities.'
http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/document.cfm?docid=2842

--------

Introduction to mLearning
Edit 0 44…

Introduction to mLearning, guide-on-the-side Inge (Ignatia) de Waard.

Hi all, my name is Inge (Ignatia) de Waard. As I took the initiative of starting the MobiMOOC, I will be your
guide-on-the-side during the first week of MobiMOOC (contact information below).
I look forward to our joint dialogues, information exchanges and discussions!

Aim of the first week:

 getting us all together (get to know each other) ... which is happening already
 adding our primary physical location to the MobiMOOC map (feel free to add your name and
some info)

 trying out the different course options (feeling or becoming comfortable online)

 listing challenges you are meeting, or are mostly likely to meet when planning mLearning

 offering and jointly exchanging resources to get an overview of simple mobile learning options

 looking at the mLearning template to start realizing your mobile learning ideas and projects.

Voluntary learning actions:

 Get a mobile learning template started and enter the MobiMOOC award.

General resources to get started:

Webinars or live sessions that you can attend (all of the webinars are free, with a limit to 100 people). The
seminars will be recorded and the recordings will be made available afterwards for those who could not
attend the seminars live.
The powerpoints of both webinars listed below can be found here:
Presentation on starting an mLearning project:
http://www.slideshare.net/ignatia/planning-mlearning-project
Presentation of the introduction on durable and scalable mlearning:
http://www.slideshare.net/ignatia/durable-and-scalable-mlearning-drilldown

Webinar on the introduction of mLearning i

The recording of this seminar can be found here
http://youtu.be/9TbM-jHRJu0
or for those on mobile devices with streaming options, here:
http://m.youtube.com/9TbM-jHRJu0

Webinar on how to plan a mLearning project

The recording on starting a mLearning project can be found here
YouTube recording here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OobbQOcRpME
For those on mobile:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OobbQOcRpME

Slideshare presentation giving an overview of mobile learning options and factors, during the webinar
'introduction to mLearning' I will use parts of this presentation, with additional slides:

Durable and scalable mlearning drilldown and intro to mLearning from Inge Ignatia de Waard

Choosing a mobile device (smartphone, tablet...) for your own mLearning purposes. How? Here is a
blogpost to help you select a learning device, if you have additional pointers, feel free to comment on the
post, or share your ideas in any way you feel comfortable.
List of most common mLearning terms .
10 minute subtitled, talking head movie giving an introduction to cellphone/smartphone mLearning and
with a brief focus on mobile apps, mobile social media, qrcode's.
What is a QRcode, or if you know what it is: how can I make one? You can find a short tutorial movie (1
minute 30 sec) on how to build your own QRcode here.or look at this one page job aid right here.
10 steps to draw up your mLearning strategy are listed in this blogpost.

Gathering of simple mLearning tutorials

Content: Building a mobile course using a blog
Assessment: Building mobile quizzes using Google Drive (formerly known as google
docs/spreadsheets...) and Flubaroo, a free tutorial.
Dissemination and retrieval: A more in-depth look at QRcode's, feel free to go through this QRcode
short course. Or look at the one page job aid right here.
Instructional design: Link to blogpost on how to convert a DVD into mobile format
Instructional design: Link to reformatting synchronous recordings for mobile access
Authoring tools: will be covered in-depth during week 2 in the 'collaborative look at tools week.

On getting a mobile learning definition going

Defining mobile learning is a difficult task, my current favorite definition is from Helen Crompton (in press),
a historical overview of mobile learning: Toward learner-centered education. In Z.L. Berge & L.Y.
Muilenburg (Eds), Handbook of mobile learning (pp. 3-14). Florence, KY: Routledge. The
definition: "mobile learning is learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions,
using personal electronic devices".
Defining learning in a context of interactions, different devices leads to certain considerations. Rebecca
Hogue shared a blogpost on this matter, asking us to give feedback on the subject of mLearning
definitions:
http://rjh.goingeast.ca/2011/07/17/an-inclusive-definition-of-mobile-learning-edumooc/

Papers, reports, books...

