Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
Taking Moodle out of the classroom: making learning mobile, contextaware and fun Alja Sulčič Artesia d. o. o.
[email protected] Abstract Mobile devices are becoming increasingly more powerful, better connected and are able to provide better user experience and new services based around location and context of users, which opens new possibilities for learning. The paper presents an overview of mobile learning and the efforts being made to provide better support for mobile devices and learning activities/resources in Moodle. In conclusion we also present some future trends in mobile computing that could also provide new ways of learning on the go. Keywords: mobile learning, ubiquitous learning, game-based learning, Moodle 1
Introduction
If we want to stay connected with the internet and other people whenever we go, we now have a wide range of small, portable computers such as mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers, netbooks, laptops and everything in between (Johnson et all, 2010a). Modern mobile devices in our pockets are turning into powerful location aware computers that we can use to build previously unimaginable services that allow us to interact with content and our environment in new ways. Used in education, mobile devices with internet connectivity can store reference materials and learning experiences, and provide various tools for field work (ibidem). The 2010 Horizon report predicts that mobile computing will enter mainstream use on campuses in one year or less (ibidem), and in K-12 schools in two to three years (Johnson et all, 2010b). There are already several successful case studies of using mobile devices in different educational settings (Johnson et all, 2010a, 2010b). Moodle, a popular open source Learning Management System (LMS), has become the central point for learning activities for many schools and organizations. We believe that adding a mobile, location aware component to Moodle could provide teachers with new tools that could increase student engagement and make Moodle more relevant to the increasingly mobile world we all live in. In this article we provide an overview of how mobile devices can support teaching and learning by taking a look at some examples of mobile, location-based and game-based learning delivered through mobile devices. Then we present some of existing technologies that are attempting to adapt Moodle to different mobile devices and discuss the potential future development of a mobile, context aware and fun Moodle that will enable us to learn anywhere at any time without being limited to desktop computers.
215
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
2
Learning on mobile devices
2.1
The advantage and limitations of mobile devices
Mobile devices are not (yet) as capable as desktop computers, but have some distinct advantages that have the potential to make them more popular than desktop computers: – We can hold mobile devices in our hands, which opens up a lot of potential to experiment with new user experiences and interfaces, for instance a more intimate experience of the device through the touch interface. Additionally, mobile devices can have different sensors that are usually irrelevant on desktop computers, but which can provide a new layer of information - for instance, integrated GPS receivers, motion detectors, light sensors, accelerometers, etc. These sensors can make mobile devices location and context aware. – We can take mobile devices with us, wherever we go. With the increase in Wi-fi and high speed mobile networks that also means we have the option to connect to the internet and other devices always at hand. – They are less expensive than desktop computers and easier to maintain. There are more than 4 billion mobile subscribers in the world, with more than two thirds of them living in developing countries, where desktop computers with network access have a much lower penetration rate. Mobile devices can provide an easier and less expensive access to the internet for many people. So, modern mobile devices are location and context aware, portable and affordable small computers that can connect us to the internet almost anywhere in the world. It is therefore no surprise that some analysts have started predicting that in five years internet access on mobile devices will overtake classic desktop internet access (Ingram, 2010). With this is mind, we should certainly start exploring different ways of using the advantages of mobile devices to provide relevant, portable and affordable learning on the go. On the other hand, we should also be aware of limitations of mobile devices that often make the development of services for such devices a challenge. For instance, mobile devices usually have smaller screens, less comfortable