M-learning


M-learning or mobile learning is "learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices". A form of distance education, m-learners use mobile device educational technology at their convenient time.
M-learning technologies include handheld computers, MP3 players, notebooks, mobile phones and tablets. 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.
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. M-learning also brings strong portability by replacing books and notes with small devices, filled with tailored learning contents. M-learning has the added benefit of being cost effective, as the price of digital content on tablets is falling sharply compared to the traditional media. One digital textbook, for instance, costs one-third to half the price of a paper textbook, with zero marginal cost.
Some of the possibilities offered by this methodology, according to Fombona, Pascual-Sevillana and González-Videgaray, are a greater and different access to information, along with transcendent innovations, such as the increase of informal and playful activities, iconic virtual, membership of specific groups, and networks of friendly interaction within new scales of values.

Background

Mobile learning is the delivery of learning, education or learning support on mobile phones, PDAs or tablets.
New mobile technology, such as hand-held based devices, is playing a large role in redefining how people receive information. "Numerous agencies including the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Intelligence community, and law enforcement are utilizing mobile technology for information management."

History of M-learning

Concepts of m-learning was given by Alan Kay in 1970's. He joined Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center and formed a group to develop "Dynabook", which is a portable and hands on personal computer. It aimed to let children have access to the digital world. This project failed eventually due to the lack of technological support at that time. Until 1994, first smart phone, IBM Simon, was created by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. It was defined as a handheld personal communicator. From then on, technological companies started to design the so-called "smartphones". The creation of smartphone provided the platform for mobile-learning, and current of mobile device innovation pushed mobile learning to project and research status.
Chronologically, m-learning research has been characterized into three phases: first phase is the focus upon devices; second is the focus on learning outside the classroom; third phase is the focus on the mobility of the learner. At its second phase, around 2005, a tremendous number of projects have been completed, four major projects are "The Leonardo da Vinci project From e-learning to m-learning led by Ericsson Education Dublin", "The Leonardo da Vinci project Mobile learning: the next generation of learning led by Ericsson Education Dublin", "The IST project M-Learning led by the United Kingdom government Learning and Skills Development Agency " and "The IST project MOBILearn led by Giunti Ricerca of Genoa, Italy". These projects are mainly targeted on the effects of m-learning, like motivation to learn, engagement in learning activities and focus on special needs people; they set the tone for mobile learning, m-learning is prepared to transfer from project status to mainstream education and training.
And M-learning research is globalized now: Africa, Asia, North America, Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand all have remarkable achievement in this field.

Approaches

Classroom

Applications in classrooms and other learning spaces combine the use of handheld computers, PDAs, smartphones or handheld voting systems with traditional resources.
; Class management:
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.
In a literature review conducted by FutureLab, researchers found that increased communication, collaboration, and understanding of concepts was a result of mobile technology applications.
; Distance Learning:
Mobile devices can be used in online settings to enhance learning experiences.
; Podcasting:
Podcasting consists of listening to audio recordings of lectures. It can be used to review live lectures and to provide opportunities for students to rehearse oral presentations.
Podcasts may also provide supplemental information to enhance traditional lectures .
Psychological research suggests that university students who download podcast lectures achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person .
Podcasts may be delivered using syndication, although this method of delivery is not always easily adopted.

Work

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".
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.
Learning at and through work, which could be labelled as "just-in-time" mobile learning, occurs in informal education settings at the workplace. Employees can use the mobile phone to solve problems via handheld devices in situ, for example by accessing informational resources prior to customer visits or mobile decision support systems. The latter are popular in clinical settings where they support highly mobile medical staff through rule-based algorithms in the decision regarding more complex patient cases. Their application was associated with learning and in particular with practice improvement of medical staff. 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, for example with context-sensitive expert location systems.
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. This involves approaches in which learning in the workplace is facilitated and substantiated The so-created materials are later used in more formal educational formats, for example in the classroom or in the discussion with tutors. 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.

Lifelong learning and self-learning

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

Other

Refugees are confronted with a number of individual challenges that can negatively impact their learning and teaching opportunities, as well as their lives beyond the learning environment. Mobile solutions play a key role in enhancing refugees’ informal learning. Technology provides support for refugees' informal learning in the following challenges:

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the Rehan School was one of the first initiatives to offer remote courses that could be accessed from a basic mobile phone. The application offers short educational sequences, showing how to write common names and words and conveying mathematical and scientific concepts. Sometimes featuring television personalities, the teaching sketches are intended for viewing on small telephone screens. The films are sold for a few cents in the telecoms boutiques and can then be exchanged by Bluetooth. The Rehan School estimates that over 40,000 individuals follow its lessons, but the real number is certainly higher.

Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, the SMS Story project has improved teachers' classroom practices in teaching children to read by using short messages and sent by SMS.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Since the 1960s, various information and communication technologies have aroused strong interest in Sub-Saharan Africa as a way of increasing access to education, and enhancing its quality and fairness. In Sub-Saharan Africa, teachers and students are faced with an extreme shortage of teaching materials. The number of textbooks available are limited, so few students have individual access to textbooks in class or at home. Given the shortage of textbooks in many African schools, tablets and mobile phones are being viewed by governments and international organizations as a solution to provide access to learning materials. In one example, the Tangerine mobile assessment and coaching system, deployed in Kenya, aims to help teachers in their assessment activities. With Tangerine, a student's reading level can be evaluated by recording the student's answers on a mobile phone or a tablet. The data gathered by the application also allows comparisons of the learning levels of students according to their age, geographical area and gender.

Analysis

Effectiveness

A recent study on health professions education combined evidence from 29 studies, which included 3175 learners, and concluded that mLearning is as effective as traditional learning in terms of improving learner's knowledge and skill. The study highlights that mLearning is a novel educational strategy that is rapidly developing in the field of health professions education, "21 of the 29 included studies published between 2014 and 2017, it’s clear that mLearning is an emerging educational strategy. The remaining 8 studies were published between 2006 and 2013, with no studies published before 2006, further highlighting the modern nature of this approach to health professions education and its relevance"

Value

;The value of mobile learning
Tutors who have used m-learning programs and techniques have made the following value statements in favor of m-learning.
;Benefits
Characterization of M-learning
Aspects of M-learning
Along with the development of m-learning, many theories about mobile educations are raised by researchers, major aspects are listed.
;Technical challenges
;Social and educational challenges
Mobile learning is widely used in schools, workplaces, museums, cities and rural areas around the world. In comparison to traditional classroom pedagogical approaches, mobile learning allows widened opportunities for timing, location, accessibility and context of learning.
Current areas of growth include: