Introduction to mLearning for MobiMOOC

Introductionto mLearningInge – Ignatia – de Waard

Whatwill we seetoday?A bit of back-groundHands-on moment (postingtoposterous)2 mobile learning projectsYourquestionsandremarks on ANY mLearning subject!

Starting is always a bit of chaosIntroductions, gettingtoknow the format… but it is goodtobe on the move!

So planning is of the essenceQuestion: whohas startedworking on their mLearning project? (survey: 51% knowswhattheywillwork on) Basic template forstarting a mLearning project canbe found here– and Judy Brown will lift all of youto the next level in Week 2 whereshewill cover planning mLearning (amongstother mLearning goodies)

From the survey: interest in hands-on & exchangingexperiencesHands-on: posterous: e-mail any content to a centrallocation2 Experiences: mobile learning project in PeruContinuedMedicalEducationforsmartphonesand basic cellphones

Hands-on moment: PosterousJust imagine: you have a group of learners spread around the worldandyouaskthem – without havingtobecome member of anything – to share mobile created content via simple e-mail?It works! Instantaniously! Let’sseeforourselvesPlease, forthosehaving access to a mobile phone (or camera equiped net/laptop or tablet pc), take a picture of whereyou are at right now (besureto put your pixels on small to save on data costs!) and mail itto:mobimooc@posterous.comAfteryou have mailedit, take a look at the MobiMOOCposterousgroup blog toseeour joint results: http://mobimooc.posterous.com/For thosetestingitafter the session: I have reset the permissions, so I needto accept yourpostingsbeforethey are posted, but feel free totry it.

mLearning is about.. (Informal) peer collaborationmLearning (or eLearning) is notabouthavinganonline, accessiblerepository.mLearning is: collaboration, networking, accessingwhen most relevant Learning at anytime or in anyplacethat fits YOUGettingyour context into the learning curvemLearning is anidealforlifelonglearningandcontinuededucation.

Mobile projects at ITMITM has been developingseveralmobile solutions bothfor research andeducation(QRcodes, offline data gathering, mobile courses, mobile continuededucation...) Ourchallenges: emergingcountries, challenging environments & tiny budgets & tinyteam (only 3 peoplethat are reallyinto mLearning testinganddevelopment)Ourstrength: aninterdisciplinary, creativeeLearning team Current start-ups: mobile gis project for monitoring ticks (geolocation, real time … fun!)andaugmentedmedicallearningapp

Overall mLearning aimsDurabilityScalabilityCollaboration (localpeopleknow the local health situation best)Allowing user generatedcontent (integrating personal context)AuthenticlearningLow costIndependent from - or at leastflexibleto - infrastructureGeneric– ubiquitouswheneverpossible

Paradigm Break(It is no longer ‘just’ a phone)InternetClassical modelsms, voiceNew modelsms, voice, data, video, geoin REAL TIMEGraphs by Ellar Llacsahuanga

Case 1: the Peruvianmobile projectIn 2008 the Institute of Tropical Medicine Alexander von Humboldt (IMTAvH) in Lima (= the real craftsmen of this project) and the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp set up a mobile educational platform for healthcare worker (HCW) training:

downloading of the latest medical information

knowledge sharing and data contributionTarget population and settingHealth care workers involved in HIV/AIDS care in Peru20 Clinics in Department Capitals (urban and peripheral)More than 70% of the national patients receive treatment on those selected health facilitiesThe selection was made working closely with the Ministry of Health

How to apply in low resource settings (rural area) Wifi Local Area NetworkVoiP, intranet websites100Km, a pair USD 1000

Methods20 physicians used individual Smartphones (Nokia N95 and iPhone), for a CME program, Oct ’09 – Jan ‘10Wifi, solar panels and wireless router (great for creating an ad hoc wireless hotspot! E.g. if you have one computer with internet, you can turn it into a hotspot for multiple devices with a wireless router). It saves on connection costs and increases autonomy

