Graham Attwell posted his reflections about the Mobile Learning: Crossing Boundaries Conference on the vernally greenish Pontydysgu website. The blog post can be accessed here.
Graham commented on organisational aspects such as
theme
venue
costs
formats
online-tools
organising committee.
Especially good to see that Graham picked up the idea we discussed last week about having another conference, maybe next year, which could be covered under the “crossing boundaries” theme. Now that he announced it …
After a busy week – it started on Saturday 19th with the two-days EduCamp (#echb11) and ended with the Medien Kongress in Berlin (#kbom11) on March 25 – it is time to close the chapter MLCB 2011 (#MLCB). This post is simply to reflect on lessons learnt and issues emerging, and to provide URLs to resources that we collected and compiled in order to allow for something like sustainability.
But to start with, our sincerest thanks goes to all those who contributed to the conference – participants, reviewers, media people, assistants, organisers … We think that the conference was a success – which is a result of the engagement of the participants who made the conference to what it turned out to be. We have seen ourselves as providers of spaces and places only and hoped that people would accept our offer ;-) However, from our point of view the atmosphere was very constructive, friendly and relaxed, and it was great to see so many dear friends and colleagues attending one of the first mobile learning conferences in Germany.
So, as for the reflection part, the following might assist for the moment:
Stats
After two conference days not only the stats tell the organisers that they dealt with lots of input and output: We had about 100 participants from 19 countries (Austria, Botswana, Canada, Catalonia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Nigeria, Sweden, Sitzerland, Turkey, England/UK, USA). They contributed with 50 papers, workshops and video presentations to about 40 hours programme.
Our team of 7 organising committee members of which 4 did the executive organisation was supported by 7 assistants, 1 videographer, 1 radio producer, 1 photographer and 1 designer. 30 reviewers supported us in selecting proposals, and 5 members of the organising committee edited the book of abstracts.
Finally, we have several hundrets of GB of data – video, audio, photo – which gives impressions only of what people quantitatively gained from the conference.
Resources for subsequent use
During the 2 conference days we collected so much data that we are not able any longer to host them on our own servers. The videos and photos that were made during the conference are/will be available on Vimeo, Youtube, Flickr and the Pontydysgu website accordingly. Some are abvailable yet, others will be available soon.
Podacsts from the Sounds of the Bazaar live radio shows can be streamed from the Pontydysgu website. Day 1 and Day 2.
Videos from the presentations and Interveiws are available via the LMLG website.
Presentations are collected on the MLCB Cloudworks cloudscape. If you haven’t done so yet, please share your presentation via Cloudworks, too.
Bring people together in advance
The ‘Mobile Learning: Crossing Boundaries in Convergent Environments’ (#MLCB) Conference was opened by the get-together on the event ship Treue on Sunday evening. Meeting people before the conference begins turned out to be a quite smooth start into scientific exchange. And it provided additional time to get familiar with interesting people, projects and ideas which is often missing during the conferences – at last for the organisers.
Provide spaces and places
In order to allow for discussions and self-organised activites during the conference, it is helpful to have rooms available – such as lobby, café, terrace – which people can use to meet, talk and exchange their ideas. Such spaces are framed by the “formality” of the conference and conference activies, but helps networking in an informal ambience.
Keep the setting open for people from different fields and disciplines
Even if organisers and participants agreed on mobile learning as topic of the MLCB conference people bring different discussions and discourses to a conference. Especially appreciated is interdisciplinarity – we learnt this from feedback that we received during and after the conference. Interdisciplinarity was perceived as being a fruitful basis to widen the own perspective and to gain insights into disciplines that are dealing with the same topic but that refer to different theories, models, aims and goals.
Be open for different contents to track trending topics
Also at this conference practice seemed to be basis for considerations about implementation of mobile technologies and usability in different settings. Theoretical approaches were presented, too, but related to the ratio theory : practice, theory was underrepresented. However, the MLCB conference was thematically dominated by Higher Education and Health Care / Medical Education – two issues that seem to be trending topics in the near future. Learning in schools by using mobile devices seems to be the basis of the mobile learning research that is taken for granted; now it could be time to discover new areas and places to explore mobile learning opportunities and constraints.
