Enhancing student learning through Enhancing student learning through ubiquitous technologies – the case of UCTubiquitous technologies – the case of UCT ByByDick Ng’ambi, PhDDick Ng’ambi, PhD Annette Lombe Annette Lombe

WSU E-learning Conference November 3-4, 2009

OverviewOverview

• Introduction• Mobile landscape in SA context• Global literature on m-learning• Theoretical underpinning• Current practices• Web2.0 in SA context• Educational rationale for m-learning in SA

context• UCT case study & Observationso DFAQ o Podcasting

• Recommendations / Conclusion

SA ICT IndicatorsSA ICT Indicators

Indicator Per 100 inhabitants

Computers 8.25

Fixed telephone lines 8.91

Internet users 8.43

Broadband Internet subscribers

0.77

Mobile cellular subscriptions 90.60

Radio sets 24.24

TV sets 19.50

% population covered by mobile signal

99.79

ITU website

Note: These

statistics

focus on

devices /

tools and not

on what they

are used for

Mobile learningMobile learning

…learning on the move and learning in any location enabled by wireless technologies

…people can use odd bits of time

…computing to come to education instead of education going to the computer [education in right context]

Focus is not on a

device, but on a

learner; a learner on

a move or in non-

fixed locations but

enabled by handheld

devices

ACCOMPANIES STUDENTS 24/7CONNECTED 24/7STUDENT OWNED 100%

ON BUS TO / FRO CAMPUS

MINGLING / INFORMAL AREA

COMPUTER LAB

STUDY ROOM / LIBRARY / RESIDENCE

Learning resources / collective knowledge

Mobile landscape in SA contextMobile landscape in SA context

• Access to mobile phones among high school students in Cape Town is high (Kreutzer, 2007)

• Most common mobile devices among varsity students◦Mobile phones◦MP3 players• Why mobile phones?◦Cost; investing and maintaining◦Ease of use◦More robust

Global Literature on m-learning Global Literature on m-learning

• In both developed and developing countries, use of mobile technologies has been limited to social interaction• Limited uses for educational purposes is reported

• Why m-learning? ◦ Access to content in new ways

Re-packaging content in different formats Response to new forms of learning

◦ Communication infrastructure Convergence of wireless networks, Web services and

enterprise applications Emphasis is on HOW computing and telephony devices

SHARE and DISTRIBUTE content

Global Literature on m-Global Literature on m-learninglearning

◦Mobile phones connectivity vs non-connected devices

Desktop experience is extended through mobile learning (both connected / non-connected) Leveraging classroom activity/ interaction

Devices with no connectivity have not proved popular or sufficiently useful (FutureLab Handbook, 2006) MP3 players and iPods are used along side mobile

phones. Most mobile devices are not integrated into

institutional networks students and educators see no linkage between mobile

devices and learning Significant blurring of distinction between mobile

phones and data-centric handheld devices e.g. PDAs (Becta, 2004)

University Missouri, USA

NOT OWNED BY MOST OF OUR STUDENTS

OWNED BY NEARLY ALL OUR STUDENTS

21ST CENTURY STUDENTS

Theoretical underpinningTheoretical underpinningMobile devices are both media as well

as tools for human activityTo have a medium view of mobile

devices is to see them as being used for reaching understanding◦ Examples: education and social networking uses

To have a tool’s view of mobile devices is to see them as tools for human activity◦ Example: carrying it for immediate access to a

deluge of resources if needed, or in case of emergency

Medium view of technology

Tools view of technology

Mobile learning

Communication to achieve understanding e.g. consultation, learning, socialization, etc

Features / facilities of devices e.g. bluetooth, camera, MP3 player etc

Communication outcomes / goals

Empowerment & social inclusion

Current practicesCurrent practices There is a growing popularity of social

media among students Example: Peer to peer file sharing like DC++, Facebook, Hi5, MXit, MySpace

There is an increasing ownership of handheld devices by students Example: mobile phones, MP3 players, iPods

The value is derived when the popularity of social media is used on handheld devices owned by students, anytime and anywhere

The educational potential lies in exploiting students’ social practices of using social media on own mobile devices to achieve a learning task oriented towards learning

Web2.0 in SA contextWeb2.0 in SA context

• Internet and Web-based technologiesAccess is THE issue◦ Off campus access for most students is

problematic (Czerniewicz & Brown, 2009)◦ Of 159 1st year ‘digital strangers’

Computer based technologies• 58% never or hardly use email • 71% never or hardly use internet for social purposes• 52% no access to PC off campus• 32% access through public facility/third party

