MOBILE LEARNING IN EUROPEAN CONTINUING EDUCATION Summary The modes of learning available for professionals at organizational and corporate levels have changed the way adults learn, from e-learning to m-learning. Mobile learning developments bring new challenges to continuous training and life long learning, obliging the community to reflect on new learning designs, has it implies changes in the learning methods, the design of contents, the training strategy, as well as changes in the learning management systems, content management systems and other supporting systems. Facing m-learning as a just-in-time content delivery mode small unit of learning should be created in order to create contents in a contextual framework emphasising the specific need of the learners, having more minimalist approaches and consolidating knowledge in more concentrated learning units. The process of learning design should face different learning approach and the didactical aspects are key success factors for this type of learning (has it happened before with e-learning and distance education). Keywords: mobile learning, learning design, just in time, life long learning Resumo O e-learning e o m-learning são novas modalidades de aprendizagem disponíveis para profissionais aos níveis organizacional e corporativo e mudaram a forma como os adultos aprendem. Os recentes desenvolvimentos na aprendizagem via telemóvel fazem emergir novos desafios para a formação contínua e para a formação ao longo da vida, obrigando as comunidades a reflectir sobre novos cenários de aprendizagem, uma vez que implicam mudanças nos métodos de aprendizagem, no design de conteúdos, nas estratégias de aprendizagem, assim como mudanças nos sistemas de gestão da aprendizagem, nos sistemas de gestão de conteúdos e nos outros sistemas de suporte à aprendizagem. Encarando a aprendizagem via telemóveis como uma forma de disponibilização de conteúdos no tempo certo (just-in-time), pequenas unidades de aprendizagem devem ser criadas de forma a criar conteúdos de aprendizagem num ambiente contextual, enfatizando as necessidades específicas dos formandos, com abordagens mais minimalistas e consolidando conhecimentos em unidades de aprendizagem mais concentradas. O processo de design de aprendizagem deve assim ter em conta diferentes abordagens de aprendizagem e os aspectos didácticos são factores chave para este tipo de aprendizagem (como aconteceu antes com o e-learning e com a educação a distância). Palavras chave: mobile learning, aprendizagem via telemóveis, cenários de aprendizagem, formação ao longo da vida 1 1- m-learning in the context of European continuing education The use of ICT in continuing education and life long learning is evolving rapidly following technological and pedagogical innovations. These advances bring to our hands the use of mobile devices, through the use of wireless networks or telephony operators’ networks for Internet access. This movement and the raising of 3G devices has clear implications in education and training, as it offers a great potential when making possible the access to learning contents anytime and any place. The modes of learning available for professionals at organizational and corporate levels are in fact changing the way adults learn, from e-learning to m-learning, from close community of practice to social networks. Today the professionals have different learning possibilities both formal and informal and are able to customise the learning modes to their learning needs. From browsing the web to accessing content repositories, working in social networks or participating in different communities, in an independent way. Thus the integration of existing e-learning systems with m-learning devices can bring to light new forms of learning to more flexible and mobilized workers. Most part of the corporation’s professionals use company PDAs or Smart phones that allow them to browse and send/receive emails and to retrieve information from their corporation’s information and knowledge systems and portals. The use of these devices is, in general, limited to administrative information exchange or project management and less used to formal learning purposes, and that is a major challenges to m-learning. In the last 10 years m-learning research has been carried out, mainly in the context of Universities within pilot projects. The research proves that m-learning can be very convenient for communicating with new generation of students, which can download and retrieve information and knowledge to their mobile devices. The type of uses of the mobile phone ranges from University administrative information (SMS notification for administrative deadlines or classes) to specific learning content or to access the University LMS or others learning technologies like the Library Content Repositories. Most part of the research occurred in a context where: • Students are keen users of the mobile device, • The most recent devices are available to use within the research • The content and experiences are measure by experts. In the medical sector particular relevant research on m-learning for continuing education was carried out. Has in the universities “lab conditions” were set-up, meaning that in most part of the experiences users had all the same type of mobile phones or PDAs that were used for testing m-learning content or courses. Experiences taking place using the course