MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN

LEARNING

Keith Crespo & Nouf FaisalETEC 510Dr. Farmer

INTRODUCTIONResearchers are in a dilemma about whether mobile learning

should be introduced in higher learning institutions as a form of

educating students. Criticism of M-learning includes lack of proper

knowledge in using mobile devices, lack of evidence that M-learning

works and skepticism about M-learning. However various new articles

about M-learning address these criticism and strongly support the use of

M-learning in higher learning institutions they include, Mobile learning

as an evolution of E-learning, Clarification of mobile learning,

Clarification of mobile learning and Mobile learning in higher education

as a new educational tool. A new form of learning should be adopted by

teachers for use with their students.

. Educational technology has generated new tools and approaches to

learning in the classroom. One new concept that is relatively new in

education is mobile learning. Mobile learning can be described as any

learning that occurs when facilitated through a mobile device (Harrington

et al., 2009). Examples of portable devices include mobile phones, i-

Touch or i-Pads, mp3 players, tablets, or portable computers.

DEFINING MOBILE EDUCATION

There are different characteristics of mobile devices that should be

stated in order to learn more about mobile learning. Mobile devices have

become universal and pervasive in our society that it has made an impact

on obtaining knowledge. For instance, mobile devices have begun the

trend of learning by finding information at a specific time instead of

obtaining information for long-term memory (Traxler, 2007). An example

would be a fifth-grade student wanting to know who the second President

of the United States was. The fifth-grade student can use an i-Touch to

find the answer by searching the internet.

..

CLARIFICATION OF MOBILE LEARNING

The research paper by El-Hussein, M. O. M. And Cronje, J. C. Seeks to

clarify the meaning of mobile learning. The authors approach was to critically

examine a selection of documents that relate to mobile learning. The authors argue

that to comprehensively understand and define mobile learning their outset should

be formed and its key components separated and arranged under three different

concepts: A conceptualization of mobile learning, the first step of research involved

exploring the wider context of mobile learning. Mobile learning in higher

education, the second step involved identifying the technology, learner (who are

nomadic and able to interpret learning materials) and learning material as well as

mobile technology such as portable devices. The third concept involves examining

the mobility and dynamism of the learning process and the flow of information.

MOBILE LEARNING AS AN EVOLUTION OF E-LEARNING.

The research paper by Grane et al claims that mobile learning can be

termed as an evolution of E-learning. Research has been done on both M-

learning and E-learning looking at how they have evolved and a

comparison and contrast on the two has been drawn. Learning has always

had a mobile character in it, and hence the authors seek to establish a

difference between what is termed as mobile learning today and what was

regarded as mobile learning traditionally.

EVALUATING MOBILE EDUCATION Following the widespread reception of mobile technologies in learning,

it is paramount to evaluate mobile education to see if it does benefit

teachers as well as students when it comes to learning. However, it is

difficult to create a perfect evaluation because it depends on how we

define a good evaluation. Some guidelines that Traxler (2007),

recommend are an efficient, ethical, and authentic. He believes the

evaluation should access what learners really experience from using

mobile devices. In addition, the evaluation should be economical in terms

of cost and time. These guidelines can help execute more evaluations and

studies on mobile devices in the future. While there are limited studies on

this topic, we will discuss what is known about mobile education in

elementary school and higher education.

MOBILE LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION AS A NEW EDUCATIONAL TOOL

The authors Mcconatha D, Praul M, and Lynch M illustrate that mobile

learning or M-learning as it has come to be known is a new tool in the

academic store to assist students and teachers in the learning world. The

authors assess the challenges, possible methods and potential of using M-

learning in a college classroom. The article further discusses an empirical

evaluation on the effectiveness of M-learning in a college classroom.

From the research carried out those students who used M-learning tool

demonstrated higher levels of knowledge on the subject covered as compared

to students who did not use the tool. This results support the notion that use of

mobile learning makes a positive and significant difference in the outcome

performance of students. The main obstacle of M-learning is that it heavily

relies on students owning the necessary hardware

THE USE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES TO SUPPORT LEARNING IN LARGE CAMPUS UNIVERSITY CLASSES

The research paper by Oliver, R. seeks to show the advantages of using

mobile and wireless technologies in large classes. The authors approach

is; technology facilitated learning: technology is an affordable way of

providing meaningful learning for learners and it provides appropriate

learning support. The focus is on mobile learning and how it distinguishes

itself from the conventional forms of E-learning. There being a growing

number of devices that can be used for mobile learning, the authors aim is

to show how these devices can provide opportunities to enhance learning.

EXAMPLES OF TYPES OF LEARNING THAT INVOLVE DEVICES

Mobile devices can be employed into E-learning through numerous ways.

While different teachers have different styles and conceptions of teaching, they

can also have diverse ways of utilizing mobile devices. Mobile devices can be

used in education to support the transmission and delivery of strong multimedia

material (Traxler, 2007). A teacher can post a video for the students to watch on

their own time for homework on their mobile device. Other teachers may use

mobile devices as a way of discussion via text or possibly real-time dialogue.

Web 2.0 has also been used to improve learning. For example, students may text

their reaction and opinion to an online article that the teacher chose for

discussion.

CONCLUSION

It is indisputable that technology affects our lives in more than one

way. Technological advancement is known to bring in changes that

maybe positive or negative, but many are the times that technology has

resulted in positive change. As illustrated in this paper the adoption of M-

learning is set to bring in positive change in the delivery of education.

Either from the various researches that have been carried out, those who

adopt M learning have performed better or had an easy time teaching or

learning.

REFERENCES El-Hussein, M. O. M. & Cronje, J. C. (2010). Defining mobile learning in

the higher education landscape. Educational technology and society, 13(3), 12-21.

Grane, M., Olmedo, K., Crescenzi, L., & Suarez, R. (2010). Using mobile devices

in E-learning programs.

Herrington, J., Herrington, A., Mantei, A., Olney, I.W., & Ferry, B. (2009). New

technologies, new pedagogies: Mobile learning in higher education. Faculty of

Education, University of Wollongong.

McCarty, S. (2005) Spoken Internet to Go: Popularization through Podcasting.

Jalt Call Journal, 1(2): 67-74.

. Mcconatha, D., Praul, M., & Lynch, M. (2008). Mobile learning

in higher education: an empirical assessment of a new educational tool.

The Turkish online journal of educational technology, 7(3).

Salomon, G. (1991). Partners in cognition: Extending human intelligence with

intelligent technologies. Educational Researcher, 20(3), 2-9.

Traxler, J. (2007). Current state of mobile learning. International Review

on Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(2).

Oliver, R. (2007).Using mobile technologies to support learning in large campus

university classes. In ICT: providing choices for learners and learning: Proceedings

of ASCILITE Singapore. 788-798. Retrieved December 1, 2012 from

Research Online Database.