input methods (for example, tiny mobile keyboards), are limited by battery life, have less powerful hardware (although cloud computing can provide a solution for that) and sometimes data transfer is still quite expensive on cellular networks (especially when roaming in cellular networks outside your country) or not available at all in some areas (which means that mobile devices should also be capable of working offline). That is also why simply providing access to services we use on our desktop computers (for example, the traditional Moodle website) does not always provide a good user experience on mobile devices and a lot of effort is being invested in designing native mobile applications that take into account the limitations of mobile devices and take advantage of the unique characteristics of mobile devices. 2.2
Mobile and ubiquitous learning
Mobile learning or m-learning can be defined in different ways. A simple technocentric definition is that mobile learning is learning using a mobile device (e.g. PDA, mobile phone, iPod etc.). Mobile learning can also be seen as an extension of e-learning or as a way to augment formal, face-to-face teaching. And finally, a learner-centered perspective defines mobile learning as “any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, 216
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
predeterrmined locaation, or leaarning that happens h when the learn ner takes addvantage of learning opportu unities offereed by mobille technolog gies”. (Wintters, 2006) Learnin ng through mobile m deviices, also kn nown as mo obile learnin ng or m-leaarning, is no ot a new idea. Dy ynabook, a Xerox X Palo o Alto Reseaarch Center project, waas conceivedd in the earlly 1970s by Alan n Kay and his h team an nd represen nted the firsst attempt at a creating a portable personal p learning g device (Sh harples, 2002). In the 1990s, han ndheld perssonal digitall assistants (PDAs) appeareed on the market, m but never n reach hed mainstreeam adoptio on and werre soon repllaced by the morre popular mobile ph hones, whicch are bein ng rapidly adopted aall over thee world. Accordiing to UN teelecommun nications ageency predicctions, the number n of m mobile subsccriptions will inccrease to 5 billion this year, with mobile broadband b s subscription ns exceedin ng the 1 billion mark m (CBS News, 2010 0). In addittion to mob bile phoness (many off which aree already powerful sm mart phoness), many affordab ble laptops,, netbooks and tablett computerss are enterring the maarket, ensu uring we always have the internet at the t reach of o our hand ds and allo owing us too interact with w our environm ment. These devices can c all create a ubiquittous learnin ng environm ment, which h can be defined as “any setting s in which w studeents can beecome totally immerssed in the learning process””. A comparrison of learrning enviro onments can n be seen in n Figure 1.
Figurre 1: Comparrison of learn ning environments (Ogatta and Yano, 2004)
As we can see fro om Figure 1, ubiquito ous learnin ng (also kno own as u-llearning) iss mobile learning g that is hiighly embeedded into the environ nment and more awaare of the learner’s l context.. In a broad d definition of ubiquito ous learning g, mobile leearning andd pervasive learning (which includes co omputers ab ble to gatherr informatio on from thee environmeent through h various sensors)) would bee in the caategory of ubiquitous learning (ibidem). ( Y Yahya et all (2010) presenteed the differrences betw ween e-learn ning, m-learn ning and u-learning as seen in Tab ble 1. Ta 1: Comp Table parison of leearning para adigms (Yahyya et al, 20100). Criteria a
e-learrning
m-learning
u u-learning
Conceptt
Learn n at the right time.
Learn at the right placce and time.
Learn the righht thing at the right L p place and timee in the right way. w
217
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
Criteria
e-learning
m-learning
u-learning
Permanency
Learners can lose their work.
Learners may lose their work. Changes in learning devices or learning in movement will interrupt learning activities.
Learners can never lose their work.
Accessibility
System access via computer network
System access networks.
System access technologies.
Immediacy
Learners cannot get information immediately.
Learners get information immediately in fixed environments specified mobile learning devices.
Learners get information immediately.
Interactivity
Learners’ interaction is limited.
Learners can interact with peers, teachers, and experts in specified learning environment.
Learners’ interaction with peers, teachers, and experts effectively through the interfaces of u-learning systems.
Contextawareness
The system cannot sense the learner’s environment.
The system understands the learner’s situation by accessing the database.
