Mobile Learning

I’ve previously blogged about StudyTXT, a system deployed at a number of New Zealand educational institutions (to whom it is available for free), which allows students to send an SMS and receive on-demand learning and support information on their mobile phones.

It’s a terrific innovation which has plenty of potential in academic settings. Some educators have used StudyTXT to provide brief revision “flash cards” or notes for their students on-demand; but I can also see the possibility for this kind of system to be used to play educational games or mobile quizzes.

But what about the rest of us outside of New Zealand? It’s possible for us to set up customised SMS-response systems by working with a telecommunications services provider, but this can be a pricey or time-consuming exercise.

Which is why I’m delighted to be able to share this tool with you: BaselsReply (v2.0). It’s a small application that runs on an ordinary Windows Mobile smartphone and basically turns it into a message server, with the advantage of being, itself, mobile – you can just take your message server with you and modify it whenever (or wherever) you want to!

You configure your messages by running it in “server” mode, and specifying “commands” and corresponding “replies” in the software. An incoming message prefixed with “br command” (where command is a recognised command will automatically be replied to with the appropriate response.

Use Case Studies

1. Jane’s teacher uses an SMS reply system to provide a weekly summary of ten key terms or concepts learned during that week. Each week, Jane sends an SMS with the message “br vocab” to her teacher’s mobile. She immediately gets her weekly list of terms and concepts to aid her revision and vocabulary uptake.

   Because Jane is able to get this important information on her mobile, she can take it with her anywhere and can even reference it when she meets her classmates around the campus or if she meets her class friends off-campus for study or social time. Although each message is quite short, the cumulative effect over time is to build up a much longer list of vocabulary and concepts that Jane can both revise and reference, anywhere and any time, and she can even forward the messages to any classmates who missed a previous summary.

   Jane’s teacher Mary doesn’t need to send each individual request for the weekly list. Once she sets up the automated message on her smartphone, she can forget about it for the rest of the week while the 80 students taking her subject request the summary or forward it to each other – which ever they prefer. Mary also enjoys the convenience of being able to update the weekly summary anywhere and any time that’s convenient to her – all she has to do is pull out her smartphone and she has all the tools she needs.

2. Ethan is an science teacher who has set up an SMS game for his students. He begins the game by asking them a question, for example: “In scientific classification, to what Family does the cat belong?” The answer is one word, “Felidae”.

   Dylan is studying Ethan’s science course. He doesn’t know the answer right away, but looks it up online and finds the correct answer. He SMSes “br Felidae” to Ethan’s mobile phone, and gets the message “Correct! Where on a cat are the carpal whiskers located?” Dylan wants to find out right away, because his teacher Ethan has offered a cool prize to the first student to complete all of the quiz questions – an autographed copy of Ethan’s memoirs! (Or, y’know, maybe something cooler)…Ethan can set up a series of questions such that each correct answer provides the next question in the quiz. The same idea could be used to generate treasure hunts or physical and mobile learning games.

Download your very own free copy of BaselsReply v2.0 and try out your own SMS auto-reply learning activities with your students! Here are the details:

BaselsReply v2.0 (152kB, Freeware)
Size: 152 KB
Date: January 7, 2008 (Updated)
Type: Freeware
Requirements:
• Windows Mobile 5.0
• .NET CF v2.0 (install this first!)
Author: baselsw
Home: http://monkeyupdates.blogg.se
Email: monkeyupdates@gmail.com
Directions: First install the .NET CF v.2.0 on your Windows Mobile 5 (or better) device; then download and install the BaselsReply .CAB file, available here.

(via Pocket Picks)

Tags: baselsreplybasels reply sms auto response responder studytxt study text studytext mobile learning m-learning mlearning mobilelearning mobile-learning “mobile learning” freeware education e-learning elearning educational technology revision teaching

A new application by software developer Comverse Technology allows the immersive 3D environment, Second Life, to be accessed on internet-connected mobile devices running Java ME. SMS and video streaming can also be integrated between Second Life’s virtual world and the real one.

