MOBILE LEARNING

                                     MOBILE LEARNING

Mobile learning (m-learning) refers to the use of mobile and handheld IT devices, such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops and tablet PC technologies, in teaching and learning. Mobile learning brings forth many new ideas for learning: personalization, collaboration, synchronicity and asynchronicity of interactions, peer-learning, mobility & accessibility, etc. all of which together was not possible before.

                                                 SCOPE OF MOBILE LEARNING

1.      Connectivity:

Instant and ubiquitous connectivity via Wi-fi, Bluetooth, etc. distinguish mobile devices from other technologies. In a study with undergraduate students, Dahlstrom et al. (2011) found out that 78% students considered Wi-Fi to be extremely valuable to their academic success. Apps like google drive, drop box, slack, etc. provide amazing platforms of connectivity both inside and outside the classrooms.

2.      Awareness:

 The range of sensors available on many of the advanced devices like camera, mic, touch screen, geolocation, accelerometer, gyroscopes, etc. add multiple usable functionalities to the phone whose power can be harnessed in the learning process. Photos, audio and video recording, integration of Augmented Reality (AR), scanning, google maps, etc. can come in handy and provide many different ways of engagement when used for learning.

3.      Multimodality:

Mobile devices provide additional touch, command and movement based response, which can provide immersive engaging experiences. Students can broaden the possibilities of their work via integration of multimedia elements like audio, video images, songs, animations, etc.

4.      Familiarity:

Mobile devices are more familiar to use among children in the current generation as compared to other technological devices. A 2013 Pew survey (Madden et al., 2013) demonstrated that 77% families reported having at least one smart phone in their household, and 46% reported having at least a tablet. 43% children used a mobile device regularly and 74% of the teens used mobile devices to access the internet on a regular basis. Given the kind of familiarity, students will learn faster through the use of a mobile device as compared to other devices.

5.      Personal:

As compared to a personal computer, a mobile device is actually personal in the sense that it can be taken anywhere and used anytime and represents a more personal device than a PC. The portability feature adds to the popularity of the use.

6.      Relevance:

Mobile devices are relevant to the current generation of young people. They use such devices very often, thus it makes sense to choose mobile platform for learning over other technology platforms.

MOBILE LEARNING DEVICES

CELL PHONES

The simplest of them all but still fairly powerful.They can be used for group discussions via text messaging, and since so many cell phones have cameras, they are useful for photography-based projects as well. Students can also record themselves reading stories aloud for writers’ workshops or practicing speeches.

 E-BOOK READERS 

Their fundamental function, of course, is for reading books and storing entire libraries. They also provide easy access to dictionaries. Many students also use their e-book readers as a replacement for the daily paper, since they can read various editions and magazines on it. Well-known brands include Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

TABLETS

Apple’s iPad, the Kindle Fire, and the Galaxy are just a few models of tablets, and they can do anything e-book readers can do and then some.

Downloadable apps, many educational, make these machines nearly comparable to computers; you can surf the Web, play games, watch (and even make) movies, as well as take photographs.

SMARTPHONES

The older the students, the more likely they are to be wielding one of these. Like tablets, smartphones have many computer-like functions. (They’re also phones, of course.) They can run apps and software, record audio and video, send and receive email and texts — functionalities that can easily be channeled into classroom inquiry.

MOBILE LEARNING APPS

EVERNOTE

     Students can keep notes and gather sources for their projects, all of which can be shared with their teachers and classmates.

TWITTER

     Allow users share their thoughts, questions, links, photos, and videos. Students can tweet in journalism classes, posting reports online in real time, for instance, or on field trips, sharing what they’re discovering on their trips.

SOCRATIVE

This Web-based student-response system enables you to assess in real time — via multiple-choice, short-answer, and true-false questions — how much of the material your students understand. Students enter their answers on their own devices, allowing them the privacy to answer candidly, and results are tabulated immediately.

THE CHEMICAL TOUCH 

The periodic table comes alive with an app that provides detailed info on the elements, standard amino acids, and nucleo bases.

SAT PREP APPS 

Students can get quizzed on the SAT’s different sections via subject-organized practice questions; they can take tests (timed and untimed), which are scored immediately to provide them with feedback on potential problem areas and how to correct them. 

ADVANTAGES

1.Ability to learn on the go: Mobile devices do not restrict the learner to any context be it the walls of the classroom or the world outside it. It truly makes learning independent of the time and location

Reach rural children and schools: The low price of mobile devices, especially phones(almost 6 times cheaper than a desktop PC) can cater to the low purchasing power of rural populations in various parts of the world. This outreach and penetration has the potential to bridge the digital divide in the current generation.

2.Improve higher order thinking skills: Mobile devices combined with internet can foster the much talked about 21^st  century skills: Problem solving, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity. One  example in use the Eco MOBILE project where students can take their mobile phones on a field trip to a real pond environment. Powered by the integration of AR and probes for data collection from the environment, Eco MOBILE provides students with real time information about the environment which helps them conceptualize and discuss and hypothesize complex relationships between various environmental parameters.

3.Support alternate learning environments:

 Mobile devices can support learning in alternate learning environments like flipped classrooms, blended learning environments, virtual environments, homeschooling, etc.

4.Enable personalized learning:

 Mobile devices can be used to present learning content at the right level of the learner (not too easy and not too challenging), and also at a pace that is determined by the learner.

5.Motivating students:

 When students have a perceived control over their learning space and materials, they tend to be better engaged (Shernoff et al., 2003). Having their own devices allows a sense of control, if at all partial, over the learning environment and can lead to higher engage mental levels in the interaction and can potentially keep the students motivated in the long run.

DISADVANTAGES

1.Differentiated access to devices and internet:

This refers to the availability and cost ofbroadband in schools and homes which can pose a hurdle for low income families and rural areas.Procuring the devices in the first place involves a cost factor which might prohibit under-resourcedschools and low income families to invest in such technologies. Thus access to devices in such acase might not be equal and create a divide among those who have and those who don’t.

2.Use must be monitored:

 While technology is being used in classroom or outside of it, their use needs to be monitored in some way. Mobile devices with internet present the possibility of being a distraction, being misused or used for the wrong reasons. There are health concerns related to overuse, privacy concerns about over sharing personal information. Use of such devices in schools would increase their responsibility to educate the learners and make them aware of the misuse. There must be an informed policy guiding the use of such devices in classrooms. Parents and teachers must be informed about the research and implications of using such devices so that they can partake in the process of effective use of mobile technology.

3.Prevailing attitudes and prejudices against using technology for instruction:

Effective incorporation of mobile technologies involves discarding existing structures and many stakeholders are resistant to make this shift. There are still laws that prohibit the use of mobile technologies in the classroom categorically. Such actions might lead to complete dismissal of mobile technologies. A more informed discussion needs to be done at the policy level and the use allowed, with guidelines specified on the use inside school.

4.Limiting physical attributes:

 Having smaller size means having lesser capabilities as compared to a PC or a laptop. Smaller touch interface, limited memory, smaller screen size all can make them more difficult to use.

 5.Ways of implementation impacts their effectiveness:

If we limited the implementation to a model of acquisition and distribution of mobile phones, then the technology won’t work wonders by itself. The system will have to mould itself in order to integrate the technology, curriculum and pedagogies will have to be shaped and the ideas of classrooms and lessons will have to be rethought to maximize the effectiveness of mobile device integration and realize the benefits mentioned above.