iUOC: enhanced mobile learning at UOC_EUNIS 2011

iUOCenhanced mobile learning at UOC

Eva P. Gil-Rodríguez

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya - UOC

Our university

• more than 50,000 students & 2,000 teachers who teach and learn through a virtual learning environment

• learning contents in different formats (xml technology): paper, pdf, web, audiobooks, videobooks, daisy, electronic books…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvhek_kHnME

Office of Learning Technologies · learningtechnologies.uoc.edu1UNIVERSITAT OBERTA DE CATALUNYA




But why mobile?

Mobile society From Virtual Learning Environments to Mobile Learning Environments

Our approach: UCD perspective in m-learning


mobile scenario = reading & news!

• e-mail

• virtual classrooms

• institutional news

• agenda

• self-assessment activities

• contents

e-mailconten

tsagendanews…

notifications from

classrooms

What’s i-UOC? Main Goal:

To enable students & teachers to access to learning contents and alerts from the spaces of communication of our Virtual Learning Environment in different mobile devices, such as the iPad tablet





And how does it work?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxtIJp04hUI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxtIJp04hUI

But… how is it possible?


The iUOC App







Pilot test

• Agreement with Orange Spain:45 iPad’s 3G for students and teachers in order to test this native app


Assessment

• Qualitative & Quantitative Assessment• Focus group with teachers• User Satisfaction Scale (both students and

teachers)


Students and teachers evaluated iUOC 4 iPad positively as a Communication tool

between them and as an Interactive support for learning!

Results: about the iPad device

• The iPad with 3G connection is a good tool for education; apart from the iUOC, different applications help students and teachers in their daily tasks

• The iPad is well accepted and used for reading, visualizing and searching Information

• Despite its positive feature of fast access to information, the iPad is not a good tool for writing and creating content!


Results: regarding Pedagogical Innovation

• The iPad could help teachers to imagine and conceptualize new ways of designing activities in a more dynamic way, which could involve a change in the pedagogical model

• Students and Teachers do not know exactly which are the pedagogical and technical possibilities of the iPad devices


Results: about Connectivity

• Referring to the iUOC, both teachers and students reveal that the application is user friendly and intuitive

• 3G connection is highly valued, like that of other technical aspects such as speed and wifi connection

• 3G connection facilitates the use of the iPad anytime-anywhere, and this is essential in order to incorporate this device in mobile learning environments


Next steps

• Development of iUOC app for Android and smartphone tablets (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry…)

• Optimization of iUOC for other profiles (teachers and management staff)

• Beyond connection to the Mobile Learning Environment: conceptualization of pedagogical apps


Conclusions

• The iUOC project provides fast access to learning contents and spaces of communication of the Virtual Learning Environment of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in a scalable way

• Results from pilot test show how the iPad can catalyze new learning experiences, owing to the tablet’s interactive capabilities

In that sense, we should complete the experience of access to our Virtual Learning Environment and digital contents with

interactive and specific native apps for education, according to the subject area chosen


learningtechnologies.uoc.edu

More information: [email protected]

@evapatriciagil

mailto:[email protected]

Education

iUOC: enhanced mobile learning at UOC_EUNIS 2011