Invited keynote - presenting new opportunities for mobile and ubiquitous language learning as an informal activity for mobile populations in contemporary cities. Learners (for example recent immigrants) require assistance, but in these new settings they also have much to offer to other learners and the local population, so they should not be regarded as merely passive recipients of assistance.

1. Agnes Kukulska-Hulme
Institute of Educational Technology
The Open University, UK
Beyond the Classroom
Language Assistance is a Two-way Street
ICOFE 2015 keynote, Open University of Hong Kong
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2. Beyond the classroom:
cities as environments for opportunistic, immersive and sustained
language learning and communication practice
Learner-initiated or learner-led
• Mobile experience capture - to research later, or to
discuss with teachers and others
• Conversation practice using Skype in a café, chats
and blogs
• Following mobile tours and experiences created
by other learners
• Apps for language learning and practice:
vocabulary, pronunciation, story-telling…
2

3. Mobile learners - crossing borders and cultures
• International students
• Migrants
• Global industry employees
• Mediators, negotiators,
interpreters
• Leisure travellers and tourists
… sometimes with their families
And increasingly, all learners
3

4. Opportunities and challenges
of learning in the city (including ‘smart cities’)
Why cities?
Complex and unpredictable environments
Transportation systems; security incidents and safety issues; diverse services, employment
and housing options; building works and pop-up facilities; shifting populations
Opportunities - but also challenges:
Ubiquitous interactions
- but there are cognitive and ethical challenges
Content aligned to learner needs
- but difficulties combining formal and informal learning
Cross-cultural encounters
- but learners have to negotiate cultural differences
4

5. (Informal, mobile) learning activities in the city
Observation
and inquiry
Conversation
practice
Translation on
the go
Rehearsal e.g. for an interview
5

6. situated
informal
incidental
playful
social
self-directed
mobile
experiential
contextual
What types of
learning?
serendipitous
augmented
seamless
rhizomatic
ubiquitous
6Copyright Agnes Kukulska-Hulme 2015

7. What kinds of support or assistance are needed for informal
mobile language learning in the city?
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8. Fifteen years ago: a “mentor” system to assist learning
Sharples, M. (2000) The Design of Personal Mobile Technologies for Lifelong Learning.
Computers and Education, 34, 177-193
A mentor system can:
• act as a companion to a young learner
• suggest ways of studying
• provide long-term guidance on developing skills
• act as a learning assistant in performing tasks or solving problems
• store and abstract information from cases
• support experiential learning…
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9. Considering types of learning assistance
Kukulska-Hulme, A. (chapter in press) Mobile Assistance in Language Learning: A Critical
Appraisal, Handbook of Mobile Assisted Language Learning, eds. Palalas & Ally
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10. http://www.maseltov.eu (2012-15)
Developing a “mobile assistant”:
a collection of integrated context-aware
smartphone services for immigrants in
Europe
-> services: information, social support, navigation,
language learning, translation, community building, cultural game
-> integrated through: a user profile, progress indicators,
recommendations
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11. Cultural
participation
• bureaucracy
• health care
• transport
• points of interest
• understanding of
local culture
• language practice
• daily skills
• skills for work
EducationSocial inclusion
• communication
skills
• community
inclusion
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12. Target learners
Recent immigrants, specifically:
– those whose cultural background
differs greatly to the host country
Local residents:
“…integration is a two way process of
mutual accommodation by all immigrants
and residents of EU countries…”
(European Parliament, 2005)
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13. Motivations and concerns -
daily life, employment, use of mobile technology
13

14. Experiences and incidents in different
places in the city
Constraints
Hospital waiting room
“Please turn all mobile
phones off whilst in
this waiting area”
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15. Incidental language learning in the city
Incidental learning:
“unintentional or unplanned learning that results from other activities”
(Kerka, 2000)
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16. The Incidental Learning Framework
Outcomes
Social
Tasks
Tools
Place
Learner’s journey
Time
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17. Learning journeys between home & city centre
17

18. Physical journeys: purposeful or leisurely
Home
Shopping mall
Job Centre
Bus journey
POI
Bus journey
Bus stop
Planning
Language learning activity
Game
Info service
Info service
Translation tool
Walking
Social
Interaction
Feedback
Reflection
Recommendations
Info service
Achievement/
rewards
Language learning activity
Social Network
Childcare
Centre
Emergency
vocab.
PosterHelp Radar
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19. MApp: a range of services
Navigation
guide
Serious game
Language
learning
Information
resources
Finding
local help
Social
network
Translation
19

