This document discusses mobile learning (m-learning) as learning that occurs through mobile technologies. It defines m-learning and outlines its objectives such as being available anywhere and anytime. The document also covers features of m-learning like knowledge building in different contexts. Both advantages like low cost and challenges like connectivity and screen size are described. Examples of how m-learning delivers content and case studies of m-learning programs are provided.

1. Sultan Qaboos University
College of Education
Department of Instructional & Learning Technologies
*Review of a DE technology:
*Mlearning*
Done by:Abir ALmuqrashi(89407)
Fatema ALHajri(89407)

2. *Define the M Learning
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
*Objectives of using the Mobile Learning in DE:
 Available anywhere, anytime and any pace.
 Be two way and multi-media
 Enhances knowledge
 No time constraints
 More independent
 Content is adaptable to meet individual needs
 Improved communication and organization
 Easier access, Increases motivation
*Features of the Mobile Learning
 Enables knowledge building by learners in different contexts.
 Enables learners to construct understandings.
 M-learning is convenient, in the sense that it is accessible virtually from anywhere.
 Mobile technology often changes the pattern of learning/work activity.
*Advantages of the Mobile Learning
 Relatively inexpensive opportunities, as the cost of mobile devices are significantly less than
PCs and laptops
 Multimedia content delivery and creation options
 Continuous and situated learning support
 Decrease in training costs
 Potentially a more rewarding learning experience
*Challenges of the Mobile Learning :
Technical challenges include:
 Connectivity and battery life.
 Screen size and key size.

3.  Meeting required bandwidth for nonstop/fast streaming
 Number of file/asset formats supported by a specific device
 Content security or copyright issue from authoring group
 Multiple standards, multiple screen sizes, multiple operating systems
 Reworking existing E-Learning materials for mobile platforms
 Limited memory.
 Risk of sudden obsolescence.
Social and educational challenges include
 Accessibility and cost barriers for end users.
 How to assess learning outside the classroom
 How to support learning across many contexts
 Content's security or pirating issues
 Frequent changes in device models/technologies/functionality etc.
 Developing an appropriate theory of learning for the mobile age
 Conceptual differences between E- and M-learning
 Design of technology to support a lifetime of learning.
 Tracking of results and proper use of this information
 No restriction on learning timetable
 Personal and private information and content
 No demographic boundary
 Disruption of students' personal and academic lives.
 Access to and use of the technology in developing countries.
 Risk of distraction.
*How the Mobile Learning are used to deliver and support learning.
 Bluetooth: A short range wireless connection. This enables PDAs (Personal Digital
Assistants) to pass messages to and from other mobile devices.
 PDAs: Personal Digital Assistants have evolved to mini PCs able to carry out many of the
basic functions of a larger PC using the Palm OS or MS Pocket PC operating system.
 MP3s: Audio file format that efficiently compresses files and enables them to be shared.
 CAMs: Video cameras now embedded into mobile phone and PDAs.
 WAP: An international protocol that allows users to access the internet via their WAP enabled
mobile phones.
 GPRS: An always on internet connection for mobile devices that provides greater speed of
connection (171kb/s).
 3G and 4G phones: By the end of the decade 4G (4th Generation mobile phones) will provide
up to 100 megabits per second transmissions adequate for multimedia.
*Concerns raised by researchers and distance students/tutors about the Mobile
Learning:
Design: Designing for mobile learning becomes a critical Challenge. „How to enhance the
experience without Interfering with it‟. And so designing for mobile learning becomes a critical

4. challenge. „How to enhance the experience without interfering with it‟ was the title of Russell
Beales (University of Birmingham, UK) workshop session."For lots of people, children
particularly, education is not optional," he said. "It‟s something that they have to do, and they
don‟t necessarily want to do it. Whereas one of the good things about technology is that it offers
an opportunity for choice."Thus, said Peter Lonsdale (University of Birmingham, UK)we
shouldn‟t cram existing activities onto mobile devices, but instead make use of different ways of
organizing
learning communities: "Children want to learn," claimed Ann Jones (Open University, UK),
"but what they want is choice over what to learn. You can stop a child from learning by just
presenting a load of information."Evaluation How can we effectively measure learning in mobile
Environments? How can we effectively measure learning in mobile environments? Josie Taylor
(Open University, UK) ran a session exploring this, and the group discovered that evaluation
overlaps with design. Mobile learning is often blended with other types of learning. A mobile
device could act as a tool for thinking: for example, when learners know that everything is being
recorded or is easy to record, this changes their behavior. Thus, argued Barbara Wasson
(University of Bergen, Norway), we should focus on activities, and the dialectic relation between
the learner and the technology, not on people or technology in isolation.
*Case studies/examples:
*Carnegie Mellon University Project
Carnegie Mellon University today announced the expansion of its Mobile& Immersive Learning
for Literacy in Emerging Economies (MILLEE)project, which will gauge the effectiveness of
mobile phone-based gamesfor teaching English lessons to students in rural India.
*Mobile Technology Applications in the Korean Higher Education
“Mobile campus” has made students and faculty staff access authentic, updated information
sources and communicate with each other anytime, and anywhere within the campus. In South
Korea, All of Life Is Mobile more colleges and universities have moved to mobile learning
environments A student used her cell phone to enter the main library atSookmyung Women‟s
University On campus, students touch their mobiles to the electronic box to mark their
attendance. University of North Carolina at Wilmington takes benefits of the mobile learning.
*Resource:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLearning