Mobile Technologies and Learning: Expectations, Myths, and Reality

Abstract

M-learning is often approached as an innovative method to teach, but quite often without the proper planning of the actual learning process and proper understanding of the implications on the pedagogy of the learning process in such a setting. Because of the multiple stakeholders in the process – the institution, the learners, the educators, the policy makers, etc. – it is very difficult to encourage educators to engage with something so different that will require a re-think of their teaching practices. In addition, with so many different technical elements and challenges, it is often simply just too daunting a prospect.

It is also unfortunate that m-learning is often only limited to simply mobile access. A good m-pedagogy will not just transfer the learning process to a mobile device, but incorporate the very nature of mobile, flexible, user-guided, bite-sized learning.

A real m-learning needs to have a real purpose and the stakeholders need to see the value in it for it to have a chance to be a success. With all the correct m-pedagogy in place, if the educators and the learners see the value of engaging, m-learning can bring real benefits – flexibility of access and flexibility of engagement – and thus allow a real tailoring of the learning process. It has only been very recently that a real attempt has been made to move to adaptive learning, incorporating pedagogy and AI (artificial intelligence) methods, and this approach seems to be pointing to a future of real adaptive m-learning.