Project Brief

Mobile Learning Devices Pilot Project

Strategic project, 2012-2013

 

Presented by Matthew Riddle

 

Summary

The Mobile Learning Devices Pilot Project aims to support mobile learning opportunities for students in the Faculty in order to improve access to educational resources that are affordable and timely. The project upholds the principles of sustainability, equity and the thorough integration of educational purposes in using up to date mobile technologies.

 

Project Aims

The Mobile Learning Devices Project aims:

·      To evaluate tablet devices for use by lecturers and students in the CFYC in the Faculty.

·      To assist the Faculty to integrate mobile learning devices in a planned way into the student learning experience.

 

Background

The Faculty Mobile Learning Devices Pilot Project is in keeping with the University's new mobile learning policy (currently before Learning Spaces and Technology Committee) which has been designed to support students to use mobile technologies for learning. Equity, sustainability and support for the idea of open educational resources are all key ideas that are being advocated. 

 

Providing students with tablet devices would be an opportunity for the Faculty to support these principles in a way that would market our programs in the new competitive environment. It would be something that could set us apart, if we can move quickly enough, and give us the "value-added" proposition for students that the Executive Dean is encouraging the Faculty to develop.

 

Stages 1 and 2 (2012/13) of the project have so far been supported. These stages involve the evaluation of a trial roll out of a small number of devices for testing by staff and students in the common first year core, supported by Faculty staff.

 

Stages 1 and 2 of the project will be coordinated by a Mobile Learning Coordinator (to be appointed) under the supervision of Matthew Riddle, Senior Lecturer (Academic Development).  It will be informed by the 'Open Educational Resources for tablet devices' which is being supported by CTLC innovations funding (led by Matthew Riddle and Dr Nauman Saeed, Faculty eLearning Designer).

 

Stage 3 (yet to be funded) would be a one-to-one roll out of devices in the Faculty’s common first year core due for first time roll-out in Semester 2 of 2013 or Semester 1 of 2014 and is contingent upon: the adoption of the University's mobile learning policy; the satisfactory evaluation of Stages 1 and 2; securing appropriate discounts and sponsorship to reduce the financial impost on the Faculty and University, and of course securing appropriate funding and support.

 

 

Key Drivers

Supporting World Ready Graduates

Professional workplaces are changing.  Flexible work is becoming the norm for many businesses, and there is a move towards 'bring your own device'. Tablet devices and other mobile devices are increasingly the key technology of the professional mobile office. Students need to be prepared for this flexible work arrangement, and mobile learning devices key to this.

 

Pedagogy: Supporting Active Learning

A brand new Common First Year Core will be rolled out across all business degrees in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law starting in 2013.  The four foundational subjects will be built around the idea of active learning, moving away from large lectures and towards smaller 'sections' of 55-60 students, who will work in EBL and PBL modes using appropriate technologies. This approach is less content focused and more student-centred,

 

Enriching the Student Experience

The university experience is far greater than attending classes, submitting assignments and sitting exams.  Mobile devices represent an opportunity to improve the student experience with better access to information about university life, including societies, activities, social networking, timetabling, academic skills, mentor programs and the like.  Some universities are leveraging tablet device programs to create apps, podcasts, and content formatted for mobile devices to allow their students to carry the university around with them wherever they go.

 

Student Engagement

The typical undergraduate in 2012 divides their time between home, workplace and campus. For the last decade, changing workplace patterns and attitudes to study have been noted among key contributors to student disengagement (McInnis, 2002).  Mobile learning devices offer an opportunity for students to connect with peers, teaching staff and academic support staff while on the move.

 

Remaining Competitive

By June 2011, 32 universities worldwide had commenced tablet devices projects using iPads (Murphy, 2011). These include one-to-one roll outs at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Adelaide in Semester 1 2011 and University of Melbourne's Trinity College in Semester 2 2011.  In addition, student expectations regarding networked learning must be taken into account (Goodyear et. al. 2005). High profile primary and secondary schools in Australia are rolling out large mobile learning device projects, for example Xavier College and Melbourne High School. First year students arriving in 2017 will be arriving at La Trobe expecting good integration of mobile learning technologies into the curriculum, and we need to be well equipped for this.

 

Technological change

Computers aren't what they used to be.  IDC forecasts that there will be over 222 million tablet shipments in 2016 (up from 19.4 million in 2010). Adobe now predicts that tablet device shipments will outpace laptop shipments over the next few years. Higher education studies such as ECAR showed a take up of smart phones among students that mirrored the take up in business with only a short lag time.

 

It is inevitable that our students will be bringing tablet devices on campus whether we plan for this change or not within the 2013-15 time frame. With the release of new generations of moble learning devices, students will begin to acquire cheaper and second hand devices. Touch and haptic interfaces, and immersive, rich learning experiences making use of augmented and virtual reality are already being developed and mobile learning devices are a vanguard of these technologies.

 

Open Educational Resources (OERs)

OERs provide flexibility and adaptability including up-to-date information and can be combined with use of traditional published materials. Incorporating OER into a flexible, mobile learning environment will help keep textbook costs to a minimum for students, while at the same time avoiding the need to transfer those costs to the faculty. The collaborative nature of OER will allow teaching staff to adapt materials to suit the needs of their course and their students, and do so with ease.

