Monday, March 30, 2009

Case Study Discussion - Vodaphone-Ireland

Title:
Mobile Learning Video “Nuggets” support
Learning at Vodafone Ireland

Background to Case:
Vodaphone Ireland wanted to extend workshop lessons and improve knowledge transfer into their staff's real world work needs. They wanted to capitalize on the workshop enthusiasm
and optimism while supporting their staff to incorporate those lessons into practice.

Learners/trainees:
Learners were employees at Vodafone Ireland with
access to 3G compatible mobile phones and a 3G network.

Need Assessment:
Improve learner retention from traditional instructor led class learning and provide just in time access to lessons. Vodaphone also wanted to improve mobile learning effectiveness to bridge the gap between workshop and implementation of learnings.

Context - Conditions & Constraints:
Vodafone Ireland employees had mobility with their access to 3G compatible mobile phones and a 3G network. Constraints were to create a blended learning solution that made learning more immediate to a situation and more transferable by accessing the lessons in a self paced, self-spaced manner.

Learning Goal:
The main learning goal of this program was to support training and knowledge retention for staff.

They used some great language that really resonated for me. They created a flexible “anytime anywhere” Restless Learning Portal as part of
their strategy to support maximum learning transfer and delivery by easily enabling staff to
access the clips from 3G compatible mobile phones.

Result:
The approach has extending the reach,
relevance and application of the learning and increased retention, while it also subsequently influenced Vodafone Ireland to adopt a similar video –based blended learning approach to support sales and customer service training.


Technology:
The technology used were videos clips accessible over
mobile phones via the 3G network.

Clips were delivered in .3gp format for mobiles and in other file formats and configurations for
use on PCs, CD, DVD etc if required for flexibility of delivery.

Solution content:
By understanding the audience and paying careful attention to scripting subject matter perspective content focused on interpersonal communication skills (preparing a meeting, sales call and dealing with customers, colleagues or partners.

Solution activity:
Learners were able to watch mobile learning video
“nuggets” or clips along side in class learning workshops.

Solution intention:
The purpose, from a company standpoint, was to demonstrate that mobile phones could be used effectively to add an extra, PC-independent learning delivery model as part of their
evolving e-learning strategy.

From a learner perspective the solution was intended to give them just in time access to learn and review at their own pace and to their own needs.

Solution integration:
By providing reinforcement opportunities of key skills
through introductions, illustrations of concepts and demonstrations of practical application, the solution extended the reach of e-learning for all
Vodaphone employees from their office/desktop/laptop PCs, to their mobile phones as they moved geographically to fulfill their work. Solution integration provided extended JIT learning opportunities where users review content when needed, thereby providing a ‘performance support capability.'

Learning combinations:
The video clips were developed specifically as a key element of theirblended learning model.

The Solution Design:
A series of 25 video clips were delivered to learners’ mobile phones via the 3G network after they completed an instructor-led communication skills program. All videos were available
for stream or download. Links to videos were sent by a service message rather than text to access the URL conveniently. The project was designed and delivered in 6 weeks.

Learning Material Production:
Channel Content scripted, storyboarded and shot the video ‘nuggets’ using actors and realistic workplace scenarios. Voiceovers, addition of titles, backing track and graphics were added post production. Once again these clips were specifically made for mobile 3G delivery

Delivery & Management of Materials:
The workshops were a pre-existing learning delivery method. The videos via mobile phone were delivered after the workshop and managed by the learner. This delivery style can be descibed as just in time - JIT .

Pedagogical underpinnings:
NLP techniques are a systematic use of language to change behavior. The methodology of these techniques can be described as behavioral, cognitive as well as constructivist as these techniques encourage customization by the learner.

Additionally the blended learning component speaks to the instructional methodology integration. Blending face to face workshop learning with electronic, self-access review of demonstrations and concepts balances the cognitive load for the learner (at their pace) thus increasing retention of knowledge and transfer to authentic situations.

It does not assign "miracle" status to the mobile phone video method, but contextualizes into the overall importance of planning, people and design.

I liked this article especially because of the following information. "It should be emphasized that success depends on a clear understanding and analysis of the need, technology and audience, as well as the scripting, project management and having a good client relationship."

NLP techniques

Friday, March 13, 2009

Case Study Discussion - Comparison EHWL & Dewsbury, Danby, Burton

W505 Mobile Learning
Stage 2 – 2: Mobile Technology in Higher Education


Title: Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College and Dewsbury College, Thomas Danby College and Bishop Burton College

General information
• Briefly describe any background information in both cases.

At HWLC it was important was to track students to provide support to maintain enrollment challenges such as staying in a class or program.

The target for Dewsbury College was to provide learners in outreach areas similar access to learning resources as their peers on the main college campus.

At Thomas Danby College a need to increase access to technology was identified

Both Dewsbury & Thomas Danby aimed to support a wider range of learners’ needs as part of developing personalized learning program.

At Bishop Burton College, challenges exist because learning activities take place in an outdoor environment as well as in the classroom.

Analysis


1. People
What were the characteristics of the target groups in each case? Can you see any difference or similarity between the two cases?
At HWLC the college offers over 500 courses to approximately 25,000 learners over four main campus sites. At Dewsbury, distance students at outreach centers were the target group. Learners of basic skills, especially ESOL were the target at Thomas Danby. At Bishop Burton College learners were advanced with the need to transfer and integrate classroom and field learning.

HWLC and Dewsbury have similar issues – connecting a geographically dispersed student body to the advantages of proximal learning (attendance support and resource access).

