Mobile
eLearning Papers: Call for articles on Mobile Learning open until November 19th
While learning has always expanded beyond the walls of the classroom, the proliferation of devices and applications, which have greatly expanded when, where and how information can be accessed and stored, brings this issue to the fore. How have such devices had an impact in learning, and what role may they play in the future? This issue hopes to showcase practical examples and generate serious reflection on an emerging topic.
Today’s youth are growing up in a world very different from the world their teachers or parents knew when they were young. Where and how they learn is changing as mobile learning and social networking become part of their every day life. Ubiquitous access to social media, tools and knowledge resources is taken for granted, while passive teacher-directed work dominates life at school.
Open, social and participatory media have significant potential to transform learning and teaching. They offer numerous ways to communicate, collaborate and connect with peers. The range of free educational resources and tools is rapidly increasing. Cloud computing has enabled free or inexpensive access to applications that were once available only to those who were willing to pay premium license fees.
The gap between the potential and actual use of technology in education is a paradox. eLearning Papers seeks to facilitate the sharing of innovative and creative uses of technology to support learning among its readers. The upcoming 32nd issue focuses on mobile technology applications and their potential to enhance learning within the broad spectrum of education and training. Papers are welcome on any aspects related to the use of open, social and participatory media, cloud computing or mobile learning. Some suggested focus areas are listed below.
- How do mobile devices enhance learning and creativity?
- Mobile learning and creative classrooms
- OER for mobile learning
- Mobile learning management models and strategies
- Learning design for mobile learning
- Mobile learning platforms, devices and operating systems
- Authoring tools and technologies for mobile learning
- Content design and development for mobile learning
- Platform specific applications for learning
- Augmented reality in education
- Mixed reality and mobile devices supporting learning
- Mobile devices and schoolwork, in classrooms and beyond
- Mobile devices supporting performance and learning at work
- Low-tech mobile learning, e.g. the power of SMS
The article submission deadline is November 19th, 2012. The provisional date of publication is December, 2012. For further information and to submit your article, please contact: jimena.marquez@elearningpapers.eu
Guest editor: Prof. Dr. Martin Wolpers, Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Informationstechnik FIT
Application for Android to learn foreign languages
Fiszkoteka.pl is an educational portal that converts the flashcard learning method (i.e. with little pieces of paper bearing information on both sides) into a multimedia online experience.
eLearning Africa 2013 programme revealed
Sharing the best practices of sustainable classroom computing: join experts from Zambia, Lesotho and the UK in the eLearning Africa interactive session chaired by Dell's David Angwin http://bit.ly/10kBPJj.
To know the whole programme, please visit the following address: http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_table.php
Notes for editors
eLearning Africa, 8th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training
May 29 - 31, 2013
Safari Conference Centre, Windhoek, Namibia
Organisers: ICWE GmbH (www.icwe.net), Government of the Republic of Namibia
Contact
ICWE GmbH, Ms Rebecca Stromeyer
info@elearning-africa.com, www.eLearning-africa.com, Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 18 18-0
The eLearning Africa Team
eLearning Africa 2013 - Innovation or Sustainability: the Choice for African Education
Four controversial experts will take part in "a bare-knuckle fight" about priorities for African education at this year's eLearning Africa Debate. Outspoken Scottish entrepreneur and blogger Donald Clark and Namibian teacher and eLearning expert Maggy Beukes-Amiss will square up to "mobile technology crusader" Adele Botha and Angelo Gitonga of the ICT for Education Unit of Kenya's Ministry for Education at the annual war of words. They'll be arguing about whether too much attention has been paid to innovation in education and not enough to sustainability.
"It's a big issue and there'll be a bare-knuckle fight," says Harold Elletson, who will chair the debate alongside Honourable Silvia Makgone, Deputy Minister of Education, Namibia. According to Dr Elletson, "Some people think that the focus on innovation and technology has just persuaded governments and consumers to invest in equipment that soon becomes redundant. They say that the priority should be to support projects that are sustainable. Other people argue that innovation is vital to Africa's competitiveness and future economic growth. They say that it should be at the heart of the education system."
The eLearning Africa Debate has become the highlight of the eLearning Africa conference, an annual gathering of experts and decision-makers from all over Africa and beyond. Traditionally one of the liveliest and best attended events at the conference, this year's debate is likely to stir up real controversy.
"It's an issue which affects everyone and on which everyone has an opinion," says Dr Elletson. "The debate is an opportunity for conference participants to say what they think about one of the most important issues for the future of education in Africa."
The motion for debate, which will be put to a vote, is "This house believes that sustainability is more important than innovation for education in Africa". The debate will be held at the Safari Conference Centre in Windhoek, Namibia. All conference participants are welcome to attend and to take part in what promises to be a tense and exciting climax to a fascinating conference.
Information on the debate can be found at http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_debate.php, and the full conference programme can be found at http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_table.php%20.
