This document discusses mobile learning and several international mobile learning projects. It begins by outlining ways mobile technology can be both beneficial and harmful in everyday life and schools. It then summarizes several major mobile learning projects from the UK, US, Sweden, South Africa, and India that aimed to improve access to education through mobile phones. These projects used phones to support math learning, science education, and English language acquisition. The document concludes by arguing mobile learning can improve ubiquitous and personalized learning, access to information, and 21st century skills, while calling for more rigorous research on the topic.

1. Mobile technology, free apps,
digital inclusion and citizenship
Neuza Pedro
nspedro@ie.ul.pt
João Filipe Matos
jfmatos@ie.ul.pt

2. Beneficial
Harmful

3. Everyday life vs Schools
‘Keep in touch’
‘solve problems’
‘misused’
‘disruptive gadgets’
Connection,
Access to
information,
Management &
Storage
Negative attitudes
and low social
acceptance
towards mobile
learning
(Almeida, 2012; Lobato, 2013; Teixeira, 2013)

4. http://www.wikihow.com/Answer-a-Cell-Phone-in-Class

5. Regulamento Interno da Escola Secundária G#!@tfrj?»

6. How this new technology can positively impact
education
/
labor market
/
society ?

7. Mobile learning
Is a term used to define the type of learning that
takes place when a learner takes some kind of
mobile equipment making intentional use of its
applications, content and connectivity to learn at
any time and place.

8. Mobile learning International projects
• ‘Learning2Go’ (United Kingdom)
• ‘LET´S GO’ (USA and Sweden)
• ‘MoMath’ (African countries)
• ‘Mobiles for supervisors’ (Argentina)
• ‘MILLEE’ (India)

9. Learning2Go (United Kingdom)
• An inquiry-based mobile learning project claiming to be
the largest collaborative Mobile learning project for
students in the UK, since 2003.
Aims:
. developing new ways of delivering learning both in and
outside of school.
. explore methods for incorporating fieldwork and
multidisciplinary activities into mobile learning projects
. seek solutions to actual community problems, such as
disparities between socio-economic groups in access to
mobile devices and familiarity with mobile technologies.

10. Learning Ecology with Technologies from
Science for Global Outcomes (LET’S GO)
An international mobile learning project funded by
Wallenberg Global Learning Network, the National
Geographic Society and universities and schools in Sweden
and USA (2008-11).
The project integrates geo-positional data
sensing, multimedia communication, information
visualization and Web 2.0 tools to facilitate science learning.
Participating schools used lowcost laptop computers and
mobile phones for field-based learning activities to teach
students ecological science and scientific methods.
In the design phase, teachers, students, developers and
scientists worked together to create inquiry-based
collaborative science tasks.

11. MoMath project
• Nokia + South Africa’s Department of Education (2007)
2011: the project had reached 25000 learners, 500 teachers and
172 schools in 4 provinces.
Aims:
Use mobile phones to provide Grade 10 students with access to
more than 10000 math exercises aligned with the national Math
curriculum. Students use their own mobile phones to access
content, participate in competitions based on multiple-choice
questions and engage in peer interaction. Learners use the platform
to complete math exercises, take tests sent by their teachers and
participate in competitions. Students receive reminders about their
required work via SMS.
Free access is supported by South Africa’s 3 local mobile network
operators.

12. ‘Mobiles for supervisors’ (Argentina)
In the province of Mendoza has made significant progress in
improving the production and management of educational
information. An online system is used to report and track data on
students’ academic performance, schools’ human resources and
infrastructure needs.
However, 1634 public schools are located in rural areas with bad
access to computer and internet connectivity. Educators and
administrators of rural schools have difficulty accessing the online
system to enter data, and consequently much of the information
on these schools is outdated.
To address these issues, in 2010 the province launched an
initiative called ‘Mobiles for Supervisors’ that provided 350 school
system supervisors with smartphones (+ mobile service plans).
With these mobile devices, school system supervisors visiting
rural schools can connect to the online system directly from their
smartphones.

13. Mobile and Immersive Learning for Literacy
in Emerging Economies-MILLEE (India)
Research-based initiative that investigates how mobile
phones can be used to enhance English language skills.
Aims:
. Seeks to reach out low-income students in rural areas who
have minimal access to traditional education systems.
. focus on providing educational opportunities for out-ofschool learning through mobile phones.
Ex: students participated in an afterschool programme where they
learned English using mobile-based games that they played for
approximately 6 hours per week

14. Conclusions: Driving forces
• support a more ubiquitous ‘anywhere-anytime’ learning,
• situated and personalized learning experience,
• provide free access to (trustworthy) information, webtools and
applications,
• to reach underserved learners,
• improve 21st-century skills and real e-citizenship,
• to fit with new learning environments - the digital habitats

15. Not only for students learning but also for
Communication
Teachers - Parents
School - Teachers
(Pedro & Soares, 2012)
(Catalão & Pedro, 2012)

16. A request !
More rigorous, reliable and
independent research around
mobile learning

17. Neuza Pedro
João Filipe Matos
Univ Lisboa
SEMIME, 1 fev 2014
Mobile
technology,
free apps,
digital inclusion
and citizenship