Mobile Assisted Language learning and EFL

1. Mobile Assisted Language learning and EFL Michael Thomas Nagoya University of Commerce & Business, Japan

2. Questions • Is mobile learning another example of technology-driven pedagogy? • Can mobile devices by used as effective instructional tools? • Are mobile technologies a medium for increased social inclusion in education?

3. What is mobile or m-learning? • Mobile learning relates to “the possibilities opened up by portable, lightweight devices that are … small enough to fit in a pocket or the palm of one’s hand. Typical examples are mobile phones … smartphones, palmtops and PDAs; Tablet PCs, laptop computers and personal media players” • Kukulska-Hulme & Traxler, 2005

4. The Characteristics of Mobile Learning • spontaneous • bite-sized, fast-food learning • short-burst • personal • informal • contextual • portable • ubiquitous • anywhere, anytime

5. The Characteristics of Mobile Learning • ubiquitous (everywhere, anytime) • pervasive (an abundance of networked mobile and embedded devices) • ambient (completely surrounding us, learning enhanced buildings and networks, wireless cities) • (Kukulska-Hulme & Traxler, 2005)

6. The Ubiquity of Mobile Technology • midnight 31st December 2005 to midnight 1st January 2006, 165 million SMS sent (UK) • total phone users in China reached 740 million in 2005 • 390 million were mobile users • Chinese mobile phone users sent 304.65 billion SMS in 2005, an increase of almost 40% percent from 2004 • Japan 2005, saw the latest generation of mobile phones offering TV, audio, language classes, and dictionaries • the market for downloadable music remains the most valuable: €6 billion by 2008

7. The Ubiquity of Mobile Technology • KDDI and NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode service • Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionaries • 2005, KDDI launched a mobile ebook service for bestsellers, business titles, manga and anime

8. Mobile Learning Literature • Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Educators and Trainers, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme & John Traxler (eds). Routledge, 2005. • 13 case studies

9. Mobile Learning Literature • Metcalf, D. S. 2006, mLearning: Mobile Learning and Performance in the Palm of your Hand, Amherst, Massachusetts, HRD Press Inc. • Corporate training and mobile learning

10. From CALL to MALL • Chinnery, George M. “Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning”, Language Learning & Technology, Vol. 10, No. 1, January 2006, pp. 9-16 • Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL)

11. MALL Studies: Convenient • email English vocabulary lessons at timed intervals to the mobile phones of 44 Japanese university students • students receiving mobile email learned more • 71% of the subjects preferred receiving these lessons on mobile phones rather than PCs • 93% felt this a valuable teaching method • Thornton, P. & Houser, C. (2005). Using Mobile Phones in English Education in Japan, Journalof Computer Assisted Learning. Vol. 21, Issue 3 pp.217-228.

12. MALL Studies: Ubiquity • 333 Japanese university students polled • 100% reported owning a mobile phone • 99% send email on their mobile phones, exchanging some 200 email messages each week • 66% email peers about classes; 44% email for studying • only 43% email on PCs, exchanging an average of only 2 messages per week. Only 20% had used a PDA • Thornton, P. & Houser, C. (2005). Using Mobile Phones in English Education in Japan. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. Vol. 21, Issue 3, pp. 217-228.

13. MALL Studies: Interactivity • effective undergraduate education includes discussion, timely and frequent feedback to students, and active problem solving • mobile web phones to take polls, promote interactivity, and check student comprehension during large lecture classes • answer quizzes, collating and displaying the results • polling motivates student discussion, and gives students and instructors immediate feedback • Thornton, P. & Houser, C. (2003). EduCall: Adding interactivity to large lecture classes in Japan via mobile phone. Proceedings of EdMedia2003, Honolulu, Hawaii, pp.1871-1874.

14. MALL Studies: Input Skills • 2-minute transcription tasks, 24 Japanese university students typed Japanese:English at 8:7 wpm on miniature QWERTY keyboards, 10:9 on onscreen QWERTY keyboards, 17:5 on mobiles, 23:14 on desktop PCs, and 31:30 with pencil and paper • Students preferred typing on desktops and mobiles • students could take notes and write reports on their mobiles, but would require training before using PDAs and writing in English. recognition • Houser, C. & P. Thornton (2004) Japanese college students typing speeds on mobile devices. In Jeremy Roschelle, Tak-Wai Chan, Kinshuk, Stephen J. H. Yang (Eds.). Taoyuan, Taiwan. IEEE Computer Society 2004, pp. 129-133.

