Learning Bridges

A role for mobile technologies in education

Giasemi Vavoulag.vavoula@gmail.com

withMike Sharples, Paul Rudman, Peter Lonsdale & Julia Meek

Outline Background

MyArtSpace: mobile learning in museums What it is, how it works, what it does

Bridge 1: Technology – Activity Bridge 2: Learning Spaces Bridge 3: Contexts Bridge 4: Technologies Making bridges steady Conclusions

MyArtSpace – What it is Service on mobile phones for

enquiry-led museum learning Aim to make school museum visits

more engaging and educational Learning through structured enquiry,

exploration, connection Combines

physical space (museum, classroom) virtual space (online store and

gallery) personal space (mobile phones)

Museum test sites Urbis (Manchester) The D-Day Museum (Portsmouth) The Study Gallery of Modern Art

(Poole) About 3000 children during 2006

MyArtSpace – How it works1. In the classroom:

Before the lesson: Teacher receives Teacher’s Pack and Lesson

Plans During the lesson:

Class discusses ‘big question’ to explore at the museum by collecting evidence

Teacher may or may not demo MyArtSpace

2. At the museum: Students are given Nokia 6680

multimedia mobile phones Use phones to ‘collect’ exhibits by

typing a two-letter code Prompted to type their reason for

collecting Document their experience (take

pictures, record sounds, write comments)

All exhibits and recordings are sent automatically to a personal web space

MyArtSpace – How it works

Wire, thread, fabric, acrylic paint and mosaic on a wood construction in cloud

Cloud Factory

Wire, thread, fabric, acrylic paint and mosaic on a wood construction in cloud

Cloud Factory

MyArtSpace – How it works

2. At the museum: Students are given Nokia 6680

multimedia mobile phones Use phones to ‘collect’ exhibits by

typing a two-letter code Prompted to type their reason for

collecting Document their experience (take

pictures, record sounds, write comments)

All exhibits and recordings are sent automatically to a personal web space

MyArtSpace – How it works

MyArtSpace – How it works

3. Back at school ICT lab: Personal website shows their

notes, recordings, pictures, exhibits

They can view others’ collections, and items provided by the museum

They can create personal online galleries to show teachers and classmates, and to friends and family outside school

MyArtSpace – What it does

bridge the children’s experiences of different contexts, media and content, leading to an integrated learning experience across formal and informal settings

MyArtSpace – What it does

bridge the children’s experiences of different contexts, media and content, leading to an integrated learning experience across formal and informal settings

Bridge 1: Technology – ActivityMobility in the technology and the learning activity For MyArtSpace:

Design mobile phone application and associated web portal AND ALSO:

Design 3-stage learning experience (classroom – museum – classroom/home)

Workshops involving designers and software engineers AND ALSO teachers, LEA reps, educational consultants, museum educators: What activities do we want the students to perform? How could these activities be structured into a sound learning

experience? What happens in the classroom and what in the museum? Does the same thing happen in every classroom/museum, with

any teacher/students? Can the teacher customise to match her teaching style, objectives and background?

What is the template of the learning experience? What functionality is needed?

Bridge 1: Technology – ActivityMobility in the technology and the learning activity

The design of the learning experience must go beyond the design of the technology, with clear purpose for the teaching and learning

Bridge needed between technology design and activity planning

Bridge 2: Learning SpacesAcknowledge and respect all learning spaces

Learning experience interactions in different spaces Physical space (e.g. museum) Virtual space (e.g. web portal) Personal space (e.g. mobile phone)

How much of the experience on each space? When? Where? Danger: draw visitor’s attention on virtual

space at the expense of the rich physical space do not immerse in one space at the expense of the others!

Bridge 2: Learning SpacesAcknowledge and respect all learning spaces

Preparing yet another space on which students can interact and learn should be done with respect for the already available spaces.

Bridge possible between different learning spaces – but is it needed?

Bridge 3: ContextsFill in the gaps between museum, classroom and home “Learning is a cumulative process involving connections

and reinforcement among the variety of learning experiences people encounter in their lives: at home, during schooling, and out in the community and workplace” (Dierking et al. 2003)

“making the links between school and museum learning explicit, genuine, and continuous affords real opportunities for school students to have enjoyable learning experiences in both settings.” (Griffin 2004)

Opportunity for connected learning experiences in the classroom, the museum and at home Through constructed artefacts that transfer automatically

between contexts Through continuation of learning in both formal and informal

contexts

Bridge 3: ContextsFill in the gaps between museum, classroom and home

Learning is cumulative, and learning experiences should be connected across formal and informal contexts.

Much needed bridge between different contexts and settings is possible

Bridge 4: TechnologiesDivide and conquer Do not digitise and ‘mobilise’ for the sake of it:

Use mobile technology where it brings the most value – e.g. for data collection in the museum

Then ‘bridge’ it to technologies used in other parts of the experience – e.g. the exhibits, installations and printed media in the museum, the ICT suite at school

To decide what type of technology to use where, break down experience into activities; then for each ask: What will be the location? What are the human factors? What technology is already available? What are the technical requirements for the UI? What is the cost of transition from this activity to the

next one?

Bridge 4: TechnologiesDivide and conquer

Carefully select the technology (mobile or otherwise) that is most appropriate for the specific activity.

Much needed bridge between different technologies to reduce ‘technology switch’ overloads

Steady Bridges ‘Aggressive’ collection:

In the museum, students collect too many items, take fat too many photos and record too much audio; then …

In the classroom, hard even to manipulate – much harder to interpret and use constructively.

Solutions: restrict the number of items a student can collect during a visit; allow more time for the post-visit experience; etc.

Continuous evaluation and fine-tuning of the new technology with the learning practice adjustment of peripheral and contextual support, like

lesson planning, IT support, and activity planning

Conclusions Mobile technologies can form bridges between

technologies, contexts, experiences and learning spaces.

Learner enabled not only to use new technologies, but also to perform new activities with them.

Teachers enabled not only to put lots of learning ‘stuff’ on a gadget and hand to students, but also to plan new learning experiences for them.

New tools that enable learners to perform new activities may change the way they perceive and carry out old activities; continuous evaluation and fine-tuning is therefore essential.

Thank you!

MyArtSpace Commisioned by: Culture Online (Dept. for Culture Media & Sport)

MyArtSpace Design and Implementation The Sea (http://the-sea.com)

MyArtSpace evaluation team Giasemi Vavoula Mike Sharples Paul Rudman Peter Lonsdale Julia Meek

Questions?