Table of Contents
Executive Committee Update Read...
mLearn 2015 Conference Update Read...
Members on the Move Read...Calls for Conference Papers, Journal and Book Manuscripts Read...
Mobile Learning Resources Read...
New Mobile Learning Organizations/Collaborations Read...
Moving Forward Read...
Submitted by Dr. John Traxler, IAmLearn Vice President
Just for the Sake of Argument
Shortly before a
recent keynote in Istanbul, World University News asked me for something
provocative related to my intended remarks. I bashed out the following having
thought it through whilst queuing for a mug of tea and typed it in before the
tea was cold. World University News jumped on the ‘Arab Spring’ phrase for the
title and printed it. Someone subsequently asked me if I believed what I’d
written, to which I replied that I thought my job was to articulate an argument
not necessarily believe in it. I am however asking readers, members of the
Association, just for the sake of argument, to think through the implications
and consequences, perhaps following Gramsci's ‘pessimism of the intellect,
optimism of the spirit’. I’m asking, are we a small and fragile niche, borne of
the sunny days before the subprime-mortgage crisis whilst we still had a
monopoly of understanding mobile phones?
And has the weather changed now, giving way to stormier weather where
everyone seems to understand mobile phones and doesn’t need to listen to us.
What are the
implications? Do we need to broaden our base, seeking people who design,
deploy, manage and merchandise mobile learning? Build a different kind of
membership that goes to a different kind of conference, goes to it online? Sell
ourselves and our services in the market place, as trainers, consultants and
developers? Accredit our members as professionals? Find a foundation or
corporation to give us core funding for five years? Affiliate to some friendly,
bigger, more robust association?
Anyway, the
original piece, before the Arab Spring headline, went as follows,
Digital Life and Mobile Learning
We are talking
about 'Digital Life and
Mobile Learning'. The phrase
is intended to summarise the tensions and paradox between two powerful and
significant ideas. These ideas are, on the one hand, the attempts in schools,
colleges and universities around the world to use personal mobile devices to
finally deliver learning 'anywhere, anytime', as promised twenty years ago by
the e-learning missionaries and visionaries and, on the other hand, the reality
of people outside these institutions using the same mobile technologies to
create, transform, discuss, discard, share, store and transmit ideas, opinions,
images and information. These attempts at exploiting mobile devices within
schools, colleges and universities have succeeded in demonstrating that the
reach of education can extended (to rural areas or marginal groups, for
example), that education can be enriched and enhanced (by being more
personalised, customised and localised, for example) and that education can be
more engaging (for disaffected and disillusioned groups and individuals, for
example) but these attempts have been resource intensive and not always
produced convincing evidence. In the words of one journalist, the evidence has
been 'fluffy' and not addressed the business case for mobile learning; many of
the more successful projects have been the least exciting or innovative.
Meanwhile, outside
these universities, schools and colleges people are using podcasts, websites,
blogs, YouTube and Wikipedia to education each other, to learn from each other.
It's certainly learning, but not as we know it and no longer under the control
of the existing educational institutions or the existing educational
professions.
So, let's
unpack this paradox in slightly more detail and look at how we got here.
We are now at a
point where mobile devices are cheap, robust, easy, cute and nearly universal,
ubiquitous and pervasive. They are chosen, owned, used and loved by people with
no experience or recollection of using computers and certainly not any
recollection of using computers for learning, and they are used for everything,
recreation, socialising, shopping, …..everything. Earlier, researchers and
practitioners in universities working on the possibilities of using computers
in education had realised that computers were static, impersonal and
inaccessible for most people and that mobile technology represented an
attractive trajectory from working with computers.
They used mobile learning experiences that were increasingly more sensitive to
the learner and their environment and increasingly exploited the location-aware,
media-rich and image-capture capabilities of the technologies to take learning
away from the classroom and into the work place, the work placement and the
field trip. This was great. It was fun and it was worthwhile but still
essentially conservative and backward looking, trying to make an education
system work for a society that had literally moved on.
Meanwhile in the outside world the game was
getting away from the research community as people discovered as they themselves
could make podcasts, share video, join groups, create web-sites, write blogs
about any topic or subject that took their fancy. This all looks like education
but without the educators; the educators are still stuck with institutional
systems, like Turnitin and Moodle, behind an institutional paywall protecting
their business, their assets and their IP. Time for some movement!
This is however not a challenge that is
internal or local to the technological or pedagogic specialists within the
institutions since it does in effect challenge their institutional authority,
credibility and legitimacy. How are they relevant, why should we listen to
them, what have they to offer? Tax-payers and businesses could be asking why
the subsidise a system increasingly out-of-touch with the outside world, whilst
students are asking why, at the end of a three-year course, they must sit
still, silent and alone and use a pen to answer exam questions.
