The mobile devices such as cellular phones and PDA have been chiefly used up to now for the information receiving transmission.
Mobile learning / M-learning is the exciting art of using mobile technologies to enhance the learning experience.
Recently, it is paid to attention as method for utilization with a high additional value with the technical advantages.
Mobile phones, PDAs, Pocket PCs and the Internet can be blended to engage and motivate learners, any time and anywhere.
Nintendo DS for mobile learning
Definition
What is m-learning?
At present, mobile learning is not defined clearly. However, E-learning centre of Britain defined the word as follows.
"Mobile learning is the use of learning solutions on mobile or wireless devices - and this covers a number of aspects -
laptops using wireless connections; PDAs and the mobile phones.""
In addition, for reference, Japan E-Leaning Consortium defined the word as follows.
"for the office workers who have their outsidework, or for the students to use their time in the train, the technology is expected to be used any place and any time to study."
PDA, in Japan, has mainly three types such as Sharp Zaurs, Palm os, and Pocket PC. As its characteristics, each interoperability is low,
though its operations are easier than personal computers and uptime is earlier.
However, the diffusion ratio of PDA in the current state has bias which is overwhelmingly low compared with the mobile phone, centering around the businesspeople. Therefore, the mobile learning by PDA thought about by the current state depends on spreading conditions of PDA terminal. It is expected lower in social influences in a wide generation.
for more details, click here. about PDA[1] (Japanese), [2] (English)
Mobile phones
For the mobile learning using the mobile phone, there are the purveyor who hold out the mobile learning and the learner who receive the mobile learning.
As a result, there are advantages and disadvantages, from the both angle of it.
From the purveyor's angle
For the purveyor, the maximum advantage of using mobile phone for mobile learning is that the adoption rate of mobile phone is high. Without the situation of using the device, ther are no selling expectation, although the study method is good. The high adoption rate of mobile phone, it is also becoming the reason of the purveyor's entry to the mobile learning market.
Another advantage is the simplicity of collecting the charge. Cooperating with the mobile phone comapany, they can collect the charge with the phone rate.
The disadvantages for the purveyors are that the mobile phones have the limit for learning beacause of its smallness of the screen and the inferiors of the communication. These points make the limit to the quality of the learning that is given. Also, the inferiors of the communication make the stop to the learning and it chooses the place, which becomes a reason of the insufficiency of donating the learning.
Another point of disadvantage is that the systems are different by each telecommunications prividers and phone models, so the contents output cost become expensive.
From the learner's angle
The maximum advantage of a mobile learning is height of the degree of freedom that can be studied anytime and anywhere for the learner. A lot of people can carry mobile phone when they go out and can learn at free time. As for this, the mobile phone is small size in the portable terminal, so it is convenient to carry.
Also it is possible to use it anytime and anywhere even in the point that 24 hour power supply need not consider uptime by turning on. As a result, the width of user's mobile learning extends, it uses as a supplementation with study and training that uses the free time, and the lifelong learning etc. that exist are thought variously. Moreover, it can be said easy because payment is possible without spending troublesome time along with the phone rate about the charge as well as the purveyor.
It is able to consider variously to think about the weak point on the learner side from a detailed point. First of all, because the dependancy to the mobile phone has risen by making the mobile phone in recent years multifunctional, it is not able to use other functions when being studying. And the tiredness of eyes by concentrating on a small screen for a long time while studying can be said as a body influence. The attention power to surroundings becomes loose according to the degree of the concentration and the possibility that the risk of the accident and the breach of manners increase is high.
Current characteristics of purveyors and learners
Advantages
Disadvantages
Purveyors
Mobile phones penetration rate is high. The charge collection is easy.
Battery slice. It is uneven to the communication situation.
Learners
It is able to learn anywhere and anytime. It is easier to carry compared with other mobile devices.
The smallness of screen makes the learning hard. Danger of too much concentration on mobile phone.
for more details, click here. about Mobile phones. [3]
The expecting development of the Mobile Learning
In the present stage, the Mobile Learning is still the time of the proof experiment. There are some business enterprices that are donating the leaning services, but they still have some difficulties to develop the market. But recently, the hike call rate which was the biggest problem for the people, becomes to the constant rate system, the Mobile Learning is getting to the new stage to spread out.
There is one more difficulty to the Mobile Learning. Which is the choosing the information that they input the service. The information and the subject are should carefully chosen, and thought as those informations are teaching material. Otherwise, those informations and the mobile devices have the danger of degenerating into just the service and the mobile game player.
References
Oshima, Junshun. (2002) UFJ Reserch Institute "Mobile learning" [www.murc.jp/report/ufj_report/704/21.pdf]
