Tony Tin, Colin Elliott & Tracey Woodburn Athabasca University’s Innovation in Mobile and Flexible Learning: From M-Library to Mobile ESL

Athabasca University  Canada’s Open University  Location: Athabasca, Alberta, Canada  More than 32,000 students  Mandate: Remove barriers for students  Leader in M-learning and M-library Research

Why advocate mobile & flexible learning at AU?  AU students study from a distance  Quick and efficient access  Affordablility/portablility  Novelty of gadget/display  Allows individualization & self-pace learning for students with busy lives  Supports those with special needs

What is a mobile library?  The idea of a mobile library is to provide learners with access to the university library and to course resources using mobile devices

Special Features  Desktop:  Mobile friendly AU Library site: Supported device: PDA, Palmtop, Blackberry, IPAQ, Smart phones, iPhonesAU Library site  The site includes mobile friendly: Digital Reading Room Digital Reference Centre Digital Thesis & Project Room Library catalogue Search engine  Recipient of 2006 CLA Library Research and Development Grant award  Model adopted by UK Open University

Special Features Special Features (ctd)  Auto-detect and reformat  Learning object reuse  Easy web maintain/update  Multimedia file support  iPodcasting  Wireless library catalogue  Search  Mobile content conversion on the fly

M-library Design/Technology

From Mobile Library to Mobile Content: Mobile ESL Project

Overview of Project  Develop and test innovative approaches to ESL learning using mobile devices and a variety of testing and practice methods  Based on best selling Penguin series  80 lessons and related interactive exercises 80 lessons and related interactive exercises  Repurposed for Canadian content  Downloadable in.doc or.pdf format

Student Feedback  Students indicated that the a good use of mobile technology for ESL would be whenever they have a few spare minutes  One concern expressed was the cost of Internet access  Reported positive experience with the ESL grammar course and the use of mobile technology in learning ESL grammar

Results  CBC News Coverage CBC News Coverage  Honorable Mention at the 2008 CNIE Conference for Innovative use of technologies to support E- learning

Building on the Success of the Mobile ESL Project: Mobile Workplace English (WPE)  Provide mobile and iPhone friendly, interactive, English grammar lessons containing practical, workplace specific vocabulary and content

What is WPE? -Content  86 units with 155 interactive, multimedia (audio and video) exercises  Vocabulary from 8 different workplace situations: Vocabulary from 8 different workplace situations: Health and WellnessTrades and Labour Utilities-Oil/Gas/MiningFood Services and Restaurants Retail and SalesAdministration and Clerical Hospitality and TourismBanking and Personal Finance 

Interactive Exercises  There are 4 types of interactive questions:

Interactive Exercises II

Multimedia (Audio) Exercises  Five styles of interactive audio exercises 1) Audio Vocabulary list (Health and Wellness Vocabulary) Audio Vocabulary list (Health and Wellness Vocabulary) 2) Audio dialogue followed by text questions (Ex. 20.2) Audio dialogue followed by text questions (Ex. 20.2) 3) Multiple Choice - audio sentence then choose text answer (Ex. 28.1) 4) Multiple Choice - read text then choose audio answer (Ex. 38.3) 5) Audio lesson (Unit 51)

Multimedia (Video & map) Exercise  Unit 9 Ex. 9.3 A short scene between a medic and an injured worker followed by text questions (01:53)  Unit 74 Ex Look at a map of a city for a lesson about directions in a town or city  Video Video

Future Directions  Support different languages (Chinese, French)  Add more audio/video content  Link to Mobile Friendly Open Access materials Translations, Dictionary definitions  Voice recognition New Google iPhone app

Food for Thought  “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have these devices built into you and powered by your body” -Martin Cooper inventor of the cellphone

Further Information  Website: Mobile Library: Mobile ESL Mobile Workplace English  Publications: M-libraries: libraries on the move to provide virtual access Publications: M-libraries: libraries on the move to provide virtual access