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=__Don't Panic!__=

//(A brief introduction to [|m-learning]).//
=Introduction= As I was preparing this presentation, a friend reminded me that //"levity beats gravity, every time".// In my subsequent efforts to escape said gravity, I (rather improbably) turned to the far reaches of space for inspiration.

Enter //The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy//, written by Douglas Adams in the late 70's - surely any novel that contains the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything must make a reasonable stab at the answers to mobile learning.

Ahhh. Well, as it happens in the novel, Ford Prefect's escape from Earth's demise happens in rather a hurry, and during his subsequent hitchhike through the galaxy, he isn't really carrying much - just the essentials, including:

=Ford Prefect and Dr Spock, Mobile Learners Extraordinaire= Despite the vital importance of the towel (subsequently described in the novel), I would like to draw your attention to the items **thus bolded**: namely, Ford's (electronic) //Guide to the Galaxy//, and the biros and notepad in his satchel.
 * [[image:http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/ato/tsrdaq/doc/pics/guide.jpg width="213" height="281" align="right" link="http://www.whatisacoverletter.org"]] ||  || **"...****a device which looked rather like a largish electronic calculator.** This had about a hundred tiny flat press buttons and a screen about four inches square on which any one of a million "pages" could be summoned at a moment's notice. It looked insanely complicated, and this was one of the reasons why the snug plastic cover it fitted into had the words DON'T PANIC printed on it in large friendly letters. The other reason was that this device was in fact that most remarkable of all books ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor - //The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy//. The reason why it was published in the form of a micro sub meson electronic component is that if it were printed in normal book form, an interstellar hitchhiker would require several inconveniently large buildings to carry it around in. Beneath that in Ford Prefect's satchel were **a few biros, a notepad,** and a largish bath towel from Marks and Spencer." ||   ||
 * ||  || //- Adams 1979, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," p.17// ||

Firstly, two of the most tried and proven mobile learning devices of this century, the biro and notepad. //Codswallop and balderdash//, you say, //there's not so much as a circuit between the two of them, how could they possibly be mobile learning devices?//

//**Patience, grasshopper.**// For is it not the //learning// that is mobile? Nowhere does the term "mobile learning" mention //technology// being a requirement. Thus, a book is a mobile learning resource, and a cassette walkman is just as valid a source of audio learning as an iPod. Sure, it’s not as sexy, maybe; but by the time the sound reaches my ears from either device, it’s essentially the same thing. A learner pencilling notes on a field trip, or photographing an artwork with a film camera is still experiencing a valid (and mobile) learning experience. In this respect, mobile learning is as old as learning itself. Also not new is the concept of using technology to enhance mobile learning. The first Vulcan wielded the first tricorder and blipped the first communicator in the 60's; and in the next decade, Douglas Adams envisaged an electronic galactic guidebook and the first notebook computer was conceived. These tools are now science rather than science fiction: PDAs and mobile phones provide us with the connectivity and communications of a Federation Communicator, and the information storage of a galactic guide.

=Still the Same; Never the Same= These links between the current age of digital mobile learning and older educational ideas hints at why things are still the same as they always have been. It's convenient to demonstrate all of the various opportunities provided by digital mobile learning by classifying all of the things a mobile learner can do into four categories - the "Four R's" of mobile learning, namely //(Low & O'Connell 2006)//:
 * **Record** (a learner can create or record information with their mobile device, such as taking a photo, video, audio recording or electronic notes).
 * **Recall** (a learner can look up previously stored data, or connect with another information source such as the Internet, to find some information).
 * **Relate** (a learner can use a mobile device to communicate with their peers, teacher, or others in a community).
 * **Reinterpret** (a learner can use their device to process data).

The Learning in M-Learning
Individually, these activity classifications tend to support Constructivist, Instructivist, Social Constructivist and Connectivist learning theories respectively. However, in real life, activities can be selected and remixed to create a myriad of potential learning experiences. Stephen Downes has commented in his blog that this model really just sounds like //learning//, with a slightly mobile "flavouring," and I agree. Mobile learning is, really, just learning.

The M in M-Learning
However, in almost the same breath that I say that learning is //**still the same**// as always, our arrival at the cusp of electronic galactic guides and tricorders heralds that the way we learn will **//never//** //**be the same**//. What differentiates the current crop of mobile tools (such as mobile phones, PDAs, and iPods) is that they support a digital, connected learning environment, providing a compactness and convenience of information, a remote and instant access to a range of people and resources, and an ability to process data, that was never previously possible.