participant’s mobiles phones, change dramatically this view (at least in Portugal). In fact the type of mobile device as well as the operating system or capabilities of the phone can limit the m-learning experience. In this context it must be underlined that life long learning is due to occur with adults and adults are not (usually) the keenest users of mobile phones. Additionally the adult’s knowledge about 2 mobile devices is very dependent on local/regional factors, such as the type of device, the infrastructure available and the price of communications. In a pilot experience carried out in Portugal in 2008, it was clear that public servants from different areas of the country had simple mobile phones and the ones that had PDAs or Smart phones were not using all functionalities and could not operate m-learning content without the help of the trainer. The research showed that trainees are using the mobile phone essentially to: • Spoken conversation • Sending/receiving text messages • Taking photographs • Filming Videos • Assessing e-mail (only a few) Today most part of mobile phones provides access to a number of features that can be used not only for information and communication but also for learning. That means that one part of the professionals in the world can have access to a technology that can provide them with the information and knowledge they need independently just in time. Keegan 2008 defines mobile learning has the provision of education and training on PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) smartphones and mobile phones, including palmtops, handhelds, iPods and MP3 players. Thus as complex portable devices, mobile phones can be used for static and dynamic learning, having different modes of operation that allow users to access, send and communicate content, voice and images. • As a static storage device the user can store/produce images, videos, music, quizzes, glossaries, games and in a self learning mode operate the device to learn.(as a content management system). • As a dynamic device the learner can produce, send and download all types of media files and operate with mobile phones for learning purposes. Most part of the learners use the devices mainly to spoken conversation and to produce and share images, send/receive SMS and to play games. Thus m-learning should focus on these types of uses to produce m-learning design that is suitable for the actual users. Meaning that new ways of feeding the learning processes and innovative pedagogies should be put in place in order to have an effective learning process. The techniques for using innovative learning procedures with mobile devices are crucial for the development of continuous training. 2 - m-learning challenges for life long learning m-learning developments bring new challenges to continuous training and life long learning, obliging the community to reflect on new learning designs, has it implies changes in the learning methods, the design of contents, the training strategy, as well as changes in the learning management systems, content management systems and other supporting systems. In one hand the IT companies specialized in content and platform development, are starting to launch new products and services allowing the capitalization of this tendency; and on the other 3 hand the market search for this kind of learning products for mobile devices it’s still limited but there is a huge potential and the market is giving it’s first steps. Companies like Hot Lava and open source projects like the MLE project are leading the way to provide innovative answers within the m-learning field. Hot Lava Software tools are used at universities and corporations around the world to create J2ME based and Windows Mobile and iPhone mobile learning, testing and surveys. The Open Source project MLE is a learning software for mobile phones which has been designed for mLearning. The MLE is the client on the mobile phone and is realised in J2ME. As a back-end a LMS (Learning Management System) is required. The MLE and M-Learning is currently tested by a school in Graz (Austria). The e-learning related companies are also moving on the m-learning direction, companies like the ones produce Camtasia or ToolBook are developing efforts to create m-learning authoring tools and frameworks for integration with existing e-learning technologies. LMS companies like Blackboard or Docent are developing wireless mobile access to specific aspects of learning courses, like calendar, the time schedule and other administrative aspects. Thus m-learning is becoming the new and real way of distance education, integrating the elearning capabilities and creating new forms of learning anytime, anywhere. The two areas (mobile content production and connection of mobile devices facilities to existing e-learning systems) represent the bigger part of the m-learning market. The development of small courses and access to the “courses agenda”, plus SMS administrative notification, represents a logical migration to the mobile technologies, nevertheless that migration reveals a lake of imagination on the potential unlimited new ways of learning this technology can offer. ̇ m-learning brings to the learning field new challenges not only as a solution but also as a compliment to existing e-learning formats and models of learning, as it can integrate all the features of the collaborative and informal dimensions