Mobile is Changing the World

Running Head: MOBILE IS CHANGING THE WORLD

Mobile is Changing the World

Maria Koutroumpousi

Assignment 4

The Changing Roles of Teachers, Learners, Technology and Context in Mobile Learning

MDDE 623: Introduction to Mobile Learning

Prof. Agnieszka Palalas

Athabasca University

April, 2016

MOBILE IS CHANGING THE WORLD 2

Abstract

In this paper the changing roles of teachers, learners, technology and context in mobile

learning are being addressed. Learners and teachers experience mobile learning differently

and for this reason the scale of learners’ independence in managing their own learning rely on

the scale of teachers’ control. Mobile devices as everyday gadgets are smaller and more

economical than before and can administer many of the potentials of the computers. Learners

using many different technologies have the chance to decide what they learn and how quickly

they go through learning materials. Mobile devices are able to engage learners in situated

learning without constraints and empower learners to carry on learning activities outside the

classroom. In addition they can assist on-demand connection with educational resources and

give chance to new abilities or knowledge to be fast applied. Finally, mobile devices can

boost common teacher-led classroom scenario with activities completed outside the

classroom in an informal way. Even if through mobile devices learners have the potential to

adopt and personalize their own learning experience, mobile devices cannot take the place of

the knowledgeable pedagogy. Teachers must have the skills among others to orchestrate and

expedite learning with the support of new technologies and mobile devices.

Keywords: mobile learning, teachers, learners, technology, context


Introduction

Education is becoming more and more infused into our daily actions. On their mobile

devices learners can download and read items like articles about everyday life and work.

Answers to any kind of questions can be found on such devices concerning among others

information about the use of an appliance or the instructions learners need to deal with

something new or unknown. A lot of people, no matter what their age is, want to study and

decide to take online courses in their free time taking advantage of their mobile devices.

Intricate subjects such as computer science and game theory are provided by universities and

can be reached anytime anyplace by the learners. In addition simpler subjects like cooking

courses or painting are available and accessible through mobile devices. People with

disabilities, children in the poorest countries, girls in regions where gender is a barrier can

access education through a mobile device. Ceaseless learning will naturally be a given for the

generations of today’s youth as children are almost literally coming to life within reach of a

connected mobile device.

The Changing Roles of Teachers and Learners in Mobile Learning

Looi and Toh (2014), say that a main tendency in technology-enabled learning is to

give every learner a mobile device. As an analogy, there is blooming research on the drawing

of classroom curricula and learning activities which leverages the features of mobile

technologies. The secret for success in building the adequate depiction of such curricula

incorporates the teacher’s skill to orchestrate and expedite learning activities.

There are teachers that kilter with learners’ learning needs and concerns and others

that rule the breadth and depth of learning relying on their notions of the learners’ learning

skills in the traditional classroom and their attachment to the recommended reading. In

mobile learning the scale of learners’ independence in managing their own learning rely on

the scale of teachers’ control. Hence, according to this contextual changeability and


flexibility, each learner experiences mobile learning differently and so does the teacher (Looi

& Toh, 2014).

According to the learner ability and evolution, the teacher decides when to continue or

start a new activity. Various activities give the learners the chance to endeavor step by step at

their own pace as they may wish to step out of an activity and do something different. For the

completion of their activities some extension can be given to learners if only there is

compliance that these activities serve the purpose of achieving the lesson objectives (Looi &

Toh, 2014).

Through mobile devices learners have the potential to adopt and personalize their own

learning experience, to individually obtain preferable learning material wherever and

whenever they want. Consequently, they can take snapshots of their own learning moments

and share them or share questions aroused during the learning process with others using

either LMS or social media. Wishing to emphasize the personalization of learning, Sergio

(2012) says that the letter ‘m’ is for the word ‘mobile’ but sometimes it is also used for the

word ‘me.’ In addition he pinpoints the importance of accessibility, mentioning that mobile

learning allows all kinds of people to be educated even if they had no or limited access to

learning before. These are people who live in locations with limited access to any

technologies that could promote learning. Growing accessibility also means that mobile

learning is affordable for many learners and not only for few. In the near future we will able

to see these ideas developing more broadly and becoming more extensive. Mobile learners

will have personal devices able to operate as any other learning tool. These mobile devices

will support and affect all kinds of learning environments, and will allow access to all mobile

learners, regardless of their location, economic or socio-cultural condition (Parsons, 2014).

Clark (1994) said that apart from the discussions, digital media and technology do not

precisely intercede learning, but mostly show ways of achieving new tasks in different


environments. Nonetheless, as Simonson, Smaldino and Zvacek (2015) believe, new

technologies can frequently give learners the chances to complete tasks in new and effective

ways. As a result this might enhance learning. It is worth mentioning that Jonassen (1992)

clearly stated that technologies do not directly arbitrate learning. This means learners do not

acquire knowledge from mobile devices that were made to impart, among others, information

through videos or texts. Learning is primarily accomplished by mental processes (thinking)

and thinking is activated by several learning activities. Thinking is a required mental process

for learning. Instructional interferences, including technologies, regulate the above mentioned

learning activities. Most of the times the learner expect from the teacher to intercede and

boost thinking. Even the smartest mobile devices cannot take the place of the knowledgeable

pedagogy and composition of learning. For the promotion of learning the existence of a good

and well trained on new technologies teacher is absolutely necessary (Palalas & Hoven,

2016).

