|
|
|
CONTSENS Using wireless technologies for context sensitive education and training
 A project funded by the EUs Leonardo Lifelong Learning Programme. The 2 year project involves a European-wide consortium headed by Ericsson Education Ireland, with Giunti Labs, ECLO, Plovdiv University and Corvinno. John Cook led the LTRI team that also included Carl Smith and Claire Bradley.
The project
began on January 1 2008 and ended
at the end of December 2009.
Background to the project
The profile of the typical mobile device is changing rapidly. It is estimated by 2010 that the number of people using mobile broadband connections will have increased to over half a billion. This access is being made on all types of mobile devices: mobile phones, media players, handheld games consoles, ultra portable PCs, etc. Already one is seeing a great deal of convergence in the marketplace; while it is common to see people carrying both a mobile phone and a media player, such as an iPod, these devices are merging, with mobile phones offering gigabytes of storage for audio and video. Devices running Windows Mobile and Symbian have many of the features of laptops or desktop computers and are now being used to access the net at broadband speeds.
As a result it is now possible to envisage an audience for mobile learning content which is media rich, collaborative and always available to the user. Using established technologies such as GPS and SCORM, and developing for newer technologies such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and Mobile Positioning, training content can be developed for both context sensitive and location based delivery.
 The aims of the project
The Operational and Specific Objectives addressed by this application are the development of innovative ICT-based content, services, pedagogies and practice. The basis for this is that every student in every higher education institution in every one of the 27 EU countries possesses a mobile phone, which they use constantly in every walk of life – except their education and training. This project addresses this lacuna and builds on previous EU funded mobile learning projects by using the latest technological developments to enhance the field of mobile learning and improve its learning content, technical services, pedagogical skills and student practice
The project focuses on the development of appropriate training/learning materials for mobile learning enhanced by context sensitive and location based delivery. This will encompass development for less qualified workers. In fact one of the major IST mobile learning projects funded by the EC, The m-learning project led by LSDA in the United Kingdom, focused on unemployed and unemployable youth who refused to attend education or training but who all had a mobile phone which was used for literacy, numeracy and social skills training.
Products and outputs
The developer partners in the project have produced training materials in each of the following areas, and these have been evaluated with target users:
- Task based training using location and context sensitive technologies
- Art Gallery and Museum Education
- Use of context sensitive technologies in mobile learning
- Use of context sensitive technologies in language learning.
At LTRI, we have used Mediascape [http://www.mscapers.com/] to develop our applications. Mediascapes or Mscapes are a new form of media in which digital sight, sounds and interactions can be overlaid onto the physical world to create immersive and interactive experiences. Users equipped with a mobile device running the Mscape player can move through the physical world and trigger digital media with GPS via an invisible interactive map, in response to their physical location. In the authoring environment the zones are initially set up on a map that has been geo-referenced to the physical site. The map is then divided into areas or zones, which are called when the GPS location matches the coordinates.
 The applications we have developed include a mobile tour around Eden Grove (near the University), a field trip for archaeologists at Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, and a guided visit to examine how shops on Holloway Road market themselves to the public. Links to the products and evaluation reports on these applications can be found on the project website.
LTRI publications and presentations on the project
Journals
Cook, J. (in press). Travelling Without Moving: Design-Based Research into Augmented Contexts for Development. Journal of Interactive Media in Education. Invited paper for special issue from the CALRG 30th Anniversary Day.
Pachler, N., Cook, J. and Bachmair, B. (accepted). Appropriation of Mobile Phones and Learning. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning. To be published January 2010.
Cook, J. and Pachler, N. (2009). Appropriation of Mobile Phones in and Across Formal and Informal Learning. E-Learning, http://www.wwwords.co.uk/elea/
Authored books
Pachler, N., Bachmair, B. and Cook, J. (2010). Mobile Learning: Structures, Agency, Practices. New York: Springer. February 2010.
Refereed and published conference proceedings
Smith, C., Cook, J, and Bradley, C. (2009). Using the world as an interface: augmenting contexts for development to absorb, transform and reuse information. Paper presented at research strand of MoLeNET Mobile Learning Conference.
Bachmair, B., Pachler, N., Cook, J. and others (2010). Individualised Mobility as Cultural Resource: Harnessing the ‘Mobile Complex’ for Participatory Learning. Workshop at German Education Research Association Congress (DGfE 2010: http://www.dgfe2010.de/), Mainz, Germany, March 2010.
Cook, J. (2009). Mobile Phones as Mediating Tools Within Augmented Contexts for Development. Workshop: Education in the Wild. Alpine Rendez-Vous, within the framework of the STELLAR Network of Excellence. December 3-4, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany.
Pratt-Adams, S., Cook, J., Smith, C. and Bradley, C. (2009). Developing Context-Sensitive Mobile Learning to Explore Urban Education. BERA 2009 Annual Conference, University of Manchester, 2-5 September.
Smith, C. and Cook, J. (2009). Interaction Heuristics for Context-Sensitive Mobile Learning. 3rd WLE Mobile Learning Symposium: Mobile Learning Cultures across Education, Work and Leisure 27 March 2009, WLE Centre, IOE London, UK.
Cook, J., Pachler, N., Bachmair, B. and Adami, E. (2009). Symposium Outside in, inside out? Digital Media as Cultural Resources for Learning (Convenor: Cook), CAL 09, Brighton UK. Individual paper Cook: ‘Appropriation of mobile phones for learning’.
Smith, C., Cook, J. and Bradley, C. (2009). Context Sensitive Mobile Learning: Adding Relevant Information on the Move to Objects and Activities to Augment Understanding. CAL 09, Brighton, UK.
Smith, C., Cook, J. and Pratt-Adams, S. (2009). Context Sensitive Mobile Learning: Designing a ‘Technoscape’ for Urban Planners. Mobile Learning, Barcelona, 26-28 February.
