Tony Tin, Colin Elliott and Doug Kariel

Project supported by the

Mobile Library: Connecting Mobile Learners to the Library in the Digital Age

Today’s Presentation

1. Introduction – Athabasca University

2. About Mobile Library3. Special Features4. Technology/Design5. Challenges6. Mobile ESL Project7. Food for Thought

Athabasca University http://www.athabascau.ca .

Canada’s Open University

Location: Athabasca, Alberta, Canada

More than 32,000 students

Mandate: Remove barriers for students

Leader in M-learning and M-library Research

What is a mobile library?

The idea of a mobile library is to provide learners with access to the university library and to course resources using mobile devices

Why a mobile library at AU?

AU students study from a distance Quick and efficient access to

electronic resources and library services is essential

Students have even more options for fitting learning into their busy lives. It allows individualization & self-pace

Why a mobile library at AU?

They pick the time and the place to learn using mobile devices to access course resources and information

Supports those with special needs

Special Features

desktop3.avi Mobile friendly AU Library site: Supported

device: PDA, Palmtop, Blackberry, IPAQ, Smart phones

The site includes mobile friendly: Digital Reading Room Digital Reference Centre Digital Thesis & Project Room Library catalogue Search engine

Model adopted by UK Open University

Special Features (ctd)

Auto-detect and reformat Learning object reuse Easy web maintain/update Multimedia file support Ipodcasting Wireless library catalogue Search Mobile content conversion on the fly

M-library Design/Technology

AIRPAC

Enables users to access the AU library catalogue through their handheld mobile device as long as they have access to the Internet.

AIRPAC (ctd)

Activities available:Search catalogueRequest books from the cataloguePlace interlibrary loan requestsView their library accountRenew material

Future features for AIRPAC

Athabasca University Library will explore how to enable users to view book jackets, table of contents, and reviews of books through the wireless catalogue

Challenges for the M-library

Defining content for the M-library Define the amount and type of information

Design of the format Normal website vs. mobile version content and information text, images, graphics, tables, location

Separate the content from the format XML and XSL

Display models different display model and stylesheet

Challenges (ctd)

Lack of a standard Handling of PDF documents Handling of multimedia file types Corporate restriction on private or

education use

From Mobile Library to Mobile Content: Mobile ESL Project

Overview of Project

Develop and test innovative approaches to ESL learning using mobile devices and a variety of testing and practice methods

Based on best selling Penguin series 86 lessons and related interactive

exercises Repurposed for Canadian content Downloadable in .doc or .pdf format

Student Feedback

Students indicated that the a good use of mobile technology for ESL would be whenever they have a few spare minutes

One concern expressed was the cost of Internet access

Reported positive experience with the ESL grammar course and the use of mobile technology in learning ESL grammar

Results

CBC News Coverage

Honorable Mention at the 2008 CNIE Conference for Innovative use of technologies to support E-learning

The Mobile Benefit

“You decide where class is and when

class start.”

Food for Thought

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have these devices built into you and powered by your body”

-Martin Cooper inventor of the cellphone

Further Information

Website: http://library.athabascau.ca/

Publications:http://library.athabascau.ca/drr/

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Acknowledgement:

CLA Library Research and Development Grant