The recent past might suggest the
possibility of an educational Arab Spring, an upheaval where the masses,
connected by mobiles and social media, overthrow the established order with its
institutions, officials and values. The current aftermath of the Arab Spring
tells us this might not be such an attractive prospect and perhaps we should
hope for a more gradual, consensual change. Institutions will blunder and
stumble, individuals will resist, react, reform and eventually fit into some
new order, having done the right things for the wrong reasons, conducting their
pilots and their projects ostensibly for outputs and outcomes but in fact
gradually coming to terms with a mobile and connected world needing new skills,
new attitudes and new formats.
Dr. Traxler offers these questions for consideration and discussion:
- Should IAmLearn take steps to expand its narrow membership base. What do you think?
- Would it be beneficial to create a Policy SIG, to build experience and expertise in connecting with the policy community, building understanding of our work, understanding the ‘impact’ agenda, funding priorities.
- Is it time to explore the creation of a Commercialisation SIG, to build experience and expertise in connecting with corporates, start-ups?
- Should IAmLearn seek representation for the Association on relevant agency, national and international boards, events and publications.
- How should IAmLearn engage with regional associations for mobile learning?
- Creating a register of members interested in consultancy (may be with some threshold such as 'has successfully undertaken two projects') or a register of members
mLearn 2015 Conference Update
 |
| Setting Sail from Greece |
Be a part of a once in a lifetime learning experience
to a place where education meets enjoyment of life and living in the moment!
Please Remember:
1. VERY important - All bookings through the mLearn2015 website for cabins MUST be booked and paid for in full before 17 Aug 2015 otherwise the cabin may be cancelled by the Royal Caribbean
2. Deadline for the special conference package is 15 Aug, after that our special arrangement falls away and all delegates will have to arrange and negotiate their own accommodation.
The mLearn 2015 international mobile learning conference
will take place from 17 to 24 October 2015, on a cruise ship “Splendour of the
Seas”, departing from Venice, Italy.
This fourteenth annual conference on mobile and contextual
learning is the key research and networking event for researchers, strategists,
educators, technologists and industry practitioners from all over the world.
mLearn attracts a large number of participants from more
than 60 countries representing all continents, and is, therefore, the world's
largest international conference on mLearning and emerging ambient
technologies.
WHY YOU SHOULD GO..
1. VERY important - All bookings through the mLearn2015 website for cabins MUST be booked and paid for in full before 17 Aug 2015 otherwise the cabin may be cancelled by the Royal Caribbean
2. Deadline for the special conference package is 15 Aug, after that our special arrangement falls away and all delegates will have to arrange and negotiate their own accommodation.
Members on the Move
Instructional Design for Mobile Learning hits Canvas.net
IAmLearn Executive Member-at-Large Rob Power recently helped to design and deliver a free micro-MOOC called Instructional Design for Mobile Learning (ID4ML). Over 2100 people from all corners of the globe participated in the free online course, which ran from May 4 – June 6, 2015. Power partnered with Robin Bartoletti (Texas Women’s University) and Whitney Kilgore (iDesignEDU) to redesign and deliver the course, which was first offered on the Canvas network in 2013.
ID4ML featured three distinct
one-week modules. The first week included defining mobile learning, examining
participants’ experiences with mobile learning and mobile technologies, and an
exploration of useful tools and apps for enhancing teaching and learning. The
second week explored the instructional design process for creating mobile reusable
learning objects, including Power’s Collaborative Situated Active Mobile (CSAM)
learning design framework (highlighted in his mLearn 2014 paper presentation
with IAmLearn members Dean Cristol and Belinda Gimbert). Participants also used
free online tools and downloadable apps to help them turn their designs into
prototype mobile RLOs. The third week featured a “mobile mini-unit” where
participants explored mobile apps that students could use to increase
productivity and to save and share links to online resources.
Participants in ID4ML also had a
chance to learn about IAmLearn from Association president Marcus Specht, who
was featured in one of two Google Hangouts Broadcast interview sessions.
The second Hangout session
featured Rob Power, who talked about his work at the Advanced Learning
Technologies Centre at College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, and his research on
the CSAM framework and mobile RLOs.
Response to the ID4ML MOOC has
been extremely positive, and included the following comments posted on Twitter:
"Thank you for ID4ML! I'm
not a teacher but as a web developer / lifelong learner I found the class
exceptionally well done. I've been taking MOOCs at coursera, EdX, Udemy and
Lynda.com for several years now and this course ranks near the top for an
engaging mix of media types and interactive projects."
Canvas User (May 30, 2015)
Canvas User (May 30, 2015)
"One of the most creative,
most applicable & certainly THE cutest #mooc #id4ml...!"
@maja_prolece via Twitter (May 25, 2015)
@maja_prolece via Twitter (May 25, 2015)
"Woot! Just finished my
first MOOC. ID for mLearning. Fantastic course & facilitators thx #ID4ML @xPat_Letters@robinwb @whitneykilgore"
@LeghamLemming via Twitter (May 25, 2015 )
MINA [ Mobile Innovation Network Aotearoa ]
We have been working on a project with the theme of Development of technologies to support education and would love your feedback on ways in which you would incorporate this tool into mobile learning.
