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Daniel Pettersen & Julie Madshaven

Daniel Pettersen & Julie Madshaven
Mobile Learning - Applied Study
Fakultet for teknologi og realfag
20. august 2020

Assessing the State of The Art of Mobile eLearning

The Mobile Learning (m-learning) concept - as a subset of eLearning - is at a crucial point in history, where learning practices are being challenged by the ubiquity of mobile computing. Through this applied study, we aimed to assess and structure the mobile learning landscape. The study identifies and categorizes a wide variety of tools and practices into thematic areas, such that future practitioners can understand and leverage the potential of m-learning.

The rise of ubiquitous computing over the past few decades has caused a disruption in the education sector. Typical learning practices have to a greater extent migrated to online platforms. Already in 1999, the term “electronic learning” (eLearning) was coined to encompass learning activities that occur through electronic means. In the developed world we are accustomed to using digital exam systems (e.g. Inspera or WISEflow), learning management systems to interact with courses (e.g. Canvas or Moodle), and social media to communicate with classmates. In addition, Software as a Service (SaaS) has enabled a wide variety of online productivity and learning applications (e.g. Google Docs Suite, Evernote or Duolingo). Google Docs allows for online collaborative writing, while Duolingo is a service for learning languages. The developing world is, nonetheless, significantly “catching up” within eLearning due to the rise of mobile learning (M-learning).

M-learning is a subset of eLearning that is defined as the process of learning mediated by handheld devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Many of the typical eLearning activities have quickly adapted for mobile devices, with a few exceptions. People use their mobile devices for many activities, and the learning field is not exempt from this phenomenon. M-learning enables learning activities anywhere and at any time. There is, however, a significant gap in the understanding of m-learning for practitioners and researchers. Existing literature quickly becomes outdated as practitioners embrace m-learning in daily life.

As research assistants, we proceeded to approach one of the aims of this study by systematically identifying tools that practitioners use. By identifying and describing tools used in the real world we are able to understand the state of the art and, more importantly, describe practices in the real world. While different tools come and go, their usage description can provide valuable insights into current practices. M-learning tools (usually in the form of mobile applications) can provide course platforms, project management, interactivity, open education, augmented reality, and so on. On mobile devices, practitioners use apps such as Zoom (video-conferencing), Google Docs (collaborative writing) and Classrooms, Microsoft OneNote (note-taking and scanning), among many, many others for learning activities.

The systematic assessment in this study led to five main thematic areas where practices and tools are categorized: lifelong learning, social relations, free for all learning, creative content creation and tools & technology. These thematic areas, along with its corresponding descriptive analysis, will inform mainly practitioners (although also researchers) about the status quo of m-learning. Hopefully, this study will also inspire continued innovative practices and further research within m-learning.