EDITORIAL: Ideas in mobile learning

The contributions for this Special Collection on ‘Ideas in Mobile Learning’ expand on the trends explored in the successful ‘Bristol Ideas in Mobile Learning Symposium’ which ran on the 6th and 7th March, 2014 (see Cloudworks, 2014; BIML, 2014). Four papers in this Special Issue are expanded versions of presentations at the Bristol Symposium. Taken with the additional papers obtained from an open call we have a timely overview of mobile learning state-of-the-art research.Contributions offer a combination of conceptual, critical, design, empirical, theoretical and/or experimental work that addresses at least one of the following three phases of mobile learning state-of-the-art research:(1) Focus on new patterns of connected social learning and work-based practices.(2) Focus on designing for ‘m-learning’ at scale.(3) Focus on the boundaries of learning that the ‘m’ in m-learning forces us to explore

Ideas in Mobile Learning

The contributions for this Special Collection on ‘Ideas in Mobile Learning’ expand on the trends explored in the successful ‘Bristol Ideas in Mobile Learning Symposium’ which ran on the 6th and 7th March, 2014 (see Cloudworks, 2014; BIML, 2014). Four papers in this Special Issue are expanded versions of presentations at the Bristol Symposium. Taken with the additional papers obtained from an open call we have a timely overview of mobile learning state-of-the-art research

Mobile learning: research findings - report to Becta, July 2007

Research and development project on impact on learning of 1:1 access to handheld device

Analysing video and audio data: existing approaches and new innovations

Across many subject disciplines, video and audio data are recorded in order to document processes, procedures or interactions. These video and audio data are consequently analysed using a number of techniques, in order to try and make sense of what was happening at the time of the recording, sometimes in relation to initial hypotheses or sometimes in terms of a 'post hoc' analysis where a more grounded approach is used. This paper contains an overview of tools and techniques for examining video data and looks at potential new methods borrowed from the field of learning analytics, related to discourse analysis. Discourse analysis, where conversations and the spoken word are explored and dissected in detail, can provide us with information about the learning context and the ways in which learners interact with people and other resources in their environment

Learners - should we leave them to their own devices?

Emerging technologies for learning report - Article exploring learner owned devices and their potential for edcuatio

Building an alternative social currency: Dematerialising and rematerialising digital money across media

This paper reports on the user experience and design of physical and digital forms of a mixed-media local currency. We reconceive digitally mediated transactions as social interactions and report on the development of conceptual designs informed by user research and interactive workshops. Our findings show that use is strongly tied to conceptions of locality and community, markers of identity, information exchange and the digital and physical forms as tools for shaping interactions. The form of the currency can make the invisible visible, exposing our identities and values, business models, and the details of the transactions themselves. Our analysis stresses the need to provide opportunities for extending social interaction, making more local connections and deriving the best value from those connections, without insulating individuals from each other, or from the wider geographical context. Themes that emerged from the user research were visualized as conceptual designs for digitally augmented media, allowing us to explore the monetary transaction at three levels: the material, as interaction between two parties, and the context of the transaction.The RCUK Digital Economy theme (EP/K012304/1)

Supporting excellence in engaged research

This paper reviews the purposes, definitions and criteria designed to embed ‘engaged research’ as a strategic priority with universities, and explores some of the challenges of implementation. Surveys of academics have shown various understandings of, and attitudes to, the practices of engaged research, but also impediments to realising the aspirations it expresses. Drawing on the experience as the academic lead for engaged research at the Open University, the author explores questions of professionalisation, for example, through training, support mechanisms and measures of recognition for engaged research. He concludes by arguing that, if done well, engaged research can promote epistemic justice