Transcript L08 M-learning 2006

Mobile Learning: anytime, any
place, any where, any good
Richard Joiner
MSc. Human Communication &
Computing
Communication, Interaction and
Task
Contents
• Mobile Learning
• Behaviourist Models
– Skills Arena
– BBC Bitesize
• Constructivist Models
- Virus game
- Savannah
• Situated Learning
– Ambient wood
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Introduction
• Mobile technologies are very familiar. A
high proportion of UK citizens have
mobile phones.
• PDA’s are becoming more widespread.
• There is great interest from educators to
find ways the unique capabilities and
characteristics of mobile technology
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Introduction
• Some educators see them as disruptive and
have banned them from classes
• However a number of people have argued
that they provide an opportunity for a
fundamental change in education.
• Away from the occasional use of a computer
in a lab to the more embedded use in the
classroom and beyond
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Introduction
• The concept of learning is closely
coupled to the concept of mobility
• It is mobile with respect
– space
– time
– areas of life
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Introduction
• Klopfer identified 5 reasons why mobile
devices could be useful in education
– portability
– social interactivity
– context sensitivity
– connectivity
– individulality
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Models of learning
• Wireless Internet Learning Devices or
WILDs
– Learning as skill acquisition
– Learning as self construction
– Learning as social participation
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Behaviourist
• Learning as skill acquisition
• A number examples of mobile learning
used to provide anytime anywhere
learning using behaviourist techniques
– Skills arena
– BBC Bitesize
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Skills Arena
• Skills arena is a mathematics video game
using Nintendo Game Boy Advance.
• It supplements traditional curricula and
teaching methods
• Drills in addition and subtraction are
presented as a game, with advanced scoring
and record keeping, character creation and
variable difficulty level.
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Skills Arena
• An initial pilot study found that
– Students completed 3 times as many
worksheets
– Teachers found it easy to administer and
control
– Students used it outside class
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BBC Bitesize
• BBC Bite size is an initiative to provide
revision material via mobile phones
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesi
ze/games/
• They use a downloadable java game.
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BBC Bitesize
• It is very popular over 650,000 gcse
students
• Problems
– content not relevant to what the students
had studied
– lack of detailed feedback
– compatibility across devices
– costs
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Constructivist
• Learning is seen as a process of
reorganisation of cognitive structures
• A number examples of mobile learning
based on these principles
– Virus Game
– Savannah
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Virus Game
• Participatory simulations (Colella, 2000)
utilise the availability of a separate
device for each student and the
capability for simple exchanges among
neighbouring students.
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Virus Game
• They enable students to act as agents
in simulations
• Patterns emerge from local decisions
and information exchanges.
• These simulations enable students to
model and learn about scientific
phenomena relating to decentralised
systems.
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Virus Game
• A prototypical example is modelling the
spread of disease (Colella, 1998, 2000).
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Virus Game
• Colella (2000) evaluated it with 16 10th
graders.
• The teacher also participated in the
activities and the researcher facilitated.
• All students start the simulation clear of
disease, except 1 who has the disease.
• As students move around their mobile
devices exchange messages.
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Virus Game
• Consequently the infection can spread.
• A record of the number of infections
over time is displayed as a graph.
• Students then discuss the results
• Design experiments to see if they can
control the disease (e.g. they can
quarantine the infected parties).
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Virus Game
• It was part of a biology class and
consisted of approximately 5 class
periods over a 3 week period.
• On the first day students were
introduced to the technology
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Virus Game
• On days 2, 3, and 4 students
participated in disease simulations
• Discussed the simulation
• Developed and carried out experiments
to test their hypotheses.
• On day 5 they reflected on their
experiences in the PS studies.
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Virus Game
• Students displayed were willing to
suspend their disbelief and behave as
though the simulation activity was real.
• Each time it was like a real life
epidemic.
• The students had to figure out what was
going on.
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Virus Game
• Students could run experiments using
the PS.
• They could explore the underlying rules
of the simulation by altering their own
behaviours and observing the effects of
those alterations on the outcomes.
• Interestingly these experiment required
the participation of all the students.
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Savannah Game
• Another type of participatory similuation
is Savannah
• The children play at ‘being a pride of
lions’ outside in a playing field
• Interacting with a virtual Savannah and
exploring the opportunities and risks to
lions in that space
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Savannah Game
• Outside the children are given global
positioning systems (GPS) linked
personal digital assistants (PDAs)
• The PDAs enable them to ‘see’, ‘hear’
and ‘smell’ the world of the Savannah
• They navigate the real space outdoors.
as lions in the virtual Savannah.
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Savannah Game
• The children involved in the project
were all from year 7 and were aged
between 11 and 12.
• There were two groups: one group of
five boys (day 1) and one group of five
girls (day 2).
• There were two areas: the playing field
and the den
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Savannah Game
• The game consisted of two challenges.
• In challenge 1, the children were told
that they were a lion pride who had
recently been displaced and had just
arrived in a new area of the Savannah.
• They had to get to know this area,
understand what was in it, and identify
various threats and opportunities.
