Mobile Learning: anytime, any place, any where, any good Richard Joiner MSc. Human Communication &...

Mobile Learning: anytime, any place, any where, any good

Richard Joiner

MSc. Human Communication & Computing

Communication, Interaction and Task

MSc. Human Communication & Computing 2

Contents

• Mobile Learning• Behaviourist Models

– Skills Arena– BBC Bitesize

• Constructivist Models- Virus game- Savannah

• Situated Learning– Ambient wood


Introduction

• Mobile technologies are very familiar. A high proportion of UK citizens have mobile phones.

• PDA’s are becoming more widespread.

• There is great interest from educators to find ways the unique capabilities and characteristics of mobile technology


Introduction

• Some educators see them as disruptive and have banned them from classes

• However a number of people have argued that they provide an opportunity for a fundamental change in education.

• Away from the occasional use of a computer in a lab to the more embedded use in the classroom and beyond


Introduction

• The concept of learning is closely coupled to the concept of mobility

• It is mobile with respect– space – time– areas of life


Introduction

• Klopfer identified 5 reasons why mobile devices could be useful in education– portability– social interactivity– context sensitivity– connectivity– individulality


Models of learning

• Wireless Internet Learning Devices or WILDs– Learning as skill acquisition– Learning as self construction– Learning as social participation


Behaviourist

• Learning as skill acquisition

• A number examples of mobile learning used to provide anytime anywhere learning using behaviourist techniques– Skills arena– BBC Bitesize


Skills Arena

• Skills arena is a mathematics video game using Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

• It supplements traditional curricula and teaching methods

• Drills in addition and subtraction are presented as a game, with advanced scoring and record keeping, character creation and variable difficulty level.


Skills Arena

• An initial pilot study found that– Students completed 3 times as many

worksheets– Teachers found it easy to administer and

control– Students used it outside class


BBC Bitesize

• BBC Bite size is an initiative to provide revision material via mobile phones

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/games/

• They use a downloadable java game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/games/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/games/


BBC Bitesize

• It is very popular over 650,000 gcse students

• Problems– content not relevant to what the students

had studied– lack of detailed feedback– compatibility across devices– costs


Constructivist

• Learning is seen as a process of reorganisation of cognitive structures

• A number examples of mobile learning based on these principles– Virus Game– Savannah


Virus Game

• Participatory simulations (Colella, 2000) utilise the availability of a separate device for each student and the capability for simple exchanges among neighbouring students.


Virus Game

• They enable students to act as agents in simulations

• Patterns emerge from local decisions and information exchanges.

• These simulations enable students to model and learn about scientific phenomena relating to decentralised systems.


Virus Game

• A prototypical example is modelling the spread of disease (Colella, 1998, 2000).


Virus Game

• Colella (2000) evaluated it with 16 10th graders.

• The teacher also participated in the activities and the researcher facilitated.

• All students start the simulation clear of disease, except 1 who has the disease.

• As students move around their mobile devices exchange messages.


Virus Game

• Consequently the infection can spread.

• A record of the number of infections over time is displayed as a graph.

• Students then discuss the results

• Design experiments to see if they can control the disease (e.g. they can quarantine the infected parties).


Virus Game

• It was part of a biology class and consisted of approximately 5 class periods over a 3 week period.

• On the first day students were introduced to the technology


Virus Game

• On days 2, 3, and 4 students participated in disease simulations

• Discussed the simulation

• Developed and carried out experiments to test their hypotheses.

• On day 5 they reflected on their experiences in the PS studies.


Virus Game

• Students displayed were willing to suspend their disbelief and behave as though the simulation activity was real.

• Each time it was like a real life epidemic.

• The students had to figure out what was going on.


Virus Game

• Students could run experiments using the PS.

• They could explore the underlying rules of the simulation by altering their own behaviours and observing the effects of those alterations on the outcomes.

• Interestingly these experiment required the participation of all the students.


Savannah Game

• Another type of participatory similuation is Savannah

• The children play at ‘being a pride of lions’ outside in a playing field

• Interacting with a virtual Savannah and exploring the opportunities and risks to lions in that space


Savannah Game

• Outside the children are given global positioning systems (GPS) linked personal digital assistants (PDAs)

• The PDAs enable them to ‘see’, ‘hear’ and ‘smell’ the world of the Savannah

• They navigate the real space outdoors. as lions in the virtual Savannah.


Savannah Game

• The children involved in the project were all from year 7 and were aged between 11 and 12.

• There were two groups: one group of five boys (day 1) and one group of five girls (day 2).

• There were two areas: the playing field and the den


Savannah Game

• The game consisted of two challenges.

• In challenge 1, the children were told that they were a lion pride who had recently been displaced and had just arrived in a new area of the Savannah.

• They had to get to know this area, understand what was in it, and identify various threats and opportunities.