Low-budget event moves attendees from being audience only to being engaged participants in discussions
As highlighted by Graham Attwell several times already the MLCB conference run low-budget. We decided to keep fees low in order to allow also people with no or low refund opportunities to attend (undergraduate students and unemployed were free). To run such cost-saving event was possible only because the Bremen Youth Hostel provided first class service for small budgets: with the conference fees we did not only rent 5 rooms in the premises of the YH but it also included 2 coffee breaks and lunch at each of the two days. One side effect was that people seemed to expect to entertain themselves instead being entertained. Not sure if there is any relation, but the atmosphere was very constructive and full of discussion.
Lessons learnt and issues emerging On our latest post-conference meeting we made a small and very informal review of the conference and discussed about what we consider as being necessary to be improved and what was resolved successfully. A more detailed version of our lessons learnt will be available soon on the Pontydysgu weblog and here, on Media Education Culture. To start with, here are some issues that came to my mind during the last couple of days.
poster sessions are under-valued but great opportunity to demonstrate work-in-progress
keep conference small and allow for a good number of breaks and rooms in order to provide space for exchange and networking
refer to web 2.0 tools that people are using also outside conferences instead of introducing new tools
for small organising teams: avoid to organise hotels but provide lists instead
Graham Attwell, Jenny Hughes and Dirk Stieglitz did a great job with the live radio show from our MLCB conference which took place in Bremen on March 21 and 22, 2011.
The podcast is available from the Pontydysgu weblog. Below is the description of the two shows as well as the URL to the podcasts. Each show runs about 30 minutes and is really worth to be listened to.
The live internet radio programmes from The Mobile Learning Conference Bremen this week were a real gas. We are pretty confident with our sound set up these days which leaves us free to focus on content. And I think we did a pretty good job in catching the debates and ideas of the conference. If you are interested in the theory and practice of mobile learning, then I’d recommend you to listen to the two programmes. Each lasts about half an hour.
The first programme features Daniela Reimann talking about her keynote presentation on art and mobile devices. Andy Black preveiws his popular workshop on future trends in the use of mobiles for learning. Klaus Rummler, one of the conference commitee, tells us why and how the conference was organised. Julia Laxton, from Leeds University Medical School, talks about the use of mobiles in medical education and issues for institutions. Anke Königschulte from Bremen talks about using audio technologies in museums. And last but not least, John Traxler looks at the international dimension of the use of mobile devices for learning.
Here is the recording of the Sounds of the Bazaar live internet radio programme broadcast from the MLCB-Conference 2011 in Bremen.just as in the first day, we focused on encouraging participants to tell their own stories about the use of mobile devices for learning in different contexts.
First up on this programme was Helen Keegan who has earlier wowed the conference with her presentation on mobiles and film (more to come on this). Jenny Hughes went on to interview Ceridwen Coulby, Alice Huskinson, Prabhjoyt Kler, Catherine MacMillan and Helen Macrorie, students at Leeds Univeristy Medical School, about their perspective on use of mobile devices in medicine and health care. Antje Breitkopf talks about the One Laptop Per Child project, based on her experience of working with the project in Peru. And in a series of vox-pops Jenny Hughes talks to John Potter and Ludger Deitmer amongst others about their impressions of the main issues arsing from the conference.
Last Monday, I held my presentation “A critical perspective on mobile learning: Results of a heuristic analysis of the scientific process and a hermeneutic analysis of mobile learning practice” at the “Mobile learning: Crossing boundaries in convergent environments” conference in Bremen (conference website).
The following abstract was published in
Rummler, Klaus; Seipold, Judith; Lübcke, Eileen; Pachler, Norbert; Attwell, Graham (eds.): Mobile learning:
Crossing boundaries in convergent environments. Book of abstracts. 21-22 March 2011, Bremen, Germany. ISSN 1753-3385
which is available for download at www.londonmobilelearning.net/downloads/MLCB_BOA_Bremen-2011_Crossing-Boundaries-full_2011-03-18.pdf.
