Empowering learners with mobile learning Dr. Mohamed Ally Colin Elliott Tracey Woodburn

Learning in the 21 st Century and New Generations of Students What are two things educators have to do to cater for the new generations of learners in the 21 st century?

Learning Outcomes Guidelines for designing learning materials for mobile learning Examples of mobile learning projects Strategies to provide support for learners Developing mobile materials Implementing mobile learning

Today’s Presentation 1.Introduction 2.Overview of mobile learning 3.The mobile library 4.ESLAU.ca – English as a Second Language mobile website 5.WPEAU.ca – workplace English as a Second Language mobile website 6.FSLAU.ca – French as a second language mobile website 7.MKMS – Mobile Knowledge Management System 8.BREAK 9.Auto-detection - detecting the device and its capabilities 10.Stanza – mobile book reader 11.Open AU app – an app for Athabasca University’s magazine 12.Mobile DRR – mobile Digital Reading Room 13.Discussion 14.Questions 15.Wrap-up and future directions

Athabasca University Canada’s Open University Location: Athabasca, Alberta, Canada Mandate: Remove barriers for students Over 37,000 students, 700 courses and 90 graduate and undergraduate programs Doctoral, Masters, Bachelors, diploma and certificate levels Students from Canada and 84 countries worldwide

Student Profile Average age 29 Two-thirds women 60% of our program students are employed full-time while studying 36% undergraduates are visiting students

About AU: Athabasca River

About AU: Campus

Mission Statement “Athabasca University is dedicated to the removal of barriers that restrict access to, and success in, university-level studies and to increasing equality of educational opportunity for adult learners worldwide.”

What is mobile learning? Use of mobile devices such as mobile phones, handhelds, PDAs, iPhone 3G, etc. to facilitate learning and access to electronic learning resources.

How are students empowered? Remove barrier to learning Access from remote locations Students can learn from anywhere and at anytime Many learners already have mobile devices

How are students empowered? (cont’d)? Cater to different learning styles Learning is more learner-centered Affordability and portability Learning materials are easy to update and deliver

Mobile Learning Content Design Content must be organized so that learners can access the content from anywhere and at anytime. The intelligence of the mobile learning system must be able to format the mobile content for specific mobile devices.

Guidelines for Developing Mobile Content Break content into small chunks Design as learning objects Store in repositories for easy access Metatag for retrieval, discovery and reuse

Design Principles Chunk the information to prevent information overload Use advance organizers to facilitate the processing of details Dual-coding hypothesis: present information in visual and textual/verbal Use concept and information maps Design for specific context

Guidelines for Implementing Mobile Learning

1. Mobile Friendly Learning Management System

2. Hardware and Software for Development and Testing

3. Assemble a mobile development team

4. Design for delivery on any mobile device (use of intelligent agent)

4. Arrange for learner support