+Learning in mobile settings

STELLAR WorkshopDec 09

Nicola Beddall-HillPhD StudentInformation Science Dept.

Twitter: CityMobileAngelNicola.beddall.1@city.ac.uk

+Setting

Investigate the use of teaching and personal mobile devices in case-based fieldwork settings

1. What social interactions are occurring around the mobile devices on the field trip? Is the device influenced by or/and does it influence these interactions? If so, how?

Look at the use of a head mounted camera for data collection

2. What concepts are most useful for description and interpretation of the learning processes and social interactions in this setting with regard to the mobile devices? How can these interpretations enhance design for learning with mobile technologies?

Information on boundary objects

+Boundary objects

Using inspiration from Science and Technology Studies, as these place important on non-human artefacts.

Tell ‘stories’ about the network of interactions within this highly complex collaborative social learning environment.

Initial analysis has focused on the evaluation of the potential of mobile devices to be boundary objects (Bowker & Star, 1999).

Boundary objects can be abstract such as ideas, or material in the form of objects; they retain a common identity across contexts but are flexible enough to meet the differing needs.

The brought teaching devices did not display features of BO’s but other objects did.

+CASE 1:Coniston

April 2009 with City University, as part of their MSc in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It was based in the Lake District.

6 students predominately international, varying age & experience, 2 female, 4 male.

Two projects each lasted two days: brief, planning, data collection, analysis, presentation & assessment.

Devices used; Garmin Geckos, Trimble GeoXM & HP PDA

Observation via video indoors, head cam outdoors, photography, field notes, structured observation record, GPS trackers.

+Head mounted Camera

POV1.5 Action Camera (POV1)

Fully integrated point-of-view (POV) video system close to DVD quality.

Waterproof, dustproof and shock-resistant.

The system includes a mountable head, built-in recorder, wireless remote (3m), mounts, 4Gb SDHC Card (up to 8) and software for managing videos.

+Head mounted Camera - PROs+ Excellent sound and picture quality

+ Reduced recording of faces

+ increased recording of device & interactions with it

+ Water/weatherproof

+ Students did not notice using it

+ long record time & easy to download/use straight away (AVI)

+ attention/event is not selected by the researcher

+Head mounted Camera - CONS- Broke on second trip

(needed backup)

- Lots of footage to watch (watching walking makes you queasy!) but can ‘tag’ sections to jump to later.

- Hard to get the correct angel of view

- Can’t see exactly what is happening on the screen

+Clip 1 Coniston

+Clip 2 Coniston

+Clip 3 Coniston

+CASE 2:Malta

June 2009 Kingston University and JISC-funded MORSE project (www.jisc.ac.uk).

MSc GIS ten students, 3 female, international & mature status. ‘Mobile devices’ module, mainly data collection, analysis & assessment in UK.

 Training first day, 2nd a tourist trail of Valletta, last 2 days 4 half-day projects mapping the coastline.

More equipment = Magellan & Etrex GPS, HP PDAs, Trimble Junos & GeoXH, Leica system 1200 & Total station.

Digital camera photos, video clips, voice recorder, field notes, focus groups.

+Clip 4 Malta

+Handheld camera

Pros Cons

It worked! Events of interest researcher’s choice

Good ‘diary’ in the field Interfere with student’s learning? More artificial

….? Poorer sound quality

….? More intrusive filming group/individual

….? Shorter battery life/SD cards get full on short clips quickly

+Implications & futurework

Boundary objects are useful concepts for sense making.

Visualizations displayed by the devices maybe a suitable focus.

Head camera a very useful data collection tool, further work is needed to develop a suitable analysis framework of such audiovisual data.

Analysis of focus group data and integrate

Survey student’s own devices during the fieldwork, they may act as boundary objects due to familiarity.

Compare ‘brought in’ vs. ‘personal’

+

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was carried out as part of an ESRC studentship at City University, linked to TLRP-TEL project Ensemble (http://www.ensemble.ac.uk/)

The author would like to thank her supervisors Prof Jonathan Raper, Prof. Patrick Carmichael, Ms. Uma Patel, Prof. Frank Webster and her family for their support.

+References & other information Beddall-Hill, N., L. & Raper, J. (2009) Mobile devices as boundary

objects, In press

Bowker, G., C. & Star, S., L. (1999) Sorting Things Out: Classification and its Consequences. MIT Press

See cameras at:

http://www.actioncameras.co.uk/VIO_POV.1.5.html

Other reading:

2008 paper: Using a Head-Mounted Video Camera to Understand Social Worlds and Experiences by Katrina Myrvang Brown, Rachel Dilley and Keith Marshall

http://www.socresonline.org.uk/13/6/1.html