@LeghamLemming via Twitter (May 25, 2015 )
Dr. Agnieszka Palalas was also on the move this summer and attended the e-Learning Guilds’mLearnCon 2015-“Learning in Context” in Austin, Texas, June 10-12. She captured insightful learning moments with renowned mLearnCon speakers and m-learning design and development experts Joseph Ganci, Phil Cowcill , and Krista Hildner. They discuss the benefits of attending mLearnCon, including networking and sharing best practices. In addition, each of these experienced mobile learning practitioner answers Dr. Palalas’s questions pertaining to the practice of m-learning and perforemance support and the future of learning and training with mobiles.
Joseph Ganci is thrilled about the ongoing growth and potential of accessing learning wherever we need it: “we are going to be learning all the time…wherever we go we are going to have the ability to not only learn but apply the learning in the moment, when we need it.”
The complete video compilation is coming soon to the IAmLearn Facebook. We invite you to watch it and share your comments and reactions. See you on our Facebook.
Proof of Concept of Mobile System to Request a Visual Insight of a Geographically Bound Location
Submitted by Dr. Laurent AntonczakMINA [ Mobile Innovation Network Aotearoa ]
We have been working on a project with the theme of Development of technologies to support education and would love your feedback on ways in which you would incorporate this tool into mobile learning.
This project aims to discuss and develop a mobile system where-by, one user can request a visual insight of a geographically bound location. Such a system is important since there currently exists no smart phone application in this domain. Applications of the proposed system could range from the trivial, such as users requesting to view the queue at a restaurant, to the important, such as emergency services surveying an area blocked off by debris, or police viewing a large area during during an “Amber Alert”. A possible application for mobile learning would be networked or collaborative learning in outdoor situations. Since smart phone use is so prevalent, coverage of the systems network should be high. This project also aims to incentivize the usage of such a system - which is important due to the inherent costs to a potential user. These cost manifest themselves in terms of battery usage, time, and potentially mobile data usage.
Calls for Conference Papers, Journal and Book Manuscripts
Recent Publications:
Andrews, T., Dyson, L. E., & Wishart, J. (July 03, 2015). Advancing
ethics frameworks and scenario-based learning to support educational research
into mobile learning. International Journal of Research & Method
in Education, 38, 3,
320-334.
Abstract:
The ubiquity of mobile devices and their use for collecting and sharing data require a reconsideration of approaches taken to managing ethical concerns in the educational research context. In the mobile age, the concept of educational research extends beyond traditional understandings and contexts due to: the wide range of mobile learning research settings, the immediacy with which mobile devices connect to socialmedia, heightened privacy concerns and uncertainty about informed consent. This paper explores some of the ethical challenges and proposes that ethics frameworks and scenario-based learning can be powerful tools to assist educational researchers to better understand the ethical complexities of research using mobile devices and social media. An ethics framework for mobile learning research and several exemplar scenarios created during two workshops are presented. The authors make a case for this approach to be used for professional development for mobile learning researchers which may include teachers researching their own mobile learning practice
Journal Manuscripts:
Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Special Issue on Learning Technologies
- Deadline for Submission of Full Manuscripts: Friday, February 12, 2016.
- Learning technologies provide creative ways for learners and instructors to achieve a variety of learning outcomes.
- The guest editors invite manuscripts that address educational learning technologies in Canada and internationally, including these topics:
• Adaptive
systems
• Tutoring
systems
• Online
Learning Environments
• Computer
Supported Collaborative Learning Environments
• Computer
Mediated Communication
• Mobile applications supporting learning
• Modeling
system usage for learning outcomes
• Discussion forums and peer help
• Flipped
classroom and video lecture use
• Systems
supporting second language learners in STEM courses
• Informal
learning through online videos
• Communication and learning tools
Please forward any questions regarding this issue to Guest Editors:
Alexandra Makos, Clare
Brett, and
Jim Hewitt
Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Department
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto Toronto, ON
Mobile Learning Resources
Submitted by Yulin SongHere we link two educational technology journals in China which have papers exploring mobile learning and teaching. Both of them are open access online. Hope you will find them enlightening.
1 《中国电化教育》 China Educational Technology
New Mobile Learning Organizations/Collaborations
Dr. Laurent Antonczak, at MINA [ Mobile Innovation Network Australia ] announces an Australasia collaboration with RMIT(Melbourne).....
Hi everyone,
We are pleased to announce our new Australasia collaboration with RMIT (Melbourne) and the new Call for Paper for the 5th International Mobile Creativity and Mobile Innovation AKA #mina2015:
–––
Laurent Antonczak
MINA [ Mobile Innovation Network Aotearoa ]
Laurent Antonczak
MINA [ Mobile Innovation Network Aotearoa ]
Moving Forward
Thanks to everyone for your ongoing feedback and contributions as we continue to strengthen the IAmLearn Newsletter as a resource for our membership. We encourage our readers (your0 to share your feedback, ideas, responses, debate also in our other social media sources including Facebook, Twitter and the IAMLEARN website- any member can contribute to the website once logged in, so please share your event and project updates, as well as resources. We are members of a dynamic, vital and diverse learning community. Our dialogue spans boundaries of space and time. Lets keep it going strong.
