Tony Tin, Colin Elliott & Tracey Woodburn

Athabasca University’s Innovation in Mobile and Flexible Learning: From M-Library to Mobile ESL

Athabasca University http://www.athabascau.ca .

Canada’s Open University

Location: Athabasca, Alberta, Canada

More than 32,000 students

Mandate: Remove barriers for students

Leader in M-learning and M-library Research

Why advocate mobile & flexible learning at AU?

AU students study from a distance Quick and efficient access Affordablility/portablility Novelty of gadget/display Allows individualization & self-pace

learning for students with busy lives Supports those with special needs

What is a mobile library?

The idea of a mobile library is to provide learners with access to the university library and to course resources using mobile devices

Special Features

Desktop: http://library.athabascau.ca Mobile friendly AU Library site: Supported

device: PDA, Palmtop, Blackberry, IPAQ, Smart phones, iPhones

The site includes mobile friendly: Digital Reading Room Digital Reference Centre Digital Thesis & Project Room Library catalogue Search engine

Recipient of 2006 CLA Library Research and Development Grant award

Model adopted by UK Open University

Special Features (ctd)

Auto-detect and reformat Learning object reuse Easy web maintain/update Multimedia file support iPodcasting Wireless library catalogue Search Mobile content conversion on the fly

M-library Design/Technology

From Mobile Library to Mobile Content: Mobile ESL Project

http://eslau.ca

Overview of Project

Develop and test innovative approaches to ESL learning using mobile devices and a variety of testing and practice methods

Based on best selling Penguin series 80 lessons and related interactive e

xercises Repurposed for Canadian content Downloadable in .doc or .pdf format

Student Feedback

Students indicated that the a good use of mobile technology for ESL would be whenever they have a few spare minutes

One concern expressed was the cost of Internet access

Reported positive experience with the ESL grammar course and the use of mobile technology in learning ESL grammar

Results

CBC News Coverage

Honorable Mention at the 2008 CNIE Conference for Innovative use of technologies to support E-learning

Building on the Success of the Mobile ESL Project: Mobile Workplace English (WPE)

Provide mobile and iPhone friendly, interactive, English grammar lessons containing practical, workplace specific vocabulary and content

What is WPE? -Content

86 units with 155 interactive, multimedia (audio and video) exercises

Vocabulary from 8 different workplace situations:

Health and Wellness Trades and LabourUtilities-Oil/Gas/Mining Food Services and RestaurantsRetail and Sales Administration and ClericalHospitality and Tourism Banking and Personal Finance

http://wpeau.ca

Interactive Exercises

There are 4 types of interactive questions:

Interactive Exercises II

Multimedia (Audio) Exercises

Five styles of interactive audio exercises

1) Audio Vocabulary list (Health and Wellness Vocabulary)

2) Audio dialogue followed by text questions (Ex. 20.2)

3) Multiple Choice - audio sentence then choose text answer (Ex. 28.1)

4) Multiple Choice - read text then choose audio answer (Ex. 38.3)

5) Audio lesson (Unit 51)

Multimedia (Video & map) Exercise

Unit 9 Ex. 9.3 A short scene between a medic and an injured worker followed by text

questions (01:53)

Unit 74 Ex. 74.1 Look at a map of a city for a lesson about directions in a town or city

Video

Future Directions

Support different languages (Chinese, French)

Add more audio/video content Link to Mobile Friendly Open Access

materials Translations, Dictionary definitions

Voice recognition New Google iPhone app

Food for Thought

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have these devices built into you and powered by your body”

-Martin Cooper inventor of the cellphone

Further Information

Website: Mobile Library:http://library.athabascau.ca/Mobile ESLhttp://eslau.caMobile Workplace Englishhttp://wpeau.ca Publications:

M-libraries: libraries on the move to provide virtual access