What does this mean? Well, for a start, Second Life characters are becoming increasingly like real people. Being able to SMS, text, and video-chat with Second Life Characters on both your computer and mobile phone is making these avatars as substantial (or at least, as accessible) as many flesh-and-blood friends and contacts.

Could it be long before virtual avatars begin to blur the boundaries between real and scripted conversation? Try having a chat with a completely automated chat generator; sometimes, it can be eerily like having a chat with a real person. Imagine being able to ask a virtual avatar questions we might ordinarily ask a teacher, and getting back instant guidance or feedback. As a test, I asked the automated chat generator “What is the meaning of life?” and it immediately shot back the very interesting answer “To pursue happiness for ourselves and those we love”. Although that’s a programmed response to a fairly common question, it might not be long until we can “call” a virtual “professor” and ask them questions like “What is the scientific name for the wolf?” or “How do I make a berry souffle?” and get meaningful, useful – and reliable – answers.

Being able to access a virtual guide or mentor from mobile devices could make for learning opportunities – anytime, anywhere, for help with almost anything. While it’s going to be decades before virtual avatars have the intelligence to weight issues – and thus go beyond supplying simple facts or opinions – a lot of the time, all we really need are the facts or opinions, to which we can apply our own intelligence to construct knowledge and make decisions; that, too, is learning.

[Link: Second Life Reuters via Connected Learning Community]

technorati tags:second life, secondlife, 3d, virtual, world, avatar, comverse, technology, education, sms, text, video, mlearning, m-learning, mobile learning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning

A mobile service for accessing portable, mobile study notes on demand with a cellphone can provide students with learning content on demand.

Called SparkMobile, it’s a free service available from all MMS-capable mobile phones, doesn’t require users to sign up, and works using search terms to locate and access the most appropriate study guides:

What kinds of search terms can I send to SparkMobile?

Character descriptions (example: send Jay Gatsby)

Key facts about literary works, including…

Author GenreTime/place written Date of publication Publisher Narrator

Characters Point of viewTone Tense Setting (time) Setting (place)

Falling action ThemesProtagonist Major conflict Rising action Climax

Motifs SymbolsForeshadowing

(example: send Gatsby symbols)

I’ll be keeping an eye on this service – it’s an interesting model for on-demand, just-in time learning.

technorati tags:m-learning, sparkmobile, sparknotes, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, cellphone, study, education, notes

I’ve been musing on my previous post about New Zealand’s education policy of allowing “text speak” in exams.

Since much of text speak is phonetically based – substituting phonetic equivalent letters, numbers and glyphs in the place of longer equivalents – is anyone aware of regional differences in text speak conventions, anywhere in the world, based on variations in regional pronunciation?

technorati tags:text speak, sms, linguistics, phonetics, english, language, accent, dialect, pronunciation

New Zealand’s education system seems to be more comfortable with mobile culture than almost any other in the world.

From the education system that came out with StudyTXT, a world-first information-on-demand SMS system for students at Auckland university, comes the announcement (via Stuff NZ) that secondary school students will be able to use SMS “text speak” in written examinations this year:

The second language of thousands of teenagers, text language usually incorporates abbreviated words and phrases such as txt for “text”, lol for “laugh out loud” or “lots of love” and CU for “see you”.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is still strongly discouraging students from using anything other than full English, but says credit will be given if the answer “clearly shows the required understanding”, even if it contains text speak.

However, “in some exams, including English, where the marking schedule specifically required candidates to demonstrate good language use, text abbreviations would be penalised.”

Essentially, this new New Zealand policy begins to separate content from presentation – except in cases where the very nature of the content being examined requires a demonstration of correct English language skills. As you’d expect, the bold move is causing some controversy – even among students themselves:

Christchurch teenager Cathy Adank, a Year 11 student at Avonside Girls’ High School, said most students would be surprised to hear text language was acceptable in some exams.

