By Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILDS) have been either a spectacular success or a colossal failure. It just depends on who you ask, and what approach they used. Some found the mobile devices to be limiting, or just too awkward to use. Others have found that they can incorporate smartphones, handheld computers, pdas, and other untethered devices (mp3 players, video iPods).
The Successes: The most successful uses have involved utilizing the mobile devices that students already know and love. They did not rely exclusively on the mobile device to disseminate course information, but took advantage of its features to create very exciting, dynamic learning environments where collecting and sharing information among the learners inspired true enthusiasm and emotional and intellectual engagement.
The Disappointments: Those who tried to develop customized devices that had a single application (usually a game, a simulation, or an interactive classroom “clicker”) were frustrated because the learners seemed to be less than interested. When the mobile device was pushed beyond its capabilities, people lost interest.
Your WILD Future: If you’re wondering what this means for you, the short answer is that it’s completely up to you. An increasing number of programs will offer opportunities to use wireless internet learning devices – to use your smartphone or pda – in conjunction with your class.
What might that look like? Imagine that you’ve signed up for Geology 1115. Your instructor asks you to log in at least one field trip per week in which you must go out and find evidence of geological structures, or certain types of rocks. You are required to take photographs of what you find, log the latitude and longitude from your GPS, and then post them for classmates to see. You’re also required to post a voice message in the audio blog. You’ve just purchased a very nice smartphone, and so you’re able to do so. You take photos, text message your friends, and then post everything on a class blog. This is all done from your smartphone.
Now, it’s a new semester, and you’re taking an English class. You’re asked to describe locations, and your classmates are supposed to compare your description with what they see – a photo. This is also done via your class MySpace site, rather than the clunky discussion board locked into the learning management system. Your instructor found it was a lot easier to post and share information via a weblog than through the learning management system. It’s easy for everyone in the class to see the responses because they are part of the community. Last semester, your instructor used LiveJournal. It was equally painless to use.
In the past, the use of WILDs in online learning was limited because of storage limitations. It was difficult to download an audio file, much less a video. Now, however, space is less of an issue. Smartphones, pdas, and other devices often have up to 100 Gb of storage capability, and are able to capture and play video as well as audio and text.
As a result, WILDs are coming into their own, and as we consider the future, we can also try to keep from repeating some of the mistakes of the past. Pushing technology to its limits and finding “off label” applications for technology is exhilarating, but the reality is that it can be frustrating when it doesn’t work as desired.
Current “best uses” of Mobile Learning
-- Student information shared via posting to a centrally viewable space (blog or social network like myspace or livejournal);
-- Information and course materials provided by instructor and institution;
-- Field data gathered and recorded by students;
-- Collaborative problem-solving;
-- Practice tests;
-- Research articles housed centrally.
Future “Best Uses” of Mobile Learning
-- Testing and assessment
-- Virtual proctoring (use video camera to monitor)
-- Record mini-lectures and post
-- Record video
-- Social networking for research
-- “Smart” sims – changing the rules of the game as well as the environments
-- Virtual internships
Summing Up the WILD World
What is just around the corner has already been envisioned.
That’s the way technology has seemed to have progressed in the last hundred years. By the time the breakthrough occurs, we’ve already been seeing it play out in science fiction for at least a couple of decades. So, to envision how mobile learning and dedicated wifi learning devices will work, we should probably comb through sci-fi books, films, and graphic novels. The fact that sci-fi usually embraces a political vision and an ideological agenda is a further challenge. We need to examine how and where technology is taking us and we need to understand how the use of technology mediates our notions of what it means to learn, and how we think of the learning process.
[Listen to the companion podcast at:
http://community.elearners.com/blogs/inside_elearning/attachment/1159.ashx - 7.2 MB]