Mobile Learning

Last week, Griffith University hosted an “Emerging Technologies and Education Symposium,” which included the launch of the 2009 Horizon Report (Australian & New Zealand version).

One of the important trends illustrated by the  report is the growing importance of mobile devices and learning in mobile contexts.  “Mobile Internet Devices” are predicted to be a significant learning technology that will that will see widespread use in teaching and learning, and were categorised as “One Year or Less” until adoption.

But what also struck me from the Table of Contents is that four out of the six Emerging Technologies highlighted by the report are fundamentally or significantly mobile in nature: Mobile Internet Devices, Augmented Reality, Location-based (”Situated”) Learning, and Smart Objects.  All four of these issues have been addressed by previous blog posts here, so I certainly believe they will be important learning technologies in the not-too-distant future.

Other key trends noted in the Horizon Report (and highlighted in a blog post by Kerrie Smith) include:

The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing

Technology continues to impact how people work, play, gain information, and participate in communities.

Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socialising, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives.

The way we think about learning environments is changing.

You can download a full copy of the Horizon Report 2009 (ANZ) here.

(Thanks for the heads up on the publication of the report to my colleague at the University of Canberra, Dr. Alan Arnold).

A number of educators have started experimenting with the use of first-person “Point Of View” (POV) video to record learning and assessment.  A hub of activity has begun at the EduPOV site, with a conference (AUPOV) planned for later in the year.

I’ve been interested in first-person perspective video for some time, as I can see it having many uses for learning (e.g. facilitating augmented recall of a learning activity), sharing experiences (particularly ones requiring special skills), and providing evidence for assessment. Here’s a concept photo I created (in 2006!!!) that illustrates where I thought POV might go… one day!

The video camera(s) (possibly one on each side for stereo spatial recognition) would drive the display of information that would be viewed on the transparent OLED lenses of the glasses – an advanced form of augmented reality.  At present, however, first-person cameras are limited to recording, rather than augmenting, vision. So my current EduPOV setup is considerably simpler than where I envision this kind of thing leading!

That’s a photo of my POV glasses, with the camera visible as the small dot on the shoulder of the glasses.  The camera is VGA quality (640×480) and also takes still photographic shots, with an 8GB memory capacity – that’s a fair bit of video, and more than can be recorded on its 2-hour internal li-ion battery.  I paid under US$100 for these, including postage, and the glasses also have a built-in MP3 player and FM radio; the lenses are hinged and flip up, and can be replaced.

I’m experimenting with these for a number of different learning activities at present:

• Augmented recall & reflection: learners can record learning activities in which they participate, and then play back the experience to absorb additional detail or to pick up on mistakes they may have made during the activity.
• Rich media creation: you’ve all seen the videos taken from the first-person-perspective of insane snowboard riders or rally car drivers.  POV can be used to record experiences that require special skills to “share” these experiences with learners or peers.
• “In Your Shoes”: The learner conducts a face-to-face role-play, for example, a client interview, with the OTHER person wearing the POV glasses.  They can then review the video of themselves, from the OTHER person’s point of view, to reflect critically on their own performance and to empathise with the other person’s perspective or impressions.
• Recording assessment: learners can record themselves demonstrating a competency, and talking through the process to provide an idea of what they’re thinking as they complete the task.  The video would then be uploaded to a site, LMS, or e-portfolio for an assessor or employer to view.  This could be used effectively for distance-based or online assessment of competency-based tasks.

How are YOU using POV (or thinking POV might be used) to enhance learning and teaching?

Most regular readers of this blog will be familiar with my interest in the use of 2D barcodes as a means of providing a link from a physical object or location to an online resource using an ordinary camera phone.

I’ve just found an open-source Google Code project called ZXing, which is an open-source project to build a cross-platform barcode reader library.  If it succeeds in its aims, it looks like it could become one of the best, most flexible readers available, and because it’s open source, it should be possible to incorporate it into related educational projects such as integration with augmented reality learning resources.

ZXing’s successful implementation to power the Facebook QR Codes application demonstrates its early potential. 

This is one project I’ll be following closely!

Tags: zxing, 2d barcodes, 2d barcode, qr code, qrcode, datamatrix, semacode, reader, 2dbarcode, mobile code, open source, project, opensource, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, google, barcode, barcodes, facebook

This was a fun exercise, so I thought it’d be good to share! I got this email:

Thank you for your participation with the Australian Flexible Learning Framework in 2007. As the year draws to a close we inevitably turn towards 2008 with optimism and great expectation.