“That’s great. You’ll just be able to get your ideas out quicker. It’s so much faster; you can get through the exam faster,” she said.

Close friend Harriet Prebble did not agree. “I think it’s a terrible idea. When you start progressing in the world, people judge you on the written language, and spelling things incorrectly seems sloppy and lazy and gives a bad impression,” she said.

These are both insightful comments that go to the heart of the issue. On the one hand, the move encourages freedom and fluidity of expression, and recognises the merit of the ideas being recorded, and the understanding being demonstrated, even when recorded in a shorthand form. After all, the very nature of language is constantly evolving, and in time, we may hardly flinch at the integration of “text speak” with everyday language – indeed, I wonder how many readers picked up on the first student’s grammatically incorrect, but still communicatively effective wording (“get your ideas out quicker,” rather than “…more quickly”)?

On the other hand, it’s true that appearances count, and a well-presented paper, written in neat handwriting – and with proper English spelling and grammar – currently sets a good first and final impression.

What’s your opinion?

technorati tags:txt, studytxt, nz, new zealand, examinations, exams, language, english, sms, text speak, secondary, school, mobile, culture

From M-Learning World, in the footsteps of my previous post on “Why M-Learning is Cheap“, a series of posts on cheap and easy m-learning:

• How to create rapid and cheap mobile learning – text messaging provides advice on using SMS as a learning tool, such as message size, interactivity, and tracking; and provides example learning activities that capitalise on the strengths of text messaging.
• 20 Ideas: Getting students to use their mobile phones as learning tools refers to a blog post by Doug Belshaw, who regularly blogs on the use of mobile technology in primary school classrooms. Ideas include learning slideshows for mobile phones and iPods, educational blogging, podcasting and audio, and file sharing using Bluetooth. Best and happiest of all, Doug has caught on to the potential of QR Codes, via Ewan McIntosh’s blog which followed on from my original post on the potential of QR Codes in education – it seems the word is spreading.
• Finally, a blog post on one organisation who actually saved money by choosing an m-learning approach over a more “traditional” one, using iPods instead of binders to organise and disseminate learning materials.

technorati tags:mlearning, m-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, cheap, easy, education, flexiblelearning, flexible-learning, iPod, cellphone, clcommunity

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Following my discovery of the Mobile Barcode extension for Firefox, I’ve had a bit of a rummage around for other extensions for the fantastic Firefox browser that support mobile learning.

• MoblogUK Extra: Adds a search to the front page, inline tag prompts and auto linking to moblogUK.
• XHTML Mobile Profile: allows your Firefox browser to view WAP webpages designed for mobile phones (MIME-type vnd.wap.xhtml+xml). Useful for mobile content developers. Another extension, WML browser, would also be useful for this purpose.
• Small Screen Renderer: “Turn your Firefox into a cellphone browser. It adds a new menu entry ‘Small Screen Rendering’ under the View menu. Just select it to have the page you are currently browsing redisplayed in a cellphone style.”
• Unplug and/or VideoDownloader: Allow you to save embedded videos from YouTube, etc, to your computer for later viewing. DownloadHelper has similar video downloading functionality, as well as built-in image downloading support.
• TinyURL Creator: Creates a short URL for a web page from within the browser, so that it can be more easily input into a mobile device – similar to WAPUrl.
• GMiF (Google Maps in Flickr): enables mapping of geotagged (location specified) images in Flickr, using Google Maps. GeoURL is another extension that can be used to locate web pages relating to a geographical location – useful for developing location-based m-learning.
• Podcast Search Toolbar: Searches over 10,000 podcasts, and has an integrated internet radio feature to listen to audio online.
• Pix2Fone: Allows you to save any web image or mp3 sound file for later retrieval via WAP on your mobile phone, in a mobile-optimised format.

technorati tags:sms, mlearning, m-learning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, mobile, learning, clcommunity, talo

The Guardian reports on the success of SMS-based answer services in the UK. The Guardian itself, as well as Google, Yahoo, and askmenow.com all run their own versions of services that allow questions to be SMS-ed in for answering; askmenow.com charges nothing for automated answers, or just US 49c for it premium service.

