M-Learning 8: Mobile Learning Channels

What categories of content can you deliver to your audience via m-learning?

We can all appreciate the potential of m-learning as a component of an integrated online educational strategy in the medium- to long term. However a number of factors, encompassing everything from still-developing IT and telecoms standards and infrastructure through to the diversity of mobile devices' capabilities has led to a situation where m-learning is still maturing as a learning channel, and is still finding its niche in the e-learning eco-system. What seems to be emerging is that mobile media devices work best as electronic performance support tools, and that some devices are more suited than others to enable people to learn and understand.

According to Gloria Gery, performance guru (2004)

Performance support enables people who don't know what they are doing... to do [a task] as if they did.

We can say that the goal of training is to support learning - that is impart new skills and knowledge for the purpose of enhancing performance, and that the goal of performance support is to guide and improve performance directly.

With performance support, the desired outcome is performance.

Rosenberg, M. 2006. p.195

There are four benefits of performance support.

1. Makes work simpler Performance support can take the complexity out of work processes and tools. Mobile devices that can receive up-to-date support or step-by-step procedures enables already trained workers to perform faster and more effectively.
2. Provides High Scalability As digital data, performance support can be deployed to a few people or to thousands of learners. Using the wireless Web as well as 3G technologies updates in both content and features can be distributed quickly and securely. For example, an organization can pilot a mobile application to a small group of workers for UAT, and roll it out across the business (once it has proven itself) with relatively little additional effort.
3. Provides a known baseline of competencies Performance support can reduce variability in the way workers perform tasks, which improves activity performance by underpinning an individual's judgment and decision-making abilities.
4. Allows non-experts to perform closer to the level of experts Performance support can enable individuals to perform with a similar pace and limited error rates as if they were more proficient than they actually are. Performance support can enhance the competence of an employee beyond the level of their training.

These are some of the ways that m-learning can support learners:

Audio - The original, and most basic m-learning channel, audio can range from lectures to narrated glossaries. Podcasts, popularized by the iPod, also fall into this category. In essence, if you can have an audio recording of the content, it can be deployed via the mobile environment. Common audio file types such as .mp3 and .mp4 are almost universally supported by mobile devices. Within minutes educators can have their audio-based presentations prepared and ready for delivery to learners’ mobile devices.

Video - Most modern converged media devices support video playback in at least one of the major digital formats (.mov, .mp4, .wmw, etc.). Content in this category can include lectures, presentations, interviews, visual "how-to" guides, and demos. Since the display area on mobile devices is limited, video whose content is dependent on minute visual detail or extremely complex visual representations may not transfer to the mobile environment as desired, but most video content works quite well..

Flashcards - Basic to semi-interactive flashcards are a great learning tool for the mobile environment. The range of content that can be harnessed in flashcards is vast, covering educational levels from kindergarten to graduate studies, and subjects such as math, biology, medicine, anatomy, physics, English, language, history, law, etc. Devices such as the iPhone, which have built-in image libraries and support a slideshow feature, are very well-suited for flashcards.

Quizzes - Assessments comprised of basic question types such as MCQs and true/false statements can be integrated into the mobile environment. These are great resources for pre-exam reviews or end-of-chapter quizzes. Support for assessment is found on devices that have Web capabilities.

Slideshows & Presentations - Most slideshows or presentation can be successfully deployed on a mobile platform, especially those created with programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint. These presentations can contain images, graphs, tables and even audio. This type of content is normally supported by mobile devices with video capabilities.

Glossaries - Glossaries are possible in the mobile environment in a basic static form which consists of a term, its audio pronunciation and a small accompanying definition or image. There is limited native support for glossaries, but they can be created for newer iPhones and other Web-enabled devices like RIMs BlackBerry devices, and Nokia N-series smartphones.

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Gery, G. (2004) The Moment of Need: Directly Supporting Doing, Learning, Referencing and Collaborating [Internet] Available from: http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=6&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffiles.epsscentral.info%2Fgery%2Fpresentations%2FTEMPO-ASTD.ppt&ei=fnS-SereHeS1jAfVhPirCA&usg=AFQjCNFDHBizyYVisiHD7ivB1KG-NaoRVg&sig2=ji1XqzE6dEIO84r3B1Iz7Q Accessed 12 March 2009

Rosenberg, M. J. (2006) Beyond e-Learning. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

http://elearningcurve.blogspot.com/2008/06/e-learning-ecosystem-in-organizations.html

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Towards a Definition of E-learning

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been building a theoretical and conceptual framework for how I approach e-learning, beginning with an interpretation of a general theoretical view about how learners learn, through the multifaceted approaches of constructivism and begun to place this in the context of learning in organisations and even touched on how organisational entities corporately enhance their business intelligence. In this next section, I will define some of the key terms relevant to the development of an effective approach to non-formal learning.

“E-learning” means different things to different people. When you consider that you can call the discipline “e-learning”, “elearning” or even “eLearning”, it’s no surprise that there is a range of definitions of the subject, as “we prefer to define things according to how we use them” (Morrison, 2004, p.4). Clark and Mayer (2003) consider the “how, why and what” of e-learning: that the “e” in e-learning refers to the “how” - the course is digitised so that it can be stored. The “learning” refers to the “what” - the course includes content and ways to help people learn it, and the “why” - that the purpose is to help learners achieve educational goals or to help organisations build skills related to improve job performance (pp.13-14). The assumptions in their definition are telling: note the use of the term “course” and references to organisational skill-building – there is an inherent, unspoken claim on e-learning (what ever that is!) to be part of the corporate, human resources development arena. Now consider Will Richardson’s Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, published only three years later. In the e-learning context, a quick scan through a text’s table of contents, introduction, or index will usually orient the reader to the author’s perspective on what they think e-learning is: not in this text. The very first point Richardson makes is that “this may look like a book about technology, but it’s really a book about …connections” (p.vii). With a nod to Jonassen, the author discusses “cool tools”, “collaborations and conversations” and “creatively motivating students to learn more deeply” using a teaching and learning “toolbox” (p.9). He’s obviously talking about e-learning, but does not see the need to define what it is. So, e-learning has become a common if imprecise term used to refer to technology-enhanced learning. The two views described above signify the breadth and the richness of the terrain that e-learning encompasses, and I contend highlight its importance of the context of learning.

References:

Clark, R. C. & Mayer R. (2003) e-learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning, San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer

Morrison, D. (2004) E-Learning Strategies: how to get implementation and delivery right first time, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press