Week Four; Online Learning Apps and Mobile Learning

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Anil

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Jul 17, 2011, 8:28:28 AM7/17/11
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Hi friends,

We are entering the fourth week of EduMOOC with a challenging topic
“Online Learning Apps and Mobile Learning”. If you google for apps -
the short name we use to mention applications or application
programs, you will see that, in majority of the top search results,
apps is highlighted along with mobile, iPhone, iPad , iPod.

I take it as a strong indication of the current trend. Combining both
these, I would say, the world is moving towards mobile connecting
devices and applications that can provide amazing experience out of
such devices.

It doesn’t mean LMS is dead. On the contrary, I love to think tat a
new form of mobile LMS is in the making :)

Your thoughts?

Warm regards
Anil
http://www.apletters.blogspot.com
http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Anil_Prasad

Rebecca

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Jul 17, 2011, 2:19:00 PM7/17/11
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Hi Anil,

To help kickstart discussion, I'm proposing an inclusive definition of
mobile learning that outlines three types of mobile learning - and I'm
looking for recommendations on what to call the third type!

See: http://rjh.goingeast.ca/2011/07/17/an-inclusive-definition-of-mobile-learning-edumooc/

Cheers,
Rebecca

Vanessa Vaile

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Jul 17, 2011, 10:20:50 PM7/17/11
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Mobi-squared, M² .... 

Vanessa Vaile

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Jul 17, 2011, 10:25:57 PM7/17/11
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m2learning... the most common hashtag being #mlearning.

Vanessa Vaile

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Jul 17, 2011, 10:38:50 PM7/17/11
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I'd ignore "online learning" as being in any way prescriptive and include all forms of mobile learning, online or not, that a learner could make use of on the move - or even standing in line waiting for it to move. Consider it an exercise in acquiring a mobile mindset. 

Apostolos K.

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Jul 18, 2011, 9:49:14 AM7/18/11
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One of the things that comes to mind with mLearning is that it is just
a form of technology/computer assisted learning.
In the past year or so I have gone through the archives of my
Instructional Design program and from 1984 to now I have seen which
courses have been offered. I have seen a definite evolution in the
jargon used.
CBT - computer based training
WBT - web-based training
Online Learning
Distance Learning
eLearning
mLearning
and I am pretty sure that there are more out there that I am
forgetting.

These are not all distinctly separate forms of "learning", however
they are not all the same. The learner profile, the access to
technology, the modality, the location and the design of instruction
all play a role in the eventual nomenclature. What we ought to
realize is that it's all assisted, somehow, by a non-human apparatus,
as such there are commonalities and differences :-)

As technologies become more adept at displaying and getting input from
mobile devices, I think that we will see a further convergeance of e/m/
o/d/ learning :-)

Anil

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Jul 18, 2011, 11:53:18 AM7/18/11
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Hi Rebecca and other friends,

Thank you for sharing the thought provoking article "An inclusive
definition of mobile learning" at
http://rjh.goingeast.ca/2011/07/17/an-inclusive-definition-of-mobile-learning-edumooc/

Learner centric learning, device centric learning and what should be
the combination of both? I would say, the combination of the both is
the right ecosystem for virtual learning. Because for the learner it
should be learner centric and for the technology facilitator it is
device centric in terms of output and learner centric in terms of
outcome. That is, his immediate interest on developing device for
better learning experience eventually contributes for a learner
centric learning experience.

Rebecca

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Jul 18, 2011, 7:37:34 PM7/18/11
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Apostolos,

You must not forget ubiquitous learning. I was going to mention it in
my post, but before I could do that I'd have to investigate the
subtleties of it further. It might just be another name for "learner
centric" mobile learning, as the focus does seem to be more on the
"anywhere" than on the how.

Cheers,
Rebecca

Tim

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Jul 19, 2011, 1:13:19 AM7/19/11
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I'm enjoying this discussion very much. The definition is becoming
quite an elusive thing because as Rebecca eludes being mobile defines
the device, the learner and the location. For what it's worth I'd like
to throw my weight behind "ubiquitous learning".

