Resources

Laura Naismith, Peter Lonsdale, Giasemi Vavoula and Mike Sharples, University of Birmingham

The full version of this review is available to download in pdf format - see box below. On this page you'll find the executive summary.

Executive summary

The whole world is going mobile. Phones, computers and media devices now fit in our pockets and can connect us to a variety of information sources and enable communication nearly everywhere we go. There is considerable interest in exploiting the almost universal appeal and abundance of these technologies for their educational use.

The following issues are the most salient:

What are the new mobile technologies, and why are they relevant to learning?

With respect to technologies, ‘mobile’ generally means portable and personal, like a mobile phone. Many examples of learning with mobile technologies fit in to this description. Personal digital assistants and mobile phones are the most commonly used technologies for mobile learning, but they exist within the larger space of possible mobile technologies that can be broadly categorised on the two dimensions of personal vs shared and portable vs static.

New learning and teaching practices and mobile technologies

Most previous reviews of mobile technologies and learning have been concerned with the use of these technologies to address specific curriculum areas. In this review, we take an activity-centred perspective, considering new practices against existing theories. Our review of the literature reveals six broad theory-based categories of activity, and identifies a number of examples of the use of mobile technology in each of them:

1. Behaviourist – activities that promote learning as a change in learners’ observable actions

In the behaviourist paradigm, learning is thought to be best facilitated through the reinforcement of an association between a particular stimulus and a response. Applying this to educational technology, computer-aided learning is the presentation of a problem (stimulus) followed by the contribution on the part of the learner of the solution (response). Feedback from the system then provides the reinforcement. In a mobile learning context, classroom response systems like ‘Classtalk’ (Dufresne et al 1996) and ‘Qwizdom’ (Qwizdom: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom 2003) fall in this category, as well as examples of content delivery by text messages to mobile phones (BBC Bitesize 2003, 2004; Thornton and Houser 2004).

2. Constructivist – activities in which learners actively construct new ideas or concepts based on both their previous and current knowledge

In the constructivist approach, learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based on both their current and past knowledge. Learners are encouraged to be active constructors of knowledge, with mobile devices now embedding them in a realistic context at the same time as offering access to supporting tools. The most compelling examples of the implementation of constructivist principles with mobile technologies come from a brand of learning experience termed ‘participatory simulations’, where the learners themselves act out key parts in an immersive recreation of a dynamic system. Examples include the Virus Game (Collella 2000), Savannah (Facer et al in preparation), and the Environmental Detectives (Klopfer and Squire in preparation).

3. Situated – activities that promote learning within an authentic context and culture

Situated learning posits that learning can be enhanced by ensuring that it takes place in an authentic context. Mobile devices are especially well suited to context-aware applications simply because they are available in different contexts, and so can draw on those contexts to enhance the learning activity. The museum and gallery sector has been on the forefront of context-aware mobile computing by providing additional information about exhibits and displays based on the visitor’s location within them. Examples of mobile systems that situate learning in authentic contexts include the Ambient Wood (Rogers et al 2002), MOBIlearn (Lonsdale et al 2003, 2004), and the multimedia tours offered at the Tate Modern (Proctor and Burton 2003).

4. Collaborative – activities that promote learning through social interaction

Collaborative learning has sprung out from research on computer-supported collaborative work and learning (CSCW/L) and is based on the role of social interactions in the process of learning. Many new approaches to thinking about learning developed in the 1990s, most of which are rooted in Vygotsky’s socio-cultural psychology (Vygotsky 1978), including activity theory (see for example Engeström 1987). Though not traditionally linked with collaborative learning, another theory that is particularly relevant to our consideration of collaboration using mobile devices is conversation theory (Pask 1976), which describes learning in terms of conversations between different systems of knowledge. Mobile devices can support mobile computersupported collaborative learning (MCSCL) by providing another means of coordination without attempting to replace any human-human interactions, as compared to say, online discussion boards which substitute for face-to-face discussions (Zurita et al 2003; Cortez et al 2004; Zurita and Nussbaum 2004).

5. Informal and lifelong – activities that support learning outside a dedicated learning environment and formal curriculum

Research on informal and lifelong learning recognises that learning happens all of the time and is influenced both by our environment and the particular situations we are faced with. Informal learning may be intentional, for example, through intensive, significant and deliberate learning ‘projects’ (Tough 1971), or it may be accidental, by acquiring information through conversations, TV and newspapers, observing the world or even experiencing an accident or embarrassing situation. Such a broad view of learning takes it outside the classroom and, by default, embeds learning in everyday life, thus emphasising the value of mobile technologies in supporting it. An example in this category is the system described by Wood et al (2003) where breast cancer patients are enabled to access trustworthy information about their condition, to communicate with other patients, and to keep track of the issues that concern them.

6. Learning and teaching support – activities that assist in the coordination of learners and resources for learning activities

Education as a process relies on a great deal of coordination of learners and resources. Mobile devices can be used by teachers for attendance reporting, reviewing student marks, general access of central school data, and managing their schedules more effectively. In higher education, mobile devices can provide course material to students, including due dates for assignments and information about timetable and room changes. Examples of using mobile technologies in this context include a mobile learning organiser which has been developed and tested at the University of Birmingham (Holme and Sharples 2002; Sharples et al 2003; Corlett et al 2004), and the use of mobile phone technologies to support computing students (Riordan and Traxler 2003; Traxler and Riordan 2003).

A blended approach to enabling learning with mobile technologies is necessary as successful and engaging activities draw on a number of different theories and practices.

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