15. MALL Studies: CMS • poodle, a course management system designed to facilitate deploying educational materials to mobile phones • supports ubiquitous polls, quizzes, wikis, forums, and flash cards • Houser, C. & Thornton, P. (2005). Poodle: A course-management system for mobile phones. In H. Ogata, M. Sharples, Kinshuk, & Y. Yano (Eds.), Proceedings of the third IEEE International Workshop, November 28-30, 2005, Los Alamitos, California: IEEE Computer Society, pp. 211-215.

16. Ubiquitous m-learning in Japan • Mobile phone usage in Japan is at 91 million • 90% of students have access to mobile phones • Average length of possession of mobile phones: 7 years • No Japanese person leaves home without one • But, typically banned from classrooms

17. Learning with Mobile Phones in Japan • Using online dictionaries • Record dates using online calendars and organizing tools • Capture notes through through use of mobile cameras • Email or phone students to arrange meetings for class projects • Translation websites

18. Learning with Mobile Phones • To record and listen to audio from lectures and classes • To listen to audio material aimed at pronunciation practice • To receive text / multimedia messages from teachers with class content • To receive administrative information about course schedules, tests, assignments

19. Limitations of Mobile Technology • Screen size • Keyboard entry • High cost of data transmission • Slow network speeds for video and audio • Most users still access 2G cellular data networks (data upload 9.6kbps and download at 29.8kbps) • Average Japanese mobile phone bill 9,000 Yen / 80USD • Battery life of mobile devices • Compatibility with computing interfaces

20. Mobile Networks • Text and image based context are most appropriate • Sound and video becoming possible with 3G cellular technology • Development of IP phones can use home or campus networks • Students on campus will be able to circumvent high data transmission charges by using wireless campus networks

21. MALL Activities • Vocabulary review • Mobile blogs • Mobile calendar • Online courses for mobiles • Mobile polls • Mobile television

22. Vocabulary Review • Email and text messages the most effective mobile tools • Hauser & Thornton Vocabulary via Mobile Email • Activities that involve vocabulary practice • Phrase translation • Quizzes • http://www.studypatch.net/mobile

23. Vocabulary Review • Mike Levy and Claire Kennedy’s essay on ‘Learning Italian via mobile SMS’ • Mobile phones were used to send students new vocabulary items from an Italian novel studied on the course, along with definitions and example uses of the words • A process of regularly spaced-intervals was used according to two strategies – ‘once only’ and ‘recurring delivery’ – and vocabulary was sent prior to and between students’ scheduled language lessons

24. Vocabulary Review • Feedback: a maximum of 160 characters could be displayed on the screens, significant periods of time were required for message preparation • Content: students reacted most favorably to SMS concerned with grammar, vocabulary, news, literature and administrative matters • Timing: both in terms of most appropriate time of the day as well as the interval strategy adopted, was also a crucial issue • 94.4% of students gave favorable feedback, indicating that they had liked the use of SMS for learning vocabulary, especially the use of a prompt to aid retention, and the sending of messages outside of normal study times or prior to class

25. Mobile Calendar • Mobile phones as personal organizers • For instructors and students • Improve student-student • student-teacher communication • Administrative tasks • Dissemination of course-related information • Study links

26. Online Courses for Mobiles • Course Management Systems • Moodle for mobiles • Course administration • Course teaching modules • http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss/php?d=33033

27. Case Study: NUCB • 205 freshmen English language majors • 1GB iPod Shuffle • required to download audio resources from a university server • encouraged to listen to them on their iPods, both on and off campus • The audio was then used in Final Examination papers

28. Case Study: NUCB • 70% used iPods for listening to music • 18% for activities related to learning English 12% for storing data files • 64% they had never or hardly ever used their iPods for listening in English while traveling to and from campus

29. Case Study: NUCB • 26% iPods had improved their overall exposure to English language resources • 54% of students said that they bring their iPods to campus very often or often • only 15% said that faculty had used it effectively enough for them to consider using their iPod for English language learning purposes • 21% saw a strong connection between the English language resources and the iPod technology itself

30. Case Study: NUCB • 15% had downloaded music from iTunes Apple site • 66% said they had never done so • only 4% of students knew the difference between podcasting and downloading music • 57% of students thought the iPods had been distributed as an attempt to attract them to study at the university rather than to help them in any meaningful learning process

31. Questions • Is mobile learning another example of technology-driven pedagogy? • Can mobile devices by used as effective instructional tools? • Are mobile technologies a medium for increased social inclusion in education?