The system can understand the learner’s environment via database and sensing the learner’s location, personal and environmental situations.
via wireless
via ubiquitous
In the paper we will discuss examples of both mobile and ubiquitous learning, as we believe that even what we now know as m-learning will eventually transform into u-learning, as ubiquitous learning environments become more commonplace with the development and adoption of various ubiquitous mobile devices. Regardless of whether we talk about m-learning or u-learning, the advantage of using mobile devices for learning is that mobile technologies can embed learning in authentic environments outside of traditional classroom (Huizenga, 2009), making learning seem more relevant to the “real world”, which can enhance leaners’ engagement. 2.3
Game-based learning on mobile devices
It is also worth noting that a lot of location-based learning also uses game mechanics, such as collecting points or unlocking achievements to make location services more fun and to encourage participation. After all, games provide a language that is easy to understand and that most people are already familiar with (and not just the younger generations). For instance, commercial location-based services like Foursqaure and Gowalla use game elements
218
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
(collecting points by checking in to different locations, competing with friends, rewards) to encourage users to use the service regularly and visit different locations (Kiss, 2010). Research in the field of game-based learning (GBL), the use of (digital) games for learning, has shown mixed results in the past 20 years. However, it seems that given the right environment using games for learning certainly can improve skills, knowledge and attitudes and there are now several successful use cases of using location-aware games to improve learning. (Wastiau et all, 2009) For example, an interesting case study of using a mobile, location-aware game to improve learning outcomes was conducted in Amsterdam with a mobile city game called Frequency 1550. The game was developed by the Waag Society, a Dutch ICT research foundation, to teach students about medieval Amsterdam and was designed to be played during a single school day. Pupils start the game at the main location and have to attain a certain number of points through various game activities such as creating or selecting photos, creating videos, answering questions etc. to gain citizenship in the medieval city of Amsterdam. (Huizenga et all, 2009) Results from a pilot project with the historical mobile game showed that despite some technical problems with the game, secondary school pupils who played the game gained significantly more knowledge about medieval Amsterdam than their peers who received regular project-based instruction. The authors suggest this was due to the fact that the information in the mobile game was presented in a realistic and meaningful way and the pupils had the opportunity to actively work with the learning content. (ibidem) Another interesting case study was done with MobiMission, a location-aware mobile phone game prototype. The game centered around creating and responding to Missions on a mobile phone. Missions could consist of images and text and could be linked to a certain location. When a player found a Mission in a certain location, she could respond to it with images or text and other players could later pick up the solution. The game also featured a website component, where players could check the status of their Missions. All action in the game were rewarded with points. While the size of the pilot group testing this game was relatively small, it provides a good example of mobile learning that could also be done in schools. For instance, the authors suggests this system could be used for school field trips, where a school could gradually build a database of activities tied to a location could be built over time, and this knowledge could also be exchanged with other schools. (Grant et al, 2007) 3
A location and context aware LMS
3.1
Making Moodle mobile
As already said, research shows that using mobile devices in education can be effective and engaging. But the big challenge is moving beyond small pilot projects like the ones we briefly described and create tools that could be universally used for different learning activities. And that is why we believe it is important to think about how we could connect our mobile devices to existing learning tools, such as Moodle, to the increasing number of smart mobile devices we all own to enhance learning in schools. Broadly speaking there are two main areas that we can focus on:
219
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
– m making Mo oodle easier to use on mobile m deviices (for exaample, Mooodle websitees aren’t optimized for small screen dev vices or touch screens) and – c creating new w Moodle modules m with a connecction to mob bile devicess and bring location and con ntext data in nto Moodle to t provide more m engaging resources and activvities. 3.2
E Existing prrojects and tools t
Most off the projeccts related to t making Moodle M mo obile focus on making Moodle more m user friendly y on mobile devices. There are sev veral appro oaches on do oing this. O One way is to focus on the Moodle seerver and add a additio onal scripts or applicaations to thhe installatiion. For examplee, Moodbilee (http://cod de.google.co om/p/moodb bile/) is a PHP P applicaation that pllugs into Moodlee web-servicce connecto ors and adju usts the loo ok of Mood dle to fit sm mall screen devices, such as mobile pho ones. An intteresting prroject also being b developed as an iPhone/iPo od Touch web app plication iss Moodle4iP Phone (http p://iphone.m moodle.com m.au), and ssimilar verssions for Google Android and a Window ws Mobilee are also being deveeloped by the wider Moodle commun nity (Parmaar, 2010). Anotherr approach is to createe mobile sp pecific appllications thaat are capabble of displaying a modified version of o any Mood dle website without thee need to modify m the seerver code. mTouch (http://w www.pragm masql.com/ho ome/moodletouch.aspx x) is currrently avaiilable as a paid applicattion in the iP Phone/iPod d Touch App p Store that can connecct to any Mooodle websiite.
