Traffic is building on the expressways, the stock market is up, a favorite team wins the big game, these and other bits and pieces of information are routinely at our fingertips. The same smart, powerful mobile technology we use to access everyday information, is fundamentally changing the nature of learning.
Information Communication Technologies (ICT) have evolved and progressed far beyond single-purpose devices. Today small, smart, mobile multi-function devices are changing everyday activities of work, play, learning and life. Yet mobile learning is much more than simply smart devices.
Mike Sharples, a leading researcher and theorist in mobile learning, has defined this new phenomenon as:
“The process of coming to know through explorations and conversations across multiple contexts amongst people and personal interactive technologies”1
Thus mobile learning incorporates elements of traditional learning - interaction, exploration, social conversations among people - with new and continually evolving elements - personal interactive technologies, remote networking and digital media.
The way we think about learning, education and learning spaces must change and adapt to a mobile learning paradigm. Instead of formal, one-way “sage on the stage” teaching, mobile learning is more personal, interactive, multi-modal and untethered.
Mobility is an exciting, evolution in education. It frees both educators and learners to explore learning opportunities in a wide variety of places using an expanding set of tools. It is easy to focus on the “cool devices” and “next insanely great thing.” But it is important to remember technology is just a tool - a powerful tool to be sure - but learning relies on sharing knowledge, on the people, place and activities as well as the content delivered by technology.
Learning occurs in many places. The classroom is one node in a network of learning spaces. Mobile learning expands the notion of learning space beyond to include both formal and informal, physical and virtual, individual and common settings.
Creative educators are exploring new ways of using digital media, powerful mobile tools coupled with guided cooperation and collaboration to leverage the power and potential of mobile learning.
Supporting the use of mobile technologies and digital media to support learning also requires rethinking how we design learning spaces and provide infrastructure support. Although mobility is expanding, technology requires access to power for charging and broadband for information. Wireless still involves a lot of wires. Realizing the full potential of mobile learning will require development of secure, adaptable, agile infrastructure that supports the power, data and access needs.
While mobile learning expands the possibilities of where and how learning occurs, well-designed, agile learning spaces can and must support and enable both mobility and effective learning in the digital age.
1 Sharples. M. 2007 A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age. slides accessed at http://mlearning.noe-kaleidoscope.org/repository/TheoryOfLearningForMobileAge.pdf
