The case of “Greek-on-the-Go” App

Dimitris Tolias, Ph.D. Hellenic American University, USA VocTEL Conference 2015, Athens

mLearning: Designing for the mobile interface,

aiming for interaction and engagement

“Mobile learning is the first technology integrated fully into everyday activities

to support lifelong learning” (Brown et al, 1989, pp.32-42)

Relating mLearning to Lifelong learning

From a pedagogical perspective (Lavoie, 2004, p.2) mLearning supports new dimensions in the educational process focusing on Urgency of learning need Initiative of knowledge acquisition Mobility of learning setting Interactivity of learning process ‘Situatedness’ of instructional activities Integration of instructional content

Cognitivist and constructivist concepts seem to lend themselves well to mLearning learning is enhanced when it happens in a

particular context or location (Kirshner & Whitson, 1997)

Learning explores the interaction of learners with one another, with their cultural setting and with the mobile technology (Laru & Jarvela, 2004)

Learner interacts with the device offloading cognitive effort onto it freeing up cognitive resources for learning (MacManus, 2000)

mLearning theory and

pedagogy

What mLearning involves

Interoperability different operating systems which help or hinder software

capabilities Miniaturization

Usability – User Interface meeting the needs of various users Portability – size affecting capacity Ergonomics – limited number of keys available

Quality of Service Connection to networks and/or other devices

Adaptivity Flexibility to personalize ‘look and feel’ User-specific and profiled services to follow users’ evolving skills

(Lavoie, 2004, p.2)

Evolutionary rather than revolutionary

Greek-on-the-GoThe Concept

CharacteristicsEducational

Emphasis on Communication

Carefully selected topicsAuthentic dialoguesVariety of communicative contextsQuality audio visual materialInteractive activities and exercises

Skills combination Listening comprehensionReading comprehensionWriting via other applicationsSpeaking via other applicationsKey vocabulary and useful phrases

CharacteristicsTechnical

Videos and PhotosShow – HidePlay – Pause – Stop

Key wordsHyperlinks to dialogueSupporting photoSupporting sound

DialoguesShow – Hide – Translation

Further PracticeKey wordsBasic phrasesOther applications

Available in App Store 16 thematic units 64 communicative contexts 53 videos 260 key words and phrases 1,500 users 47 countries

A few numbers

A brief TourGreek-on-the-Go Live

References

Brown, J.S., A. Collins, P. Duguid. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, Vol. 18, pp. 32-42

Kirshner, D., and J. Whitson. (1997). Situated Cognition: Social, Semiotic, and Psychological Perspectives. Erlbaum, Mahwah, United States

Laru, J. and S. Järvelä. (2004). Scaffolding Different Learning Activities with Mobile Tools in Three Everyday Contexts. Instructional Design for Effective and Enjoyable Computer- Supported Learning. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies , November 2015

Lavoie, M.C. (2004). MLearning: Identifying design recommendations for a context-aware mobile learning system. Retrieved from: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.95. 1167&rep=rep1&type=pdf

MacManus, T. (2002). Mobile what? The educational potential of mobile technologies. Proceedings of the World Conference on E-Learning in Corporations, Government, Health, and Higher Education, pp. 1895–1898.