Savannah Game

• During this phase the children could NOT kill or be killed and so could freely explore the virtual Savannah.

• The children took two searches to fully explore the virtual Savannah outside.

• After each search the children went back to the Den and discussed with the teacher what they had found.


Savannah Game

• The children used the flip chart paper to create a map of what they found

• They used the interactive white board to revisit their movements

• Examine where they had not searched and discuss how they could improve their search techniques


Savannah Game

• In Challenge 2, the children were told by the teacher that they had to learn to survive in the Savannah.

• In this challenge the children could both die (if for example they attacked the wrong animal alone..) and hunt, and their energy points would increase or decrease depending upon their actions.


Savannah Game

• After each phase the children went back in the Den and discussed with the teacher what had happened and what they could do differently in the next game.

• At the end of the day the children had a discussion with the teacher about what they had learnt.


Savannah Game

• Video of the game


Savannah Game

• They identified‘as lions’ and found it highly engaging.

• The students often talked in the game as if they were directly experiencing the simulation.

• During play, they exclaim that ‘I’m nearly dead’, ‘we’re hot’ , ‘we’re attacking’ ‘I’m dead’.


Savannah Game

• Students were beginning to understand the rules that shape lion behaviour in the wild.

• For example, a key feature of lion behaviour is quantification of risk

• Lions encountering lions from another pride will ‘count’ the numbers of their opponents before deciding to fight


Savannah Game

• These features were all built into the game rules, with energy points awarded or deducted for children making the correct calculations.

• This sort of behaviour was encouraged by the game and was evident in the children’s play after their initial attempts.


Savannah Game

• Another example was the realisation that survival was dependent on working in groups.

• The children began to coordinate their attacks

• They also began to become aware of the threats of human habitationa nd other animals


Savannah Game

• However they also learnt certain rules about the games environment that in fact conflicted with lion behaviour

• Hunting strategies were very simple in the Savannah game

• There was an overemphasis on killing prey.


Situated Learning

• The portability of mobile technology allows the learning environment to be extended beyond the classroom into authentic and appropriate contexts.

• One example is ambient wood


Ambient Wood

• Ambient wood built on the benefits of incorporating physicality and tangibility into learning.

• Digital information was coupled with novel arrangements of electronically embedded physical objects.

• The experience was designed for 10-12 year olds.


Ambient Wood

• A series of activities were designed around the topic of habitats.

• Focussing on the plants and animals in the different habitats of woodland and the relationship between them

• The learning experience has three stages


Ambient Wood

• Exploring and discovering– The children equipped with a PDA explored

the habitat. – They could use the PDA to find out about

growing processes, feeding behaviours and organisms dependencies.

– The PDA gave information either in response to probes or triggered by the children’s location.


Ambient Wood


Ambient Wood

Medium Moisture Level High Light Level


Ambient Wood

– A periscope gave them information about hidden processes, such as the behaviour of insects

– The aim was to provide abstracted information (visual and audio) of life cycles already present in the woodland.


Ambient Wood


Ambient Wood

• Reflecting– Following the exploratory stage, the pairs of

children were brought together and taken into a ‘den’ (a makeshift outdoor classroom-like setting), where a large computer monitor and shared interactive display were provided

– The aim was to provide a collaborative neutral environment that would allow them to report back to each other and reflect and consolidate their findings.


Ambient Wood

– The goal was to enable the children to step back from the physical action and to think more explicitly and holistically about

– The collection of readings they had collected in relation to the two habitats and the processes and relationships between the organisms within the habitats.


Ambient Wood


Ambient Wood

• Experimentation– Following stage 2, the children were told that they

were going back into the woodland to do some experimenting, and in particular to see what would happen if the two habitats were changed in some way.

– A hypothetical scenario was presented to them initially to think about what would happen if an acorn was planted in the middle of each of the habitats.


Ambient Wood

– This is something that they would be able to easily imagine in the context of what they had just experienced in the wood and already knew about habitats.

– A key question for them to consider was whether it would thrive in the two different habitats and what effect it would have on the other organisms.


Ambient Wood

• Ambient wood was trialled with 16 11 year olds.

• It provided an engaging activity

• They understood the relationship between the activity and the digital readings


Ambient Wood

• The periscope provided an intuitive metaphor for understanding that they were looking at phenomena that was hidden from view.

• The triggering of information by the child’s presence was less successful. Often went unnoticed.

• Stage 2 enabled the children to consolidated their knowledge and stage 3 was fun and tested the children’s knowledge.


Summary

• Mobile Learning• Behaviourist Models

– Skills Arena– BBC Bitesize

• Constructivist Models- Virus game- Savannah

• Situated Learning– Ambient wood

Mobile Learning: anytime, any place, any where, any good Richard Joiner MSc. Human Communication &...

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