1. 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 ( and
Oxygen Icons (

2. 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)

3. 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)

4. 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

5. 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?

6. What information is available to us on sector developments?

7. 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

8. 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

9. Services optimised for mobile devices
2012
Access to library services
37%
Access to
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

10. 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

11. 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)

12. 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)

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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?

16. 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? 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.
Images used courtesy of
Crystal Project ( and
Oxygen Icons (

17. 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
Walker, R., Voce, J., & Ahmed, J. (2012) Survey of Technology Enhanced Learning for higher education in the UK. UCISA Report. Retrieved from: 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 ( and
Oxygen Icons (

18. Questions and comments
Dr Richard Walker University of York