exam tips via SMS rather than via
e-mail or noticeboards. The target
group was HND computing students,
whose attendance and performance
were considered to be at-risk due to
poor literacy skills exhibited in their
coursework.
SMS-based interventions took place over
the second semester of the 2002-2003
academic year. Initial test messages
gauged the effectiveness and the level of
timeliness of student responses to SMS
text messages. A second set of messages
was sent as feedback following the
marking and moderating of assessments.
A final set of messages provided revision
tips prior to the exam. The key features of
the SMS interventions were timeliness and
appropriateness, such that ‘at-risk’ learners
could be directed as appropriate to either
WAP-based support, VLE-based support or
in-house support before their academic
careers were significantly impacted.
Following the trial, final exam results for
the group of students receiving SMS
interventions were slightly higher than a
non-SMS group taking the same module at
the same time, though these results cannot
be considered statistically significant.
During the trial, the students provided
considerable positive informal feedback to
the course leader, and a questionnaire
administered to the students revealed that
the majority of students thought the
experiment was worthwhile. In general,
the SMS interventions themselves were
found to be successful if they were short,
personalised and focused, but there was
little take-up of the VLE technology and the
WAP-based technology was vetoed as
being too expensive. Access to large-scale
or systematic views was limited due to
poor attendance at a proposed focus group
and poor response to SMS queries inviting
students to comment on aspects of the trial.
Free-text responses from the student
questionnaires provided a positive basis for
improving the service. A large-scale pilot is
planned for October 2004.
3.7 SUMMARY
Mobile technology can effectively support a
wide range of activities for learners of all
ages. While implementation examples can
be broadly categorised within the main
theories and areas of learning relevant to
mobile technology, the most successful
adopt a blended approach to their use.
Mobile technologies provide for each
student to have a personal interaction
with the technology in an authentic and
appropriate context of use. This does not
mean, however, that the use of mobile
devices is a panacea. Significant
technological and administrative
challenges are encountered along with a
more ill-defined challenge: how can the
use of mobile technologies help today’s
educators to embrace a truly learnercentred
approach to learning? |
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4 IMPLICATIONS FOR LEARNERS, TEACHERS AND DEVELOPERS
Teaching and learning with mobile
technologies is beginning to make a
breakthrough from small-scale pilots to
large departmental and institutional
implementations. This section presents
both key issues for educators and
technical developers, and researchinformed
guidelines as to how these
can be addressed.
4.1 KEY ISSUES
Compared to desktop technology, learning
and teaching with mobile technology
presents significant new challenges
including:
• Context – the ability to acquire
information about the user and his or
her environment presents a unique
ability to personalise the learning
opportunity. There are, however,
significant ethical issues (described
further in Lonsdale et al 2003). For
example, context information needs to
be gathered with the consent of users,
and must be stored securely to prevent
misuse by third parties. This is also
related to the issue of coupling between
the informatic layer provided by the
devices and the existing communication
layers of the classroom (or other
environment).
• Mobility – the ‘anytime, anywhere’
capabilities of mobile devices encourage
learning experiences outside of a
teacher-managed classroom
environment. Inside the classroom,
mobile devices provide students with the
capabilities to link to activities in the
outside world that do not correspond
with either the teacher’s agenda or
the curriculum (Sharples 2003). Both
scenarios present significant challenges
to conventional teaching practices.
• Learning over time – lifelong learners
will need effective tools to record,
organise and reflect on their mobile
learning experiences (Vavoula 2004).
• Informality – the benefits of the
informality of mobile devices may be
lost if their use becomes widespread
throughout formal education. Students
may abandon their use of certain
technologies if they perceive their social
networks to be under attack.
• Ownership - both personal and group
learning are most effectively supported
when each student has access to a
device. The ownership of the devices is
thus a key consideration. According to
Perry (2003), both tangible and
intangible benefits can accrue through
the use of mobile devices. Intangible
benefits include a sense of belonging
with the device and personal
commitment and comfort. Ownership is
stated as a prerequisite for engagement,
where students have the potential to go
“beyond the necessary and play with it
to explore its potential”. Personal
ownership does, however, present a
challenge to the institutional control
of the technology (Savill-Smith and
Kent 2003).
4.2 GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE
IMPLEMENTATION
The following guidelines for implementing
mobile learning were developed through
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mobile
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