This document discusses the "Greek-on-the-Go" mobile learning app. It describes how the app supports new dimensions of the educational process by focusing on factors like the urgency of learning needs, mobility of learning settings, and interactivity of the learning process. The app provides Greek language learning through 16 thematic units containing 64 communicative contexts and over 50 videos. It has been downloaded over 1,500 times in 47 countries. The concept of the app emphasizes communication through carefully selected topics, authentic dialogues, and a variety of interactive listening, reading, writing and speaking activities.

1. The case of “Greek-on-the-Go” App
Dimitris Tolias, Ph.D. Hellenic American University, USA
VocTEL Conference 2015, Athens

2. Relating mLearning to Lifelong learning

3.  From a pedagogical perspective
(Lavoie, 2004, p.2) mLearning
supports new dimensions in the
educational process focusing on
 Urgency of learning need
 Initiative of knowledge acquisition
 Mobility of learning setting
 Interactivity of learning process
 ‘Situatedness’ of instructional activities
 Integration of instructional content
 Cognitivist and constructivist
concepts seem to lend themselves
well to mLearning
 learning is enhanced when it happens in a
particular context or location (Kirshner &
Whitson, 1997)
 Learning explores the interaction of
learners with one another, with their
cultural setting and with the mobile
technology (Laru & Jarvela, 2004)
 Learner interacts with the device
offloading cognitive effort onto it freeing
up cognitive resources for learning
(MacManus, 2000)

4.  Interoperability
 different operating systems which help or hinder software
capabilities
 Miniaturization
 Usability – User Interface meeting the needs of various users
 Portability – size affecting capacity
 Ergonomics – limited number of keys available
 Quality of Service
 Connection to networks and/or other devices
 Adaptivity
 Flexibility to personalize ‘look and feel’
 User-specific and profiled services to follow users’ evolving skills
(Lavoie, 2004, p.2)
Evolutionary rather than
revolutionary

5. The Concept

6. Educational
Emphasis on
Communication
Carefully selected topics
Authentic dialogues
Variety of communicative contexts
Quality audio visual material
Interactive activities and exercises
Skills combination Listening comprehension
Reading comprehension
Writing via other applications
Speaking via other applications
Key vocabulary and useful phrases

7. Technical
Videos and Photos
Show – Hide
Play – Pause – Stop
Key words
Hyperlinks to dialogue
Supporting photo
Supporting sound
Dialogues
Show – Hide – Translation
Further Practice
Key words
Basic phrases
Other applications

8.  Available in App Store
 16 thematic units
 64 communicative contexts
 53 videos
 260 key words and phrases
 1,500 users
 47 countries

9. Greek-on-the-Go Live

10.  Brown, J.S., A. Collins, P. Duguid. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of
learning. Educational Researcher, Vol. 18, pp. 32-42
 Kirshner, D., and J. Whitson. (1997). Situated Cognition: Social, Semiotic, and
Psychological Perspectives. Erlbaum, Mahwah, United States
 Laru, J. and S. Järvelä. (2004). Scaffolding Different Learning Activities with
Mobile Tools in Three Everyday Contexts. Instructional Design for Effective
and Enjoyable Computer- Supported Learning. IEEE Transactions
on Learning Technologies , November 2015
 Lavoie, M.C. (2004). MLearning: Identifying design recommendations for a
context-aware mobile learning system. Retrieved from:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.95.
1167&rep=rep1&type=pdf
 MacManus, T. (2002). Mobile what? The educational potential of mobile
technologies. Proceedings of the World Conference on E-Learning in
Corporations, Government, Health, and Higher Education, pp. 1895–1898.