Mobile learning
South African examples
Steve Vosloo, Shuttleworth Foundation
Adele Botha, Meraka Institute
Presented at Mobile Learning Institute Summit, 24-27 June 2009
Lusaka, Zambia
1

2

Africa is mobile mobile subscribers to fixed
lines = 15:1
mobile penetration at 33%
in 2008
fastest growing market in
the world
3

Zambia
4

1) South Africa
Opera Mini (April 2009)
2) Nigeria
3) Egypt
4) Kenya
5) Libya
6) Zambia
7) Tanzania
8) Cote d’Ivoire
9) Mozambique
10)Namibia
11)Ghana
12)Gabon
5

Merryl Ford (2009) “the cellphone is poised
to become the 'PC of
Africa'”
6

mlearning examples tutoring
7

Dr Math on MXit
 Started in January, 2007 by Meraka Institute / Mobi LED
 Provides tutors to help with mathematics homework
 Pupils use Mxit on their cell phones
 Tutors are engineering students from University of Pretoria
 Over 5,500 pupils have used the service
 Tutors help approximately 50 pupils per hour
 Service runs from 14:00 – 22:00 Sunday - Thursday
 Tutoring mostly done in English, but some Afrikaans cases are occurring
 Learners contact Dr Math from their homes, while on buses, taxis and on the
sports field. Even from the bath!
8

Dr Maths architecture
9

10

11

dr.math: What grade are you in? what are you covering in math?
Spark plug: 7
dr.math: grade 7?
Spark plug: yes
dr.math: Are you doing "pre algebra" stuff like What is the value of X if x + 3 = 10?
Spark plug: yes
dr.math: Ok, so what is the value of x if x + 3 = 10?
Spark plug: 7
dr.math: Ok. how about (15 x 2 ) + x = 35
Spark plug: 5
dr.math: (I am going to use * for multiply so not to confuse it with x, ok?)
Spark plug: ok
dr.math: (2 * x) + 8 = 18
Spark plug: 5
dr.math: Very good. can you explain to me how you figured that out?
Spark plug: 18 - 8 is 10 so 2* what is 10 and the answer is 5
dr.math: Excellent.
12

mlearning examples games
13

Dr Math competitions
 Addition
 Subtraction
 Multiplication
 Division
 BODMAS
 Prime factors of a number
 Root of a straight line
 Intersection of two straight lines
 Factors of a quadratic
 Real roots of a quadratic
14

Dr Math results
 Learners would compete for many times a day
 Learners would regularly come back to defend his or her
title
 Learners often did hundreds of calculations to maintain
their title as champion
 Learners often competed until the early hours of the
morning
 Learners often changed their Mxit alias (or nick name) to
more socially acceptable names after they won
15

16

M4Girls project
 Improve maths in grade 10 rural girls (by Mindset / Nokia)
 Nokia 6300's loaded with:
− 43 mini videos, 3 “mobisode” animations, 2 games
17

mlearning examples quizzes
18

“Imfundo Yami/Yethu”
 Nokia / MXit
 Improve high school maths through drill-and-practise
quizzes
 Support through Dr Maths chat tutoring
 Teach by day, quiz by night
19

20

21

22

23

Mathematics Exercises
MOODLE
24

25

26

27

28

29

“Imfundo Yami/Yethu”
 2 month pilot with 260 learners:
− Total visits / Views so far: 49,502
− Total questions answered so far: 13,192
− Visits per day: 991
 Learners really liked the combination of chat and learning
maths
 Learners were doing much more exercises than normally
 Learners were studying maths A LOT after school hours
30

mlearning examples peer support / advice
31

Drug, abuse and debt counseling
32

mlearning examples information
dissemination
33

Angels on MXit: HIV/AIDS info
34

mlearning examples literacy development
35

Reading/writing cellphone
 Using the cellphone as a “book” delivery and authoring tool
 Othello as an m-novel?
 Effects of texting on literacy and language development?
36

other mlearning location-based /
examples context-aware
activities, e.g.
museum tours or just-
in-time information
37

Age of the Prosumer “Teens and Young Adults
consider themselves
more than just
consumers and they
want their chance to
produce content and
involve themselves in
the brand more than
ever before.”
(Generation Next, 2009)
38

But ...
 Need to manage risks:
− Distraction
− “Cyberbullying”
− Effects of TXTSPK on spelling/formal writing
− Too much “screen time”
− Inappropriate content
− Privacy/safety
 Costs, sustainability, inclusion, scale, equity,
etc.
39

what is mobile learners need information at
night?
learning?
learners need to work in groups?
what is the need? learners not motivated?
learners don't have textbooks?
teachers are over-worked – need
support?
not enough PCs?
no stable electricity?
40

what is mobile learners are connected
learning? learners are mobile
within reach (socially,
economically or geographically)
examples: tutoring, games,
quizzes, peer-support,
information dissemination,
literacy development, location
awareness
think beyond the computer lab
not either PC or cellphone, use
appropriate technology
41

Thank you
email: steve.vosloo@shuttleworthfoundation.org
twitter: www.twitter.com/stevevosloo
blog: innovatingeducation.wordpress.com
slides: www.slideshare.net/stevevosloo
web: www.vosloo.net
www.shuttleworthfoundation.org

mLearning Africa
News, projects and research about mobile learning in Africa
www.mlearningafrica.net
Contact: steve.vosloo@shuttleworthfoundation.org
43