“But Britain seems to be leading with premium text messaging. Sarah
McVittie, CEO of 82ASK (which corresponds to the keys 82275 on a mobile
keyboard), reckons it has answered a million questions since 2003 and
is expanding at 20% a month largely by word of mouth. It employs 120
“textperts” including PhD students who get paid £6 to £10 an hour, or
by the answer… It is about the “instant gratification of getting right answers
immediately” in a way that is easier than opening a mobile browser.
Since mobile page impressions have been static for years, she thinks
they have a window of opportunity to change the way people get
information. [emphasis added -L]

Even bigger is AQA (issuebits.co.uk, shortcode 63336), which launched
in April 2004 and claims to have answered 3m questions and now deals
with 10,000 a day. It has 550 researchers, all working from home, who
are paid 30p a question, with the rest divvied up among operator,
government and the company. Paul Cocerton, one of three ex-Psion people
behind it, claims they often take less than a minute to answer. Like
82ASK, they have access to a bank of past questions (those are the
quick ones) as well as mainstream sources. He claims his researchers
don’t use Google much because it just takes too long. The slowness of
search engines, he adds, is one of the reasons for AQA’s existence, and
that 85% of queries are answered in five minutes. Questions range from
getting pink shoes in Bath to personal relationships. One obsessive
asked 20 questions on car headlights.

I tested them both by asking how many people were alive compared with
all who had ever lived. 82ASK came back within five minutes stating
that an estimated 106.4bn people have lived since humans appeared, so
5.8% of all people ever born are alive today. AQA came back with a
similar answer after 22 minutes. On Monday morning – real query this
one – I asked both to find me a hotel in Ireland within half an hour of
Rosslare en route to Westmeath. Both gave me two hotels with embedded
telephone numbers within 15 minutes but 82ASK was two minutes quicker
and gave prices as well.”

I’m not yet aware of a commercial mobile learning/information service like these operating in Australia, but I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out…

technorati tags:sms, mlearning, m-learning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, mobile, learning, askmenow, textmessage, testing, clcommunity, talo, networkedlearning

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Mobilecrunch, a blog on “Mobile 2.0″ connective technologies, reports a new product that promises to connect the global community of 1.1 billion Internet users with 2.2 billion mobile communication device users, in real time (synchronously), for “free”:

I’ve had the good fortune to have been given access to Nimbuzz for
the last few weeks. My testing has convinced me that once widely
deployed, this application has the potential to shake mobile
communication service providers to their very core…

The application supports voice, presence and messaging and it does
so between mobile devices, PC’s, and mobile to PC or PC to mobile.
What’s more, these features are available to both individuals and to
groups and there’s multimedia support so that in addition to voice and
text, photographs can also be shared.

Using Nimbuzz you can participate in group and/or individual chats,
send SMS messages anywhere in the world for 10 cents, leave or retreive
a message, or call a friend anywhere in the world while only paying for
a local call (with INCREDIBLE SOUND QUALITY, I might add). The Nimbuzz
client supports access to many major instant messaging communities like
MSN and has the ability to let you send a “Buzz” which allows you to
alert offline buddies to go online.

Group messaging and conference calling are all supported and again, the cost is only that of a local call…

This is very exciting news indeed, and brings my vision for a connected web and mobile learning environment a step closer to reality. I’ve downloaded a copy of Nimbuzz to my mobile phone – installation was very easy – but at present I lack people to try it out with (though the automated helpbot account that comes with the installation is both helpful and witty).

I’ve tried connecting with my Google Talk account (above) and it works beautifully, so I’m very optimistic… but if you’d like to try out Nimbuzz with me, download the software (for Windows or most Mobiles) and contact me with your Nimbuzz account name! Or feel free to call or message me – my Nimbuzz account name is (very imaginatively, I know) “leonardlow”.

technorati tags:nimbuzz, mobilelearning, m-learning, mlearning, social, instantmessaging, googletalk, gtalk, mobile2.0, convergence, networking, socialnetworking, connectivism, socialconstructivism

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Repost of posting to EdNa forums, with other commentary here. A summary of previous theorisings on this model, here and here, supplemented with diagrams.

We can classify mobile learning activities using an activity-based model of the “Four R’s of Mobile Learning”.

In a reflection of the “Three R’s” of the essential pre-Net Generation skills (Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic), the “Four R’s” of Net Generation learning reflect the current sociocultural shifts in thinking and learning for an increasingly mobile twenty-first century. Defined from a learner-centric viewpoint, these are:

Record : The learner as a gatherer and “builder” of new knowledge

• The learner may use a portable device to capture, preserve, memorise, note, or create information.
• The information recorded may be in response to a prompt from the portable device itself; or in response to a stimulus from a situated learning environment or their teacher.
• The information may be recorded to the portable device itself; or the portable device could serve as a conduit for storing the information remotely.
• Underpinned by a Constructivist theory of learning

Reinterpret: The learner as an analyst of existing data to discover new knowledge

• The learner may use the portable device to discover, process or enhance existing data so that it is transformed into new information, or “remixed” to enhance learning. In these conditions, the mobile device enhances or supplements the learner’s own senses or processing abilities.
• Underpinned by a Constructivist theory of learning

Recall: The learner as a user of existing information and resources

• The learner may use a portable device to recall information, events, experiences or stories, stored on the portable device (e.g. iPod recording), or by using the device to access information remotely (e.g.on the internet).
• Underpinned by a Connectivist/Instructionist theory of learning

Relate: The learner as part of a social context and a network of knowledge

• The learner may use a portable device to communicate with other people; for example, with other learners, or with a teacher (i.e. in a learning relationship).
• The learner can use the device to communicate directly and synchronously (e.g. mobile phone conversation), or access asynchronous communication services (e.g. web discussion board or weblog).
• They can also recommend and share resources, for example, linking mobile devices (usually wirelessly) and sending a file from one to the other.
• Communicative and collaborative: underpinned by a Social Constructivist theory of learning

Related activities include Mobile Assessment (self, formative and summative assessment), and Teaching and Learning Support (tools to help teachers and learners, such as mobile gradebooks, rollbooks, etc.)

Mobile Learning Ideas

Record : The learner as a gatherer and builder of new knowledge

• Moblogging: (Remote Record) using a mobile device to record audio, video, or (most commonly) images and save them to the web in a reverse-chronological format with text annotations.
• http://moblog.co.uk/blog/mobilelearning example
• Social aspects of blogs – other learners/teacher can access and comment
• Done on PDA or Phone
• Database/Form Entry: (Local Record) inputting data into a mobile device that can later be reviewed or assessed. Example applications include:
• Dance moves database demonstration – uses XSForms by Grandasoft (freeware)
• Recipe database
• List of vocabulary/glossary
• Database of procedures
• Generally done on a PDA

• Recording media: learners can record audio and video to devices like mobile phones, audio players, and PDAs. Example applications include:

• Recording a class or lecture for later review as an mp3 file NoteM demonstration
• Recording a mock “interview” or interaction for review or assessment
• Recording a video (e.g. “Changing a Tyre”)
• Done on PDA, Phone, audio device, digital camera
• Journal Using Calendar: If an online blog is not appropriate, Outlook Calendar can be used to diarise and record events, class notes, assessment deadlines, and more.
• Why? Because this is what PDAs were originally designed for, they perform these functions well.
• May also be possible (though less convenient) on some mobile phones.
• Freehand Drawing: Ability to quickly sketch drawings, diagrams, and jot notes could be useful on PDAs. MobilePencil is a good product for this.

