In this free issue of
I came across an article titled ‘lessons learned about signing augmented Realities’ in the freely available inaugural issue of the International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations. In it the authors talk about augmented reality and a project in which they provided middle and high school students with handheld devices equiped with GPS. In the words of the authors: ‘As the students move around a physical location, such as their school playground or sports felds (Figure 2), a map on their handheld displays digital objects and virtual people who exist in an AR world superimposed on real space (Figure 3). When students come within approximately 30 feet of these digital artifacts, the AR and GPS software triggers video, audio, and text fles, which provide narrative, navigation, and collaboration cues as well as academic challenges. In Alien Contact! the students are presented with the following scenario: Aliens have landed on Earth and seem to be preparing for a number of actions, including peaceful contact, invasion, plundering, or simply returning to their home planet, among other possibilities. Working in teams (four pupils per team), the students must explore the augmented reality world, interviewing virtual characters, collecting digital items, and solving mathematics and literacy puzzles to determine why the aliens have landed. Each team has four roles: chemist, cryptologist, computer hacker, and FBI agent. Depending upon his or her role, each student will see different pieces of evidence. In order to successfully navigate the augmented reality environment and solve various puzzles, the students must share information and collaborate with the other members of their team’ (pp 4-5).
This is very neat indeed. I tried doing something similar before by using podquests, but these did not have inbuilt GPS so obviously were limited compared to this project. This is an excellent use of technology to encourage - and support - out-of-class learning.
Thornton and Houser were among the first to show the potential for cellphones for vocabulary learning back in 2004. They sent out SMS messages to their students with new vocabulary, and made sure that each item was received multiple times by their participants. I don’t think (but I could be wrong here) that they made use of spaced learning by increasing the time interval between each exposure. Flaschard software is excellent at that, and now there are programs for use on cellphones. This could potentially be excellent as you are likely to have your phone with you when it is time for your next rehearsal. Here is one such program (www.flashmybrain.com) but there are many others.
Coursesmart, a publisher of college textbooks in the US, is offering an Iphone application that gives you access to over 7,000 textbooks. Why are publishers of language education materials so far behind….?
A very neat application was just realised by Ipadio for use with any cellphone. Essentially this lets you dial a number in the UK (or if you have an Iphone or Android phone you can use a dedicated app) and record yourself, a call or a presentation (if you have a mic). It then automatically uploads that to an audioblog, so it’s ‘live-to-web’. It also includes voice-to-text transcription and it will geo-tag your post so that people can see where the recording was made. Needless to say this would be wonderful for a range of uses, such as data collection (interviews, recordings of classroom interactions, personal reflections/portolios), and also teaching (get students to do interviews or be ‘journalists’ and report on events outside the classroom; they then read or listen to eachother’s posts and comment on them). Has anyone usd this yet for language teaching or research purposes?
In the past I have used www.wirenode.com to make mobile versions of my website. I have now found a new website called Mippin, which seems just as easy. It will take an RSS feed from your website and turn it into a mobile-ready version, complete with pictures, formatting and layout. Brilliant.
Mobile phones are widely used by people, so why are researchers not making more use of them to collect data? In an upcoming project in Hong Kong I hope to get participants to record language learning experiences outside the classroom - and what better way to do this than by using a tool that each of them carries around all the time anyway?
This article talks about the technical aspects of mobile data collection and is a good read if you think you may be interested in this area. Recommended!
Please drop me a line if you are using mobile data collection - I’d love to hear about your experiences. Maybe we can exchange tips.
A very interesting-sounding conference! And great to see that the conference fee is waived for accepted speakers.
Mobile learning and autonomy in second language acquisition
> Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
> Departamento de Filología Moderna
> Facultad de Humanidades
> TOLEDO, Spain
> 17th, 18th & 19th September, 2009
>
> Under the impact of ICTs in general and portable technologies in particular,
> mLearning (mobile learning) is becoming a vibrant variety of e-learning. In
> close connection with its disciplinary neighbours like CALL, CMC or Distance
> Learning, mLearning is challenging conventional teaching-and-learning
> practices, thereby becoming a fundamental area for future developments of
> autonomy and independence in second language acquisition.