CLINICAL MODULEClinical Case (day 3)-3D movies (podcast deliver using iTunes)-Questions related with clinical case(start discussion forum Moodle)-Critical thinkingPre-test (day 1)-access LCMS ( MLE Moodle)-via email -websiteConclusion of discussion (day 10)- strengthening networkSummaryDay 1: Pre-test with focus on a specific topic Day 3: Send Clinical cases with questions and start discussionDay 10: Conclusion of clinical casesDay 11:Summary of module (articles and review) Day 15: Post-test on the topicwifiSend summary materialWebsite link (day 11)Post-test (day 15)

Tools usediClone & Moviestormdoctor/patient scenariosmodule revision was provided through multimedia files developed with ScreenFlowLooking at examples, we used iTunes as a repository of the podcast during course: http://itunes.apple.com/be/podcast/central-videos-audios-reach/id332290043

MLE MoodleA web-based platform (MLE Moodle), is offered to support the learning events, tracking students’ progresses over timeWhy Moodle? It is based on social constructivist idea (co-construction)After this we engaged in Mobile Moodle.Pre post testBaseline knowledge and learning outcomes were tested through mobile-based multiple choice questions issued at the beginning and end of each module

Challenges to tackleLack of mobile standards (html5 on the rise with W3C mobile web initiative)Lack of interoperability of the mobile programsRelatively high investment cost: mobile devices, phone service fee, mobile IT help desk for technical problemsConnectivity not assured and different per regionNeed more mobile theory research to really get the most out of the mobile possibilitiesNative apps => different approaches => time consuming (SDK’s)Augmented mobile learning is tough for limited budgets, but delivers more interactivityReal time feedback or content/context pick-upTime to find creative solutionsAnd the many challenges we heard here …(cartoon by Nick D Kim, nearingzero.net)

Actions taken (later reading)The actions we tookwere multiple, let me list 7:We looked at the latest mobile phonessupportedby the national telecom companies, and we comparedtheirfunctionalities. These functionalities had toenable reading comfort; they had to permit installingcertainapplications (for picture exchange, keepingconnectedwithpeers). The devicesneededto have multimedia possibilities as we aimedtoaddress different learner skills (text, audio, video). The devicesalsoneededto have enough memory toenable big multimedia files tobestored on them. Synchronizationwith computers was necessarytoallowcheaperdownloading of new clinical modules. And last but notleast, because we wereaimingtoadd mobile social media, these media neededtobeaccessibleby the mobile devices.Afterpurchasing the devices we startedtocompare mobile social media. Those media thatcouldbeaccessedwithbothdevices, andthatoffered a mobile design werechosen. It was deemednecessarytouse a mobile platform on whichto store all the modules. So we startedto look for mobile platforms thatwerebothcheapandaccessible. Mobile Moodle was chosen, as itoffered the surplus of enablingubiquitouslearning in future projects, andbecausebothinstituteswereusingMoodlealready as a learning platform. At the same time content was beingredeveloped: gettinginteractivitygoing, deliveringbothstatic (text) and multimedia content tocaterto a variety of learner types, animationswere made forpatient/doctor conversationsimulations.Toenable easy podcast downloads, we startedusing iTunes foreducation. A facebook page was set-up toallow easy peer-to-peer information exchange. Training was givento the participants (2 days, 1 day per type of mobile device)

Toolsused (later reference)Skype and facebook for p2p knowledge exchangeMoviestorm & iClone for animationsScreenflow and iMovie for multimedia filesRSS, podcast and iTunes (see examples) for retrieving materialOnline mobile survey software: surveygizmoMLE and iPhone.moodle.com.auNot used here, but very usefulGreat tool for offline mobile data gathering:Survey-To-Go we use it in field research in non-connected areas (synchronizable with computers, works offline and waits until it can transfer data).

