Learning At Large Mlearn 2009

Learning at Large
Mike Sharples
Learning Sciences Research Institute
University of Nottingham
www.nottingham.ac.uk/lsri/msh

Four mobile learning initiatives
MOBIlearn
Elmo
MyArtSpace
Djanogly City Academy
Lessons learned

First phase of mobile learningHandheld in classrooms
Lecture response systems
since 1947
Handheld computers in classrooms
Since 1980s
E-books
since 1990
Data logging
Focus on handheld technology for formal education and training

Second phase Learning across contexts
Personal learning organisers
Field trips
Museum visits
Bite sized learning
Professional updating
MOBIlearn and M-Learning European projects
Focus on the mobile learner

Third phaseAmbient learning
Augmented reality learning
Learning enhanced physical spaces
Focus on a learning-enabled world

Lab
Small scale
Large scale
Classroom
SceDer
Djanogly
City
Academy
Personal Inquiry
Interactive Logbook
MyArtSpace
Student
Learning
Organiser
Mobile
SMS for MSM
Elmo
MOBIlearn
Caerus
HandLeR
PaSAT
Ambient
Lab of
tomorrow
Augmenting
Field
Experience

MOBIlearn (www.mobilearn.org)2002-2004
Funded by the European Commission
Aim: to develop services for mobile learning outside the classroom
Scenarios
Art gallery
First aid in workplace
Work-based MBA course

Large scale project
24 partner organizations
€7.4 million funding ($10.8 million)
Open web service-based system
Content management
Context awareness
Collaboration
Mobile multimedia
Adaptive interface
OMAF systems architecture for MOBIlearn

Context-sensitive learning
Location-based content and services
Ultrasound tracking system
Context awareness:
which painting?
how long?
have I been there before?

MOBILearn: lessons learned
It’s the learner that’s mobile
Need for a flexible, modular, blended, system
How learning is interwoven with everyday life
Mobile learning can both complement and conflict with formal education
Context is constructed by learners through movement and interaction
Ethical issues: privacy, ownership

Elmo – mobile language learning
Aim: to provide English vocabulary learning on mobile phones
Technology developed by Sharp Labs Europe
Oxford University Press Readers
Evaluation with Japanese high school students by University of Nottingham and University of Tokushima

Large scale ambition
Children in Asian countries learning English
Practice at home and school
E-book plus adaptive vocabulary learning
E-book
Elmo adaptive system

Results for adaptive handheld learning device
9.5
9
8.5
8
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
Pre
Post
Vocabulary score

9.5
9
8.5
8
Adaptive
7.5
7
Book
6.5
6
5.5
5
Pre
Post
Vocabulary score
Comparison with paper book

9.5
9
8.5
8
Adaptive
7.5
Ebook
7
Book
6.5
6
5.5
5
Pre
Post
Comparison with e-book
Vocabulary score

Log data

Interview data
“Made my eyes tired, so I recommend ‘paper book’”
“It is good to write down whatever I want on ‘paper book’”
“I do not want to bring another device with me other than my mobile phone to read novels”
“Many say that if a small and light device with a satisfactory English-Japanese dictionary, smooth scrolling, less charging is possible, then Adaptive Device would be best” (Teacher)

Lessons learned
Design-based research
Know your users
Understand the context of use
Gulf between lab development and everyday use

MyArtSpace
Aim: to connect learning in museums and classrooms
Enhance museums as sites for authentic inquiry learning
Learners as curators
Service on mobile phones and website for inquiry-led museum learning

Prepare inquiry in the classroom
MyArtSpace
Create and collect in the museum
View and share in the classroom
Present a personal perspective

Large scale evaluation
Over 100 school visits
by 3000 children in three museums
Thousands of images and sounds created by children in the museums and sent to personal websites
Year-long evaluation from initial design to final deployment
Observations, interviews, focus groups, surveys

Summary of findings
The technology worked
Photos, information on exhibits, notes, automatic sending to website
Students spent longer (90 mins compared to 20 mins)
Supported inquiry learning
Encouraged children to make active choices
Connected school and museum
Need for more teacher preparation
Managing the amount of collected material back in the classroom

Lessons learned
Keep it simple
Focus on the learning
Get the business model right
Who pays: Schools? Cultural venues? Visitors?

OOKL
Commercial service from MyArtSpace

New OOKL iPhone business model
Venues join free of charge, OOKL sells their content to iPhone users and on the web, shares 60% of revenues with the venues
Venues can digitise their collection with an iPhone running OOKL. Log in as a curator, take picture, edit and publish.

Djanogly City AcademyFirst ‘mobile learning school’

“My favourite rich task is ‘The Seasons’ because you get to study music, drama and dance every day for a whole term and they are my favourite lessons”
Christopher Berry Year 9
Large scale embedding
Flexibility and mobility in the classroom and outside
Rich task curriculum
E.g. Exploring science and ethics
Breaking down the separate zones of teacher and pupil
Open (filtered) access to the Web

Test-bed for innovationSceDerJitti Niramitranon – PhD student, LSRI

Classroom evaluation at Djanogly City Academy

Lessons learned
Start from the learning process
Wireless is not a bottleneck
Power is a problem
Checks and balances
Three teams: ICT curriculum, Learning technologies, network services
All work together, to make sure that learning and the curriculum leads technical innovation
Equity of access
140 Toshiba netbooks for home use, with 3G mobile broadband
Joint funded by school, e-Learning foundation, parents
Contribution depends on what parents can afford
From $9 to $25 per month
Mobile learning can change lives!

Thanks to
MOBIlearn
Peter Lonsdale, Julia Meek, Paul Rudman, Giasemi Vavoula
ELMO
Sharp Labs Europe: Phil Edmonds
University of Tokushima: Hiroaki Ogata, Noriko Uosaki
University of Nottingham: Tony Fisher, Richard Pemberton
Teacher and students
MyArtSpace
TheSEA
Giasemi Vavoula, Peter Lonsdale, Julia Meek, Paul Rudman
D-Day Museum Portsmouth; Urbis, Manchester; Study Gallery, Poole
Djanogly City Academy
Mike Butler, Matt Buxton