The Role of Mobile Technology in Improving Staff and Student Experience in Higher Education Dr Richard Walker - University of York Mobile Government: Embracing New Technologies and Enhancing New Ways of Working Royal College of Surgeons: 21st March 2013 Images used courtesy of Crystal Project (http://everaldo.com/crystal/) and Oxygen Icons 4.3.1 (http://www.oxygen-icons.org/)

The current landscape of TEL across UK HE Central provision of TEL tools: 2012 UCISA TEL Survey Tool 2012 2010 2008 VLE 100% 96% Other tools: Plagiarism detection 92% - E-submission 87% 89% E-assessment 79% 80% 77% E-portfolio 76% 72% 64% Wiki 74% 75% Blog 68% Podcasting 62% 69% Learning management systems or virtual learning environments are firmly established across the sector, with technology enhanced learning moving from the periphery to the centre stage. Managed online learning focuses on content dissemination and e-assessment. 50% of institutions have 50% or more courses using e-submission, with results validating recent HeLF / HEA initiatives in informing sector practice in this area. ‘Blended-learning environments are the norm; students say that these environments best support how they learn.’ (ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students, 2012)

What do we mean by mobile learning? ‘any form of learning that happens when mediated through a mobile device’ (Winters, 2006) ‘a form of learning that has established the legitimacy of nomadic learners’ (Alexander, 2004) Addressing: mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs, tablet PCs, game consoles, iPods & wearable technologies…and perhaps laptop PCs, but not desktops in carts! (Traxler, 2005)

What are the properties of mobile learning? ‘always-on in learning, accessible to the masses, but tailored to the individual (Thomas, 2005) ‘Spontaneous, private, portable, situated, informal, bite-sized, light-weight, context aware, and perhaps soon connected, personalised and interactive’ (Traxler, 2005) Enabling learners to choose when and where they learn – offering flexibility, ubiquity of access to information, and motivating increased engagement

Have we reached a tipping point? Where the uptake of mobile and wireless technologies will gain a critical mass which compels institutions to adopt effective and efficient mobile learning plans and approaches? ‘few universities have adopted widespread m-learning technologies, and in those that have, it is not clear that they are being used in pedagogically appropriate ways’. (2006 Horizon Report) Has the situation radically changed in UK HE?

What information is available to us on sector developments?

Demands on support 2012 2010 2008 Mobile technologies 59% 23% 26% E-assessment 31% 14% Lecture capture 22% 16% 11% Change of VLE 13% 8% 4% Multimedia 12% E-portfolio 15% Source: 2012 UCISA TEL Survey

Challenges over next 2-3 years 2012 2010 2008 Mobile technologies 26% 6% 5% Staff development 18% 36% 49% E-assessment 15% 16% 7% Legal/policy issues 14% 9% - Lack of support staff/relevant skills 11% Managing/meeting expectations 10% 8% Managing multimedia 4% Source: 2012 UCISA TEL Survey

Services optimised for mobile devices 2012 Access to library services 37% Access to email 35% Access to course announcements 31% Access to timetabling information 26% Access to course materials & learning resources 21% Access to personal calendars Access to communication tools 20% New questions for 2012 – emerging service. Which of the following types of services, if any, have been optimised by your institution to be accessible via mobile devices beyond standard web based access? Emphasis appears to have been on communication of course information and resources – pushing out information rather than supporting interaction between learners. Next stage of service investment & development – to focus on support for collaborative software and e-assessment? Source: 2012 UCISA TEL Survey

Institutional support for mobile devices 2012 iPad & iPhone 73% Android 69% Blackberry devices 58% Other device 24% Don’t know 12% Not answered 6% For which types of devices does the institution provide active user (staff and student) support to connect to these services? Active user support: for iPad & iPhone (n=49; 73% of cases); Android (n=46; 69% of cases; Blackberry (n=39; 58% of cases). Of the Other devices attracting support, three institutions mentioned Windows Mobile (versions 7 and below), and one Post-92 institution cited a middleware solution CampusM which has been deployed to expose university services to all types of mobile devices. Source: 2012 UCISA TEL Survey

