The genesis and development of mobile learning in Europe

In the past two decades, European researchers have conducted many significant mobile learning projects. The chapter explores how these projects have arisen and what each one has contributed, so as to show the driving forces and outcomes of European innovation in mobile learning. The authors identify context as a central construct in European researchers’ conceptualizations of mobile learning and examine theories of learning for the mobile world, based on physical, technological, conceptual, social and temporal mobility. The authors also examine the impacts of mobile learning research on educational practices and the implications for policy. Finally, they suggest future challenges for researchers, developers and policy makers in shaping the future of mobile learning

Digital exhibition design: boundary crossing, Intermediary Design Deliverables and processes of consent

We present an exploratory case study of the nature and role of Intermediary Design Deliverables (IDDs) in digital exhibition design. Specifically, how they mediate boundary crossing across museum-designer teams; and facilitate the evolution of a shared exhibition-idea by mediating future and embodying past processes of consent. We bring together literatures on intermediary objects, boundary objects and design representations to conceptualise IDDs as representations of an evolving shared exhibition-idea and, thereby, as progressive objectifications of the digital exhibition. Through the case study, we demonstrate how deliverables capture progress in the exploration of the design space by embodying the consents that propel the exploration. The role of the museum team in these processes of consent (and thus in the production of the deliverable) is emphasised, suggesting a shift of focus for museum teams from appraising digital products to contributing to the digital exhibition design process

Innovation in Mobile Learning: A European Perspective

In the evolving landscape of mobile learning, European researchers have conducted significant mobile learning projects, representing a distinct perspective on mobile learning research and development. Our paper aims to explore how these projects have arisen, showing the driving forces of European innovation in mobile learning. We propose context as a central construct in mobile learning and examine theories of learning for the mobile world, based on physical, technological, conceptual, social and temporal mobility. We also examine the impacts of mobile learning research on educational practices and the implications for policy. Throughout, we identify lessons learnt from European experiences to date

Towards a task model for mobile learning: a dialectical approach

Our approach to understanding mobile learning begins by describing a dialectical approach to the development and presentation of a task model using the socio-cognitive engineering design method. This analysis synthesises relevant theoretical approaches. We then examine two field studies which feed into the development of the task model

Innovazione nel mobile learning

La proliferazione di telefoni cellulari e di altri dispositivi portatili ha trasformato il mobile learning da un’attività inscritta in ambiti di ricerca pilota a un’attività quotidiana dove i dispositivi mobili sono diventati strumenti personali che supportano gli individui ad apprendere ovunque essi si trovino, attraverso processi di educazione formale o support informale e conversazione

Designing mobile learning experiences

This paper reviews existing applications of mobile learning, and discusses some design issues for the development of mobile learning experiences

Meeting the challenges in evaluating mobile learning: a 3-level evaluation framework

We propose six challenges in evaluating mobile learning: capturing and analyzing learning in context and across contexts, measuring mobile learning processes and outcomes, respecting learner/participant privacy, assessing mobile technology utility and usability, considering the wider organizational and socio-cultural context of learning, and assessing in/formality. A three-level framework for evaluating mobile learning is proposed, comprising a micro level concerned with usability, a meso level concerned with the learning experience, and a macro level concerned with integration within existing educational and organizational contexts. The article concludes with a discussion of how the framework meets the evaluation challenges and with suggestions for further extensions

Lifelong learning organisers: requirements for tools for supporting episodic and semantic learning

We propose Lifelong Learning Organisers (LLOs) as tools to support the capturing, organisation and retrieval of personal learning experiences, resources and notes, over a range of learning topics, at different times and places. The paper discusses general requirements for the design of LLOs based on findings from a diary-based study of everyday learning practice; and also based on the design and evaluation of KLeOS, a prototype LLO that supports learning projects, episodes and activities through the linking of learning content with semantic and episodic context. We suggest that LLOs should assist in capturing both the episodic and the semantic aspects of learning events, and should incorporate retrieval mechanisms that utilise both types of memory (i.e. episodic and semantic) to assist tracing back knowledge and resources. Issues for future research on LLOs are also discussed

A study of mobile learning as part of everyday learning

Mobile learning as a concept has come about through the availability of mobile technologies. A number of questions about the phenomenon of mobile learning are raised: how does mobile learning integrate with other learning activities? When in the day does it happen and where? What does it relate to? What portion of everyday learning does it constitute? This paper outlines the first stages of an investigation aimed at addressing these questions through a study of everyday learning episode

A theory of learning for the mobile age

About the book: This handbook provides a state-of-the-art, in-depth account of research in the rapidly expanding field of E-learning. The first of its kind, it provides reviews of over 20 areas in E-learning research by experts in the field, and provides a critical account of the best work to date. The contributors cover the basics of the discipline, as well as new theoretical perspectives. Areas of research covered by the Handbook include: - Contexts for researching e-learning - Theory and policy - Language and literacy - Design issues - History of the field The editors' introduction and many of the chapters show how multiple aspects of E-learning interact. The introduction also provides a new model for researching the field