Pachler, N., Bachmair, B., Cook, J., Gunther, K. and Adami, E. (2009). Outside In and Inside Out: Interdisciplinarity and Mobile Learning Research. Symposium for 2009 AERA Annual Meeting, Disciplined Inquiry: Education Research in the Circle of Knowledge, April 13 – 17, San Diego, USA. Individual paper Cook: Mobile learner context and appropriation.
Smith, C., Cook, J. and Bradley, C. (2008). Engineering Suitable Content for Context Sensitive Education and Vocational Training (CONTSENS). Handheld Learning 2008 Conference, October 13th-15th, London, UK.
Cook, J., Pachler, N. and Bradley, C. (2008). Appropriation of Mobile Phones for Learning. mLearn 2008, Telford, Shropshire, UK, 8-10 October.
Smith, C (2008), 'Attaching Information to Physical and Virtual Space to Allow Real-Time Manipulation of Complex Data in a Mobile Context' Online Educa Berlin.
Smith, C (2008), The Physical World as a Virtual Interface: Enhancing Access to the Units of Construction in Archaeological Data Sets'. Visualisation in Archaeology 2008 Workshop. University of Southampton on 23 & 24, October 2008. http://www.viarch.org.uk/content/research-workshop.asp
Smith, C (2008), Accessing, manipulating and achieving transformative dialogue using advanced learning technology, International e-Learning Conference, York, May 14-15, 2008.
Smith, C (2008), The unit of construction. The evolution of form. The ultimate network. Networks of Design conference, University College Falmouth, September 3-6, 2008.
Smith, C (2008), Learning and Enquiry via Collections in Real and Virtual Worlds. Electronic Visualisation and the Arts. British Computer Society. Further details: http://www.eva-conferences.com/eva_london/2008_home
Smith, C (2009), The Unit of Construction + The Multiple Point of View = The Evolution of Form. Electronic Visualisation and the Arts. British Computer Society. Further details: http://www.eva-conferences.com/eva_london/2009_home
Invited conference, seminar and workshop contributions
Cook, J. (2009). Mobile devices for learning: Seven things to remember (plus or minus two). Invited talk at workshop: Successful deployment: networked hand-held devices for learning and teaching. Organised by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), with the support of Becta, 12-13 November at the National College for Leadership for Schools and Children’s Services, Nottingham.
Cook, J. (2009). Mobile Learner Requirements.Presentation at Workshop on User Centred Requirements Processes for E-Learning and Knowledge Management – A European-Wide Perspective. July 2nd, London Metropolitan University. See http://mature-ip.eu/en/event/user-centered-requirements-engineering
Cook, J. (2009). Scaffolding the Mobile Wave. Keynote at Institutional Impact, a JISC online conference, 9th July 2009. See http://ssbr0709.inin.jisc-ssbr.net/programme/
Cook, J. (2009). Going for a Local Walkabout: Putting Urban Planning Education in Context with Mobile Phones. Invited talk at Mimas Conference Mobile Learning: Telling Tales. 9th July, University of Westminster.
Cook, J. (2009). Going for a Local Walkabout: Putting Urban Planning Education in Context with Mobile Phones. Invited talk at LearnHigher CETL ‘M-Posium’ on Mobile Learning. April 22nd, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Cook, J. (2009). Phases of Mobile Learning. Invited lecture at Joint European Summer School on Technology Enhanced Learning 2009. Terchova, Slovakia, May 30 - June 6. See: http://tinyurl.com/psejxu
Cook, J. and Smith, C. (2009). Context Sensitive, Location Aware Mobile Learning. Invited workshop at Joint European Summer School on Technology Enhanced Learning 2009. Terchova, Slovakia, May 30 - June 6.
Cook, J. (2009). Reflections on a 16 Year Research Journey from Mentoring, Metacognition and Music to Mobile Learning. Invited contribution at Computers and Learning Research Group (CALRG) 30th Anniversary, 18th May, Open University.
Cook, J. (2009). What Advice Do the Panel Members Have in Regards to How Students Can Maximise the Opportunities for Success Provided by Higher Education? Invited presentation and discussant at Get Ahead Student Conference, 11th February, Holloway Road, London Metropolitan University. See http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/news/latest-news/february-2009/how-to-get-ahead-and-lead-london.cfm
Cook, J. (2009). The Digitally Literate Learner and the Appropriation of New Technologies and Media for Education. Inaugural Professorial Lecture, 3rd February, Holloway Road, London Metropolitan University. Slides available: http://www.slideshare.net/johnnigelcook
Cook, J. (2008). Phases of Mobile Learning. Invited talk at WLE CETL Dissemination Event, 25th November, Institute of Education.
Smith, C (2008), JISC TechDis event 'Creating Content for Mobile Learning: A Resource Creation Day' Carl has produced a short instructional video entitled 'Using QR codes in Mobile Learning'. The video can be downloaded from here: www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk/developers/smith/qrcodes_carl_smith.zip
Smith, C (2008), Learning Design Symposium. Panel discussion session chaired by Prof Gilly Salmon. Online Educa Berlin. Synopsis: what makes good design in online and mobile Learning? Each speaker will present their specific perspective on learning design and then Prof Salmon will lead the discussion taking into account the various viewpoints and experiences raised.
See CONTSENS website
http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/corpinfo/programs/using_wireless_
technologies_for_context_sensitive_education_and_training/index.shtml
Contact details
John Cook
Learning Technology Research Institute
London Metropolitan University
35 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8AA
Email: john.cook@londonmet.ac.uk
Tel : +44 (0)207 133 4341
Fax: +44 (0)207 133 4348
WWW: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/ltri
Last updated
21 December, 2010
|
|
|
