Mobile Learning - Key Terms & Definitions

• Bluetooth: A radio technology enabling devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers and printers to communicate with each other.
• G3: High speed mobile communications network which allows for mobile video.
• General Packet Radio Service (GPRS): A high speed form of wireless communication.
• Global Positioning System (GPS): Based on satellite systems to provide positioning and navigation information.
• Internet Explorer Mobile: Microsoft’s version of Internet Explorer for cell phones and PDAs.
• iPod: A small and portable media player, capable of playing digital audio, and with some versions, digital video.
• iTunes: A digital media player application used for playing and organizing digital music and video files.
• M-Learning: The use of mobile devices such as cell phones, PDAs, and iPods as educational tools. Also known as mLearning, mobile learning.
• MMS: Multimedia messaging service used to exchange multimedia content such as photographs and videos between mobile devices.
• MP3: A compressed digital music format for the transfer and playback of music on small digital music players such as iPods.
• Personal Digital Assistant (PDA): Such as Palm Treo or Pocket PC. Some PDAs are now known as smartphones, meaning that the lines are blurring between PDAs and cellphones.
• Podcast: A series of audio or video digital media files which are downloaded from the internet.
• Real Simple Syndication (RSS): Which is a web feed format to publish frequently updated works such as blogs and podcasts.
• Short Message Service (SMS): Also known as texting.
• Smartphone: A cell phone with extended capabilities conducive to m-learning, such as high speed Wi-Fi for internet browsing and email.
• Wireless Application Protocol (WAP): The wireless communication environment used for mobile web accessed from a mobile phone or PDA.
• Wi-Fi: Wireless technology used for cell phones and PDAs.
• Windows Mobile: A compact operating system designed for use with mobile devices such as smartphones and PDAs. Included with Windows Mobile can be Office Mobile, which is a suite of mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Mobile Devices

Laptop/Tablets
Laptop/Tablets – The most complete and functional system of all the portable devices, laptop/tablet PCs come Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Ethernet enabled. Tablet PCs offer additional features such as handwriting recognition and voice-to-text conversion as part of their operating systems.

Instructional Uses - Students can:

• Download audio and video lectures and podcasts
• Create and edit course-related assignments
• Surf the Web
• Send e-mails, instant messages (IMs), and text-messages
• Log on to the course Web site at home or while on the road
• Provide a high level of interactivity for global collaboration and research

Pro’s

• Great for students who need to take their work home with them
• Provide the most power and capabilities of all devices

Con’s

• Still relatively expensive
• Size makes them cumbersome while travelling
• Unlike some smaller devices they cannot be used while walking

i-Pods©
The iPod© portable media player from Apple© allows users to download music, audio books, podcasts, photos, and video. It has an address book and calendar that synchronize with Microsoft’s Outlook or Outlook Express. It can also serve as a mass-storage device.

Instructional Uses – Students can:

• Download podcasts of relevant instructional material along with audio and video lectures
• Exchange information files, collaborate on projects and share project results
• Review coursework and prepare for exams
• Provide visual, step-by-step directions that are difficult to convey with words only (applies to instructors too)
• Students or instructors can add a microphone to their iPods to capture material for educational use

Pro’s

• With a large market share, the iPod has already proven its popularity with students
• The iPod’s many apps increase its functionality, and it’s great for students on the go

Con’s

• An iPod may not be affordable for all students, and requires Apple’s iTunes program (free) for downloading files
• It provides one-way communication, not interactivity, although it can record material
• The screens are generally too small to use sophisticated applications or to read quantities of text (although this will probably change in future versions)

Smartphones
A smart phone combines telephone capability with a PDA, camera, video, mass storage, MP3 player, Internet access, and networking features in one compact system.

Instructional Uses – Students can:

• Download audio and video lectures and podcasts to their smart phones
• Play audio, video and Flash movies
• Display and edit text documents
• Access e-mail and Web content
• Send instant messages (IM) and text messages
• Use the phone for mass storage
• Collaborate and research as they can access information globally. Smart phones thus support interactive learning

Pro’s

• Very popular with students
• Combines a multitude of communication and computing features in one compact system

Con’s

• Small screen makes web browsing and reading difficult
• Small keys or a virtual keyboard make text entry inefficient for longer e-mails or texts

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
The PDA combines computing capability, internet access, and networking features in one system with a calendar, notepad, address book, and productivity tools. It is a programmable, Bluetooth-enabled, Wi-Fi–equipped device with a pen/stylus input interface.

Instructional Uses - Students can:

• Play audio, video, and Flash movies
• Display and permit editing of text documents
• Let users access e-mail and Web content as well as support Instant Messaging (IM) and text messaging
• Be used for mass storage
• Support interactive, collaborative learning – students can use them to present projects, conduct research and take notes in class

Pro’s

• Large screen (for a portable device) that makes reading easier
• Combines several computing and communication tools in one device
• Text and data entry are possible through the screen keyboard, a stylus, or external peripherals

Con’s

• Bulky compared to other portable devices and won’t fit in a standard-sized pocket, although packs, purses, and other carriers will accommodate them
• They are not efficient for entering long e-mails or texts without using a peripheral input device

e-Book Readers
e-book readers are used to download text-based materials. They can store hundreds of e-books, newspapers, journals and magazines. Magnification and highlighting features facilitate easy reading and marking of texts, and full-text search makes it easy to find specific passages.

Instructional Uses – Students can:

• Download and store text-based instructional materials and electronic textbooks
• Read resources on demand
• Conduct research

Pro’s

• Large screens for easy reading, while backlighting facilitates reading in dark places
• Digital bookmarks and highlighters let users mark their texts, and full-text search capabilities make it easy to find specific passages
• Can store all the content and textbooks for several courses

Con’s

• Single-purpose device with limited computing capabilities
• It may require proprietary text formats
• A limited number of e-book titles are currently available

MP3 Players
This digital audio player plays music and audio files. Some models have an integrated voice recorder and line-in recording.

Instructional Uses - Students can:

• Use an MP3 player to download and listen to podcasts and audio lectures
• Review course material and study for exams
• Stay informed about course content
• Listen to audio books
• Record information such as a lecture on some devices

Pro’s

• Compact and lightweight
• Have no moving parts which increases their battery life
• Feature excellent audio quality and are upgradeable

Con’s

• Replaceable by other devices that also play audio files
• Encoding files and transferring data can be time-consuming
• These players provide one-way communication, not interactivity

USB Drives
The USB drive is a mass-storage device that attaches easily to many computers and other devices.

Instructional Uses - Students can:

• Store coursework, audio and video files
• Share files for collaborative projects
• Transfer work to and from computers at school
• Save their work
• Submit work to the instructor

Pro’s

• Small and portable
• USB interface is compatible with all newer computers

Con’s

• USB drive is a single-purpose device
• Loss of data -you need to comply with secure data storage guidelines, especially if patient data is being transported
• Other devices can also serve for mass storage

Click here for tips on constructing mobile learning.

Tips for Constructiong mLearning

If appropriately facilitated, mobile learning (m-Learning) can benefit learners by providing instructional materials and interaction through their mobile devices wherever and whenever they need it.

Tip 1
Information to be displayed on m-learning devices should be chunked into between five and nine meaningful units to compensate for the limited capacity of short-term memory and the limitation of the display device.

Tip 2
Rather than being presented in a textual format, the information should be organised in the form of a concept map or a network that shows the important concepts and the relationship between the concepts.

Tip 3
Pre-instructional strategies should be used to allow learners to store the framework of the lesson. This is critical for m-learning since information will be presented in pieces and learners will need to use the general framework to integrate the pieces.

Tip 4
Learning materials need to use multimedia strategies that are information-rich rather than textual strategies. As a result, the writing style has to change from textual writing to a greater use of visuals, photographs, videos and audio.

Tip 5
Intelligent agents should be used in m-learning systems so that most of the work is done behind the scene, minimising the input needed from learners and the amount of information presented on the display of the mobile devices.

Whether you choose to exclude the connectivity from your classroom or to include it, there exists the potential for creating learning communities.