Making Mobile Learning Work

Thinking about and talking to the project team as I am right now regarding the likely and best use of our new iPad’s when the initial project ends. I have started to look around the net and came across this really interesting publication ‘Making Mobile Learning Work’, this is a free pdf from escalate featuring five mobile learning case studies. If you have been a reader of this blog, then you will no doubt recall that I have been posting on the subject of mobile learning going way back, what I immediately liked about this publication was the 12 page introduction by John Traxler, University of Wolverhampton. These early pages clarify and establish extremely well where mobile learning originated, where it can make a difference, for instance with respect to:- contingent , situated, authentic, context and personalised learning. It does make very clear among other things, that we need to establish the difference between material that we may feel is suitable for a vle, and so typically being viewed from a desktop machine and material for a mobile learning resource. I can certainly sympathise with this last point, as a similar shift in perspective exists between class hand-outs and vle eLearning materials, which is precisely why we are heading down the Wimba Create route at the moment, but that’s an on-going story so please stay in touch for that. There is a very pertinent and real point raised here also, that many students these days already own a device i.e. smartphones, Galaxies, iPad’s, tablets etc that is perfectly capable of handling the requirements of mobile learning, and that we consider for many reasons, moving away from the concept of an institutionalised product for the purpose, mmm.

I can without any doubt recommend this as a worthwhile download and read for the daily commute if you have that opportunity, and given the many facts and insights, I suspect like myself to will choose to keep a copy. If you have any comments then please feel free to post.

regards Barry