I presented this at the ALT-C Conference in Manchester, UK, on 12 September 2012. The work is now being evaluated in the Places project http://www.le.ac.uk/places-mlearn

1. Mummies, War Zones, and Pompeii:
The use of tablet computers in situated
and on-the-go learning
Terese Bird Photo courtesy of pyramidtextsonline on Flickr
Learning Technologist and SCORE Research Fellow
University of Leicester
ALT-C Conference - 12 September 2012
www.le.ac.uk

2. What will we talk about?
• Tablet – context
• Affordances and e-pedagogies
• Mummies – Windows tablets in Museum Studies
• War Zones – one-iPad-per-distance-Criminology-
Masters-student
• Pompeii – Archaeology field research with iPads
• Does the mobile framework help?

3. What is it about tablets in learning?
Functionality and portability
Psion Organiser -------- Microsoft ------ iPod ----------------iPhone------iiPad
1984 Tablet PC 2001 2007 2010
2000
Handheld device Timeline

4. iPad: Gamechanger in education
Photo by Shemp65 on Flickr

5. Affordances (Conole & Dyke, 2004)
• Accessibility
• Speed of change
• Diversity
• Communication and collaboration
• Reflection
• Multimodal and non-linear
• Risk, fragility, uncertainty
• Immediacy
• Monopolization
• Surveillance

6. E-Pedagogies (Conole, 2011) 6
E-training Inquiry learning
Drill & practice Resource-based
Mobile learning Associative Constructivist
E-Pedagogies
Focus on individual
Learning through
association and
Building on prior
knowledge
Task-orientated
reinforcement
A
Situative Connectivist
Learning through Learning in a
social interaction networked
Learning in context environment
Experiential Reflective & dialogic
Problem-based learning,
Role play Personalised learning

7. Mummies:
Windows tablets at Museum Studies
Photo by University of Leicester

8. Mummies:
Windows tablets at Museum Studies
• Windows tablets
• Custom ‘app’ – simply a clever Powerpoint show
• Info from and video of British Museum staff
• Field trip and group work
• Collect photos and impressions on the day
• Report emailed in by 10am next morning
• Groups meet for feedback/discussion

9. Mummies:
Windows tablets at Museum Studies
“It seemed ideal to have short, taped discussions about
ethical issues by Museum staff – then students could
bring the tablets with them, hear what the staff had
to say, and analyse and engage in the evidence that
they saw.”
“The students didn’t blink when we gave the tablets
out. …it was unremarkable for them. It was
completely normal.” (University of Leicester, 2011)

10. Mummies:
Windows tablets - negative points
• Noisy in the museum gallery
• Battery life
• Issues with amount, size of text I homemade ‘app’
• Next time will put some material onto VLE

11. War Zones:
MSc in Security, Conflict and International
Development, Department of Criminology
Photo by The USO on Flickrr

12. War Zones: iPads
• Decision to send each student, anywhere in the
world, an iPad
• Bespoke app (by KuKuApps of Leicester)
• Simple helpsheet to install the app plus others
(Kindle app, Goodreader, iTunesU….)
• Students work on the go when internet not available
• App allows multimedia material offline
• Students still need VLE for assignment submission

13. War Zones: iPads
• “I have realised the iPad is built for this type of
distance learning study.”
• 93% iPad useful or very useful part of study pack
• 8 out of 13 used the app more than VLE
• Study offline
• All the additional apps aid learning – iTunes U,
mindmapping, note-taking, ebooks
• Paperless learning
• Value of multimedia

14. War Zones: iPads - negatives
• Wifi so intermittent in my area, I need 3G
• Is it sustainable to keep up with bespoke app?
• Amazon not available in one country (Sudan?)
• 1 respondent said they preferred paper only (neither
iPad nor VLE)

15. Places
http://www.le.ac.uk/places-mlearn

16. Pompeii:
Porta Stabia project
(director Steven Ellis,
University of Cincinnati)
Quadriporticus Project
(director Eric Poehler,
Umass, and Steven Ellis,
University of Cincinnati)
Photo courtesy of Nick Ray

17. Architectural analysis, survey, 3D modelling
(Ray, 2012)

18. Pompeii iPads
• One-iPad-per-field-researcher
• Filemaker Go to collect data
• Sync twice daily
• Photos and iDraw – take photos, draw layers upon
• Goodreader – paperless – no lost papers
• 371% efficiency increase in work completed (Ray,
2012)
Special thanks to John Wallrodt for implementing iPads

19. (Ray, 2012)

20. (Ray, 2012)

21. Pompeii iPads - negatives
• Need glare protectors
• Need hard case (Hard Candy)
• Overheating (just put iPad in shade for 5 minutes)
• Very detailed work, touching screen (need cycling
gloves)

22. Affordances: M Museum, W War Zones, P Pompeii
• Accessibility M W P
• Speed of change M W P
• Diversity M W
• Communication and collaboration M W P
• Reflection M W
• Multimodal and non-linear M W P
• Risk, fragility, uncertainty W P
• Immediacy M W P
• Monopolization
• Surveillance

23. E-Pedagogies: M Mummies, W War Zones, P Pompeii
23
E-training Inquiry learning
Drill & practice Resource-based
Mobile learning Associative Constructivist
E-Pedagogies
Focus on individual
Learning through
association and
Building on prior
knowledge
Task-orientated
MWP
reinforcement
A
Situative Connectivist
MWP Learning through Learning in a
social interaction networked MW
Learning in context environment
Experiential Reflective & dialogic
Problem-based learning,
Role play Personalised learning

24. References and Thanks
• Conole, G. (2011). The interconnectedness of design and e-pedagogy. Sydney.
Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/grainne/conole-sydney
• Conole, G., & Dyke, M. (2004). What are the affordances of information and
communication technologies? ALT-J Research in Learning Technology, 12(2), 113–
124.
• Ray, N. (2012). iPads, Apps, and Field Research in Pompeii. Leicester, UK.
• University of Leicester. (2011). Latest touch screen technology takes students
behind the scenes at the British Museum — University of Leicester. University of
Leicester. Retrieved February 13, 2012, from
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2011/december/latest-touch-screen-t
• Special thanks to Dr Nick Ray, John Wallrodt, Steven Ellis and Eric Poehler of the
projects Pompeii Quadriporticus and Stabia Porta