>
> In this context, the EU-funded Lingua Projects EUROPODIANS (Language Courses
> for Mobile Technologies) and AMICITIAS (Ambient Intelligence as a Compelling
> Instructional Tool for Interlinguistic and Intercultural Skills) will be
> hosting a conference in the city of Toledo (Spain) on 18-20 September 2009.
> This conference invites 20-minute sessions addressing the connections between
> mLearning devices (iPods, PDAs, mobile phones, portable computers, etc.) and
> self-directed learning. The symposium will become a forum to share
> developments and experiences about theories, approaches, principles and
> applications of mLearning, with a especial emphasis on the application of
> mLearning for second language acquisition in general and learner autonomy in
> particular.
>
> Although other topics may be considered, we welcome paper proposals dealing
> with, but not being limited to, issues such as the following:
>
>
>
> 1. Theorizing mobile learning within second-language acquisition.
>
> 2. Mobile learning and its disciplinary neighbours: ICT-based Learning,
> CALL, Distance Learning, Lifelong Learning, Autonomy and Independence in
> language learning.
>
> 3. Mobile learning and its potential for blended learning programmes.
>
> 4. Portable technologies and their integration within conventional
> face-to-face tuition practices.
>
> 5. Mobile learning devices and language-learning virtual platforms.
>
> 6. The potential of portable technologies for the teaching and learning
> of culture.
>
> THE CITY OF TOLEDO:
> The conference will take place in the magnificent city of Toledo, World
> Heritage Site. The former capital of the Spanish Empire, and the place of
> co-existence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish cultures in the medieval
> period, is today a most culturally and monumentally rich tourist destination
> in Spain, attracting millions of visitors every year. Toledo is conveniently
> located, only 35 minutes from Madrid on the frequent high-speed trains
> servicing the city. The conference venue will be the Palace of Padilla in
> Toledo, located in the historic centre of Toledo.
>
> IMPORTANT DATES:
31st July, 2009: Submission of ABSTRACTS. Please send 250-word abstracts
> to: or Please indicate
> your full name, address and affiliation.
> § August 15th, 2009: Notification of acceptance.
> § 17th, 18th & 19th September, 2009: Conference dates.
>
> KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
> Marie-Noëlle Lamy (The Open University, UK)
> David Robison (University of Bradford, UK)
>
> PUBLICATION:
> Selected papers will be published in a volume after the conference.
> CONFERENCE LANGUAGES:
>
> Although the official language of the symposium will be English, papers in
> other major languages are welcomed.
> CONFERENCE CONVENORS:
>
> Javier Enrique Díaz-Vera & Eduardo de Gregorio-Godeo
> ORGANISING COMMITTEE:
> María del Mar Ramón Torrijos, Helena Aikin, Edel Porter, Rafael Cruz
> González & José Miguel Alcolado Carnicero
> ENQUIRIES may be sent to: >
> > or
> >
>
> FURTHER INFORMATION:
>
> exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.uclm.es/actividades/2009/mobilearn>
> (currently under construction).
I just found a reference to an online newspaper article about the use of Nintendo DS in Japanese high schools (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080703f2.html). It mentions DS games for English learning. I think this particularly interesting (DS consoles are hand-held, portable, reasonably cheap and strong) as many learners are familiar with them for out-of-class entertainment and learning (when I was in Japan I saw many ads for educational materials on mobile devices including the DS), which will help to bridge the gap between the classroom and the students’ lives.
Of course, is usefulness depends entirely on the use of the technology. The activities described in the article above are related to spelling but further down it becomes clear the main problem that was trying to be addressed was lack of fluency. Clearly there is room for improvement. But coming up with meaningful ways of integrating the technology is our job as teachers!
Here’s an example of a commercially available DS English game. ‘
Just found this free e-book on mobile learning. It contains some chapters by people well-known in this field. If you are new to this field I recommend the introductory chapter by John Traxler.
I was at a conference in Pakistan last week and during the panel discussion one of the members made the interesting point that many women in Pakistan would not have access to a computer or a private email address (which would always be shared with a husband, if available at all). I was wondering how mobile technology might circumvent this problem to an extent. I saw many women (all, it seemed) with cellphones. This may be one more reason to explore delivery of learning materials in this way. Just something to think about when considering the use of technology for making learning resources available.