of learning. Plus when integrated in the web 2.0 tools and applications it may enhance a constructivist learning environment with emphasis on collaborative learning (Social networking, Wikipedia, bookmarking, Tagging.) More information about the ways mobile learning is innovating today can be digged within the project “The role of mobile learning in European Education“. In this project the authors made part of a team that carried out in-depth analyses of the success of mobile learning in 9 international countries: Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Taiwan and the USA. This international study has resulted in a 178 page e-book “Achievements of Mobile Learning Today” including data on the 9 leading international countries for mobile learning which is available for free download from the project website. (http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/corpinfo/programs/the_role_of_mobile_learni ng_in_european_education/index.shtml) 3 - Learning with mobile devices 4 The use of m-learning solutions for continuing education is highly dependent on target groups skills and access to technology. M-learning is a recent way of mobilizing learning contents which are of great value to the valorisation of the knowledge communities. New ways of learning demand for new pedagogical design integrating different learning scenarios, from face to face learning, to the use of elearning platforms and m-learning devices. All those learning experiences should be integrated and able to accommodate users and providers. In the Portuguese research carryed out by TecMinho/Minho University e-learning Center in 2008, face-to-face, e-learning and m-learning were integrated: The learners were public servants working in Municipalities and ranged between 28 and 60 years old. 1. Face to Face course: mobile technologies for tourism sector • E-learning platform used as a compliment to face to face learning classes • M-learning content available throughout the e-learning platform • Face to face course, using an e-learning platform and integrating m-learning content used in face to face classroom • 15th learners – from Municipalities in the North of Portugal 2. e-learning Course: Web 2.0 technologies • E-learning platform used for course delivery • M-learning content available throughout the e-learning platform • e-learning course (with a e-trainer support) • 20Learners from the 18th Municipalities in Lisbon Metropolitan Area The learning design in both courses was based on a combination of learning modes: face to face, e-learning and m-learning and also made of a combination of learning technologies (elearning platform, e-repository, content authoring system, and mobile technologies). Results • The majority of learners have simple mobile devices (2G) rather then smart phones or PDAs • The majority of learners do not have connection to internet on their mobile devices • Costs of mobile internet access is still prohibited in Portugal • Variety of students equipments o Different technologies o Different Operating Systems o Different Screen Sizes • learners didn’t have Wireless equipments • Lack of competencies using m-devices o The learners that have smart phones and PDAs do not have the skills to use their mobile phones properly (to the purpose of downloading content from a website to their mobile phone). • Face to face instructions and instructor led learning was needed to teach the learners to use their mobile learning content on their devices • Learners have basic mobile phone using skills (they are able to use SMS and transfer images but not much.) • If the mobile content is not simple to use there is no use 5 This pilot test was very important to the research team to understand that on the one hand technology available by learners’ is not yet the mature technology for m-learning and on the other hand this type of pilot test demanded customised solutions (and programming) to be able to develop the content for up-load in different mobile devices with different operating systems. Plus the learners did not have the necessary skills to operate with mobile phones together with the e-learning Platform, so could not download materials in a self learning way. 4 – m-learning: new learning scenarios for professionals The 3rd generation mobile phones (3G) are able to run JAVA programs, to run Internet browsers with the capacity of using XML data and the capacity of downloading programs. That means that this generation of mobile phones is more mature to run also m-learning applications and solutions. Ilustração 1: Example of a 3G Mobile Phone With this device it is possible for instance to create a scenario where the learner listen to small recorded explanations of the teacher about a specific topic. Another possible learning scenario is to use a conference if the learner is outside the office and that way he can collaborate in group discussions or interact in a discussion forum. The learner can also send/receive messages with images or videos with local contextual information about the discussion (or other). Finally another type of learning scenario can be a test or a game, creating a competitive environment where learners or groups of learners are motivated to obtain better information and knowledge in order to score better and that will allow them a better understanding of the learning issues. The portable devices are then in a state of deployment that allow m-learning experiences to occur without a great level of technology learning and software and hardware dependent development. Smart phones, PDAs, iPods and more recently iPhones are more and more likely to be found in the hands of learners. In fact, each day there are more and more people with internet access in their mobile devices integrating the mobile phone use with the laptop. In addition to text, this information is in the form of images, animations, games, movies, videos, music, even maps and location services. 