As part of our end of year Flex e-News we are asking e-learning commentators about their predictions for 2008…

My responses are below. Do you agree with my predictions? What are YOUR predictions for 2008 (and beyond?)

How will the internet develop in 2008?

The developments to keep an eye on are the increasing use of virtual worlds, and the use of the internet on mobile devices. With regards to virtual worlds, there are two emerging open-source projects of particular interest to educators:

1. Croquet (http://opencroquet.org): an open-source virtual world environment, co-founded by the educational technology visionary Alan Kay as an educational virtual world tool. Not only is Croquet open-source and “made for” education (both facets noticeably absent in SecondLife), but there are additional educational special interest projects, such as Edusim (http://edusim.greenbush.us), which extend the functionality of this increasingly capable virtual world platform.
2. Alice (http://alice.org): of particular interest to teachers of information technology, Alice is an open-source virtual world programming environment designed specifically to make programming engaging for young people and, in particular, girls and women. It does this by using storytelling as a metaphor for programming: by creating a “story” in Alice, students actually program a virtual world and learn programming conventions and techniques. 3D models created in Alice can be exported to Croquet.

With regards to mobile learning, I think the release of the iPhone in Australia in 2008 (which I predict will be 3G/high-speed data capable) will generate plenty of interest in the use of mobile devices for learning, particularly if (as in other countries) it is bundled with a generous data plan. While the first generation of the iPhone had plenty of limitations, it converges the two most commonly carried mobile devices – a media player and a mobile phone – with a terrific user experience; so it will definitely make an impact on the way we interact with media, information, and each other.

I also foresee a trend towards the subversion of operator-controlled mobile data. As mobile devices become increasingly powerful and able (like the iPhone) to render full web pages, media, and even 3D animations, mobile phones will more commonly offer wireless networking capabilities so that users can bypass expensive mobile data operators to access the internet. Simultaneously, users will subvert commercial wi-fi operators, by creating free, city-wide wi-fi networks for shared and/or public access.

As this becomes more prevalent, mobile data and hotspot operators will be forced to reduce the cost of data access, and this will make it cheaper to access the mobile web anytime and anywhere. We can also expect to see some convergences of “fringe” internet technologies.

How will VET use ICT in 2008?

Actual usage of technology tends to (generally) lag behind the cutting edge, so the bulk of ICT usage will be in areas that are relatively well-established. Unfortunately, we’ll continue to see many new web services and tools being blocked by IT managers and administrators, effectively hindering the uptake of new learning technologies such as virtual worlds.

We’ll see many more teachers actively involved with exploiting easy-to-use internet tools to support and enhance learning. The use of blogs (and media-enhanced variants) will continue to grow exponentially as tools for reflection, sharing, process documentation and assessment.

How will Web 2.0 web applications develop in 2008?

Every major web 2.0 application is moving onto mobile platforms. Facebook, MySpace, blogs, Flickr, instant messaging, you name it: if they’re not mobile already, you can bet they’re looking for ways to do it. I foresee the emergence of mobile wikis in 2008, so that people will be able to create, edit and contribute to collaborative bodies of knowledge remotely.

2008 will be a year of innovation for mobile web 2.0. I’m foreseeing a new generation of made-for-mobile web applications that don’t just port existing web tools to mobile platforms, but exploit mobile devices in their own right.

How will VET be using mobile phones / PDAs / mobile devices in 2008?

Some of the most useful innovations in the short-term will be in administration, rather than learning. Educational institutions will use SMS technologies to communicate with students – providing essential information and alerts, and receiving and processing requests for help or assistance. Some of the most progressive organisations will provide mobile portals for students to log in and use messaging, administrative and learning tools.

There are two broad approaches that will be adopted by educators for enabling mobile learning and assessment in 2008. Where there’s funding for it, some organisations will invest in purchasing or subsidising common mobile devices for students (e.g. class sets of PDAs) to make it easier to develop resources and activities that will be equally accessible for all students. Typically, this will occur in situations where many groups of students will undertake the same activity repeatedly (using a “generic” set of devices), or when students are allowed to take devices home and use them as a tool that integrates their broader lifestyles with their learning. Where this approach is used, mobile learning will be seen as an integrated, core aspect of teaching and learning methodology.