All own mobile phones• 72% use SMS often• 34% use MXit• 38% use mobile phone as only source of off campus

ICT access

RATHER THAN IGNORE THIS FACT, WE DECIDED TO EXPLOIT IT

Educational rationale for m-learning in SA Educational rationale for m-learning in SA

• Allow anywhere, anytime collaboration and learning◦Effects extend beyond the classroom

into the general learning environment (Alexander, 2006)

◦Provide access to learning resources as and when need arises

• Observed benefits (Hodgkinson-Williams & Ng'ambi, 2009)◦Enhance communication between

lecturers and students◦ Introduce anonymity, empowering shy

students◦ Improve course management◦Monitor student performance

UCT Case Study 1 UCT Case Study 1

• Dynamic Frequently Asked Questions (DFAQ) Tool◦ An anonymous consultation environment designed and

developed by the Centre for Educational Technology, UCT◦ Aimed at addressing segregated knowledge production in

diverse classes◦ DFAQ allows shy and less confident students to

anonymously SMS questions into a shared knowledge space visible to the rest of the class

◦ Members of class respond to questions anonymously, and the educators watch the space and responds as seen fit

◦ Responses are automatically SMSed back to the questioner

• Users also SMS to DFAQ to retrieve latest course notice

• An educator can post a class notice to a virtual notice board via SMS

ANONYMOUS KNOWLEDGE SHARING

ADDRESSING SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION

EMPOWERING SHY & LEARNERS WITH LOW SELF ESTEEM

EXTENDING CLASS INTERACTION BEYONG TIME/SPACE/DISTANCE LIMITATIONS

DFAQ ProjectDFAQ Project

Cases were DFAQ is usedCases were DFAQ is usedUndergraduate PostgraduateFilm & Media Information Systems Information

Technology in BusinessLaw Organizational

Psychology

Education Information Systems Information Technology

& Production Management

Organizational Psychology

Health SciencesNon-academic•Office of Discrimination & Harassment Office; anonymous facilitation of reporting of and advice/counseling on assault, rape & violence within the community•Research Ethics Committee; anonymous advice seeking

Hodgkinson-Williams & Ng'ambi, 2009

IS courses where DFAQ is usedINF1002

Introduction to ISINF1003

Programming

INF2009FSystem Dev A

INF2008FDatabase Systems

INF2011SSystem Dev B

INF2010SInfo & Comm Tech

INF3003WGroup Project

INF3012SIT Applications

INF3014FeCommerce

INF4014WIS Honours Ng'ambi & Brown, 2009

Information Systems 1Information Systems 1stst year year

Online questioning environment

ObservationsCases were used

◦ 2004 INF1003;Programming 35 students

◦ 2005 INF1003;Programming 63 students

◦ 2006 INF1002F;Introduction to IS 610 students

Why?◦ Empower shy students to ask

questions anonymously

◦ Create personal learning support for students

◦ Anonymity enables honest communication on curriculum, pedagogy and emotional confusion typical of 1st year experience

◦ Online consultative environment enhances classroom learning

◦ Provides immediate feedback on how course is running, i.e., ongoing course evaluation

◦ Reveals students’ grasp of content through level questions and answers – lecturers learn

Ng'ambi & Brown, 2009

Film & Media 1Film & Media 1stst year yearCollaborative learning and preparation for exams

Observations

• Creation of a virtual revision environment

Students can retrieve announcements on demand by SMS

Postings can be made by SMS or web

Use of DFAQ during term time was minimal

25 postings over the semester; 75% of these were made during consolidation week

No easy access to internet, tutors & friends during consolidation week

Ng’ambi & Knaggs, 2008

UCT Case Study 2 UCT Case Study 2

• Podcasting on mobile devices◦Students in large first year classes

experience a personalised teaching experience through listening to podcasts on mobile devices

◦Students who struggle to understand English and / or accents listen to lectures again to enhance their understanding of lecture content

• Postgraduate students use podcasts to scaffold reflective learning

• Students create podcasts as portfolios of work

• Podcasts uploaded to a Learning Management System (LMS) and students use Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to download to mobile devices

RSS feed to mobile devicesRSS feed to mobile devices

Educational uses of Educational uses of podcastingpodcasting

Lectures – for listening again or extension

Supplementary learning resourcesCollaborative and active learning

supportCultivation of confidence in a subjectInstructions & guidance e.g. lab workSupport for distance learnersFeedback on assessmentsReflections