Thomas Danby and Bishop Burton seem to have two very different types of learners, yet their learning needs are similar – self-paced materials, irrespective of location of learning.



2. Needs or Objectives
What educational or administrative needs did the institutions have? Compare them.

HWLC wanted to improve enrollment and decrease drop out rates.
Dewsbury wanted to empower learners through improved resource (technology) access.
Thomas Danby wanted to free up the learning pace and for students to practice to their skill level independently.
Bishop Burton wanted a lightweight and portable system for use in fieldwork that would duplicate the power of a classroom desktop.

3. Solutions
What were the solutions? How did they combine different technologies to meet their needs? Can you see any difference or similarity between the two cases? Present your findings.
HWLC used a Tablet PC, Dewsbury & Thomas Dalby used iPAQ Pocket PCs, and Bishop Burton used HP Jornada 565s and Cassiopeia® EF 800s PDAs.

HWLC had staff use the tablet in class to take attendance and transmit it to administration who could contact students about their non-attendance and help support those students by giving attention to them.

Dewsbury, Thomas Dalby and Bishop Burton had specific Flash solutions for the mobile PDA which incorporated newly created materials as well as reworking existing materials into a mobilely accessible format.

All four colleges were able to use mobile technology to provide “just in time” information to staff and learners. Adminstrators, staff, faculty and learners were all connected to materials and information in a community of practice which provided support for educational objectives and also interpersonal support.



4. Pedagogical underpinnings
Describe any pedagogical underpinnings you can find from the cases. Can you find any difference or similarity between the two? Describe your findings and thought.
While much of adult learning expects the learner to be responsible to be “in class” and prepared for the learning goals, in fact, adult learners need a lot of side support in order to adjust to the prioritization of balancing life issues with academic issues. With HWLC they were able to show interest in the students who were missing out on in class activities, thus improving attendance overall, but also the rapport for a supporting a confident student regardless of mitigating life circumstances.
Additionally, equal access for learners at outreach centers provides more opportunity as less cost to the learner to educate themselves.
Self-paced learning is a key element with a negotiated learning pedagogy like constructivism and also helps cognitively to pace the learning to what the student can handle in their zone of proximity.
Fieldwork supplemented by calculations that can be run simultaneously on site is a collaboratively efficient and promotes a natural emergence of constructivist methodology.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Case Study Discussion - Torrey Pines

What mobile technology was utilized in the case? Describe infrastructure, mobile device, program, and content.
ThinkPad X60 Tablet PCs were used by the students and teacher in the classroom and in the home setting. Wireless internet connections were available in the classroom. Part of the tablet PC's devices include, touch screen and digitizer pen/stylus, docking stations, additional USB, projector, monitor ports & a CD-ROM drive. Programs used were snipping tool in Windows Vista, ScreenFlash, Microsoft Office Professional 2007, Microsoft Encarta® 2007 Academic online encyclopedia, and the latest build of Mathematica 6.0. Instant messaging and a collective e-whiteboard were also used. Content included advanced mathematics studies using drawings and diagrams as well as other practice activities.

Describe how the technology was integrated into the learning context. What learning activities can you find from the case? What functions are offered by mobile technology for those activities?

Integrating technology into the classroom was intended to foster creative thinking and create a rich learning environment with real-world relevance. This was done by activities which create three-dimensional graphs to demonstrate concepts and illustrate examples, encourage students do presentations to review concepts and verify calculations done by hand with the Mathematic program.

The teacher prepared all lessons using the programs. Class lectures were interactive allowing the students to get involved in practicing the math sequences. These lectures were then available for further study and practice on a class website.
Project based learning was used with community action awareness for students to choose their own topics to explore using the programs.
Mobile technology seems to facilitate student communications outside of class the most.

The teacher also had assigned office hours where she was available through instant messaging as well as using an interactive white board to help students with homework questions.

Can you see any pedagogical underpinnings in the case? Present your findings.

Constructivism is the teacher’s preferred teaching methodology. Project learning and community interaction are scaffolded and encouraged. I think the best example of her teaching method is this communitypProject activity. The California State Standards for Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II were put in a box and had each student draw a standard for which they would build a Mathematica demonstration. Working alone or in pairs, students were to upload these demos to a new website, www.MathematiClub.com, so other teachers could download and use them in the classroom or for other students to use at home.

Additionally, when the teacher was observed by colleagues, she was described as a guide on the side – an important element of a constructivist class.


Critique

What was your definition of mobile learning?
Mobile learning is that which is available through a portable device which pulls information "just in time" and connects the learner to a community of practice (shared learning environment).

Does the case meet your criteria of mobile learning?
Yes it does in that the students can check answers and pull lecture notes as they need them. Additonally in the classroom and at home hours connect the students and teacher to a community of practice with elements to practice and teacher to a wider community through posting their findings and resources online.

We have discussed the limitations of mobile learning. Can you think out any problems from this case?
This particular case deals with the limitations I mentioned in my previous forum posting. The touchscreen and stylus really make the kinesthetic elements of drawing diagrams more electronically mobile and transferable. While the article was very upbeat about the technology, implicitly the contract that was signed in order to access the latest version of Mathematica draws in the corporate world into an academic environment for minors. I find this ethically untenable for fair education practices.

What could have made the mobile learning case better?
That this was more viral for mainstream students. Better would be more students would have access to such great tools for learning. Better would be more teachers would be willing to let the students have more control over their learning.