This translates into education opportunities that have previously never been possible - rather than pre-made resources, which must be collected and carried by a learner prior to “going mobile,” mobile learners can now get information remotely on demand; record information from wherever they are in a number of formats; communicate with other people such as other learners or teachers; and use the processing power in their pockets to achieve tasks they could not otherwise accomplish unassisted. Klopfer et al //(2002)// provides a concise summary (cited in [|Futurelab 2006]):
 * **Portability:** the small size and weight of mobile devices means they can be taken to different sites or moved around within a site. They can compactly store an enormous amount of information and functionality in this compact form.
 * **Social interactivity:** data exchange and collaboration with other learners can happen synchronously or asynchronously, textually, vocally or even through video.
 * **Context sensitivity:** mobile devices can both gather and respond to real or simulated data unique to the current location, environment and time.
 * **Connectivity:** a shared network can be created by connecting mobile devices to data collection devices, other devices or to a common network.
 * **Individuality:**“ scaffolding for difficult activities can be customised for individual learners.



=The Buzz - Real Examples of M-Learning= Utilising these particular strengths of mobile learning, we can now offer new learning opportunities. Learning was never so much fun when I was young - look at some of the real projects happening here and around the world:
 * At CIT, a number of teachers now get students to take photos with their mobile phones, and upload these to personal journals (moblogs) to record their learning process or assessable activities, and I have set up a [|mobile web site for CIT's Diploma of Project Management], accessible with any WAP-enabled phone.
 * In Perth, PDAs are being used to [|digitally record interviews], while TAFE Tasmania has produced resources where learners can access [|information on various horticultural and environmental science topics] while //in situ// at Tasmanian Botanic Gardens.
 * In Europe, mobile learning enables [|museums to provide a range of options to situated learners] - imagine studying art history while standing in front of the real Mona Lisa, or in the Sistine Chapel, rather than poring over a textbook illustration. There are also commercial services that allow you to [|send a text question on any topic for a brief answer] in about five minutes, for about A$1 each.

=Preventing Panic= Returning to //The Hitchhiker's Guide//... we can also learn something about implementing m-learning from the flaws identified in this implementation of m-learning: "//[The Guide]// had about a hundred tiny flat press buttons and... looked insanely complicated, and this was one of the reasons why the snug plastic cover it fitted into had the words DON'T PANIC printed on it in large friendly letters."

To prevent panic, good m-learning experiences need to be designed for mobility and ease-of-use. Fortunately, we've had a lot of recent experience with designing learning for usability and accessibility - interestingly, today's PDAs have very similar technical specifications and limitations to consumer desktop PCs of a decade or so ago, when e-learning and the web in general were both on the up-and-up. As it turns out, many of the tricks and tips we've used for packaging computer-based learning for limited bandwidth, screen size and hardware capabilities, will now be "recyclable" as good practice in the design and development of mobile learning opportunities.

Think "concentrated quality" - keep mobile content compact, concise, and convenient!

=Back to the Future= These are all exciting new innovations in their own right; but perhaps even more exciting is the continual convergence and integration of mobile technologies with web-based "Web 2.0" tools and information services. Increasingly, mobile devices are becoming convenient portals to access powerful online services. Mobile computing is only around the corner from devices that connect us continuously with our peers and the web, streaming information to us in response to stimuli from our environment - last month, Google bought Neven Vision, who develop software that can recognise an image and provide you with learning opportunities that relate to real-life experiences you encounter.

My ultimate vision for m-learning is a personal, connected mobile device that provides a full range of connected information and communications services, providing a learner with contextualised, situated learning opportunities through a real-world interface (whether this is achieved through a symbology such as [|2D Barcodes], or through [|image recognition] as hypothesised by Stephen Downes).

=Conclusion= ==== In a world where sources of information are as plentiful as versions of “the truth”, I envisage the ability to communicate with trusted peers and mentors as vital. In a world where [|the amount of new technical information currently doubles every two years, and by 2010 will double every 72 hours], I see a future where imagination will be the new intelligence: where the ability to quickly adapt to change, and to connect with the most up-to-date information will be more important than what we can memorise and repeat, and the ability to do this anywhere will be essential. Even now, resisting change is like holding your breath: if you succeed, you die.

I see a future of learning that is mobile, personal and connected; and in which the real world and real people provide the context and validation of new learning experiences and rapidly evolving opportunities.

For more information and inspiration on m-learning, please visit the m-learning blog at http://mlearning.edublogs.org