Other educators and organisations will take a different approach, and will try to develop learning approaches that students can optionally engage with using their own mobile devices, or, (if they don’t own a mobile device) using non-mobile computers. Educators or organisations that adopt this approach will tend to view mobile learning as a learning support or enhancement strategy, rather than a core learning strategy or activity.

How will VET and the wider community be communicating in 2008?

The existing methods will continue to be popular: online discussion forums and communities; blogs; wikis; and synchronous tools such as Elluminate, Twitter and SecondLife will continue to be popular. There’s no reason why we should abandon these platforms – they have a track record of popularity and success.

I’d like to see more synchronous intersections of face-to-face and online events, like NSW LearnScope’s Regional Events this year: bringing together groups of people in physical locations, as well as connecting groups and individuals online. I can see that kind of “eventcasting” becoming popular at conferences as well – the two major mobile learning conferences this year were both video-blogged after the events, so it’s not going to be long before conference sessions will be accessible online, synchronously, for those unable to attend conference sessions in person.

What technology will become obsolete in 2008?

Tricky question! Generally, as things approach obsolescence they tend to be not considered “technology”! I mean, look at the typewriter… we don’t consider that technology, but it was once considered a cutting edge machine!

Not obsolete, but fast falling out of favour is email. This year, the term “bacn” was coined to describe the mass of emails you subscribed to or agreed to receive, but which tend to clog up your inbox meaninglessly. A growing proportion of young people avoid using email, and it’s a platform that will probably be “reinvented” in the next year or two (making email as we know it “obsolete” I suppose). Such a reinvention might be something completely new, or something as simple as automatic filtering – e.g. being able to specify a different but related email account for various “folders” within one’s own email account at the time we provide it, e.g. bacn^leonard.low@gmail.com instead of leonard.low@gmail.com to automatically redirect “junk” messages away from our inbox, or possibly, to redirect the most important emails to our Instant Messaging client or mobile phone.

As far as mobile devices go, I think we’re going to see a lot of standardisation in 2008, so the mish-mash, hodge-podge variety of operating systems, memory formats and chargers will start to become more orderly. I can foresee the dominance of a handful of operating systems next year: Google’s Android platform, Windows Mobile, Symbian and (possibly) one or two others; memory card formats will be standardised, and the majority of mobile phones will be charged and data-connected using mini-USB instead of the multitude of charger sizes and shapes we have at present. We’ll see some standardisation of mobile web browsers, too… all good news for users…

Any bold predictions you would like to make?

The BIG news for educators in the near future will be the creation of social collaboration sites aimed specifically at teaching and learning! Whereas most existing educational resource sites still work on a Web 1.0 paradigm (e.g. Toolbox objects are made available to download, but users don’t/can’t share learning resources they create themselves), we’ll see the creation of website that allow teachers and resource developers uploading teaching and learning materials, lesson plans, and links for other teachers and learners to freely download, access, modify and share back. We’ll see internet sites that allow IMS-compliant learning objects to be unwrapped, viewed and even edited or customised online. This will significantly change the way teachers find and use educational resources. Instead of having to hunt across various non-educationally-minded sites like YouTube or Flickr, trying to sift out the nuggets of gold and laboriously re-aggregate them into sensible learning activities, teachers will be able to go to a single repository of content that is made-for-education. They’ll be able to share their best materials with their peers, and have their peers help to collaboratively develop resources of common interest or need.

I’m also foreseeing the use of virtual worlds on mobile devices within the next two years – in particular, I can see the open-source, cross-platform Croquet being ported to a mobile device in the near future, and possible “mashed” with GPS technology and 3D Google Maps to enable “augmented” reality interfaces: 3D renderings of the *real* world, on mobile devices, with “avatars” representing real people being tracked in real time and space via GPS appearing in the virtual world. Eventually, we’ll be able to program our avatars with the ability to operate autonomously when we’re not logged on. Our avatars will continue to exist in virtual worlds – working, interacting with other avatars, gathering and sharing information, and presenting their own “learning” to the user when they next log on.

As such, tomorrow’s web users won’t just create content; they will create virtual content aggregators and creators: “agents” who share ideas and information on various topics of expertise or interest and will manifest themselves in virtual worlds, in the web, and on our mobile devices. Some such characters will become so popular that they will take on reputations of their own, independent of their owners (some of whom will retain real-world anonymity) – virtual celebrities, mentors, and heroes!

How will we incorporate this into the way we design, support and deliver learning?