Judith Seipold
A critical perspective on mobile learning: Results of a heuristic analysis of the scientific process and a hermeneutic analysis of mobile learning practice
Abstract
Educational and pedagogic research on mobile learning is about ten years old. Over this time the scientific process can be split into three phases, which reach from (1) research on practice via (2) the application of existing learning theories to (3) the generation of new theoretical and conceptual frameworks for mobile learning. With a view to the different lines of development within these phases it becomes evident that there are e.g. attempts not only to understand what mobile learning is, but also to demand changes in the educational system. The latter refers not least to a process of democratisation of learners and learning that is about to take place.
Focussing on mobile learning practice, ambiguities and contradictions in the use of mobile devices in learning contexts appear. They stand in contrast to what research on mobile learning suggests, e.g. ad-hoc use of mobile devices, collaborative learning, the crossing of conceptual and local contexts etc. On the other hand, practice also suggests the power of learners being able to create new learning spaces and concepts as well as implementing multimedia and multiple modes into school learning that replace the written text as dominant mode for learning.
The paper will outline the scientific processes of the mobile learning field with a focus on the educational and pedagogic developments in mobile learning taking place in the UK and in Germany. The results deriving from this heuristic and hermeneutic analysis will be reflected critically in order to reveal ‘pseudo’ changes and ‘success stories’ in the use of mobile devices for learning, as well as the potential of such a discussion.
Keywords
mobile learning, theory, practice, scientific process, analysis, qualitative heuristics, objective hermeneutic, dialectics of practice
1. Structure of the scientific process of the educational and pedagogic research on mobile learning
The development of the scientific mobile learning discussion in the UK over the recent years resulted in the autonomy of the discipline in the educational and pedagogic field.
Referring to categories of a qualitative heuristic method, the process can be described in terms of social and cultural contexts of the mobile learning discussion (i.e. related disciplines such as sociology and e-learning), the social practices constituting the mobile learning discussion (i.e. lines of argumentation, concepts, definitions), and the developing process characterising the mobile learning discussion. The latter consists of three phases each of which is characterised by lines of development. Whilst the phases are structured by time, the lines of development can be seen as characterising the respective chronological phases. In addition, the lines of development are describable as approaches and fields of research that are persisting independent of time.
Phase 1: Explorative, technology-centred and practical implementation: Phase one can be described as explorative. Mobile devices were installed in educational settings in order to see how mobile technologies allow for changes in teaching and learning processes. The discussion was very much technology driven.
Phase 2: Application of existing theories and conceptual frameworks: The second phase focuses on the application of existing theories and conceptual frameworks such as Activity Theory (Engeström, 2001, 2005) and the Conversational Framework (Laurillard, 2007), as well as on personal (Green, Facer, Rudd, Dillon, & Humphreys, 2005), collaborative and situated learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) with the aim to explore dynamic processes around formal and informal learning and knowledge building.
Phase 3: Building of theories and conceptual frameworks: The third and most recent phase is structured by attempts to build theories and conceptual frameworks, e.g. the socio-cultural ecology of mobile learning (Pachler, Bachmair, & Cook, 2010) or the “Theory of mobile learning” (Sharples, Taylor & Vavoula, 2010). Now, the learner is seen as standing at the centre of his/her learning processes. Against the background of the construction of theoretical and conceptual frameworks, the role of the devices is becoming less important. Instead, the social/societal framework and the learners’ expertise, agency and cultural practices are gaining importance. Mobility is no longer defined through the devices, but through the learners’ abilities to act flexible in ever changing and self-constructed learning contexts.
2. The dialectics of mobile learning practice
The analysis of mobile learning practices in school contexts was realised according to categories that were developed against the background of the socio-cultural ecology of mobile learning (Pachler, Bachmair & Cook, 2010). Focusing on the actual use of mobile technologies and convergent media it became evident that learning with mobile devices does not necessarily foster ad-hoc, collaborative, personalised, self-directed and innovative learning. In most cases, the teaching design is pre-structuring the use of the devices and thus limits in consequence the potentials inherent in the use of mobile technologies for learning. Here, mobile learning appears as old wine in new bottles. In case teachers are providing spaces to learners to act according to their expertises, interests, agency and cultural practices, innovative use of the devices and the generation of contexts by learners can be discovered. Here, user-generated contexts are a fruitful concept to frame mobile learning and to approach the design, the use and the analysis of mobile learning.