 

The quality of OER materials available is increasing, with a peer-review community developing to ensure the credibility of the resources. As the movement grows, so too does the number of renowned universities developing OER libraries to share with the world.

 

 

 

 

Evaluation Criteria

 

·      Durability

·      Reliability

·      Battery life

·      Weight of device

·      Ease of use, in particular:

o   In lecture theatres

o   End-user usability

·      Content, in particular:

o   Receiving

o   Creating

o   Sharing

o   Presenting

·      Personal organiser functions, in particular:

o   Email

o   Calendar

·      Enhancing the student experience

·      Features and applications, in particular:

o   E-books

o   Application relevance – application availability

·      Reduced paper usage

·      Cost

·      Software costs

·      Start up speed

·      Operating system

·      Camera

·      Screen size & resolution

·      Device management

·      Application distribution

·      Cellular internet

 

 

 

 

Related Projects

 

OpenTab, La Trobe University.  CLTC Innovations project led by Matthew Riddle and Dr Nauman Saeed on the use of open educational resources on tablet devices.

 

Step Forward iPad Pilot Project, Trinity College, University of Melbourne.  One to one roll out in August 2011: “iPads are effective, durable, reliable and achieve their educational aims of going further, faster and with more fun”.  (Jennings et. al, 2011).

 

CEDH iPad Initiative, University of Minnesota. One to one Faculty based project, 27 academics participated, 450 iPads in 2010, 500+ in 2011.. Decreased the “digital 
divide”, positive outcomes including  for media creation, personal productivity and information literacy. (Wagoner et. al, 2012)

 

The iPad Experiment, Faculty of Sciences, Adelaide University. One to one Faculty based project, 1800 iPads over 2 years.  iPads used mainly as personal learning tools. Student retention went from 73% to 89%.

 

Business Schools with iPad projects:

·      Rutgers (Mini-MBA), USA

·      HULT International Business School, USA, Saudi Arabia, China

·      ERA Business School, Indonesia

·      IMD Business School, Switzerland (MBA)

·      Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Netherlands

 

 

Universities with iPad Programs (adapted from Murphy, 2011)

·      Rutgers University

·      Georgia State University

·      University of Kentucky

·      University of Maryland

·      Abilene Christian University

·      University of Melbourne

·      University of Southern California

·      Seton Hill University

·      University of Notre Dame

·      Buena Vista University

·      Scottsdale Comm. College

·      Indiana University

·      Northern Arizona University


·      National University of Singapore

·      UC San Diego

·      Nyenrode Business Universiteit

·      Cumberland University


·      Long Island University

·      University of Houston (Valenti)


·      Stanford University (Med)


·      University of Adelaide


·      University of Minnesota

·      Oklahoma State University

·      University of California


·      University of Houston


·      Virginia Tech (Pamplin)


·      Northern University of Kentucky

·      University of Pennsylvania (Wh
arton

·      NYU (Stern)

·      Hult International Business School

·      Georgetown University


·      Illinois Institute of Technology

·      Duke University

·      Briar Cliff University

·      George Fox University


·      Arizona Christian University

 

 

 

 

Project Steering Committee

Matthew Riddle (Chair)

Assoc Prof Claire Macken, CTLC

Sophie Marsland, FBEL FYE Coordinator

Kylie Savage, ICT

 

 

Project Team

Matthew Riddle (Project Lead)

Dr Nauman Saeed, FBEL E-Learning Designer

Annabel Orchard (MLD Project Coordinator)

Dr John Hannon (CTLC, TBC)

 

 

References and Further Reading

Goodyear, P., Jones, C., Asensio, M., Hodgson, V., & Steeples, C. (2005). Networked Learning in Higher Education: Students’ Expectations and Experiences. Higher Education, Vol. 50, pp: 473–508.

 

Murphy, G. (2011). ‘Post-PC devices: A summary of early iPad technology adoption in tertiary environments’, Journal of Business Education & Scholarship of Teaching, Vol. 5, Iss. 1, 2011, pp: 18-32.

 

McInnis, C. (2002), ‘Signs of Disengagement? Responding to the Changing Work and Study Patterns of Full Time Undergraduates in Australian Universities’, in J. Enders and O. Fulton Eds., Higher Education in a Globalising World: A festschrift in honour of Ulrich Teichler, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic: pp. 175-188.

 

Jennings, G., Anderson, T., Dorset, M., & Mitchell, J. (2011). Report on the Step Forward iPad Pilot Project, 1–18. Available at: http://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/Media/docs/iPadPilotReport2011-1b1e1a52-79af-4c76-b5b6-e45f92f2c9e9-0.pdf

 

Wagoner, T., Hoover, S., & Ernst, D. (2012). CEHD iPad Initiative, 1–8. Available at: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/Mobile/PDF/CEHDiPadReport.pdf

 

Chester, T. M., 2010. ‘CIO Predicament: What To Do About the iPad’, Campus Technology. Available at: http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/05/05/cio-predicament-what-to-do-about-the-ipad.aspx