Notes for editors
eLearning Africa, 8th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training
May 29 - 31, 2013
Safari Conference Centre, Windhoek, Namibia
Organisers: ICWE GmbH (www.icwe.net), Government of the Republic of Namibia
Contact
ICWE GmbH, Ms Rebecca Stromeyer
info@elearning-africa.com, www.eLearning-africa.com, Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 18 18-0
Vision in an Increasingly Mobile World
'Vision in an Increasingly Mobile World', an event organised by the British Machine Vision Association (BMVA), will be held on 15 May 2013 in London, UK.
Modern mobile computing creates interesting opportunities and challenges for computer vision research. This meeting will bring together researchers and practitioners, from both industry and academia, interested in all aspects of mobile computer vision - be it within consumer devices, autonomous/embedded systems or novel deployment domains.
UNESCO Policy Guidelines for Mobile Learning
The “Policy guidelines for mobile learning” developed by UNESCO seek to help policy-makers better understand what mobile learning is and how its unique benefits can be leveraged to advance progress towards Education for All.
UNESCO believes that mobile technologies can expand and enrich educational opportunities for learners in diverse settings. Yet most ICT in education policies were articulated in a pre-mobile era and they do not seek to maximize the learning potentials of mobile technology. The rare policies that do reference mobile devices tend to treat them tangentially or ban their use in schools.
Today, a growing body of evidence suggests that ubiquitous mobile devices – especially mobile phones and, more recently, tablet computers – are being used by learners and educators around the world to access information, streamline administration and facilitate learning in new and innovative ways.
Developed in consultation with experts in over 20 countries, UNESCO’s “Policy guidelines for mobile learning” have broad application and can accommodate a wide range of institutions, including K–12 schools, universities, community centres, and technical and vocational schools.
Policy-makers are encouraged to adopt UNESCO’s policy recommendations, tailoring them as necessary to reflect the unique needs and on-the-ground realities of local contexts.
The document was presented during the UNESCO Mobile Learning Week 2013, held from 18 to 22 February in Paris.
Emotive vocabulary in MOOCs: Context and Participant Retention
This article was originally published on the online Journal The European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning – EURODL, issue 1, 2012.
Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have been growing in popularity with educational researchers, instructors, and learners in online environments. Online discussions are as important in MOOCs as in other online courses. Online discussions that occur in MOOCs are influenced by additional factors resulting from their volatile and voluntary participation structure. This article aims to examine discussions that took place in MobiMOOC in the spring of 2011, a MOOC structured around mobile learning.
This line of inquiry focused on language from the discussions that contained emotive vocabulary in the MobiMOOC discussion forums. Emotive vocabulary is words or phrases that are implicitly emotional (happy, sad, frustrated) or relate to emotional contexts (I wasn’t able to…). This emotive vocabulary, when present, was examined to determine whether it could serve as a mechanism for predicting future and continued participation in the MOOC. In this research, narrative inquiry approach was used in order to shine a light on the possible predictive qualities of emotive text in both participants who withdrew from the course as well as moderately or moderately active participants. The results indicated that emotive vocabulary usage did not significantly predict or impact participation retention in MobiMOOC.
eCuisine - A model for interactive elearning to enhance vocational conversation and arouse intercultural awareness
Selected specialities from the Austrian cuisine plus culinary “highlights” from the partner countries are described and integrated into an interactive learning program as well as into app prototypes. By this the access to mobile devices as used in gastronomy and catering is facilitated. Target groups for these apps are service staff, educational institutions and creators of menu cards
Increasing mobility is a characteristic feature of today’s world with effects for both, tourists and people working in tourism and hospitality industry. In a modern labour market facing the challenges and needs of mobility the mixture of language learning combined with the ability to make use of new media and technologies is one of the basics in tourism education.
Very often it is the quick/immediate response to “simple” questions, such as when ordering meals from a menu in a foreign country that initiates customer satisfaction and intercultural understanding. The project is therefore also intended to start intercultural curiosity. It will encourage those in the hotel-tourism sector to enhance the interest of students and their teachers in the dishes eaten in other countries.
The project emphasizes especially the following factors and points: reduce barriers to work mobility, increase international understanding and cooperation, a flexible delivery mode supporting modern learning requirements, an integrated approach to language and intercultural training, attractive and interactive e-learning materials supported by pictures to be produced and integrated by the users themselves to make their presentation individual.
Smartphones for Seniors
Smartphones for Seniors (S4S), is a Portuguese collaborative R&D project coordinated by Microsoft, which provides mobile services technology adapted to the senior population.
This project furnishes better communication tools for the elderly, by taking advantage of the Windows Phone 7 new user interfaces and including more advanced apps such as video conferencing, chatting and social networking integration (Facebook and Twitter, for example).
A scope of apps/services is included (with information on: pharmacies’ locations and working hours, dictionary, weather, and trip advisor/planner), as well as services of a more personal nature (such as: reminders and management of electronic prescript medications, list of tasks, schedules and reminders made by the senior, or family members and caregivers, 'take me home,' with directions on how to return home or how to ask for help; 'my diet', with information on nutrition, food and recipes recommended), and playful applications for entertainment purposes, such as word games, chess and games such as on-line "quizzes".