3. Methodology: qualitative heuristics and objective hermeneutic
The scientific process of the mobile learning discussion was carried out by using a qualitative heuristic method (see e.g. Kleining & Witt, 2000; Krotz, 2005). This ‘discovering’ method means that the analysis intends to bring aspects to the foreground that are inherent in the discussion. By referring to key components of this method, the following aspects were considered in order to allow for the caption of this phenomenon: the development process, social practices relevant for establishing the discussion, the contexts in which the field was raising and the meanings deriving from the development process.
As for the analysis of mobile learning practices, a hermeneutic analysis was undertaken. Hermeneutics is an interpretative method, which means that the scientist interprets phenomena according to his or her research questions, the theoretical background he or she is using and his or her ‘preferred reading patterns’.
Together, the heuristic and the hermeneutic analysis of the mobile learning field allow for conclusions that are able to describe and understand the field according to its structure, elements, development lines and their relation to each other as well as for tendencies and contradictions. The aim is to not only to be able to characterise the field, but also to point to discrepancies and thus aspects that need to be considered for further research and the development of the mobile learning field.
4. Results: Mobile Learning is governed by political demands, contradictions in practices and innovative potentials
From this perspective mobile learning is not only about learning but also – and more generally – about politics and the need to understand the school system, learning and the roles of teachers and learners in the context of current changes of mass communication and society. However, having a look at the mobile learning practice, there are several issues that are standing in contradiction with what research and theory development suggest. In fact, a lot of ‘pseudo’-opening is taking place which makes mobile learning often appear as old wine in new bottles. This applies for example to features of mobile devices such as the ad-hoc access to and distribution of information, to the teaching design that can reduce learners’ activities with mobile devices to behaviouristic learning instead of supporting constructivist learning, or to situated learning that can become gathering of information through the use of convergent media such as platforms. Besides, and this is part of the dialectics of mobile learning, there are real enhancements and innovations taking place in the use of mobile devices which are on the one hand achievements of the learners themselves, and which might on the other hand result from what is described as “pseudo-opening” above. Former are related to the use of modes of representation as well as the learners’ creativity. Also, learners revise existing structures, connect them and established new ones in order to create their own convergent learning spaces and “learner-generated contexts” (see e.g. Cook, 2010). Latter provide structures for equal access of information and discursive engagement in learning materials.
References
Cook, J. (2010). Mobile Learner Generated Contexts. Research on the Internalization of the World of Cultural Products. In B. Bachmair (Ed.), Medienbildung in neuen Kulturräumen. Die deutschsprachige und britische Diskussion (pp. 113–125). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualisation. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 133–156.
Engeström, Y. (2005). Knotworking to Create Collaborative Intentionality Capital in Fluid Organizational Fields. Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams, (11), 307–336. Retrieved from dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1572-0977(05)11011-5.
Green, H., Facer, K., Rudd, T., Dillon, P., & Humphreys, P. (2005). Personalisation and Digital Technologies (Futurelab Report).
Kleining, G., & Witt, H. (2000). Qualitativ-heuristische Forschung als Entdeckungsmethodologie für Psychologie und Sozialwissenschaften: Die Wiederentdeckung der Methode der Introspektion als Beispiel. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 1(1). Retrieved from nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0001136.
Krotz, F. (2005). Neue Theorien entwickeln: Eine Einführung in die Grounded Theory, die Heuristische Sozialforschung und die Ethnographie anhand von Beispielen aus der Kommunikationsforschung. Köln: Herbert von Halem Verlag. Retrieved from www.gbv.de/dms/hebis-darmstadt/toc/11253757X.pdf.
Laurillard, D. (2007). Pedagogical forms for mobile learning: framing research question. In N. Pachler (Ed.), Occasional Papers in Work-based Learning: Vol. 1. Mobile learning – towards a research agenda (pp. 153–175). London: WLE Centre. Retrieved from www.wlecentre.ac.uk/cms/files/occasionalpapers/mobilelearning_pachler_2007.pdf.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive, and Computational Perspect. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Pachler, N., Bachmair, B., & Cook, J. (2010). Mobile learning: structures, agency, practices. New York: Springer.