How do students use mobile learning apps? Comparative data (student polls) on Blackboard Mobile Learn App activity at NUI Galway (Flynn, 2013) & University of York (2013)

What types of learning could be supported? Theory Learning approach Behaviourist Classroom responses systems, providing feedback on MCQs Constructivist Simulations (use of PDAs to simulate spread of virus) Situated JIT access to courses materials for students on placements (e.g. medical consultations) Reflection on action (e.g. capturing/analysing data; situated assessment tasks) Collaborative Recording & sharing fieldwork data - shared analysis of big data sets. Student-authored apps as shared learning resources Interactive Interactive lecturing (polls) Learning & teaching support iPod access to recorded lectures – ‘flipped lecture’ learning mode It’s not about supporting learning models that are already enabled via an institutional VLE. Instead the emphasis should be on delivering learner-centred, situated and personalised learning experience, building on the affordances that mobile technology provides us with – enabling ‘user-led’ education whereby students create their own content and collaborate with peers and communities within and beyond the classroom. Adapted from Herrington & Herrington (2007)

Towards user-led education Transformative learning Enabling learning Enhancing learning Active Learning and Engagement Increasing flexibility & access to learning Extending range of learning opportunities Nomadic & situated (context aware) learning Facilitating discussion & peer support Student-authored teaching resources Student-led learning through collaboration & communities of inquiry

Academic engagement: key challenges Digital literacy – a new digital divide? (SPOT Report, 2010) Mobile friendly delivery: - text presentation (PDF) & formatting; video (MPEG4) and audio (MP3) - discussion management – finely focused threads Embracing the opportunities: - ‘switch’ on policy in class - developing new pedagogic models

Institutional challenges Investment in infrastructure: - wifi coverage & resilience; - managing data layers to expose web services (reusability & sustainability). Investment in services: - open frameworks vs. commercial middleware - native apps vs. hybrid apps (responsive design) - procurement of ‘mobile ready’ applications Support for which devices? Support for whose devices?

References Alexander, B. (2004). Going nomadic: Mobile learning in higher education. Educause Review, 39 (5), 28–35. Flynn, S. (2013). How do you use Mobile Learn? Blackboard@NUIGalway. http://blackboardnuigalway.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/how-do-you-use- mobile-learn/ Herrington, A. & Herington, J. (2007). Authentic mobile learning in higher education. In AARE 2007 International Educational Research Conference, Nov 2007, Freemantle, Western Australia. National Union of Students [NUS] (2010). Student perspectives on technology – demand, perceptions and training needs. Report to HEFCE by NUS. http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/rereports/year/2010/studpersptech/ Images used courtesy of Crystal Project (http://everaldo.com/crystal/) and Oxygen Icons 4.3.1 (http://www.oxygen-icons.org/)

References Thomas, S. (2005). Pervasive, persuasive eLearning: Modeling the pervasive learning space. Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on pervasive computing and communications workshops (PERCOMW’05) (pp. 332–336). Kauai Island, Hawaii: IEEE Computer Society. Traxler, J. (2005). Defining Mobile Learning. IADIS International Conference: Mobile Learning 2005. http://iadis.net/dl/final_uploads/200506C018.pdf Walker, R., Voce, J., & Ahmed, J. (2012). 2012 Survey of Technology Enhanced Learning for higher education in the UK. UCISA Report. Retrieved from: http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/~/media/groups/ssg/surveys/TEL_ survey_2012_with%20Apps_final Winters, N. (2006). What is mobile learning? In M. Sharples (Ed.). Big issues in mobile learning. Images used courtesy of Crystal Project (http://everaldo.com/crystal/) and Oxygen Icons 4.3.1 (http://www.oxygen-icons.org/)

Questions and comments Dr Richard Walker University of York richard.walker@york.ac.uk