This report discusses using mobile learning (m-learning) in distance education. M-learning is defined as learning that occurs across locations using portable technologies. The objectives of using m-learning in distance education are to enhance knowledge and skills, improve communication, and provide easier and more accessible education anywhere and anytime. The report outlines advantages like flexibility and portability, as well as challenges like small screens and limited storage. It provides examples of how mobile technologies like Bluetooth, MP3s, cameras, SMS and MMS can deliver educational content and support learning.

1. Sultan Qaboos University
College of Education
Department Of Educational Technology
Report about
Using The Mobile
Learning In DE
Done By:
Sultan Ali All Abdul Salam (84140)
Yousuf Ali AL-Kaabi (86471)

2. What is Mobile Learning?
- Learning that happens across locations, or that takes advantage of learning
opportunities offered by portable technologies
- It is the acquisition of any knowledge and skill through using mobile
technology, anywhere, anytime that results in an alteration in behavior. Or
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:
 Enhances knowledge and skills.
 Improve communication skills.
 Available wherever and whenever
 Easier access.
 Increases motivation .
Features of M-learning:
 Enables learners to construct understandings.
 Enables knowledge building by learners in different contexts.
 M-learning is convenient.
 M-learning is collaborative
 M-learning is engaging and fun.
Advantages of M-Learning
 One can access lessons, video clips and audio libraries from anywhere,
including public places and moving buses and trains.
 Interaction with fellow students and instructors will be a great help. It is an
accepted fact that learning is made easier when information is shared and
questions answered through a sort of combined study. This helps several

3. students to work together on assignments even while remaining at far-flung
locations.
 Portability is a very big plus, as a PDA is compact and very lightweight, and
enables a student to take notes or enter all types of data directly into the
device.
 There is a psychological factor; owning handheld devices increases
student motivation and deepens the commitment to using and learning with
them. Further, the present generation of students has a fascination with
handhelds like PDAs, mobile phones and similar carry-around devices. The
learning material is mostly colorful and inviting which may prompt students
to go back and forth and practice more.
 It is a fact that most handheld devices are more affordably priced than
larger systems, and already a major percentage of the population owns
them.
 Flexible hours of learning are indeed a great boon as students can access
the system anytime 24-7 and from any location. What is more, teacher
support can now be expected even outside classrooms and other learning
environments.
 Each student can learn at his or her own pace - some student may be
slower learners. The students who pick up things fast need not waste time
going repeatedly through basic lessons.
 Yet another blessing is a huge saving in the cost of learning materials and
also commuting expenses.
Disadvantages of M-Learning
 There is the definite inconvenience of size, as the student has to learn
while hunched over the small screen of a mobile phone and PDA.
 There is no denying that the storage capacities of PDAs are limited.
 Anyone who has a mobile gadget knows that the short battery life and
frequent changes of batteries are a great nuisance.
 Add to this the absence of a common hardware platform; this makes it
extremely difficult to develop content for use by all.

4.  Devices may become outdated quickly and students have to keep
combating obsolescence.
 There is limited wireless bandwidth and chances are that it may further
decrease with the number of users ever on the increase.
 In the M-Learning venue, students are incapable of printing, simply
because it requires a network connection. This is obviously not feasible in a
number of real-life situations.
Challenges of the Mobile Learning
There are two type related to M-learning challenges which are:
 Technical challenges.
 Social and educational challenges.
Technical challenges:
 Small Screen size
 Small keys size
 Limited Performance, in terms of processor capability, available
memory, storage space and battery life.
 Slow Connectivity of the internet.
Social and educational challenges:
 How to assess learning on mobile phone
 Developing an appropriate theory of learning for the mobile age
 Tracking of results and proper use of this information
 Mobile communication is still expensive.
How the Mobile Learning are used to deliver and support
learning:

5. Bluetooth: A short range wireless connection. This enables PDAs (Personal
Digital Assistants) to pass messages to and from other mobile devices.
MP3s: Audio file format that efficiently compresses files and enables them to
be shared.
CAMs: Video cameras now embedded into mobile phone.
SMS : Short Message Service allows users to send and receive messages.
MMS: Multimedia Messaging Service, it give us the same purpose as SMS
but allow the inclusion of graphics.
Examples:
 http://www.slideshare.net/stevevosloo/mobile-learning-south-
african-examples
Mobile learning in South Africa
 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 at
Sookmyung 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.