The Changing Role of Technology in Mobile Learning society

As Crompton (2014) says there is a rapid change in educational technologies during

the last years. Most of these improvements tie in the appeal for student-centered learning.

The calling for personalized learning has increased with escalated concern from teachers and

from international community, which has grown familiarized to a personalized reality.

Nowadays the mobile device is an everyday gadget compared to its previous badge fame.

Devices are smaller and more economical, and they can administer many of the potentials of

the computers.

Read-only Internet transformed to the powerful bilateral “read-write web”

(Richardson, 2005). This change gives users the opportunity to build and interact with

content. There is a huge pool of digital items accessible through the Internet because of

digitization of museums’ and libraries’ collections (Benedek, 2007). In addition web 2.0 tools


incorporated practices to adopt social theories of learning with networks like Facebook to

connect on a personal, social and professional level. Furthermore virtual learning

environments (VLEs) like Moodle for example allow learners and teachers to combine Web-

based artifacts and transition of knowledge and ideas.

Not only society has grown addicted to the mobile device capabilities and Internet

access, but there is also a claim growing for many kinds of aspects for different tasks.

Crompton and Keane (2012) say that despite the portability of the mobile devices and their

capability to access the Internet easily, learners believed that the small size of the screen was

a barrier to reading long texts as there was a need for continuously effort of scrolling or

enlarging the text. As a result tablets were announced to support not only the portability but

also large screen. The first tablets were soon ousted by slimmer, lighter and of course more

mobile devices like iPads.

Modern mobile devices are making larger the borderline of traditional pedagogies

approaching student-centered educational practices. Learners using many different

technologies have the chance to decide what they learn and how quickly they go through the

material. Today, students have the choice of when and where they choose to learn. A few

years ago, technology was a high-priced choice for educational institutions. Nonetheless, with

mobile technologies’ ubiquity in everyday life, many institutions are choosing to embrace

Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) actions. BYOT action gives learners the chance to

learn with the kind of mobile device that best meets their requirements, with low cost to the

educational organization. Both the device and the pedagogy are adjusted in relation to a

student-centered learning (Crompton, 2014).

The Changing Role of Context in Mobile Learning

There is a spreading concern on flexible and personalized learning during the last

years in the field of Technology enhanced Learning (TeL) (Martins et al., 2008; Brusilovsky


and Millan, 2007). Several researches explore the future of the educational paradigm change

from the traditional one-size-fits-all teaching ways to flexible and personalized learning

(Tseng et al., 2008; Brusilovsky and Henze, 2007). An approach like this has many

advantages for the learners as they are granted with flexible and personalized learning

practices accommodated to their specific educational needs and their own characteristics in

order to maximize their satisfaction, learning speed and learning performance (Gomez et al.,

2013). Mascolo (2010) and Satyanarayanan (2010) say that the development of mobile

communications and the immense number of mobile devices in use created many services

like immediate interpersonal and team communication, place-aware information distribution

and personalized support according to the users’ tastes and needs, and also ubiquitous

interaction and connection between users through their mobile devices.

These small and smart devices are well known as a growing technology with the

ability to apply teaching and learning strategies that accomplishment particular learners’

context (Jeng et al., 2010). More specifically, mobile devices are able to (a) engage learners

in practical and situated learning without time, location and device constraints, (b) empower

learners to carry on learning activities, started inside the common classroom, outside the

classroom through their continual and contextual communication with the other learners

and/or their teachers, (c) assist on-demand connection with educational resources without

considering students’ commitments, (d) give chance to new abilities or knowledge to be fast

applied and (e) boost common teacher-led classroom scenario with activities completed

outside the classroom in an informal way. Satyanarayanan (2010) as well as Lam et al. (2010)

address the major benefits of mobile learning for teaching and learning: (a) helps on-demand

approach to learning materials and services, as well as immediate delivery of bulletins and

warnings, (b) gives new chances for learning far away from the common teacher-led

classroom-based activities, (c) inspire learners to engage more energetically in the learning


progress by engaging them to legitimate and situated learning ingrained in real-life context

and (d) helps on-demand connection with teachers, tutors, instructors, experts, peers, learners

and communities of practice.

Two terms, personalization and adaptivity, characterize the changing role of context

in mobile learning. The general term personalization deals with customization of the mobile

system features. Personalization includes issues which can be adapted and specified by

learners themselves, such as the system interface, the preferred language, or other issues

which make the system more personal. The term adaptivity deals with taking learners’

situation, educational needs and personal characteristics into consideration in generating

appropriately designed learning experiences (Martin and Carro, 2009). Mobile learning

system adjusts its behavior and performances to the learning styles, various prior knowledge,

learning goals, concerns, current location and movements in the environment of each one

mobile learner or the team of mobile learners through personalization and adaptivity (Wu et

al., 2008).

Conclusion

Mobile technology is a native personal expansion for most students’ activities and is

absolutely the tool that expedites learning on-the-go and through temporal and geographical

zones; its role is that of an enabler and mediating the learning process. One of the key

characterizing features of mobile learning is learning across authentic contexts that allow

learners to make connections in appropriate learning settings. We can predict that in the near

future it is expected that mobile technologies will become ubiquitous in the lives of learners.

This already happens in many countries. Mobile learning faces the great challenge of

enabling learners to learn seamlessly by switching between contexts and learning whenever

they want. Mobile learning is a way to expand learning into new learning environments

taking into consideration that pedagogy requires a teacher to assist in the learning.


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Mobile is Changing the World