Recall: The learner as a user of existing information and resources

• Accessing a local Learning Object: I’m using a very broad definition of “Learning Object” – includes learning video or audio file, a learning interaction such as a Flash activity, even a document. Some examples:
• Podcast/Vodcast: an audio or video file stored for later viewing/listening – TEDTalks and Motorbike Tips for New Riders examples
• Flash-based learning activity – New Practices in Flexible Learning examples
• Accessing a remote Learning Object: as above,
  but not stored on the mobile device itself, but at another location in
  “cyberspace” – a network server, a PC, or the Internet.
• Text content pages on WinkSite – Project management example at http://winksite.com/guideto/projman

• Accessing an RSS feed: what’s awesome about mobile RSS aggregators is that they allow “real time” updates of information to a mobile device.
• Mobile Web Search: Google mobile is an example – provides mobile web search from a connected mobile phone or PDA
• SMS-based information service: these require a bit of preparation. A service is set up by a commercial provider that enables a student to send a text to a number, which then returns some information. For example:
• a student sends an SMS with the word “impasto” to 131234
  (example only). They then receive a dictionary definition of the term
  back via SMS.

Relate: The learner as part of a social context and a network of knowledge

• Ad-hoc networking: Programs such as “Proximity Mail” enable PDAs within Bluetooth range (approx 10 metres) to form an ad-hoc networks allowing instant messaging. Other products also allow file exchange, and operate on the longer-distance (100m) 802.11b wireless protocol. Examples of use:
• Learners engaged in local text-based chat in a quiet environment e.g. art gallery, lecture
• Learners share learning materials and resources in real time,
  as they discover them in their browsers or write down their own
  learning experiences
• Instant Messaging: the preferred communication
  channel of the Net Generation. IM types include SMS/MMS between mobile
  phones, MSN Messenger (installed in Pocket PCs), and other IM products
  can be installed which operate over wireless Internet (802.11a/b/g).
  One of the most comprehensive is Agile Messenger, which supports five of the most commonly used IM clients on Pocket PCs: Yahoo, ICQ, MSN, AOL and XMPP.
• Voice Chat: most commonly implemented in mobile
  phones, but also possible to accomplish from a PDA with a suitable
  Messaging Client installed. Some include “Press To Talk” functionality
  that allows PDAs connected to wireless internet to operate like Walkie
  Talkies.
• Mobile Blogging:
• Winksite demo (text), Moblog.UK
  demo (moblog)
  
• Mobile Discussion: Asynchronous communication tool. Truly Flexible Mobile Learning – anywhere, anytime participation.
• Winksite demo
• Mobile Chat: Synchronous communication tool. Text-based group chat, allows group interaction using mobile phones (Winksite)/PDAs (ProximityMail)
• Winksite demo
• Mobile Wikis: Collaboration tool.
• No free implementations (yet), but some well-documented reasons why these are/will be a Very Good Thing for learners.

Reinterpret: The learner as an analyst of existing data to discover new knowledge

• Location-specific (potentially, situated) learning: PDA used as a processing tool to provide contextual information to learner. GPS, 2D-Barcodes, RFID tags connected with learning materials.
• Data mining: searching a mobile database for trends and patterns in data
• 2D Barcodes: a “bridge” between print/screen and mobile devices.
• A QR Code could be a link to whole range of resources. Instead of a studentcopying down homework tasks, they can simply capture the information, or a linkto it, with a camera snap. When they get home, they gain access to, say, adel.icio.us (or mobilicio.us) page, wheretheir resources are assembled. Some of the resources might even be mobilethemselves, such as resources developed in mobileprep – a mobile phone flashcard creator.
• This example links to a Wikipedia page on the video game Grand Theft Auto.With a click of their camera button, the user gets access to the information directly on their mobile device:
• 

technorati tags:4rs, mobilelearning, m-learning, mobile-learning, pda, model, pedagogy, 2dbarcode, qrcode, recall, relate, record, reinterpret

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