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Part One: Mobile Learning Basics
Introduction
Now that we have experienced more than a decade of Web-based e-learning, many people
imagine that mobile learning is the same but on a smaller screen. Indeed, the first mobile
learning content included lecture material, online courses, and much textual information. But,
this merely illustrates the common practice of new technologies often first being used for old
applications.
The first models of e-learning were also backwards looking, inspired by hundred-year-old models
of schooling and classroom-based training. Linear online presentations, boring reading materials,
and trivial multiple-choice tests are the stock in trade of e-learning, whether it is from a server to
a desktop computer or to a mobile phone. In this sense, mobile learning is hardly revolutionary.
However, mobility changes the game of learning. By untying the learner from the instructor,
mobile learning liberates learners from the control of experts and physical environments. This is
a fundamental shift.
The availability of information at a moment’s notice has exploded at a dizzying pace. This
explosion has been partly fueled by the phenomenon of user generated content – where
everyone and anyone can put information into electronic networks and make it available to
anyone else. Web sites like Flickr.com and del.icio.us now contain hundreds of millions of tagged
files that have been uploaded by individuals from all walks of life. Instead of thinking about an
online library of information, the new metaphor is the information cloud.
It is not just information that is included in the cloud computing metaphor. We now have clouds
of online software, applications, and data storage, in addition to the vast stores of information
that are readily available. Mark van ‘t Hooft of Kent State University describes the new way of
working with cloud computing:
“…we keep our calendars online and create, edit, and collaborate on written
documents, spreadsheets, and diagrams using Google Docs and Gliffy. We edit
our pictures with Picnik before posting them on Flickr and share our movies on
YouTube. We create and share custom maps using Google Maps and Google
Earth. We tag our creations in a variety of ways so that others can find them, and
we create personalized portals to digital information using RSS aggregators and
customizable browsers like Flock and mob5. Finally, we can synchronise all of this
information across multiple devices using services such as Streamload’s
MediaMax… in sum, cloud computing is fundamentally changing the way in which
we use the Internet in our daily lives.” (Becta, 2008)
2 © Brandon Hall Research