Mobile English language learning for

disadvantaged urban youth in Dharavi, Mumbai  

Perspectives from the field

Laura Hakimi, Department of Education, University of Oxford

Mobiles in India

  Approximately 1 billion mobile subscriptions (ITU 2012)

  Fierce competition between mobile providers means low prices for consumers

  Ethnographic studies emphasise integral role of mobiles in society in urban slum areas, particularly for young people (eg. Rangaswamy et al. 2010)

The potential of mobiles for learning

  Means to disseminate information and acquire knowledge

  Means to reduce social exclusion and increase participation of marginalised communities

  Flexible, interactive platform for educational resources

  Large number of projects exploring this potential in developing world.

An emerging research field

  Mobile learning is still in its infancy and models of best practice are, in many cases, foggy abstractions of potential and promise (UNESCO 2013)

  Reluctance to admit failure

  Many projects - despite optimistic beginnings - never move out of the pilot phase and disappear when initial funding money is exhausted. (UNESCO 2013)

  Sustainability: The extent to which an initiative can continue without ongoing external inputs (Kumar 2005; Harris et al. 2004)

Why Dharavi?

  Largest slum in Asia (a dubious title) (Sharma 2000)

  Lack of education and secure

employment opportunities (ILO 2005)

  English language and ICT identified as key skills for access to employment, education and

training (Graddol 2010)

  Access via local NGO English language program

Youth Empowerment Programme

  Three target groups: women, jobseekers, and school dropouts

  3.5 month courses run 6 days per week

  Spoken English language and ICT classes

  English classes follow ‘English for Employability’ curriculum

Research questions

To what extent does the use of a mobile learning resource provide a sustainable means of enhancing the learning of young adult participants in an English language program in Dharavi, Mumbai?

  How do the students use the mobile learning resource provided to

them to support their learning of English language? 

  What are the key drivers for and barriers to using a mobile learning resource to support English language learning in this

setting? How might any barriers be overcome?

Mobile resources

•  Series of activities aligned to the NGO’s existing class curriculum

•  Standalone resources stored on microSD card for offline learning

•  Java and Android compatibility

•  Installed on learners’ own handsets where possible

Methodology: Action research

“The systematic study of attempts to change and improve practice by groups of participants by means of their own actions and by means of their own reflection upon the effects of those actions” (Ebbutt 1985:156)

•  Cyclical approach: Action, data collection, reflection

•  The point of action research is to find more sustainable (less unsustainable) ways of acting (McTaggart 2004)

Preliminary observations

  Evidence of regular (often daily) use of mobile resources in alignment with classroom curriculum.

  Extensive sharing of resources with family members, neighbours and friends.

  Challenge in demonstrating definitive impact on students’ English language skills.

  Unfamiliarity with technology presents technical and social problems for some learners.

  Rapidly changing landscape in terms of the technology that is

available, affordable, and desirable.

  Challenge of managing expectations of students, teachers, NGO representatives, technical partner and researcher.

External validity?

“While this data is inherently specific to the research setting, it does hold a degree of external validity, since the theory developed can be interpreted and refined by

others in other real-world situations.”

(Avison et al. 2008)

References

  Ebbutt, D. (1985) Educational Action research: some general concerns and specific quibbles, in: Burgess, R. (ed.) Issues in Educational Research: qualitative methods. Lewes, Falmer.

  Graddol, G. (2010) English Next India. British Council 2010.

  Harris, R. (2004). Information and communication technologies for poverty alleviation, the United Nations Development Programme’s Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme.

  ITU (2012) ITU data release 2012: Key statistical highlights. Available at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/material/pdf/2011%20Statistical%20highlights_June_2012.pdf

  Kumar R. (2005) eChoupals: A Study on the Financial Sustainability of Village Internet Centers In Rural Madhya Pradesh, Information Technologies and International Development, 2(1), pp. 45-73.

  McTaggart, R, (1994) Participatory Action Research: Issues in Theory and Practice. Educational Action Research 2:3 313-337

  Rangaswamy, N. and Nair, S., (2010). The Mobile Phone Store Ecology in a Mumbai Slum Community: Hybrid Networks for Enterprise. Information Technologies International Development, 6:3 51-65

  Sharma, K. (2000), Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia’s Largest Slum. New Delhi: Penguin Books.

  UNESCO (2012) UNESCO Mobile Learning Week Symposium Report. UNESCO 2013.

  Woodill, G. (2011) The Mobile Learning Edge: Tools and Technologies for Developing Your Teams (McGraw-Hill, New York)

Any questions?

  Laura Hakimi

  DPhil Candidate

  Department of Education

  University of Oxford

  laura.hakimi@education.ox.ac.uk