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Savannah Game
• During this phase the children could
NOT kill or be killed and so could freely
explore the virtual Savannah.
• The children took two searches to fully
explore the virtual Savannah outside.
• After each search the children went
back to the Den and discussed with the
teacher what they had found.
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Savannah Game
• The children used the flip chart paper to
create a map of what they found
• They used the interactive white board to
revisit their movements
• Examine where they had not searched
and discuss how they could improve
their search techniques
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Savannah Game
• In Challenge 2, the children were told by
the teacher that they had to learn to
survive in the Savannah.
• In this challenge the children could both
die (if for example they attacked the
wrong animal alone..) and hunt, and
their energy points would increase or
decrease depending upon their actions.
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Savannah Game
• After each phase the children went back
in the Den and discussed with the
teacher what had happened and what
they could do differently in the next
game.
• At the end of the day the children had a
discussion with the teacher about what
they had learnt.
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Savannah Game
• Video of the game
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Savannah Game
• They identified‘as lions’ and found it
highly engaging.
• The students often talked in the game
as if they were directly experiencing the
simulation.
• During play, they exclaim that ‘I’m
nearly dead’, ‘we’re hot’ , ‘we’re
attacking’ ‘I’m dead’.
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Savannah Game
• Students were beginning to understand
the rules that shape lion behaviour in
the wild.
• For example, a key feature of lion
behaviour is quantification of risk
• Lions encountering lions from another
pride will ‘count’ the numbers of their
opponents before deciding to fight
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Savannah Game
• These features were all built into the
game rules, with energy points awarded
or deducted for children making the
correct calculations.
• This sort of behaviour was encouraged
by the game and was evident in the
children’s play after their initial attempts.
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Savannah Game
• Another example was the realisation
that survival was dependent on working
in groups.
• The children began to coordinate their
attacks
• They also began to become aware of
the threats of human habitationa nd
other animals
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Savannah Game
• However they also learnt certain rules
about the games environment that in
fact conflicted with lion behaviour
• Hunting strategies were very simple in
the Savannah game
• There was an overemphasis on killing
prey.
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Situated Learning
• The portability of mobile technology
allows the learning environment to be
extended beyond the classroom into
authentic and appropriate contexts.
• One example is ambient wood
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Ambient Wood
• Ambient wood built on the benefits of
incorporating physicality and tangibility
into learning.
• Digital information was coupled with
novel arrangements of electronically
embedded physical objects.
• The experience was designed for 10-12
year olds.
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Ambient Wood
• A series of activities were designed
around the topic of habitats.
• Focussing on the plants and animals in
the different habitats of woodland and
the relationship between them
• The learning experience has three
stages
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Ambient Wood
• Exploring and discovering
– The children equipped with a PDA explored
the habitat.
– They could use the PDA to find out about
growing processes, feeding behaviours
and organisms dependencies.
– The PDA gave information either in
response to probes or triggered by the
children’s location.
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Ambient Wood
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Ambient Wood
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Ambient Wood
Medium Moisture Level
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Ambient Wood
– A periscope gave them information about
hidden processes, such as the behaviour
of insects
– The aim was to provide abstracted
information (visual and audio) of life cycles
already present in the woodland.
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Ambient Wood
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Ambient Wood
• Reflecting
– Following the exploratory stage, the pairs of
children were brought together and taken into a
‘den’ (a makeshift outdoor classroom-like setting),
where a large computer monitor and shared
interactive display were provided
– The aim was to provide a collaborative neutral
environment that would allow them to report back
to each other and reflect and consolidate their
findings.
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Ambient Wood
– The goal was to enable the children to step
back from the physical action and to think
more explicitly and holistically about
– The collection of readings they had
collected in relation to the two habitats and
the processes and relationships between
the organisms within the habitats.
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Ambient Wood
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Ambient Wood
• Experimentation
– Following stage 2, the children were told that they
were going back into the woodland to do some
experimenting, and in particular to see what would
happen if the two habitats were changed in some
way.
– A hypothetical scenario was presented to them
initially to think about what would happen if an
acorn was planted in the middle of each of the
habitats.
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Ambient Wood
– This is something that they would be able
to easily imagine in the context of what
they had just experienced in the wood and
already knew about habitats.
– A key question for them to consider was
whether it would thrive in the two different
habitats and what effect it would have on
the other organisms.
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Ambient Wood
• Ambient wood was trialled with 16 11
year olds.
• It provided an engaging activity
• They understood the relationship
between the activity and the digital
readings
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Ambient Wood
• The periscope provided an intuitive metaphor
for understanding that they were looking at
phenomena that was hidden from view.
• The triggering of information by the child’s
presence was less successful. Often went
unnoticed.
• Stage 2 enabled the children to consolidated
their knowledge and stage 3 was fun and
tested the children’s knowledge.
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Summary
• Mobile Learning
• Behaviourist Models
– Skills Arena
– BBC Bitesize
• Constructivist Models
- Virus game
- Savannah
• Situated Learning
– Ambient wood
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