Figure 2: Mood dle4iPhone in n Safari brow wser and mTo Touch, a nativve application on iPod To ouch
While these t appliccations mak ke it easier to access Moodle on n mobile deevices, they y mostly provide access to the t same feeatures we use u on our desktop co omputers annd don’t reaally take advantaage of the sp pecifics of mobile m devicces. One of the best known projects that also provides new mobile specific moodules to Moodle M is MLE-M Moodle (http://mle.sourcceforge.net//). MLE-Mo oodle is an open o sourcee plugin for Moodle that add ds the functiionality of a mobile leaarning envirronment (M MLE) to Mooodle. End-u users can access MLE-Mood M dle either on o their buiilt-in mobille browserss or throughh a speciall mobile phone application a ( JAVA bassed mobile client). (a c (ML LE-Moodle,, 2009)
220
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
Figurre 3: Accessiing standard d Moodle features on a mobile screen (source: ML LE-Moodle, 2009) 2
In addittion to prov viding accesss to existing Moodle activities a an nd resourcess on mobilee devices (Figure 3), MLE-M Moodle also o introducess two mobile-specific types t of activities that teachers d to their Mo oodle coursees: can add – M Mobile Leaarning Objects (MLO Os): MLOs are learning objects that are designed d especiallly for mob bile learning g and can include diffferent types of questions. MLOss can be stored on o the mobile device and a used ev ven where there is no o internet coonnection available a (unlike standard Moodle M activities). M Mobile tag gs / Location based services: s T The Mobile Tagging m module allo ows the – creation n of visual tags t (Figuree 4) that can n be scanneed with mob bile phones simply by taking a picture of the tag. MLE-Moo odle supportts different types of taags that cann link to weebpages, Moodlee courses orr activities or o locationss. These vissual tags can n be printedd out and placed p in differen nt locations.. When stud dents find them, t they scan them and access the linked d content (e.g. a Moodle M quizz related to that location).
Figurre 4: A mobille tag; if you scan this ba arcode with a QR Code Reader, R such aas the free i-nigma reader (http://www w.i-nigma.com m), your mob bile browser will open thee URL associated with th his code
The usee of mobile tags is esp pecially inteeresting for education, as they aree easy to seetup (we can justt print them out on paper) and mosst modern mobile m phon nes with a ccamera that students already have will be b able to deecode this im mages and open o conten nt associatedd with a cerrtain tag. For exaample, when n preparing printed maaterials for a class, a teeacher can iinclude mob bile tags in QR (Quick ( Resp ponse) form mat that incllude links to t resourcess or quizzess stored in Moodle. M When sttudents go through t the printed maaterial, they can simply point their cell phone cameras to the included QR R codes an nd the linkeed resource or activity will open up in theirr mobile browserr. (Ramsden n, 2008)
221
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
3.3
F Future Moo odle: mobille, location and contex xt aware
From th he brief oveerview of existing e app proaches to o making Moodle M Mobbile, it is cllear that there iss still a lott that could d be done. While pro oviding uniq que mobilee user interrfaces is importaant, it should d be just thee first step to owards the future of a mobile, ubiiquitous Mo oodle. One thiing Moodlee could sup pport is geo olocation in nformation (informatioon about reaal-world geograp phic location) for diffeerent types of submitted content (e.g. forum m and blogss posts), which would w allow w students to o browse co ontent by lo ocation eith her on their desktops orr mobile devices.. For instaance, when visiting a museum, you could search thee location for any resourcees or activitties belonging to that specific loccation that any course participantts left at that placce, a “Show w Nearby Co ontent” filteer. Anotherr interesting g new mod dule for a future Mo oodle might also be aable to con nnect to augmen nted reality y browserss, such as a Wikitud de (http://w www.wikituude.org) orr Layar (http://w www.layar.ccom). Augm mented realiity browserrs run on po owerful smaart phones and add digital information to the physsical world. An examplle could be seen s in Figuure 5.
