M-LEARNING

Concept, Characteristics and Applications of M-Learning.

M-LEARNING

Concept:

1. Mobile learning (m-learning) as a kind of learning model allowing learners to obtain learning materials anywhere and anytime using mobile technologies and the Internet.
2. M-learning or mobile learning is "learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices".
3. M-learning technologies include handheld computers, MP3 players, notebooks, mobile phones and tablets.
4. M-learning focuses on the mobility of the learner, interacting with portable technologies. Using mobile tools for creating learning aids and materials becomes an important part of informal learning.
5. M-Learning can be applied in a variety of subjects in primary, secondary, higher, lifelong, community, and professional education.
6. M-learning is convenient in that it is accessible from virtually anywhere. Sharing is almost instantaneous among everyone using the same content, which leads to the reception of instant feedback and tips. This highly active process has proven to increase exam scores from the fiftieth to the seventieth percentile and cut the dropout rate in technical fields by 22 percent.

Characteristics of M-Learning are:

• Ubiquitous and On Demand: Accessible regardless of time and location, capable of delivering the required content at any "point of need."
• Bite-Sized: The educational content of m-learning applications must be relatively short in duration as it is typically used in environments with a considerable amount of potential distractions to the user's concentration. Examples of such environments are public parks and train stations.
• Blended: m-Learning is very rarely used as the only or even as the primary platform to deliver educational content. Usually, it complements other more resourceful modes of the content delivery such as classical teaching and e-learning.
• Collaborative: m-Learning should take advantage of the mobile communication devices it uses as its basis (e.g., mobile phones and Wi-Fi-enabled PDAs) and promote collaborative learning as much as possible. The collaboration can be achieved through the use of SMS or e-mail.
• Portable size of mobile tools: Mobile learning tools are small and portable. Students can use it everywhere during their learning activities.
• Private: M-learning is private. It means that only one learner at a time usually has access to the mobile tool and that when students want to access information connects and downloads independently from other learners.
• Interactive: M-learning environments which utilizes the latest technologies to bring an interactive learning environment into learning and teaching activities. Students are not passive; the functions of mobile tools and environments allow varying levels of interactivity.
• Instant information: Using a mobile tool is all about immediacy. According to Cohen (2010) the need is for quick answers to specific questions. Learning content must reflect this requirement by providing material that enables a learner to quickly zone into information. Examples of instant information are definitions, formula, and equations, etc.
• It can get access to information and educational experience faster than other media.
• It is supported by portable devices; its mobility makes it easy to use.
• Comparing to other methods of learning, the cost of M-learning is relatively low.
• Exchange of information can be encrypted or private.
• It is easy to access all kinds of information.

Applications of M-Learning:

1. Classroom

Applications in classrooms and other learning spaces combine the use of handheld computers, PDAs, smartphones or handheld voting systems (such as clickers) with traditional resources (Tremblay 2010).

1.      Class management

a.      Mobile devices in brick-and-mortar classrooms can be used to enhance student-centered learning, group collaboration among students through communication applications, interactive displays, and video features.

b.      Existing mobile technology can replace cumbersome resources such as textbooks, visual aids, and presentation technology.

c.       Interactive and multi-mode technology allows students to engage and manipulate information.

d.      Mobile Device features with WIFI capabilities allow for on-demand access to information.

e.      Access to classroom activities and information on mobile devices provides a continuum for learning inside and outside the classroom.

f.        In a literature review conducted by FutureLab, researchers found that increased communication, collaboration, and understanding of concepts was a result of mobile technology applications.

2.      Distance Learning

a.      Mobile devices can be used in online settings to enhance learning experiences.

Ø      The mobile phone (through text SMS notices) can be used especially for distance education or with students whose courses require them to be highly mobile and to communicate information regarding availability of assignment results, venue changes and cancellations, etc.

Ø      Mobile devices facilitate online interaction between teacher and student, and student to student. Mobile devices make it possible to facilitate interaction in real time, allowing students to obtain immediate feedback. Educators can also assess student comprehension by using mobile devices, which provide real time updates on student progress, enabling teachers to adapt and personalize their teaching.

Ø      It can also be of value to business people, e.g. sales representatives who do not wish to waste time away from their busy schedules to attend formal training events.

3.      Podcasting

a.      Podcasting consists of listening to audio recordings of lectures. It can be used to review live lectures (Clark & Westcott 2007) and to provide opportunities for students to rehearse oral presentations. Podcasts may also provide supplemental information to enhance traditional lectures.

b.      Psychological research suggests that university students who download podcast lectures achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person (only in cases in which students take notes) (Callaway & Ewen 2009).

c.       Podcasts may be delivered using syndication, although this method of delivery is not always easily adopted

4.      Work

a.      M-learning in the context of work can embrace a variety of different forms of learning. It has been defined as the "processes of coming to know, and of being able to operate successfully in, and across, new and ever changing contexts, including learning for, at and through work, by means of mobile devices".

Ø      M-learning for work

Ø      M-learning at and through work

Ø      Cross-contextual m-learning

b.      Learning for work, which could be also described as 'just-in-case' learning, involves classic and formal education activities, such as training courses, that prepare learners for future work-related tasks. A typical, corporate application is the delivery of mobile compliance training, which can be seen as a viable means to reach geographically mobile employees, such as consultants or staff in logistic and transport systems. Another application is mobile simulations that prepare learners for future situations, for example real-time SMS-based simulations for disaster response training.

c.       Learning at and through work, which could be labelled as "just-in-time" mobile learning, occurs in informal education settings at the workplace.

Ø      Employees can use the mobile phone to solve problems via handheld devices in situ, for example by accessing informational resources (such as checklists and reference guides) prior to customer visits or mobile decision support systems.

Ø      Learning through work also occurs by interacting with distant peers via phone. "People tagging" is an approach whereby people assign topics they associate with co-workers. The aggregation of interests and experiences serves not only as a means to raise awareness but also to help find competent experts on demand.

d.      Cross-contextual learning that bridges the gap between work settings and formal education formats has perhaps the biggest potential for work-based mobile learning, especially with respect to tertiary education systems.

Ø      This involves approaches in which learning in the workplace is facilitated and substantiated for example through

·         formative assessments,

·         reflective questions or

·         documentation of personal achievements in multimedia learning diaries or

·         portfolios

Ø      The so-created materials are later used in more formal educational formats, for example in the classroom or in the discussion with tutors.

Ø      The value of these mobile phone-mediated learning practices lies in the integration and reconciliation of work-based learning and formal education experiences which otherwise tend to remain separated.

5.      Lifelong learning and self-learning

a.      Mobile technologies and approaches, i.e. mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), are also used to assist in language learning. For instance handheld computers, cell phones, and podcasting (Horkoff & Kayes2008) have been used to help people acquire and develop language skills.

6.      Other

a.      Improving levels of literacy, numeracy, and participation in education amongst young adults.

b.      Using the communication features of a mobile phone as part of a larger learning activity, e.g.: sending media or texts into a central portfolio, or exporting audio files from a learning platform to your phone.

c.       Developing workforce skills and readiness among youth and young adults.