Mobile technology facilitates a shift from the idea of eLearning and
“anywhere, anytime” to a more ubiquitous way of learning that is
“everywhere, all the time”. The change is subtle but the results and
impact of mobile technology are vast. Mobile technology shifts where
learning takes place from the confines of the physical to where space
is instead defined by the device and follows the learner wherever they
are. The technology also shifts the concept of time from predefined
units to a model that is learner centric and ever-present. What this
means is that the learning environment and the persona of the learner
are always accessible and beneath the surface, always on. Through the
mobile device the learner can carry the classroom, the texts, the
lectures and the assessments in their pocket and access those wherever
and whenever they choose. From their daily commute on the bus to
waiting in line at the supermarket, the learning environment and the
learning materials are there with them and accessible with the touch
of a button or the swipe of a finger.

I don't know if its the right term, but it really offers the best
description. Could we camel-case it and become uLearning seeing as
we've done i,e, and m?

Rebecca

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Jul 19, 2011, 11:40:49 PM7/19/11
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Another think to think about with mobile learning (the device-centric
kind) is that they not only allow you to present learning, but they
also allow you to capture learning. Imagine asking your students to do
an interview at a workplace - they could do a video interview and take
pictures around the workplace, and create a multimedia blog post.
Today's mobile phones make it easy to take pictures and shoot short
video clips. They also allow learning to quickly audio record their
reflections immediately after an event takes place.

So mobile devices can be used not only to deliver learning, but also
to capture it.

That to me was a transformative idea!

Cheers,
Rebecca

hewa

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Jul 20, 2011, 3:11:58 AM7/20/11
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dear Rebecca, Anil and others.

"m-Learning Not an extension of e-Learning" - this is the case I proved based on the results of carried out research. You can read the abstract of the paper
it is accepted as a full paper for mLearn2011 http://mlearn.bnu.edu.cn/ 
so cannot share publicly until the conference is over. 

it proves "mobile device centric learning" is not the true m-learning we expect. I believe real m-learning is what is introduced by Rebecca as "compound learning".
I would like to call it as "situation-dependent m-learning" 

I believe the same pedagogical design for e-learning cannot be applied as it is for m-learning (this is similar to paradigm-shift from f2f to e-Learning). I am not sure whether it is a big or small change, but it will be different. So this instructional design should go with this m-learning pedagogy adopted. 
whether it is e-learning or m-learning, both must be learner-centric to get best out of it. 

regards, hewa

John Graves

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Jul 20, 2011, 8:18:44 AM7/20/11
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Sometimes the "number of users" perspective is informative.
Look at the left most data point on the last graph in this
infographic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/07/infographic-are-we-in-the-middle-of-another-tech-bubble/242071/
for example.
The small print reads "The number of iPhone owners (2011) is equal to
the number of total internet users there were in 1997."
I can't tell exactly from the graph because the number is so
"small" (due to cost of ownership perhaps?), but the number of iPhone
owners will be in the 30 to 100 million range in 2011:
http://it-chuiko.com/mobile/4251-the-number-of-iphone-owners-can-reach-100-million.html
Meanwhile, the number of internet users is passing 2,160 million.
That means between 20 and 70 times as many internet users as iPhone
users.

At other times, the "growth rate in the number of users" perspective
is informative.
Android activations have been accelerating from 500,000 per day as of
June 28 to over 550,000 per day now:
http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/cell-phones/android-growth-rate-continues-to-accelerate/12166.html
This acceleration (+4.4% week-on-week) leads to projections of 1
billion Android devices within 2 years:
http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/cell-phones/android-could-power-1-billion-phones-in-2-years/12125.html
So if Apple triples the number of iPhone users (again) in 2012 to 300
million users, they will still be outnumbered 3-to-1 by Android
devices.

2011/2012 Recap:
Most users - Internet
Next most users - Android (maybe 45% of internet total)
Richest users - Apple iOS (maybe 15% of internet total)

Rebecca

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Jul 21, 2011, 9:13:37 PM7/21/11
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On the topic of mobile learning, I did a presentation (a prezi) on
mobile learning for a healthcare education class last semester ..

"Mobile Learning as a Teaching Strategy in Healthcare Education".

The prezi can be viewed here (along with my prezi commentary):
http://rjh.goingeast.ca/2011/06/12/prezi-and-mobile-learning-as-a-teaching-strategy-in-healthcare-education/

If you think the full paper would be interesting (or a summary of it),
leave me a note or comment and I'll make a post of it.