Figu ure 5: Augmeented reality browser Wikkitude displayying informa ation about nnearby landm marks (source: http://en.wik h kipedia.org/w wiki/File:Wikkitude.jpg)
An Aug gmented Reeality brow wser in Moo odle could enable teacchers to addd location specific informaation that stu udents could d access to while on a school field d trip. Or, sttudents coulld create their ow wn knowledg ge base of local l landmarks - as som me sort of location l bassed wiki. To make learning even e more engaging e an nd fun, Moo odle could also providde better sup pport for the creaation of mob bile games.. For instan nce, Moodlee has been already a useed as a platfform for Tower of o Babel (h http://arg.paaisley.ac.uk)), a EU spo onsored alteernate realiity game (A ARG) to promotee language learning, bu ut more cou uld be donee to providee support fo for game meechanics inside Moodle M (traacking prog gress, achieevements, score s based d on activiity, student created groups etc.). ARG G, games th hat combin ne real-worlld objects and locatioons with cllues and puzzles hidden on nline to creaate an engaaging, colleective expeerience for players (Ed ducause, 2009), are a an espeecially interesting subset of game--based learn ning that caan be suppo orted by mobile devices d and d that should d be made easier e to creeate and man nage withinn Moodle. And fin nally, Mood dle could allso support the creatio on of more interactive learning reesources that reacct to physiccal feedback k provided by b differentt sensors on n mobile devices. For instance, i 222
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
resources or activities could react to device shaking, change in lighting, respond to surrounding physics etc.. A good example of what could be achieved is the Alice for the iPad (http://www.atomicantelope.com/alice/) e-book for Apple’s new tablet device, which responds to device movements. While development of such materials is still an expensive and complex process nowadays, we can imagine a future where defining physical feedback could be as easy as adding a text feedback to a Quiz question. 4
Conclusion
While we can already see many different use cases for a truly mobile and context-aware Moodle, the field of user friendly mobile application is still under development. Today, commercial services like Foursquare and Layar are leading the way and showing us future potential that could also be used in formal education, but it will take a while before we develop tools that can provide the needed support to established educational systems like Moodle. We will also need open standards that will be able to connect new mobile learning applications with existing LMS like Moodle (Alier et al, 2009). And finally, it will also take a few years before smart phones become commonplace and available to most students like standard mobile phones are today. Even though we still have long way to go, we believe that now is the right time to start imagining the future of a mobile Moodle. For this purpose we provided a general overview of mobile learning concepts and related fields, presented some of the existing projects that are attempting to take Moodle outside of the classroom into the real world. We hope this paper can encourage teachers to imagine new types of activities and resources that could be created in a ubiquitous learning environment of the future, where learning is truly accessible anywhere, anytime, in a fun way that will engage learners of all ages in a more authentic way. 5
Resources
