Future Mobile Learning

Last week in a workshop on mobile learning I was looking for something interesting in that difficult time right after lunch. So I decided to talk about where mobile is going and thus additional opportunities for mobile learning. There was quite a bit of interest, so I uploaded it to SlideShare and in less than a week have had over 2,000 views and some great comments, but no additional suggestions.

What did I miss? Please add other projects in the comments.

Future Mobile Learning (29 August 2011)

You may also be interested in a presentation on changing technology in education which I gave in July 1996 in which I also talked about mobile.

Changing Technology from 1996

View more presentations from Judy Brown

2010 Forecasts

I intended to write a blog entry in late December with my predictions for mobile learning in 2010, but somehow never found the time. Since then I have since been reading some other predictions and think they covered most of what I would have said. Bottom line today is that the questions are no longer "why?" but "how?".

Mobile devices have certainly come into their own with champions and examples everywhere. I no longer feel that I am a single voice trying to convince of the importance of these ubiquitous capabilities to the future of learning.

In fact, Tech Crunch's Ten Technologies That Will Rock 2010, over half of them are mobile.

Following are a few of the blog predictions that I have noted (in no particular order):

From the eLearning coach - 2009 Technology Trends That Impact Online Learning

Mobile Technologies
This year set the stage for a more robust mobile learning space, where limitations in access, power and speed had to be overcome. Due to more powerful mobile data networks, ubiquitous access to wireless, mobile tools that work across platforms and more smart phones and devices that are Flash ready, many types of learning can be set free from the personal computer. More organizations are exploring mobile learning to provide just-in-time resources and learning objects to an increasingly mobile and virtual workforce.

From Forrester Insight and research - Key Learning Trends for 2010: Are You Onboard?

Expect mobile learning to increase. There's been talk about learning from the handheld devices for years but I think we are close to realizing learning on-the-go. One issue is around a mobile standard for learning content. Each mobile device displays content differently and creating content for each device is unrealistic. Projects are under way that address this hurdle. The other question is about content appropriate for the handheld device. Certainly, a learner is not going to take a long in-depth course from a mobile device. Rather, assessments, simple graphical charts, and short pieces of learning without heavy text seem best suited for formal mobile learning.

From Jeanne Meister New Learning Playbook - Five Words To Describe Corporate Learning in 2010

Mobile: The same-time, same-place model of learning will slowly disappear, as corporate learners look to mobile devices for their learning. In a number of countries, there are now more mobiles than people. For example, as of 2009, for every 100 individuals in the United Kingdom there were 123.64 mobile subscriptions. Global System For Mobile Communications projects that by 2012, there will be 4.5 billion mobile subscriptions out of a global population of 7 billion. Already, several financial service firms such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo are exploring using mobile phones to deliver compliance training, product training and performance support/on-the-job aids.

From Learning Solutions Magazine by Bill Brandon - 2010 Predictions

Mobile learning
This is another area that may have suffered a bit from over-exposure. Regardless, given the rapid adoption and evolution of smart phones, the move to mobile platforms as a significant learning environment is only a matter of time. One damper on progress has been the diversity and incompatibility of devices, and the lack of Flash on one of them, but this is becoming less of a problem as browser-based applications become available. By the end of 2010, m-Learning will be well-established as a delivery option.

From Saba: Mobile Learning Becomes Wide-Spread Reality

6. Mobile learning has finally come of age
We have been talking about mobile learning for many years and, in our opinion, the platforms have finally emerged to make this a broad-based reality. Today's mobile devices are used to access a huge variety of applications and content types. Learning, connecting, and exchanging expertise will emerge across a wide range of mobile devices.

From E-Learning Queen - New Directions and a New Decade for E-Learning: 12 Predictions

Mobile learning integrated into online courses for anytime, any place data access
Ubiquitous learning is gaining speed as the watchword of the new decade. Any place, any time, and -- this is most important -- any device -- will be key.

Don't miss the long list of predictions for mobile learning from Robert Gadd at mLearning Trends - My mLearning Predictions for 2010. The list is much too long for me to include here, but right on target.

Types of Mobile Learning

Most conversations about mobile learning I have had recently seem to start with the assumptions that mobile learning is e-learning on small screens. Although it can be that, it is so much more!

Mobile learning can occur in the classroom, during an online course or anywhere the learner has their mobile device. He/she does not even have to be mobile. It is not about the device, but about the connectivity, capabilities and experience. Access through mobile devices should be a choice and a part of the total learning environment.

