learning about learning….

Introduction
With the boom in the mobile device industry, opportunities abound for us to make use of these devices to support learning. Mobile learning (m-Learning) may be simply described as e-Learning on a mobile device, combining mobile computing and e-Leaning. Mobile devices are not restricted to just cell phones or PDAs. Sony PSP and tablet PCs also belong to this broad category of mobile devices.

Why Mobile Learning
Before we plunge headlong into any design and development work for m-learning, the first question we need to ask is ‘ Why do we want to implement m-Learning?’. In other words, the objectives to be achieved by the m-Learning initiative need to be clearly established. In addition, mobile devices have different size and capability limitations. Some browsers are able to resize the fonts, support zooming while others ignore style sheets. Thus, a general rule is to keep it clean and simple in the design of content for mobile devices.

Design considerations

1. Create content using smaller chunks for text

This is to facilitate learners to grab relevant information quickly while they are no the go. Each chunk or several of this chunk should be written to the point, conveying the most important information. They should also be a complete standalone or as a group so that learners will not be burdened with the unnecessary cognitive load of trying to recall earlier related content.

2. Create meaningful sub-headings

The other implication for content writing is the use of meaningful sub-headings. The collection of meaningful subheadings for each topic will in fact provide learners with a fairly good idea of what the topic is all about. Cute and irrelevant subheadings must be avoided.

3. Avoid overloading cognitive resources

According to Lauren Resnick, “Cognitive load theory suggests that effective instructional material facilitates learning by directing cognitive resources toward activities that are relevant to learning rather than toward preliminaries to learning.

4. Use of audio

Since the display real-estate is a constraint, we may consider using audio instead of texts. This will free-up room for other types of content (text and graphics). The other benefit is that it adds a human touch to learning as well! This approach can also be used for complex content. The main points are captured on screen as a reference for learners.

5. Observing the redundancy principle

This principle calls for the eliminating of redundant information in various formats simultaneously. For instance, there is not much value in having both text and narration if the narration simply reads back the exact text that is shown on the screen.

Technical considerations
In addition to the pedagogical requirements to be satisfied, we also need to have a good understanding of the current technical constraints and be aware of evolving technologies.

Multimedia support

None of the currently available mobile devices support
multimedia that is part of Web pages. This means
that content requiring plug-ins such as Flash, PDF,
Java, and most movie formats do not work across platforms.
The movies that are becoming popular on iPod
require a proprietary movie application, separate from
the browser. This means that we should avoiding rich media or multimedia, at least for now.

Have good contrast between foreground and background

It is usually a good idea to stick to graphics that are primarily black-and-white when using mobile devices, as it can be hard to predict how dark certain colors will turn out, and to avoid graphics with lots of curved lines. If you want to look at high-resolution images, save them for the desktop and reserve the handheld for less graphical information.

Use of pull-down menu

Not all mobile devices support pull-down menus. Thus, an alternative technique is required.

Texts in graphics

Do not include texts in graphics as the mobile browser may shrink graphics so that they fit on the small display size. This will also shrink the ext that is in the graphic, rendering it impossible to read.

With an increasing globalised workforce and the need to get one’s products to the market sooner, it is more important now to get employees up to speed in a shorter period of time. Mobile learning definitely has the potential to provide just-in-time training to help workers solve current workplace problems.
Additional information:

1. Most LMSs do not work in a mobile environment, since they create their environment in tools (AJAX and Rich Media) that do not work on.
2. Microsoft browsers have poor JavaScript support, do not support Flash, do not support zooming, and ignore style sheets
   (CSS). Although Windows Mobile 6 supports CSS,it does not provide any special handling for frames.
3. Minimo, a port of the Firefox (Mozilla) browser for Windows Mobile devices, is an alternative you might want to consider. The Minimo browser is available for Windows Mobile 5 and later. It is easy to install, and fully JavaScript enabled, which means that dynamic content works well. The Minimo browser is capable of
   performing decent zooming, and has good style sheet (CSS) support. Minimo is one of the best browsers available. The only downside is that you need to download and install it on the Windows Mobile platform – but it is free.
4. Symbian is the name of Nokia’s operating system that includes a browser. The browser is good, with reasonable JavaScript support, and provides excellent zooming.
5. Apple’s iPhone uses a proprietary operating system and the Safari browser. iPhone supports multimedia separately from the browser. Overall, this is an excellent platform since it has good screen size, good style sheet (CSS) and JavaScript support, and the touch screen makes it easy to use.
6. Palm’s operating system, called Garnet, includes a browser. The Garnet browser has poor style sheet (CSS) support, but it does a nice job with frames by putting them at the bottom of the page. It has weak support for dynamic HTML. Like Apple, Palm’s devices
   have touch screens to make navigation easier.
7. A 2007 study on mobile platform usage found that Symbian (used in Nokia phones) had 70% of the mobile OS market. Linux (used by multiple vendors such as Sharp and Samsung) had 15% of the mobile OS market. Research In Motion’s Blackberry had 5% of
   the mobile OS market, while Microsoft Windows Mobile and CE (used by Palm, Compaq, Samsung) had 5%. Since this study came out, new players including Apple (iPhone) and Android (Google’s operating system) have appeared. In many countries outside of the
   U.S., people use cell phones 100 times as often as desktop computers.

Source: Rosen, A. “Building Mobile e-Learning”, eLearning Guild (1 Dec 2008)

References:

Levert, G.l., “Designing for Mobile Learning: Clark and Mayer’s Principles Applied”, The eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions, 19 Jun 2006.
Clothier, P., “An Introduction to m-Learning: An Interview with Ellen Wagner”, The eLearning Developers’ Journal, 18 Jul 2005.