Alier, Marc, María José Casany Guerrero an Jordi Piguillem Poch. (2009). Towards Mobile Learning Applications Integration with Learning Management Systems. Available on: http://www.essi.upc.edu/~mjcasany/Maria_Jose_Casany_Homepage/Publications_files/09.mu ltiplatform.pdf [15. 4. 2010]. CBS News. (2010). Number of Cell Phones Worldwide Hits 4.6B. Available on: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/15/business/main6209772.shtml [18. 2. 2010]. Educause. (2009). 7 things you should know about... Alternate Reality Games. Available on: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7045.pdf [16. 4. 2010]. Grant, Lyndsay, Hans Daanen, Steve Benford, Alastair Hampshire, Adam Drozd and Chris Greenhalgh. (2007). MobiMissions: The Game of Missions for Mobile Phones. Available on: http://nrl.iis.sinica.edu.tw/Web2.0/presentation/MobiMissions.pdf [15. 3. 2007]. Huizenga, J., W. Admiraal, S. Akkerman and G. ten Dam. (2009). Mobile game-based learning in secondary education: engagement, motivation and learning in a mobile city game. In Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. Available on: http://www.ilo.uva.nl/homepages/wilfried/docs/JCAL_Huizenga_2009.pdf [7. 4. 2010]. Ingram, Mathew. (2010). Mary Meeker: Mobile Internet Will Soon Overtake Fixed Internet. Available on: http://gigaom.com/2010/04/12/mary-meeker-mobile-internet-will-soonovertake-fixed-internet/ [17. 4. 2010]. 223
Moodle.si 2010 4th International Conference Proceedings Koper, 21 May 2010
Johnson, Laurence F., Alan Levine, Rachel S. Smith and Sonja Stone. (2010a). The 2010 Horizon Report. Available on: http://www.nmc.org/publications/2010-horizon-report [14. 3. 2010]. Johnson, Laurence F., Rachel S. Smith, Alan Levine and Keene Haywood. (2010b). 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition. Available on: http://www.nmc.org/publications/2010-horizonk12-report [14. 3. 2010]. Jones, Vicki and Jun H. Jo. (2004). Ubiquitous learning environment: An adaptive teaching system using ubiquitous technology. In Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference, pp. 468-474. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/jones.html [12. 4. 2010]. Kiss, Jemima. (2010). Foursquare and Gowalla: location games are where it's at. Available on: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/apr/05/gowalla-foursquare-location-jemima [10. 4. 2010]. MLE-Moodle. (2009). MLE-Moodle: Features. Available on: http://mle.sourceforge.net/mlemoodle/index.php?lang=en&page=features.php [14. 4. 2010]. Ogata, Hiroaki and Yoneo Yano. (2004). Context-Aware Support for Computer-Supported Ubiquitous Learning. In Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE International Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education, pp. 27-34. Available on: http://wwwyano.is.tokushima-u.ac.jp/ogata/clue/WMTE-03-1-50.pdf [12. 4. 2010]. Parmar, Nitin. (2010). Apr 30th: Moodle4iPhone – Focus Group & Next Steps. Available on: http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/moodle/2010/04/30/apr-30th-moodle4iphone-focus-group-next-steps/ [1. 5. 2010] Ramsden, Andy. (2008). The use of QR codes in Education: A getting started guide for academics. Available on: http://opus.bath.ac.uk/11408/1/getting_started_with_QR_Codes.pdf [15. 4. 2010]. Sharples, Mike. (2002). Disruptive Devices: Mobile Technology for Conversational Learning. Available on: http://www.eee.bham.ac.uk/handler/ePapers/ijceell.pdf [12. 4. 2010]. Yahya, Saadiah, Erny Arniza Ahmad and Kamarularifin Abd Jalil. (2010). The definition and characteristics of ubiquitous learning: A discussion. In International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2010, Vol. 6, Issue 1. Available on: http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu//viewarticle.php?id=785 [14. 4. 2010]. Wastiau, Patricia, Caroline Kearney and Wouter Van den Berghe. (2009). How are digital games used in schools? Available on: http://games.eun.org/upload/gis-full_report_en.pdf [26. 7. 2009]. Winters, Niall. (2006). What is mobile learning? In Big Issues in Mobile Learning - Report of a workshop by the Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence Mobile Learning Initiative. Available on: http://telearn.noe-kaleidoscope.org/warehouse/Sharples-2006.pdf [12. 4. 2007].
224