6 Additionally the use of mobile communities for m-learning is also a new trend to explore. In Portugal, for instance, all mobile operators have created recently small communities based on the rate of their mobile phone. The advantage of these communities is that members can have free calls, free MMS, free SMS, and free videoconference if they call to a member of the community. More than that, some of these communities have also a website where people can share photos, messages, make friends, and be part of a community. We identify at the moment the following communities: Tag (optimus), Moche (TMN) and Yorn (Vodafone). Those communities can be used as a way to trigger learning in a cost-effective way, has the costs of communication have been identified as a major barrier to m-learning development. The first step for chaging the current stat of the art concerning m-learning is to begin with enterprise acceptance, including executives and IT professionals (the ones that probably use the most up-to-date equipments) that are able to re-think the hardware and sofware infrastructure. In certain cases mobility has already become a issue in a number IT departments. Changing infrastruture to include mobile phones (as an access point) is a first step. A second step is to learn to use all capabilities of the mobile phones and this learning is more usefull for adults has well as for trainers, authors and learners. At the moment and according to recent research for continuous education the types of dynamic learning tasks to develop and perform in a mobile phone are highly dependent on the mobile devices of the learners. The typical learning tasks to be performed in a professional and life long learning context can be for instance: • • • • Testing, surveys, job aids and just in time learning Location-based and contextual learning Social-networked mobile learning Mobile educational gaming The design of the training courses and the contents design should then be modified in a way that can give answers to the needs of the learners, according to their mobile devices. In any case the development of contents for m-learning should have in consideration the type of issues to be learned or discussed , the types of tasks and activities to be delivered has well as the type of interactions to be performed in a specific learning scenario. Facing m-learning as a just-in-time content delivery mode small unit of learning should be created in order to create contents in a contextual framework emphasising the specific need of the learners, having more minimalist approaches and consolidating knowledge in more concentrated learning units. In fact the process of learning design should face different learning approach from tutor led learning to self learning. The most appropriate way of learning for professionals using m-learning contexts should be then the one that more easily is integrated in the learner’s day to day professional life (and life in general), having available knowledge that can be downloaded to their phones as they need it and activities that can be performed whenever the learner wants. The integration of a learning programme with the learners working life should bring them the knowledge they need anyplace, anytime. Some authors argue (Norris & Soloway) that mobile devices should support project- 7 based learning in context, that is, using the mobile phone as an integral part of a learning activity; most of all: ongoing assessment and possible feedback. 5 – Conclusions/Recommendations The ways we learn will change dramatically in the next years. Certainly there will be many movements in the society in what concerns new forms of learning associated with technologies that are used globally. The market of products and services in m-learning is currently emerging and will be responsible for millions of euros in the next years, changing the way people learn in Universities, Research Centres, Corporations and in all sectors of society. More then a technological question, organizations (enterprises, training institutions, universities, etc) should reflect and discuss the way content is developed and how is the learning experience delivered, taking into attention the context of delivery and the learning design according to learners needs. Thus didactical aspects are key success factors for this type of learning (has it happened before with e-learning and distance education). Learning Design for life long learning and for continuous education should then consider the learning environment, the learners and the technologies to be used. Organizations should also adapt their learning framework, integrating m-learning in their learning offer. Nevertheless organizations should have in mind that m-learning serves, mainly, to support learners performance, has it is made of short intensive moments of learning. 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