AcknowledgementsThis work is a result of the collaboration between the eLearning teams ofITM, Antwerp and the IMTAvH, LimaB. Castillo Llaque, L. Fucay, C. Kiyan, D. Iglesias, V. Suarez, J. Echevarria Z., E. Llacsahuanga, M. Zolfo, L. Lynen, and I. de Waard. Thank you!This project was supported byREACH-Tibotec 2008, Educational Grant

Case 2: Creating mobile accessible CME (Continued Medical Education) CME keeps physicians on top of their speciality & if it is linked to the Telemedicine website => growing number of users

To tackle the CME we first looked at the mobile status of physiciansWe neededtoknow:- Which type of mobiles they had? (‘regular’ + smartphone)- Iftheywouldbeinterested- Whatwould make a differenceforthem as a learner

What physicians wanted was/isAccess with their own cell phone (so it needed to be accessible with cheap and expensive phones)Getting a message pushed to them when a new CME was launchedMake it easily accessible (= no long connections needed)Certification for following it! Important career wise

Our delivery method of choice: standardized mobile content Soit was clear: HTML + CSS:It is easy tobuild (dreamweaver or the free pagebreeze), is small in size, adaptsto the phone screen andallows pictures/visuals (youneedtoresizethemirfanview e.g.)Mobile web initiativeprovides best practices

Getting the CME out there: Variablephone types + e-mail for feedbackOne CME per monthSee for yourself (this combines things that went wrong): http://tinyurl.com/ITM3CME

Adding user friendliness & motivationUserfriendliness:- Sendingan sms when a new CME is issued (in our case using the Jeyo mobile companion);- In the CME a tinyURL is embeddedtoallowquick access to the CME (smaller url = easierto type withcellphone).Motivation:- A certificate is issuedif the learnerssuccessfully (cut off 80%) take an assessment after 6 months of CMEs(Jeyo mobile companion)

FeedbackAdvantagesTheyliked the relevant information that was broughttothemLearning at theirown convenienceOpened new ways of learningTheyfeltconnectedwithpeersDisadvantagesAccess was notensured in the field andthiscould drain the batteryThe screen was small forlearning (in the oldercellphone types)Without electricity the batterycan run outGraphics/tablessometimesunclear on small screens

Possible solutions fortackling CMEchallengesMobile offline possibilitiesenabling multimedia courses (mini Sdcards).Mobile = mp4 conversionsoyou have any video you want. Usecheap video converter software likeAVS4you (39,95 EUR)Solar panels are already out thereforeveryonetouse.Connect the mobile to a television set anduseit as a desktop forbigger screen (e.g. forthoseruralareasthat have TV-sets but no computer connection => sharing the mobile content via TV)

Ourdevice challenge of todayHuman enhancementReal timerecognition & reaction(Geo)locationwhat we wantMobile augmentedrealityLearning from: objects& humans

Easy mobile tools to check outBlogsPosterous.com : enablesposting via simple e-mail + youcan set-up posts tosocial mediaWordpress has a fully mobile pack: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-mobile-pack/Blogger has this option as well, but no grouping feature: http://www.blogger.com/mobile-start.gMobile layout: redesignyour blog tobe mobile accessible: http://www.mofuse.mobi/Twitter: easy as sms and in many cases there is a specifictwitterappforyourphone: http://mobile.twitter.com/Facebook has a mobile feature: http://m.facebook.com/home.php?_rdrSkype: PicturesFlickr : has a mobile option whichallowsyoutosimply mail pictures to the account - http://m.flickr.com/#/homePicasa for mobile: https://picasaweb.google.com/m/VideoYouTube: has a mobile option forsharing video (beware of the data transfer cost!): http://www.youtube.com/mobileRecord and share video’s life (rerouted via twitter): Qik.com

For mobile developersThe mobile W3C corner (with a free website checker toseeifyour site is mobile friendly)MobiForge: a community of mobile developersHtml5 demo’sHtml5 standardsJust fun:Andjustbecausethey are fun – trythem on your mobilehttp://www.rovio.com/index.php?page=angry-birds

ResourcesA free report on geo-located mobile learningFree book on mLearning (editedby Mohamed Ally)Free book on the risks of publishing content on the WebFour free chapters on criticalpedagogy (Paulo Freire)Free bookmLearning and new pedagogiesOnline chapter: Bachmair, B. (2007) 'M-learning and media use in everyday life'. http://www.wlecentre.ac.uk/cms/files/occasionalpapers/mobilelearning_pachler2007.pdfThe 2011 Horizon report http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf

Introduction to mLearning for MobiMOOC

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