Podcasting for effective Podcasting for effective learninglearning

Decide the pedagogical rationale and the driver

Select the medium; audio only or videoChoose convergence, i.e. how much

the podcasts are integrated with other e-learning

Choose authors and contributors to podcasts

Decide on structure of podcasting; frequency & timing

Decide on reusabilityChoose lengthSelect presentation style;

interview, dialogueDecide on framework of content

organizationSelect access system, via LMS or

internet-based feeder service

Edirisingha et al. 2008

Cases were podcasting is Cases were podcasting is usedused

Undergraduate Pedagogy

Information Systems Dept

2008-MP3• 428 1st year students

(28 tutors) • Lectures; theory/prac in

lecture theatre

2009-MP4• 608 1st year students

(44 tutors) • Lectures; theory/prac in

computer lab

Podcasts in pedagogy loosely coupled

Didactic teaching approach

Learner choice and flexibility high

Cases were podcasting is Cases were podcasting is usedused

Postgraduate Pedagogy

Graduate School of Humanities; School of Education

2008• 16 postgraduate

students• 8 week module (4-7PM

Tues & Thurs)

2009 • 18 postgraduate

students• 1 week block release

module (Mon-Sat)

Podcasts in pedagogy tightly coupled

Reflective learning teaching approach

Learner choice and flexibility medium

ObservationsObservations Chance that frequently accessed podcasts

represent a topic of interest to studentsChance that both student & educators may

want to share these resources or recommend them

Lecturers in SoE or IS cannot access these resources without being a member of a course site

Potential of podcast reuse beyond a moduleResources are not accessible to students

outside the moduleSelf ranking of podcasts by frequency of use

Recommendations 1 of 3Recommendations 1 of 3

Designing tasks for learning while on the move requires both educators and instructional designers to focus on the medium possibilities of mobile devices

Aligning pedagogical goals with affordances at medium view level that draws on existing device uses, reduces the learning curve and engages learners

Recommendations 2 of 3Recommendations 2 of 3

Ensuring that none of the learners are excluded, use a tools view to determine type of devices that learners have◦Don’t develop learning tasks that requires an

iPhone when learners don’t have the device or a wap application when only a handful of learners have wap-enabled phones

◦NB: For DFAQ case studies, all mobile phones could SMS

so no student was excluded In podcast case studies, learners had MP3 players

Design learning activities to combine the rigidity of lecture schedules, fixed desktops, learner mobility and ubiquitous technologies

Leverage institutional LMS with popular social media so as to: ◦ Maximize use of tools◦ Provides multiple ways of accessing content and

social networkingValue of using ubiquitous tools

◦ No additional costs in acquiring & training students to use new tools

◦ Ensures more equitable access to content

Recommendations 3 of 3Recommendations 3 of 3

Thank youThank you

Contact:

Dr Dick Ng’ambiCentre for Educational TechnologyEmail: dick.ngambi@uct.ac.za

ReferencesReferences Alexander, B. (2004). M-Learning: Emergent pedagogical and campus issues in the

mobile environment. ECAR Research Bulletin, Boulder, Colorado, USA: Educause Centre for Applied Research.

Becta (2004). Becta Home Page [Online] http://www.becta.org.uk/subsections/foi/documents/technology_and_education_research/handheld_computers.doc Accessed: October 26, 2009.

Czerniewicz, L. & Brown, C. (2009). Debunking the ‘digital native’: Beyond digital apartheid, towards digital democracy.

Edirisingha et al. (2008). Podcasting for learning in universities. P. Edirisingha & G. Salmon (Eds.). London: Open University Press.

Faux, F., McFarlane, A., Roche, N., & Facer, K. (2006). Learning with handheld technologies: A handbook from FutureLab, Bristol, UK: FutureLab.

Hodgkinson-Williams, C. ,& Ng'ambi, D (2009). Opening Scholarship, case study 5: Mobile learning. Cape Town, South Africa: Centre for Educational Technology (CET).

Kreutzer, T. (2007). Generation Mobile: Online and Digital Media Usage on Mobile Phones among Low-Income Urban Youth in South Africa. Available from http://tinokreutzer.org/mobile/MobileOnlineMedia-SurveyResults-2009.pdf Accessed October 26, 2009 .

Ng'ambi, D., & Brown, I. (2009). Intended and unintended consequences of student use of an online questioning environment. British Journal of Educational Technology , 40 (2), 316-328.

Ng’ambi, D., & Knaggs, A. (2008). Using mobile phones for exam preparation, In Proceedings of the IADIS Mobile Learning Conference, 11-13 April , Algarve, Portugal.

ITU (2009). ITU website http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/icteye/DisplayCountry.aspx?countryId=7 Accessed October 26, 2009.