The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Educational Practice with Mobile Phones

Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, 5 July 2009, Brest

Sony Ericsson

The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

Session overview

1. Introduction: Why mobile learning?

2. Formal and informal learning (and the territory in between) - rethinking pedagogy for a digital, mobile age

3. Innovation among learners and teachers

4. Understanding yourself as a learner

5. Conclusions

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Introduction

• Mobile phones are personal tools that elicit intensely personal reactions!

• Mobile learning challenges us to look beyond the apparent limitations of small devices and the annoyance they can sometimes cause, to understand their positive role in:

– connecting people– taking advantage of location– making learning more accessible

Picture source: http://www.whatsgottago.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/angry_phone.jpg

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What can learners do?• carry around some study materials, to be able to revisit them

frequently (e.g. for revision or practice)• access new or additional content, such as podcasts or learning

objects from content repositories• build up a series of personal notes, observations, collections of

evidence or reflections on progress• help make or maintain connections between different contexts or

sites of learning and practice• organise personal learning schedules, keep track of deadlines, set

reminders• give feedback, opinions or answers in quick surveys and quizzes

access or create location-specific content• get quick information or support when applying knowledge and

skills in situated problem-solving• communicate with other learners or tutors, typically by SMS or

instant messaging

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Formal and informal learning

• Open University students combine work and study; learning in a number of places, or on the move, becomes a habit

• Informal learning and social interactions are increasingly recognised as important components of a person’s ‘learning life’

• Often, learners just need a few ideas to get them started and they will soon find their own ways of using their mobile phone to support their learning, helping others in the process.

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ReferencesKukulska-Hulme, A. (forthcoming) Charting unknown territory:

models of participation in mobile language learning. International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation.

Pettit, J. & Kukulska-Hulme, A. (forthcoming) Mobile 2.0: Crossing the border into formal learning? In: Mark J. W. Lee & Catherine McLoughlin (eds) Web 2.0-based E-Learning: Applying Social Informatics for Tertiary Teaching, IGI Global.

Kukulska-Hulme, A., Traxler, J. & Pettit, J. (2007) Designed and User-generated Activity in the Mobile Age, Journal of Learning Design, 2 (1), pp. 52-65. Available online: http://www.jld.qut.edu.au/

Pettit, J. & Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2007) Going with the Grain: Mobile Devices in Practice. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET), 23 (1), pp. 17-33. Available online: http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet23/ajet23.html

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eds Beetham & Sharpe, 2007

Chapter by Kukulska-Hulme & Traxler (2007):

Designing for mobile and wireless learning

•Characterizations of mobile learning include: ‘personal’, ‘spontaneous’, ‘opportunistic’, ‘informal’, ‘pervasive’, ‘situated’, ‘private’, ‘context-aware’, ‘bite-sized’, ‘portable’

•This implies a conceptualization of mobile learning in terms of the learners’ experiences with an emphasis on device ownership, informality, movement and context that will always be inaccessible to conventional e-learning

Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age

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Rethinking pedagogy

• In a chapter exploring new horizons in learning design, Ravenscroft and Cook (2007) suggest that nowadays educators are engaged in “a complex orchestration of content, tools and communicative processes” and that the nature of this orchestration…

“… emerges ‘in action’, and so we should be aiming to catalyze or amplify effective learning processes towards favoured educational outcomes, rather than thinking we are ‘designing learning’.” (p. 212)

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Favoured educational outcomes: active, self-propelling learners?

Degrees of participation:

• Receive content

• Take part in prescribed activities

• Take part in proposed activities

• Seek out new content

• Share with others

• Create own content

• Create own activity

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Who initiates activity?Who manages it?

Livingstone, 2001 – external vs learner initiation; external vs learner management

Formal = externally initiated and managed

Informal = learner initiated and managed

Voluntary learning = learner initiated, ext managed

Resource-based learning = ext initiated, learner managed

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Pedagogic modelsMcFarlane, Roche and Triggs (2007) identified three ‘emerging models of use’ of mobile technologies in schools:

Teacher-directed activityThe teacher has a very clear notion of how the device is to be used to achieve the learning objective and also largely determines the outcome.

Teacher-set activity The teacher sets the task and the general outcome, but the processes and the format of the outcome are largely defined by the learner.

Autonomous learning activity Learners do work unasked. E.g., a learner decides to practise in their own time, or to access content not specified by the teacher but out of curiosity and interest.

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Participation continuumKukulska-Hulme (forthcoming, IJMLO) identifies three models of participation in mobile language learning – reflecting trends towards collaborative and cooperative learning.

‘Specified Activity’ model

At one end of our proposed continuum… the emphasis is on making content and activities available on mobile devices, with the expectation that learners will engage with the language learning and complete it.

‘Proposed Activity’ model

In the middle… there are various resources and activities that are proposed to learners but which they may or may not take up; there are also resources and activities that learners suggest and share with one another.

‘Learner-driven Activity’ model

At the other end of the continuum… learners are entirely self-propelled and undertake activities such as finding and downloading language learning resources or even creating some for others.

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What this means in practice

‘Specified Activity’ model • you must listen, practise, test yourself...

‘Proposed Activity’ model• resources are made available for downloading, group

blogs are available for sharing...

‘Learner-driven Activity’ model• learners identify their own needs and find/create

resources

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Models compared• ‘Specified Activity’ model

– is close to ‘Teacher-directed activity’. However, in the ‘Specified Activity’ model, the presence of the teacher is de-emphasized, and the learner is seen as moving between learning environments, e.g. in and out of the classroom, around a campus, between study and work.

• ‘Proposed Activity’ model– bears only slight resemblance to McFarlane et al.’s ‘Teacher-

set activity’, since a proposed activity is only a suggestion; the onus is on the learner to make a decision as to whether or not to take it up. Furthermore, the ‘Proposed Activity’ model can include learners proposing activities to one another.

• ‘Learner-driven Activity’ model – only partly overlaps with McFarlane et al.’s ‘Autonomous

learning activity’, since the ‘Learner-driven’ model gives special mention to social interaction and communication initiated by learners and taking place among them, as well as with teachers.

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Innovation among learners and teachers

1. Learner perspectives and practices – surveys and interviews to find out what learners do with mobile devices (2005-9)

2. Teacher perspectives and practices – recent survey of what language teachers do with mobile devices (2009); unpublished, emergent practices

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MALL - Teacher perspectives Motivation for using mobile devices:

• Mobility/Anytime anywhere access• Variety/Novelty• Informal/independent learning (“exposure to target

language in everyday lives”)

• Ubiquity (“All students have mobile phones”)

• Learner expectations (“learner preference”)

• Ease of use (“motivates boys particularly”)

• Skills development (“aural competence, information literacy”)

MALL - Teacher practicesExamples of how mobile phones and mp3 players are used by (mainly post-16 sector) teachers, with their learners:

• to check word meaning • for vocabulary/grammar practice flashcards• to have vocabulary sent directly via SMS • to show video material explaining vocabulary

items• for photographs, for websearches• for listening to podcasts• for listening and speaking• for listening to materials out of class• for making music and video material available to

students

• for textbook dialogue listening

• to download course materials from CD

• for recording student pronunciation

• for conversations• to preview content and

for assessment• to upload own

work/download feedback

• to record own work• for role play• for polling/voting• for dial up to automated

system and record responses to questions

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MALL - Teacher perspectivesSuccesses include:• students are very motivated by getting MP3 feedback• students love using the devices for additional study of the target language• increased participation in class using mobile phones to post e.g. photos• more in-class, web-related participation• It has been possible to involve most students in extensive listening exercises• students with low attention spans were motivated by using mobile phones• digital storytelling gave students a chance to show their skills in an alternative

to the traditional essay• gives users access to “real” target language to improve their knowledge• increased student competency in vocabulary, grammar, fluency, increased

confidence in speaking, increased motivation, more autonomous students• students video-recording themselves and evaluating their performance

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MALL - Teacher perspectives

Challenges include:• Students see mobile phones as being used for social purposes and find

educational use inappropriate• reluctance to pay cost of using devices for learning purposes• some environments are not conducive to learning (e.g. trains)• constrained by users’ mobile phone capabilities• Screen and keypad size• speed of network• institution’s views of mobile technologies• some download dictionaries to their mobile phone and use them whenever they

encounter a new word. They cannot use paper dictionaries.• sometimes students prefer games and the internet to books and writing• students like fiddling with devices and can erase content

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Understanding yourself as a (mobile) learner

1. Are you a successful learner? How do you learn best?

2. Do you use a mobile phone (or other mobile technology) to support your personal learning?

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Feedback/ conclusions from your discussion

Institute of Educational TechnologyThe Open UniversityMilton KeynesUnited Kingdom

www.open.ac.uk/iet

Thank you!