This morning I had the pleasure of being part of a select, but very international, group discussing the parameters of research into mobile learning. This session was led by world renowned mobile learning Professor John Traxler from the University of Wolverhampton in the UK.
The breadth of interest in mobile learning extends far beyond the formal school setting, as witnessed by the backgrounds of the participants in the room. Here’s where they were from:
Canada: Working with QR codes, video creation by aboriginal students delivered on mobile devices, mobile learning in art galleries
Oxford, UK: Mobile devices and value adding applications for teaching Japanese students English
Turkey: PhD in mobile learning
University of Brighton, UK: research project on mobile learning interface design
Denmark: mobile phones as learning devices in primary and secondary schools, students using their own phones, problem with students all having different devices
Barcelona, Spain: assessing skills of trainee physicians using mobile devices
Trinidad: research for reactions to mobile learning for mathematics, game based mobile learning, application building for secondary students
Toronto, Canada: working with adults, 1. measure satisfaction of 6 month trial using mobile devices for language learning on devices provided; 2. design mobile learning objects for student owned mobile devices over 15 weeks, multi-disciplinary, cross platform, researching what kinds of mobile devices students are using, researching design principles, too many variables?
Canada, Memorial University: designing Apps for the iPhone for an anniversary exhibit, GPS interactivity with the outdoor exhibit spread over 4 blocks, informal setting
Jersey City USA: Science centre, use of mobile devices to interact with science exhibits, PhD research in this field, research with 10 – 18 year old students
Washington DC: research in teaching and learning using GPS functionality on the iPhone in teaching earth science, observational inquiry, based on web database system, video analysis
Whereas I don’t intend to make this post into a PhD on mobile research, here are some salient points that were made:
A stable, uniform, realistic technology builds a strong base for research.
Mobile learning questions asked are ‘answered’ in terms of the background of the researcher: Eg, educational, computer science, sociology
Pilots: preparatory phase is important
There is no substantial history of mobile learning.
Social distance between the researcher and the research subject can dictate what will be said; front of stage, backstage: What you will say to your peers is different to how you might respond to a researcher.
Why am I doing research?? Answer this question clearly.
Educators should be doing mobile learning research as it is part of the changed learning landscape, it should inform educational practice.
What is the motivation for research: publication, funding, changed practice??
How is your research disseminated: clarify this.
Research needs to be credible: Consider - Objective vs Subjective, Scale of research, Constraints of costs and resources
Define your concept of ‘What is mobile learning?’ Eg: Using a mobile device, connectivity
People working in eLearning have had 20 years to place theories and research over a stable environment
Will there be a convergent device that will resolve all mobile learning issue in the same way a PC is a long term, world standard technology?
Evaluation of Research Components:
- Focus groups
- Interviews
- Questionnaires
- Observation
- System logs
- Use several techniques and triangulate the results
- External evaluators
- Use words such as reliability and confidence in reference to the data
- Sample size must be substantial
- Refer to pilots
- Avoid ‘cherry picking’ of quotes
- Time scale should be substantial – avoid Hawthorne effect
Research Ethics
Informed consent should be sought from participants.
Reconciling the discrepancy between some people being involved in the research that are salaried university professors , or marketing a product and the subjects of the research who are unpaid individuals.
By: Jonathan Nalder on October 27, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Nice summary and a great opportunity Louise! Very useful in fact as I’m thinking about starting a PhD in this area in 2010… Ta.
By: DARLENE on April 27, 2010 at 11:57 am
Hello Louise,
I have just come across your page and I’m just wondering if you had any aboriginal (indigenous) people in your course. I am doing my PhD at UTS, Sydney Australia and I’m in the middle of writing a paper for a New Zealand conference, June 2010, on Indigenous Knowledges, Ethics & mLearning.
By: louiseduncan on April 28, 2010 at 12:07 am
Hi Darlene,
We certainly have many indigenous students at our school, some have been and currently are involved in the program. Please let me know if there is anything else you would like to know.