I believe that we are at the beginning of discovering all the possibilities and benefits and have started a list of opportunities today. What did I miss? Please add your comments.

Mobile Learning Opportunities
brought to you by Livescribe

A Visit to Abilene Christian University

Today I was excited to visit the folks at Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Abilene, TX, to talk about mobile learning. Their ConnectEd initiative has been well covered in just about every publication that covers education and technology, plus they have shared a lot of information through their website and blogs. I have followed ACU since I first saw their video last year and all was pretty well as I had expected. Lots of students with iPhones or iPods and lots of activity.

I was unable to attend their sold-out conference at the end of February due to another commitment, but all their materials are (or very soon will be) on their ConnectEd Summit 2009 site.

As a bit of history I learned that, like other institutions, ACU had been looking at laptops and tablets for students. At a group meeting to discuss ubiquitous computing, someone asked how are we going to restrict these cell phones? 98% of the student population used these devices. Luckily rather than to outlaw or otherwise restrict them, they embraced them and supported the constant connectivity.

The excitement of the faculty and staff to think outside the box and better prepare students for the new connected world was impressive, plus the members of the team were very open and willing to consider new ideas. When I arrived they were discussing the new integrated curriculum they are planning. They continue to think of how they can improve the student experience and are anxiously awaiting the news tomorrow of version 3.0 details for the iPhone.

What I didn't expect to be impressed by was their library. They have created a very active center where students can talk aloud, collaborate and receive assistance. They can also grab a cup of coffee or drink from the Starbucks right in the library. There are areas for students to receive help with their writing, presentations, research, and technical issues. There is even a copy center. What they are planning on the floor above is to expand this center for assistance with creating videos, audio or other types of multimedia and to integrate these materials into their presentations and other work.

If you get a chance to visit them or attend one of their next conferences, I would definitely recommend it. In any case, keep your eyes on ACU as we can all learn from them.

Deja Vu

All the current controversy about mobile learning in schools seems very familiar. I have been involved in learning using technology since 1979 and heard that microcomputers were a fad, the Internet was nothing but porn, and now how terrible cell phones are. This was after the panic that calculators would destroy mathematics. (You might also enjoy a presentation (bottom of the page link) I gave in 1996 to a state board association. One of the quotes was from Federal Teachers in 1950 that stated, “Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of education in our country. Students use these devices and throw them away. The American values of thrift and frugality are being discarded. Business and banks will never allow such expensive luxuries.”)

In the spring of 1996 (after a year of committee study) I finally got permission to put our college on the web. This was before the nice drag-and-drop tools of today, so over the summer I created over 200 pages using Notepad. (You can see is still today here.) I was able to do it ahead of time and under budget by doing most of it evenings and weekends. I knew it was the right direction and would be easier to get buy in once we had something to discuss and improve upon.

Just before school reopened in September I had a meeting with the President to show him his picture and what had been created. Waiting for the meeting I heard his assistant tell him that I was there to show him our new Internet site and he said, “Why would I want to see that – all that is on the Web is porn”? Earlier I had gotten the comment that there was no need to connect with the outside world, as our faculty from business and from manufacturing didn’t even communicate.

I got the same type of comment a year or so earlier when I set up the first Novell network. But I believed it was the right way to go, so preceded to gain approval. Obviously today everything is networked.

Now I feel much the same about mobile computing. These small devices are very powerful computers and we are already carrying them with us. Our students are as well. We are rapidly becoming a mobile society and these devices are becoming more commonplace in our lives. Businesses and government are finding how much more productive workers can be using these devices for communication, data gathering, information access, and yes, even learning and performance support. Some forward thinking colleges and universities have also begun to integrate mobile capabilities into their infrastructures.

We also need to look to Europe and Asia – and even Africa – for successes using mobile devices as a tool in education.

More great examples and research are needed to get past the fear and uncertainty of mobile connectivity, at least in K12. Many are working to address this as they have seen the potential. Kurt Squire and other UW-Madison GLS faculty, along with their graduate students, have rolled out the Mobile Media Learning site, “a community of developers, researchers, and educators collaborating and staying current on the ongoing developments of educational application of digital medias - specifically the use of mobile technologies.”

After all, we can’t expect to teach 21st century skills using 19th century classrooms and 20th century methods.