Tags: predictions, predicting, predict, 2008, future, learning, education, teaching, m-learning, mlearning, flexiblelearning, flexible-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, flexible learning, mobile learning, aflf, croquet, alice, virtual world, virtual, worlds, 3d, simulations, web20, web2.0, web 2.0, vet, tafe

Science Centre contexts:

Anne Kahr-Hojland, akh@dream.dk

‘Ego-Trap’:
- Stimulate young peoples’ interest in science
-improve learning setting at the Experimentarium by prompting reflective processes

-BYO Mobile Phone
-Connect via WAP/GPRS
-Experimentatium calls user’s phone with a quiz
-’Augmented Reality’ – the user takes the main part in a game which is determined by the physical setting they are in.
-Get a series of ‘character’ phone calls; user needs to make decisions: they can follow one character over another, There are cues to take physical action – e.g. go to different rooms, do different tasks or activities (exhibits).

Denise Bressler

Call a number to get more info on various animals; SMS to get a wallpaper of various animals; interactive exhibits using mobile phone/texted information.
-Extending the experience – getting people to think about what they’ve seen, even after they leave, e.g. people create an image, which gets sent to your phone.
-Camera Phone challenge: take pictures throughout the museum to satisfy the challenge. Once you’re in the database, there can also be a ‘weekly challenge’ to participate in.
-Informal science education is a natural fit for m-learning
-But very little m-learning research is happening at science centres
-Problems with telecommunications companies: data, cost, etc.
-Problems with varying handsets, more than telcos?

Judy Breck at the Golden Swamp blog has reported an alien invasion!

According to eSchool News,

“Researchers from Harvard, MIT, and the University of Wisconsin have developed a project that uses “augmented reality” to teach math and literacy skills. The project involves teams of students gathering data on handheld computers to explain why aliens have landed, and in the process students “interview” virtual characters they encounter at certain GPS hot spots. The researchers say the project holds great potential for engaging students and teaching high-level skills.“.

Learning was never so fun when I was young.   This project makes use of one of m-learning’s most relevant strengths, by facilitating situated learning: students use their PDAs to access learning materials that are directly contextualised by their physical location.

technorati tags:m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile learning, mobile-learning, situated, harvard, gps, aliens, education, educational, technology

Who do I go and see if I’ve got an idea for a mobile device?

Bringing together the ideas of augmented reality, wearable technology, and mobile learning, here’s a concept for an m-learning device that allows the learner to “see” and interact with learning opportunities and activities in real-time and in their immediate physical context, thanks to a curved, flexible, transparent, wearable LCD screen that can be stowed over-the-head when not in use.

The outside of the visor is a touch screen, enabling direct interaction with the visor without removing it or having to blindly grope for buttons on one’s ears. Using image recognition as well as a built-in camera, GPS and compass, the unit can determine appropriate learning materials, according to the user’s preferences.

Update: Textually.org recently referred to an article from The Economist, with some similar predictions for the future, including an eerily similar vision of where mobile technology, augmented reality, and wearable technology could intersect:

technorati tags:m-learning, mlearning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, mobile learning, image recognition, augmented reality, wearable technology, mobile phone, cellphone, design, concept, design concept, touch screen, touchscreen

Chris Davies at Slashphone provides an interesting report on Nokia Research’s latest ideas in digital mobile mobility with a look at Nokia’s proof-of-concept of augmented reality – “superimposing data on an image of your surroundings in real time”.

According to Picturephoning.com, the MARA prototype application uses accelerometers in all three axes to determine orientation, a tilt compensated compass for heading, and GPS for positioning to overlay virtual information on the phone’s display from its integrated camera’s point of view. Chris at Slashphone continues:

“URLs can be associated with objects, giving quick access to local information, and the device can both use data locally-stored or from a remote server… The prototype also has mapfunctionality, accessed by holding the handset horizontally, whichhighlights the user’s location and annotates nearby points of interest.”

This has fantastic possibilities for situated mobile learning. Information (or rather, learning opportunities) could be readily identifiable to a learner using nothing but their mobile phone; or mobile learning resources could point a learner to a nearby geographic location or object, enabling the learner to go over and examine it more closely.

More information on this interesting development via Technology Review, SmartMobs, and at the Nokia Research page on Mara.

technorati tags:augmented reality, mara, nokia, research, labs, gps, m-learning, mlearning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, mobile learning