Sharples, M., Taylor, J., & Vavoula, G. (2010). A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age. Learning through Conversation and Exploration Across Contexts. In B. Bachmair (Ed.), Medienbildung in neuen Kulturräumen. Die deutschsprachige und britische Diskussion (pp. 87–99). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Today in the afternoon we published the book of abstracts of the ‘Mobile learning: Crossing boundaries in convergent environments’ Conference. The file is available as download from the LMLG website.
The BOA is edited by Klaus Rummler, Judith Seipold, Eileen Lübcke, Norbert Pachler and Graham Attwell and runs under the ISSN No. 1753-3385
Table of contents:
9 editorial 15 about the London Mobile Learning Group 19 section 1 – theoretical inputs on mobile learning 21 Providing scaffolding by using mobile applications in connectivist learning environment; 27 It’s not what you know but the device you know: The influence of ownership on appropriation of mobile devices for learning on field trips; 31 A critical perspective on mobile learning: Results of a heuristic analysis of the scientific process and a hermeneutic analysis of mobile learning practice; 35 Longitudinal, educational design research investigation of the temporal nature of learning: Taking a Vygotskian approach; 39 A design toolkit for next generation mobile learning; 43 “Recombinant Fiction” theoretical paper and manifesto; 51 Learning in liminal spaces; 53 Creation and curatorship in new media; 57 Using theory to drive the design and re-design of mixed reality visualisation systems 61 section 2 – practical issues to support mobile learning 63 ConEx – mobile collaborative learning environment for conferences; 69 L3T assists m-Learning; 73 Workshop: Mobile Learning in School; 77 Just because they own them, doesn’t mean they use them: Exploring the potential for mobile learning in Higher Education; 81 It’s not a netbook – it’s a lifestyle! How could mobile technologies be used didactically to bridge formal and informal learning?; 85 Lerninfrastrukturen für mobiles Lernen: Rahmenbedingungen bei der Einführung mobiler Lerntechnologien; 89 Using mobile 360 degree performance feedback tools in Health and Social Care practice placement settings: An evaluation from the students’ perspective.; 93 MoLeaP – the mobile learning project database; 97 mobileTUD – der lange Weg zum “mobilen Ruhm”; 103 Learning, mobiles & development; 107 Technology narratives and mobile spatial learning; 111 An invitation to a joint post-assignment reflection – using podcasts as media for offering reflective space within vocational teacher education; 115 Augmented reality as a tool for mobile learning and a method for scholarly dissemination; 119 How should mobile learning be evaluated?; ; 123 M-project: first Steps to applying action research in designing a mobile learning course in higher education; 133 Exploring the order of precedence when using contextual dimensions for mobile information delivery; 137 Mobile lerngemeinschaften: beispiele, erfolgsfaktoren und stolpersteine 143 section 3 – concrete pointers and examples on mobile learning 145 Towards contextualized annotations to improve learning in museum; 149 Use of mobile learning by physician trainees in Botswana; 151 The potential of smartphones to mediate intra-hospital communication and learning practices of doctors. Preliminary results from a scenario-based study.; 157 Supporting learning on building sites with mobile technologies; 161 otu.lea – potenziale einer online-testumgebung für funktionale analphabetInnen und mobile learning; 167 Mobile learning in der lehrveranstaltung “industrielles projektmanagement” – Unterstützung selbstorganisierter und kollaborativer lernprozesse durch iPods; 171 Personalized mobile learning for people with special needs; 175 The use of iPhones in medical education; 179 Near and far contemplating (NFC) the future trends in mobile and what’s happening right here right now; 183 Offline mobile learning with Copyleft hardware; 187 The case for audio in mobile learning; 191 Providing training handouts for corporate learning as ePUB files for mobile devices and e-reader; 195 Mobile learning isn’t one flavour or one approach it’s a whole grocery store; 199 Using mobile devices to support careers advice, information and guidance
And thanks a lot to Manos Agianniotakis for doing a great design work ;-)
