The term M-Learning, or "mobile learning", has different meanings for different communities. Although related to e-learning and distance education, it is distinct in its focus on learning across contexts and learning with mobile devices. One definition of mobile learning is: Any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies. In other words mobile learning decreases limitation of learning location with the mobility of general portable devices.Retrieved from: Wikipedia
I believe that M-Learning will be one of the most useful learning methods. Most people today own a mobile and Pocket PCs are becoming even more popular.
ReplyDeleteIn an era where time seems to be constrained and limited, people can make use of these Pocket PCs while travelling in trains. Thus people do not need to carry a bulky laptop or invest in expensive notebooks when a portable 4.74 x 2.64 x 0.43 inches Pocket PCs is sufficient.
To continue on what Chris said, I agree that smart phones are a necessity in today's busy life.
ReplyDeleteIt helps in many aspects of time management. There are some instances during the day when we are idle and away from our laptop/pc. For instance, waiting for a service (post office, hairdresser, etc), amidst a boring event, at the beach, during a break, etc.
During these times, having a smartphone in your pocket, you can read one of your "educational" emails, continue reading where you left from your current ebook, google something you are curious about, have a look at your calendar to remind yourself of your next scheduled task for today, contribute to a blog and thousands of other things.
Thus m-learning helps us utilize that empty time by educating ourselves. However we must beware not to go beyond limits and lose our social life.
Mobile technology is one of the latest trends in the field of
ReplyDeleteE-Learning.
M-learning (that is, the use of mobile technologies such a mobiles,
laptops, palmtops and PDAs in teaching/learning) is a complimentary
resource available to students and lecturers which may strengthen
further social interaction, motivation and learning.
In my opinion M-Technology should be used as a complimentary tool
(rather than a primary tool) in teaching/learning, due to two main
reasons:
(a) these tools may increase the cause of anxiety, due to the phone
keypad and screen sizes; and
(b) not all students may afford to buy a laptop or a high end mobile to
connect to wireless networks available in colleges or public areas.
Having said that, I am confident that all students are keen to use and
benefit from these innovative technological results.
Like what Chris and Marco said mobile technology is the emerging technology and in the future its role in the technological world would increase and also in the e/m-learning field. One of the fields which currently is being studied is how mobile phones with the aid of GPS can act as a “virtual guide”. When a tourist visits a particular city with the aid of GPS the mobile phone will identify the current position and there will be some online services which will recommend which places to visit and how to get there. Also if these places are visited automatically some information will be downloaded on the client's mobile phone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Steve that m-learning should compliment e-learning and not replace it. Smartphone and tablets are convenient and offer flexibility and thus compliment very well e-learning. Gadgets like the Amazon Kindle and other e-book readers which offer 3G communication can facilitate such learning.
Mobile technology is becoming increasingly interesting especially due to the increased power to weight ratio. What I mean with that is that modern smartphones have speeds and processing power almost equivalent to PC's. This is due to the fact that people's demand has been increasingly to fully integrate all the possible functions done on a pc.
ReplyDeleteTo this end it comes as a natural step to request more integration of elearning systems within the mobile systems.
THis approach permits the user to have more customized approach since he is more often then not, the sole user of the device hence specific systems could be adopted just for the individual taking a course etc.
With the new multi touch wide screens, both interactions and video watching can be fully integrated using the portable device. It must e noted also that new interactive devices are not just emerging as mobile phones (ex IPad).
Another interesting aspect of mobile elearning is that you have just introduced an element of novelty in the appraoch to potential elearning. This is evident in the fact that the youths would prefer to use a mobile device rather then log on a computer.
Hence new technology is always a new potential frontier to be surpassed and this willingness of the students to explore more in their device increases
The idea of learning with mobile devices is quite intriguing and I agree with Marco that owning a smart phone is a will become obligatory in the very near future. In fact, according to a study by ComScore, in 2010, over 45.5 million people in the United States own smartphones and it is the fastest growing segment of the mobile phone market, which comprised of 234 million subscribers in the United States. Jeff Hawkins (inventor of the Palm Pilot) argues that in the not so distant future, we will start to see the mobile phone as an alternative to a PC, though this might seem relatively farfetched at present. On the contrary, Sean Maloney (Intel’s executive vice-president) states that ‘hundreds of millions of people are not going to replace the full screen, mouse and keyboard experience with staring at a little screen’.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I fully agree with Marco that mobile technology also helps with one’s time management, I must say that I feel quite frustrated knowing that in Malta we still have the majority of public places without free Wi-Fi access points, although they are on the increase. In my opinion it’s pretty useless owning a smart phone whilst being unable to connect to the Internet – it defeats one of its main purposes, although as Marco said, you can still read an eBook you would have downloaded previously for example.
I have been reading through a very interesting website regarding mobile learning and amongst the several devices which could be used for mobile learning was listed the E-book Reader. This particularly struck my eye as I teach English and was wondering whether students would find this more interesting than the traditional book. This is very debatable in my opinion as how can some students who avoid reading like the plague be attracted to an e-book reader just because it is in a different format. Reading is reading, whether it is reading a paperback, an article on a website or text over the PSP. Unless we promote the love of knowledge, no technology could be successful. I am sure that any sort of novelty is always appealing but as most of you know, any novelty will wear out eventually, it is the love and passion towards something which keeps the fire burning. Unless there is fire in our students' hearts for learning, I think that no amount of technology can work...it can ease the process but the will has to come from the inside of us human beings. Intrinsic motivation is the true motivational factor for learning.For those of you interested in having a look at the abovementioned website, the link is http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/AreYouReadyforMobileLearning/157455.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think that m-learning makes it easy for people especially with hectic lives to learn while they are on the go, I also agree with Steve that it cannot be a primary learning method. The fact that we can learn through the use of smart phones, PDAs, etc. etc. is very innovative and may produce very good results, but unlike e-learning, I don’t see mobile learning phasing out the traditional classroom learning completely. I find it hard to believe that a learner can learn entirely through m-learning since it is more difficult to concentrate. Although it may prove to be very efficient in the short term, in the long term the learner might find it quite uncomfortable, working for hours straight on assignments entirely on a smart phone.
ReplyDeleteI found an article which I already posted which tells us about a new concept presented by Rutgers University where they are incorporating both traditional learning and m-learning. They are suggesting a program where students are provided with iPads loaded with videos, articles and applications used for educational purposes, while the course itself still takes place in a classroom environment.
Just as we trust students with pencils and computers (apart from blocking internet to them and to teachers as well *sigh*), we need to create an environment where we can trust them with newer tools, too. Cell phones, iPods, notebook computers, and other devices which allow students to research, share, communicate, and learn MUST become an accepted and valued part of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteBlocking and denying access to these modern tools today would be like blocking access to pencils and textbooks decades ago.