M-learning
M-learning
M-learning is a development from E-learning which for its part originates from D-learning (distance education). The rapid growth of information and communication technologies (ICT) makes it possible to develop new forms of this education. Today’s students knowledge of mobile devices makes the entrance of mobile learning (M-Learning) possible. (Georgiev, T., E.Georgieva, A.Smrikarov)
Contents |
Definition
M-learning is the term given to the delivery of training by means of mobile devices such as PDAs and digital audio players, as well as digital cameras and voice recorders, pen scanners etc. M-learners are seeking “just in time, just for me” lessons in small, manageable formats that they can undertake when it suits them.
Differences between M-Learning and E-Learning
In general, mobile learning can be viewed as any form of teaching or studying that happens when a learner is interacting through a mobile device. Nevertheless here we try to transfer the services provided by an e-learning platform (enumerated previously) into the mobile context. We can easily see that there are services that need to be adapted to fulfill the limitations of certain devices, there are other services that are infeasible to transfer, but also new services appear, provoked by the mobility. You can get free white papers on both of these subjects at this site: http://www.epic.co.uk/content/resources/white_papers_index.htm
The connectivity is one of the main differences if we compare a mobile device with the PC (the usual medium for delivering e-learning). Nowadays mobile devices might be connected to ‘The Net’ via many technologies – WAP, GPRS, UMTS, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc. Although it is predictable that in the future the ‘always on’ will be wide spread still it is not the case. Mobile devices often have periods of disconnection, either intentionally (when the connection is too expensive) or not (when no infrastructure is provided).
Devices’ hardware and software characteristics have a big impact on what content is possible and meaningful to be delivered. Usually the web content is designed for desktop PCs, thus unpleasant and even rarely useful from a small-screened device. Nowadays mobile phones are rapidly becoming increasingly powerful (both from hardware and software point of view) however their screens will remain comparatively small. Often also the navigation is hard. Equipped with a small phone-style keyboard or a touch-screen (for the PDAs) the users might lose more time in searching where on the page the information they need is than in reading it. We can imagine alternative ways of navigation, for example voice commands. The memory available on a mobile device is also relatively small. It is possible to use extension packs on some devices like PDAs, which reduces some of the restrictions.
Location is a new thing to be considered. Although up to now we are talking only about limitations, confronting m-learning and e-learning there are also advantages. The small size of the device and the wireless connections make them available anytime and anywhere. The mobility opens variety of new scenarios. Services involving location-discovery are for example receiving directions how to get to a certain room or alerts for seminars/lectures that can be triggered while taking into consideration the current place and the time to get to the needed destination, location-aware printing of the learning content, etc.
Source: Copied rather too directly from Trifonova A., Ronchetti M. (2004). “A General Architecture to Support Mobility in Learning”. Proc. of ICALT 2004 [IEEE Computer Society Press 2004, ISBN 0-7695-2181-9]. pp. 26-30 [1]
Organizing the content
- For whom do we develop a M-learning environment?
- What is the educational information we need to provide?
- How do we develop the structure?
- For which mobile devices do we develop?
- Which tools / software do we use? For creating? To present?
Different communication methods
- Text Messaging and Mobile Phones
- Global System for Mobile Communications
- Wireless Application Protocol
- General Packet Radio Service
- Bluetooth
- IEEE 802.11
- Infrared Data Association
- Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
Different program languages
- WAP (WML, XML)
- Learning Mobile Author
- C++
- Python
- Flash Lite
- HTML
- Java (J2ME)
M-Learning Experts[citation needed]
- Robert Sanregret: mLearning training; mobile guru; author; mobile author toolkit designer
- Ruth Colvin Clark: “science” of online instruction; graphics; author
- Jay Cross: informal learning, results measurement, corporate culture, training; coined the term “eLearning”
- Brandon Hall:whitepapers, product comparisons
- Jennifer Hofmann: synchronous training; author
- Jane Knight: editor of the e-learning centre uk site
- Kevin Kruse: e-learningguru; whitepapers, articles, etc
- David Metcalf- Author, Blended eLearning and first book on mLearning
- Steve Molyneux (UK): Virtual and Managed Learning Environment design; e-Learning strategies, Standards
- Matthew Nehrling- Mobile Learning (m-learning) researcher and author
- Dominic Prosser: cultural heritage e-learning
- Marc Rosenberg: “business” of e-learning
- Patti Shank: education in basics of e-learning and authoring
- Sivasailam Thiagarajan, “Thiagi”, games and facilitation strategies
- Thomas Toth: demystifying technology
- Caryl Oliver: Mobile Learning Project, William Angliss Institute, Melbourne, Australia
References
- Sharma, S., F.Kitchens. Web Services Architecture for M-Learning, Electronic Journal on e-Learning, Vol.2, Issue 1, 2004.
- T Georgiev, E Georgieva, A Smrikarov - Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Computer Systems and Technologies - CompSysTech’2004. http://ecet.ecs.ru.acad.bg/cst04/Docs/sIV/428.pdf
- A Trifonova, M Ronchetti. A General Architecture to Support Mobility in Learning. Proc. of the 4th IEEE ICALT 2004