A great free eBook on mobile learning featuring mLearning projects edited by the wonderful Mohamed
Ally from Athabasca University. Direct link to the free pdf-version here.
Link to the NMC Horizon report 2012: you must register on their site (for free) before being able to see the
report. The report is of interest if you want to be informed about the latest educational trends for education
and by what time they will be adopted 'for real'.
Mobile Handbook on Adult Education written for the European Lifelong Learning programme. The book
has 7 training scenario's all with mobile devices.
In January 2009 Carly Shuler (a fellow at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center) came out with a fabulous paper
on the benefits of mobile learning entitled: pockets of potential - Using Mobile Technologies to Promote
Children’s Learning.
Straight from down under, 2009: New technologies, new pedagogies: Mobile learning in higher education
from the University of Wollongong includes faculty development, specific discipline examples and design
principles.This is available as a free PDF download.
New publication (2012) focusing on eBooks and eReaders for eLearning can be found here (pdf) the book
is a publication from University of Wellington, New Zealand.

--------------

Connectivism is a hypothesis of learning which emphasizes the role of social and cultural context.
Connectivism is often associated with and proposes a perspective similar to Vygotsky's 'zone of
proximal development' (ZPD), an idea later transposed into Engeström's (2001) Activity theory.[1] The
relationship between work experience, learning, and knowledge, as expressed in the concept of
‘connectivity, is central to connectivism, motivating the theory's name. [2] It is somewhat similar to
Bandura's Social Learning Theory that proposes that people learn through contact.

The phrase "a learning theory for the digital age" [3] indicates the emphasis that connectivism gives to
technology's effect on how people live, communicate and learn.

History[edit]

Connectivism was introduced in 2005 by two publications, Siemens’ Connectivism: Learning as

Network Creation and Downes’ An Introduction to Connective Knowledge. Both works received
significant attention in the blogosphere and an extended discourse has followed on the
appropriateness of connectivism as a learning theory for the digital age. In 2007 Kerr entered into
the debate with a series of lectures and talks on the matter, as did Forster, both at the Online
Connectivism Conference at the University of Manitoba. [8] In 2008, in the context of digital and e-
learning, connectivism was reconsidered and its technological implications were discussed by
Siemens' and Ally.

Criticisms[edit]

The idea that connectivism is a new theory of learning is not widely accepted. Verhagen argued that
connectivism is rather a "pedagogical view."[9]

The lack of comparative literature reviews in Connectivism papers complicate evaluating how
Connectivism relates to prior theories, such as Socially Distributed Cognition (Hutchins, 1995), which
explored how connectionist ideas could be applied to social systems. Classical theories of cognition
such as Activity theory (Vygotsky, Leont’ev, Luria, and others starting in the 1920s) proposed that
people are embedded actors, with learning considered via three features – a subject (the learner),
an object (the task or activity) and tool or mediating artifacts. Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1962)
claimed that people learn by watching others. Social learning theory (Miller and Dollard) elaborated
this notion.Situated cognition (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Greeno & Moore, 1993) alleged that
knowledge is situated in activity bound to social, cultural and physical contexts; knowledge and
learning that requires thinking on the fly rather than the storage and retrieval of conceptual
knowledge. Community of practice (Lave & Wenger 1991) asserted that the process of sharing
information and experiences with the group enables members to learn from each other.Collective
intelligence (Lévy, 1994) described a shared or group intelligence that emerges from collaboration
and competition.

Kerr claims that although technology affects learning environments, existing learning theories are
sufficient.[10] Kop and Hill[11] conclude that while it does not seem that connectivism is a separate
learning theory, it "continues to play an important role in the development and emergence of new
pedagogies, where control is shifting from the tutor to an increasingly more autonomous learner."

Ally recognizes that the world has changed and become more networked, so learning theories
developed prior to these global changes are less relevant. However, he argues that, "What is
needed is not a new stand-alone theory for the digital age, but a model that integrates the different
theories to guide the design of online learning materials.". [12]

See also[edit]