User:Sharplem/Mobile Learning

There is no single accepted definition of M-learning, or "mobile learning", now commonly abreviated to "mLearning". It has different meanings for different communities. The term covers:
 * learning with portable technologies, where the focus is on the technology (which could be in a fixed location, such as a classroom);
 * learning across contexts, where the focus is on the mobility of the learner, interacting with portable or fixed technology;
 * learning in a mobile society, with a focus on how society and its institutions can accommodate and support the learning of an increasingly mobile population.

Although it is related to e-learning and distance education it is distinct in its focus on learning across contexts and learning with mobile devices. One definition is: Learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, pre-determined location, or takes advantage of learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies.

History
The development of a mobile computer for learners began in the early 1970’s with the Dynabook project from the Learning Research Group at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. The field of mobile learning grew rapidly in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the US Palm Education Pioneers project and the MOBIlearn and M-Learning projects funded by the European Commission.

Growth
Over the past ten years mobile learning has grown from a minor research interest to a set of significant projects in schools, workplaces, museums, cities and rural areas around the world. The mobile learning or ‘mLearning’ community is still fragmented, with different national perspectives, differences between academia and industry, and between the school, higher education and lifelong learning sectors.

Current areas of growth include:


 * Location-based and contextual learning
 * Design of physical spaces (including campuses, conferences, hotel lobbies, cities) to support learning with a mixture of mobile and fixed technologies
 * Social-networked mobile learning
 * Mobile educational gaming

Scope
The scope of mobile learning includes:


 * Children and students using handheld computers, PDAs or handheld voting systems in a classroom or lecture room.


 * On the job training for someone who accesses training on a mobile device "just in time" to solve a problem or gain an update.


 * Learning in museums or galleries with handheld or wearable technologies


 * Learning outdoors, for example on field trips.


 * The use of personal technology to support informal or lifelong learning, such as using handheld dictionaries and other devices for language learning.

Challenges
Technical challenges include:


 * Connectivity
 * Battery life
 * Interacting with small devices
 * Displaying useful content in small-screen devices

Social and educational challenges include:


 * The intrusion of formal education into daily life: Protecting the privacy of young learners, from being continually monitored and assessed through their mobile devices.
 * How to assess learning outside the classroom
 * How to support learning across many contexts
 * Developing an appropriate theory of learning for the mobile age
 * Design of technology to support a lifetime of learning

Technologies
Most personal technologies can support mobile learning, including
 * PDA, in the classroom and outdoors
 * tablet pc
 * Handheld voting system
 * Graphing calculator
 * mobile phone, camera phone and SmartPhone
 * Personal audio player, e.g. for listening to audio recordings of lectures
 * Handheld audio and multimedia guides, in museums and galleries

Mobile Learning Conferences and Events

 * mLearn
 * Handheld Learning
 * IADIS Mobile Learning
 * WMUTE