Learning Scenarios

The best way to understand what m-learning could be for different learners in different contexts is by considering some scenarios.

In some cases m-learning is independent, 'anytime, anywhere' learning for learners to use with their own mobile phone:

" I am bored and waiting for a bus. I am taking my driving theory test in a week and am a bit nervous about it, so I load a game onto my phone that lets me practise 'quiz'-style questions while I wait. "

"I see a poster on a wall challenging me to improve my maths. I try the questions, text my answers to the number at the bottom, and get an instant assessment (with details of who to contact if I need help). "

"I am studying a foreign language. To practise listening, I call up a phone number that simulates various dialogues with me (e.g. buying a bus ticket) and gives me feedback on my understanding or even on my pronunciation! "

Other scenarios demand higher end phones that an employer or training provider might provide for individual or collaborative learning:

" I involve my class in a mobile group activity. I send them around town in pairs with a map highlighting places with some relevance for local history, and a series of questions. As they find the answers to the questions, they take photos of the solutions and send them via MMS. All the pictures and texts are automatically collected onto a web site, so that when they return they compare their answers, and develop the web site into a multimedia presentation about local history. "

" I am a trainee care assistant with literacy problems but little motivation to do anything about them. As part of a technology trial I am lent a PDA-phone with a collection of learning materials matched to my needs, but designed for the small screen: bright, brief, light-hearted, loud. I get to keep the PDA-phone for a couple of weeks, and in the process I'm learning to write and draw on it, as well as surfing the Web and taking photos! "

In fact, there are a huge number of possibilities for these PDA-phones, such as sharing pictures or documents, collaborative game-playing, reading, writing and numeracy activities.

All of these examples are real. They have happened across Europe as part of the m-learning project. They are happening as parts of other funded initiatives as well as in commercial training organisations. We are using the seductive power of these new technologies to inspire learners who are not motivated by traditional learning, or whose learning can be enhanced by the introduction of m-learning into the mix. Research and development has continued for the last four years, and many learners have already been trying out these approaches and contributing to their development.

Learning Scenarios

Interactive demo

XDA 2

P800 and P900

Video clips