Mobile Learning in Higher Education

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Mobile Learning in Higher Education

Multiple connections in customized learning spaces

4/23/2008

By Ruth Reynard

Rather, while the faculty expert must know how the information is relevant and how it should be worked and used, the students should be able to access the content in whatever form they find best for them - customization. This is an essential characteristic of an MMC. Mobile technology users do not take well to hyper control of their usage and likewise, this generation of learners should not be subjected to control of input in a course of study. Rather than see this as an unnecessary accommodation of the part of the faculty teacher, it is more to the point to realize how much further this takes the learning potential towards the realm of learner autonomy which has always been the goal of higher education.

Points of Output
Likewise MMC learning environments provide for multiple possible points of output. That means that like the multifaceted technology in use, students should be able to maximize their connections with the teacher, others students in their class and other classes, and in the larger community. Again, this has the potential of enhancing the learning environment to the level of maximum output which in turn will influence and increase the interaction and production of learning.

Areas or 'Spaces' of Interaction
Interaction should not be limited to the class meeting or pre-scheduled online times of interaction. Students now with mobile connections are able to interact with the course content as they choose and/or need to enhance their learning. Again customization of the learning space is a critical characteristic of this kind of learning environment. Faculty should not dictate when or how interaction takes place but that it should. Where faculty expertise supports the process is to guide the student to recognize relevant and helpful interactions as opposed to ineffective wastes of time.

Production
Most courses in higher education stagnate in the area of assessment. Granted many courses of study are towards some form of certification that requires standardized testing but that should be the starting point, not the summation of the production of learning. Students would have the opportunity to use multi forms to demonstrate or "produce" their knowledge and learning. This will enhance the learning experience for the learner but also gratify the faculty teacher in recognizing what has been learned in a course of study.

Assessment of the Learning
Much time and effort has been spent in recent years as educators have explored the best uses of technology in instruction and how to choose the right technology to suit the learning outcomes. In an MMC learning environments, students can create those customized learning space themselves and use various software and online tools they are familiar with to support their own learning. This is learner autonomy at its best and it reinforces individualized learning style and preferences. It should also influence how courses are assessed. Most assessments in conventional courses assume that every student has accessed exactly the same amounts of information, processed them exactly the same way, and wants to produce evidence of learning in the same way.