Cheers,
Rebecca

Harbans

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Jul 22, 2011, 4:52:45 AM7/22/11
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hi Rebecca
It is new for me but enjoyed well by reading. Does
risk of distraction exists in all mobile devices?
regards
harbans

On Jul 22, 6:13 am, Rebecca <rjho...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On the topic of mobile learning, I did a presentation (a prezi) on
> mobile learning for a healthcare education class last semester ..
>
> "Mobile Learning as a Teaching Strategy in Healthcare Education".
>
> The prezi can be viewed here (along with my prezi commentary):http://rjh.goingeast.ca/2011/06/12/prezi-and-mobile-learning-as-a-tea...

Mary

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Jul 22, 2011, 3:14:50 PM7/22/11
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Yes, Apostolos. You make some very good points in this posting. These
are not distinctly separate types of "learning". These are the tools
that assist learning. Texts are also tools that assist learning.
> > Anilhttp://www.apletters.blogspot.comhttp://www.wikieducator.org/User:Ani...

Rebecca

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Jul 23, 2011, 11:27:06 PM7/23/11
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Hi Harbans,

I think distraction is a matter of context. Mobile learns may actually
be hyper focused on the content or easily distracted by the
environment. It really depends on what the application of mobile
learning is.

Cheers
Rebecca

Sarah Moocs

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Jul 25, 2011, 5:07:09 AM7/25/11
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Thanks Rebecca, these distinctions are really helpful.

And thank you for the reference to the book “Mobile Learning
Communities: Creating New Educational Futures".
We are pondering how we can help our students equip themselves for
life-long learning as mobile learners (dislocated migrants who are
forced to move frequently between home state, third countries and
refugee camps) reliant on basic mobile phones for communications and
(in the future) internet access.

This book has some great pointers.

Sarah

On Jul 18, 4:19 am, Rebecca <rjho...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Anil,
>
> To help kickstart discussion, I'm proposing an inclusive definition of
> mobile learning that outlines three types of mobile learning - and I'm
> looking for recommendations on what to call the third type!
>
> See:http://rjh.goingeast.ca/2011/07/17/an-inclusive-definition-of-mobile-...
>
> Cheers,
> Rebecca

Rebecca

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Jul 26, 2011, 10:38:37 AM7/26/11
to edu...@googlegroups.com
Tim,

I really like the shift from "anytime, anywhere" to "all the time, everywhere". I think that does describe the intersection of learner-centric and device-centric quite well.

Now to do some more research into the term uLearning - it has been used already, but I'm not sure in what context.

Cheers,
Rebecca

adelina moura

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Jul 26, 2011, 11:22:19 AM7/26/11
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Hi all,

I share my blog - Mobile Learning 21 and some information about my
research in mobile learning area.
http://moblearn21.blogspot.com/
Here you find more contents about mobile learning
http://www.scoop.it/t/mobile-learning-21
My mobile website in Portuguese language (sorry).
http://geramovel.wirenode.mobi/
I use http://www.mobilestudy.org/ to create mobile quizzes.

Regards,

Mary

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Jul 28, 2011, 1:03:45 PM7/28/11
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Thanks for sharing, Adelina. Are you familiar with Jane Hart's work?
Do you belong to the Facebook educmooc or do you just poste in this
discussion?

On Jul 26, 11:22 am, adelina moura <adeli...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I share my blog - Mobile Learning 21 and some information  about my
> research in mobile learning area.http://moblearn21.blogspot.com/
> Here you find more contents about mobile learninghttp://www.scoop.it/t/mobile-learning-21
> My mobile website in Portuguese language (sorry).http://geramovel.wirenode.mobi/
> I usehttp://www.mobilestudy.org/to create mobile quizzes.
>
> Regards,
>
> On 17 Jul, 08:28, Anil <aplett...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi friends,
>
> > We are entering the fourth week of EduMOOC with a challenging topic
> > “Online Learning Apps and Mobile Learning”. If you google for apps -
> > the short name we use to mention applications or  application
> > programs, you will see that, in majority of the top search results,
> > apps is highlighted along with mobile, iPhone, iPad , iPod.
>
> > I take it as a strong indication of the current trend. Combining both
> > these, I would say, the world is moving towards mobile connecting
> > devices and applications that can provide amazing experience out of
> > such devices.
>
> > It doesn’t mean LMS is dead. On the contrary, I love to think tat a
> > new form of mobile LMS  is in the making :)
>
> > Your thoughts?
>
> > Warm regards
> > Anilhttp://www.apletters.blogspot.comhttp://www.wikieducator.org/User:Ani...
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