20. Using the MApp:
translation tool, language lessons, progress
Language learning activities
Photo of poster
Reflection on learning
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21. Weekly survey:
“Write 3 words or phrases to describe your experience of using the MApp”
A thread in the Social Forum on visiting the
doctor
I am pregnant and you can imagine already
:) using the MApp has been funny but
productive… I am writing questions before I
go and I will ask (the doctor) to speak
slowly. Ha ha ha I will bring my mobile on
the day of the birth!
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22. Duration of
app use in
seconds
Movements
around the
city
22

23. 0
45
90
135
180
Tue.
20/01
Wed.
21/01
Thur.
22/01
Fri.
23/01
Sat.
24/01
Sun.
25/01
Mon.
26/01
Tue.
27/01
Wed.
28/01
Thur.
29/01
Fri.
30/01
Sat.
31/01
Sun.
01/02
Mon.
02/02
Tue.
03/02
Wed.
04/02
Thur.
05/02
Fri.
06/02
Sat.
07/02
Sun.
08/02
Mon.
09/02
Time/minutes
MApp90
One participant’s use of MApp services
I have really liked the English course,
it is very practical for the times when
you have to use English for different
occasions. It has helped me a lot .The
second is the translation tool because
now I take a photo of everything I
don't understand and at that moment I
know what it says
I have
learned a lot
more
English
language
I have learned to
develop myself in
different aspects
of speaking
English with the
help of the course
23

24. SALSA: Sensors and Apps
for Languages in Smart Areas
Szkoła
wyższa
AptekaRozklad
jazdy
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http://www.open.ac.uk/iet/main/research-innovation/research-projects/salsa-sensors-and-apps-languages-smart-areas

25. Beacons
• Small, low cost devices
broadcasting basic
information
• A user’s mobile app can be
enabled to look for the
beacon’s transmission
• The app can notify the phone
user of location-relevant
content
The beacons are located on buses, in libraries, art
galleries, shops etc. around Milton Keynes in the
UK.
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26. Social inclusion?
Still the hardest part
realenglishspeaker.com
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27. One-direction assistance or a two-way street?
Asking for help = a common topic in language learning
Are we assuming learners are mainly recipients of help?
How much time do learners spend practising how to offer
help to others in the target language?
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28. In summary… we should consider how we can:
• Find opportunities to harness incidental,
unplanned, city-wide learning
• Help learners to engage with mobile, location-
based, context-aware learning
• Connect formal and informal learning
Implications:
• Rethink educational content, curricula and
learning management to reposition assistance as
a two-way process
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29. References and Readings
Jarvis, P. (2006). Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning. London: Routledge.
Kerka, S. (2000). Incidental learning: trends and issues: Alert No. 18.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED446234
Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2013). Re-skilling Language Learners for a Mobile World. The International Research Foundation for
English Language Education http://www.tirfonline.org/english-in-the-workforce/mobile-assisted-language-learning/re-
skilling-language-learners-for-a-mobile-world/
Gaved, M., Jones, A., Kukulska-Hulme, A., & Scanlon, E. (2012). A citizen-centred approach to education in the smart city:
incidental language learning for supporting the inclusion of recent migrants. International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital
Competence, 3(4) pp. 50–64. http://oro.open.ac.uk/36648/
Pearson, C., Gaved, M., Brasher, A., Jones, A., Kukulska-Hulme, A., Scanlon, E., Jones, J., Neumann, L. & Busta, M. (2014).
Mobile Situated Language Learning. MASELTOV Deliverable Report 7.5.2. http://oro.open.ac.uk/42108/
Gaved, M., Kukulska-Hulme, A., Scanlon, E., Jones, A., Jones, J., Dunwell, I. & Lameras, P. (2013).
Incidental Learning Framework. MASELTOV Deliverable Report 7.1.2. http://oro.open.ac.uk/39698/
Kukulska-Hulme, A., Gaved, M., Brasher, A., Jones, A., Scanlon, E., & Paletta, L. (2012). Designing for inclusion through
incidental language learning. In: ICT for Language Learning (5th Edition),
15-16 November 2012, Florence, Italy. http://oro.open.ac.uk/35113/
Jones, A., Gaved, M., Kukulska-Hulme, A., Scanlon, E., Pearson, C., Lameras, P., Dunwell, I. & Jones, J. (2014). Creating
Coherent Incidental Learning Journeys on Smartphones Using Feedback and
Progress Indicators. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, 6(4), 75–92. http://oro.open.ac.uk/42078/
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30. Agnes Kukulska-Hulme
Institute of Educational Technology
The Open University, UK
Twitter: agneskh
Publications: http://oro.open.ac.uk/view/person/ak35.html
Thank you
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Beyond the Classroom Language Assistance is a Two-way Street