Doctoral Research
" Making your learning easy and convenient"
What is Mobile Learning ?
Advances in mobile technology has sparked interest from educators as it provides an opportunity to carry out learning activities in a ubiquitous manner. Mobile devices provides an opening for “learners to learn anywhere, at any time” (Ozdamli and Uzunboylu 2014, p.2). This is brought about by the various capabilities and solutions that are embedded in the devices, although as suggested by Seipold (2012) that these capabilities were not intentionally designed for learning, but for everyday life. Seipold (2012) further proposes that the challenge is to relate school and everyday life to each other, which is, finding ways of using mobile technology for learning purposes.
Thus, from a purely technology perspective, these devices are fast becoming more capable of supporting the functions of teaching and learning from both student and teacher perspective El-Hussein and Cronje (2010).
So where does M Learning fit into this evolution? M Learning can be thought of a new stage or natural evolution of Distance and E Learning (Georgiev et al 2004) which combines the concept of E Learning with mobile computing Behera (2013). In fact it is even more refined than E Learning as it is based on the specific use of mobile technology where the communication between the education provider and the learner is mediated via a mobile device that is connected to the Internet. Essentially, M Learning utilize mobile computing devices such as tablets and smartphones
Purpose of the Research
It is a clear that the convergence of technological and pedagogical developments is creating an opportunity for innovations in higher education. The question now is “Why all the ‘fuss’ about M Learning?"
The researcher intends to focus his research on the private tertiary education sector as they predominantly enroll part time students, who are essentially adult learners. This segment is significant for this study because adult learners today are digital immigrants, who are fast becoming a dying species and through advancement in usability of mobile technology are becoming more tech savvy on the surface, and they do face challenges in adoption and they also have a different set of learning needs.
The other major aspect of the research scope is that the researcher will focus only on the teaching and learning element (pedagogy) of the education environment and not administration and support or assessment. There is a great opportunity to use mobile technology to evolve the learning experience of students in such way that prepares them for work life. The researcher’s assertion is that M Learning will fail if it is just added on to the existing model. What is needed is a critical change in direction from the current dominant approach, by determining what type of experience must be delivered to meet the expectations of the student and then integrate the required mobile technology.
Based on the above discussion of the research scope and context the following central question is posit by the researcher:
How can the adoption of Mobile Learning be used to augment the pedagogical strategies currently used for adult learners in the private higher education sector in Trinidad?
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