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In our last issue, Alice Barlow-Zambodla provided an overview
of projects using mobile technologies in Africa in a desk-top research
project for the Commonwealth of Learning. This follow-up article
focuses more specifically on two case studies and challenges for
mobile technology projects in a developing world context.
Initial findings indicate that there is potential for using mobile
phones in educational programmesin the African context, and in particular
in providing learner support.
Dunia Moja Project
In the recently initiated Dunia Moja Project under- and post-graduate
students based at three Universities in Africa collaborate via cell-phone
with students at Stanford University. The students can watch or
listen to presentations loaded on their mobile phones. They have
sophisticated mobile smart phones donated by Sony Ericsson with
video cameras, audio recorders and Internet capability. This enables
the students to:
- Access a moblog which is an online interface which sends postings
to mobile phones.
- Text, send images and make phone calls whilst class is in session
and issues can be debated through the Internet.
- Communicate with leading experts in different countries.
- Share course materials, exchange information, contribute course
content and help design collaborative activities.
Whilst this is a very exciting initiative, it raises questions
of sustainability and scalability as it uses a wide variety of strategies
and technologies that would probably prove to be very costly to
implement in a developing country context unless heavily financially
and technologically supported.
University of Pretoria
At the University of Pretoria mobile phones are being used
to provide asynchronous academic support in the form of: questions
via SMS with feedback; phone in to listen to mini lectures using
interactive voice response technology; interactive multiple choice
quizzes; directing to specific resources for specific tasks via
SMS. These SMSes are classified as:
- Academic – instructional
- Academic – interactive
- Student questions – interactive
- IVR – mini lectures
- Lecturer response - instructional
Viljoen,
du Preez and Cook from the University of Pretoria are of the
opinion that the successful use of technology to support student
learning depends equally and critically on the ability of their
educators to design and develop didactically sound m-learning opportunities
and environments using mobile technology
Other Examples of Mobile Phone Support
A variety of simpler technology strategies (some that combine
different technologies) are being used that involve enhancing communication
between learners and teachers who are geographically separated.
The types of communication vary from simply sending and receiving
of academic or administrative information, to providing mediated
academic support e.g. for completion of homework or providing pointers
to useful information, helping to pace or motivate a student etc.
Such communicative support has been reported as being successful
in helping support and direct students so that they persist and
complete assigned tasks.
Limitations
The technology used in the projects that were reviewed seem to consist
mainly of one of three types of mobile phone:
- Basic mobile phone requirement (no connectivity)
- Basic mobile phone Java or GPRS enabled (with connectivity)
- Mobile phone with Blue tooth capability (ability to transfer
information between two phones near each other)
The phone capabilities impact on the way they can be used to provide
support with the more sophisticated phones being able to offer more
but are substantially more expensive. As very few young people have
access to more sophisticated phones this means that in under-resourced
situations many services offered by interventions are limited by
the phone capabilities.
In some of the projects investigated the phones are linked to other
technologies such as computers and servers, as well as relevant
mobile phone software. However, there are related challenges such
as:
- Issues of compatibility between the different types of technology
as well as the different software formats and platforms,
- Network connectivity and down-time. In many rural areas mobile
phone networks and electricity are variable creating difficulties
in that there is no consistency in such services. This can impact
negatively on delivery of student support services using mobile
technology and needs to be taken into consideration when planning
such interventions.
Further limitations as to what can be achieved using a mobile
phone are due to its small screen and level of capabilities. Most
projects investigated involved using mobile phones to support learning
of Maths. This is probably because the set-up of such a phone lends
itself more easily to a Maths exercise than it might for a Biology
or History essay. However it is clear that in whatever way the phones
are used, information can only be passed on in small packets.
Research and Evaluation
Available information on research and evaluation of mobile
technology interventions is rather limited at present with the exception
of initiatives like that at the University of Pretoria. This is
probably because many interventions are still in their early developmental
stages and have not progressed far enough to warrant an evaluation.
Further more some projects are difficult to evaluate because they
are virtual and/or have a security component to protect young learners
and so cannot be easily tracked. There is a definite need for more
in-depth research to gain further understanding of the potential
use of mobile technology
There is also no clear information regarding costs and benefits
associated with the running of the different initiatives. However,
most projects that have been able to scale-up are supported through
Public Private Partnerships. It is imperative that more long-term
research be carried out to further understand the actual cost implications
as this has an impact on project viability and sustainability.
Traxler
(2005) summarises the situation quite succinctly by saying:
“Current projects in wireless and mobile learning are mainly ‘first-generation’,
meaning that their focus is frequently on making the various technologies
work, ensuring learning happens and satisfying funding conditions.
These projects do not usually address issues of scale, embedding
or quality, and technical challenges often squeeze the time and
resource available for evaluation. Consequently identifying explicit
and objective improvements or costs can be problematic.”
The University of Pretoria and the MRSI ‘models’ do
have components that would be relevant in designing an educational
programme. Other initiatives such as BridgeIT also need to be further
investigated as they seem to have been very successful and scalable.
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