Exploring Mobile Learning Scenarios in Schools: A Focus on Literacy and Accessibility

1. 1 mobile/school Steve Vosloo mLab Southern Africa USAID m4Ed4Dev Seminar, 14 April 2011

2. About me mLearning practitioner from South Africa Focus on mobiles and literacy – see www.yozaproject.com Now Mobile Impact Evangelist at mLab Southern Africa, a brand new incubator for mobile apps and content in the region www.twitter.com/mlabsa

3. If you had one mobile per school … What could you do? Let’s look at three scenarios … • Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40042565@N06/3680283341/sizes/z/in/photostream/ (CC-BY-NC-SA)

4. 1 Mobile/school: Scraping the barrel The worst case scenario …. • 1 Basic phone • SIM cardwith no money • Very small memory for storing content • Intermittent electricity • No mobile data coverage (voice, SMS and USSD only) • Voice, SMS and USSD is expensive to use

5. 1 Mobile/school: Scraping the barrel Things you could do: • Regional “system strengthening” activities: • Education Dept broadcasting updates to headmasters and teachers • School “system strengthening” activities: • If a school can send cheap or free SMSesit can use FrontlineSMS or SchoolTool in South Africa to: • SMS broadcast to teachers: admin updates, timetable changes, motivational messages, etc. • SMS teacher and student attendance back to Education Dept • SMS broadcast to parents

6. 1 Mobile/school: Scraping the barrel Things you could do: • Classroom activities: • SMS dictionary lookup • Wikipedia lookup using MobileAudiowiki(mobiled.uiah.fi) • Attach a speaker and have class listen to educational audio content (paid for by Education Dept or corporate sponsor) • Take part in SMS-based knowledge quizzes, e.g. texttochange.org in Uganda • Remember: phone can also be used by groups of students, one at a time • Image: http://mobiled.uiah.fi/?page_id=101

7. 1 Mobile/school: Looking better A much better scenario …. • 1 Feature phone with camera • SIM cardwith not much money • Small memory for storing content • Intermittent electricity • Only GPRS mobile data coverage • At least one of voice, SMS or mobile data is relatively cheap, e.g. in South Africa mobile data is cheap, in India SMS is very cheap

8. 1 Mobile/school: Looking better Things you could do: • All of the above, plus … • “System strengthening”of Education Administration • Education Dept publishes info on mobisite which headmastersand teachers can access • Classroom activities: • Take/share photos, e.g. of plants for Biology project • Record audio and video and share via Bluetooth, e.g. Dissections for All project in South Africa (mobile phones used to create short videos of frog dissections and shared) • Access web: m.wikipedia.org, m.dictionary.com, m.google.com, etc. • Read m-novels aloud from www.yoza.mobi

9. 1 Mobile/school: Looking better Things you could do: • After hours activities: • IM Chat (using GPRS) for live tutoring, e.g. Dr Math on MXit in South Africa • IM Chat amongst networks of teachers or headmasters for support and sharing What else? • Image: http://blogs.up.ac.za/jcp2010/index.php?blog=83

10. 1 Mobile/school: Ideal world The ideal scenario …. • 1 Smart phone • 1 Pico projector • SIM card, loaded with money • Memory card loaded with educational content • Constant electricity • 3G coverage • Subsidised for educational use • Free/low cost calls • Free SMSes • “Zero rated” (free) mobile data browsing

11. 1 Mobile/school: Ideal world Things you could do: • All of the above, plus … • Classroom utilities: • Play educational videos from phone through Pico projector/TV, e.g. Text2Teach project in Philippines and Tanzania • Download and share mlearning educational resources • Collaborate with other schools on projects, e.g. via a Facebook page • Blog, Facebook, Twitter • Download streaming video from, e.g. Khan Academy on Youtube What else?

12. But maybe we should ask: What is “mobile”? • Is an MP3 player which is connected to speakers and broadcasting an audio lesson on English or math considered a mobile device? • How about a flash drive with educational content accessed from a nearby telecenter/cybercafé and used in a classroom by a teacher with a small projector to project learning materials for an entire class? • Comments?

13. Barriers to use • Cost! • mLearning content • Lack of awareness of how mobiles can support educational ecosystem • Lack of school “acceptable use policies” – many just ban mobile phones • Uneven access • Electricity (although people mostly “find a way”) • Privacy issues

14. Thank you steve@mlab.co.za twitter.com/mlabsa • Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40042565@N06/3681090988/sizes/z/in/photostream/ (CC-BY-NC-SA)

15. mLab Southern Africa newsletter We will publish news about mobile usage, mlearning and other mobile related issues, e.g. mhealth, from southern Africa To subscribe: www.tinyurl.com/joinmlabsa