Mobile learning: the next generation of learning

M-learning developments in Africa

INTRODUCTION
M-learning is a natural extension of e-learning and has the potential to make learning even more widely available and accessible than we are used to in existing e-learning environments. The role that communication and interaction plays in the learning process is a critical success factor. It is within this context that m-learning can contribute to the quality of education. It offers opportunities for the optimization of interaction between lecturers and learners, among learners and among members of COPs (communities of practice).
Wireless and mobile technologies also make it possible to provide learning opportunities to learners that are either without infrastructure for access (example rural learners) or continually on the move (example business professionals).

Why m-learning in Africa?

One’s first impressions and perceptions when thinking about the ideal target market for m-learning would probably look like this: a first world learner population that is already highly ICT literate, uses the latest handheld device and is either in full-time employment or merely prefers studying at their own pace, place and time.

This description does not fit the majority of learners in Africa though. Why then m-learning in Africa? Well, the answer is quite interesting. Because of the lack of infrastructure for ICT (cabling for Internet and telecom) in certain areas in Africa, the growth of wireless infrastructure is enormous - even more rapid than in many first world countries.
The East African (July 8, 2002) reported that: ‘…the communications sector in

Uganda is growing rapidly. Nua Internet Surveys (July 15, 2002) reported that, according to the National Information and Communication Technology Policy, the number of mobile phone subscribers in Uganda grew from 3,500 in 1996 to a total of 360,000 in 2002.’

Wachira (2003) reported the following about Kenya: ‘When Vodafone UK sent Michael Joseph to Kenya in July 2000 to set up Safaricom, a cell-phone service operator jointly owned by Telkom Kenya, he did not expect the subscriber base to grow beyond 50,000 connections. Today, both Safaricom and rival KenCell Communications (partly owned by Vivendi) have nearly 1.3 million cell-phone subscribers. This set-up is deeply rooted in the traditional African communal mode of living, which many urban dwellers haven’t abandoned.’
Shapshak (2002) reported that the adoption rate of mobile technologies in Africa’s developing countries is among the highest rates globally and forecasts estimate almost 100 million mobile users in Africa by 2005. Between 1997 and 2001, the number of mobile phone subscribers in Africa annually had a triple-digit growth rate. Mobile subscribers in Africa have risen further and increased by over 1000% between 1998 and 2003 to reach 51.8m (ITU, 2004).
It is thus obvious that the adoption rate of mobile technologies is exceptional in Africa.
According to Brown (2004), we can therefore differentiate between two ideal target markets for m-learning: learners that are either without infrastructure and access or learners that are continually on the move. In other words:

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  first world learners who are the workforce on the move with state of the art mobile devices and
  
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  third world rural or remote area learners who have mobile phones.
  

SUMMARY OF CURRENT M-LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS IN AFRICA

In some countries there are many projects and in others m-learning is still non-existent. The majority of projects outside of South Africa but still in Sub-Saharan Africa, are funded and supported by European and USA agencies. In Kenya, for example, there are several EU funded projects with onsite support from personnel from various European countries.
The summary below provides an overview of activities across the African continent.
Mobile phones and SMSs are used for:

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  Administrative learning support:
  
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    administrative information;
    
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    access to examination and test marks via mobile service number or m-portal;
    
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    access to financial statements and
    
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    registration data via mobile service number or m-portal.
    
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  Academic learning support:
  
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    communication and interaction (bulk SMS/IVR);
    
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    assessment (MCQs/quizzes);
    
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    feedback on assignments and tasks; and
    
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    motivational and instructional messages.
    

The integration of m-learning with established e-learning environments:

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  M-portals and SMS-gateways:
  
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    SMS-portal integrated with the LMS/LCMS [e.g. WebCT]);
    
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    mobile tutoring;
    
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    mobile blogging (moblogging);
    
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    m-assessment (e-assessment on mobile devices); and
    
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    collaborative learning and discussion groups.
    
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  Wireless environments:
  
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    pilot wireless classrooms; and
    
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    hot spots and wireless LANs on campus.
    

The use of PDAs, Smartphones and Pocket PCs:

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  Classroom “tools” for note taking, scheduling, etc
  
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  Beaming (via Bluetooth) in classrooms to share notes, hand in assignments, etc.
  
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  Assessment: assessing performance and providing automated results and feedback
  
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  Coursework, scheduling and assignments in wireless environments; language learning through SMS
  
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  JIT on-the-spot, e.g. medical resources on PDA; ME-learning (personalised, appreciation for own learning process)
  
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  Mobile composing (music composition on PDAs)
  
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  Contextual and locational awareness, e.g. at museums;
  
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  Mobile tutoring
  
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  Mobile blogging (moblogging)
  
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  Courseware and multimedia on PDAs, including distribution and streaming
  
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  Assessment
  
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  Experiential learning and fieldwork
  
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  Collaborative learning and discussion groups
  

SOME EXAMPLES
To provide more specific examples of some of the m-learning projects and activities in Africa, I would like to share the following examples at my own institution, the University of Pretoria, in South Africa.
Examples of projects with PDAs:
At the University of Pretoria, two projects have been launched using personal digital assistants (PDAs).
In the first project, an M-learning project in the Faculty of Health Sciences, PDAs were used in clinical assessment sessions of medical students. Performance was assessed and automated results and feedback provided. The project leader is Prof Ina Treadwell of the Faculty’s Skills Laboratory. Project software was funded by HaPerT software in Vienna, Austria.
Research is being done on the impact of PDA use on assessment quality; the impact of PDA use on student performance; and the impact on efficiency and effectiveness (impact on administrative load, time, paper work, human errors, calculation errors, record keeping, duplication, costs, etc). As the project is still in progress, no official results are available yet. Feedback is already very positive regarding efficiency, effectiveness and cost savings.
In the second project, an M-learning project in the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, students in a fourth year course have been issued with PDAs to use within a pilot wireless e-learning environment. PDAs are used for queries, content delivery, interactive distributed simulations, notices, database access, collaboration, etc. The project leader is Prof Etienne Barnard of the University’s Faculty of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering. The project is funded by Hewlett Packard.
In this project research is being done on Human Language Technologies (HLT) (specifically in the fields of speech recognition and speech-to-text, and voice user interfaces); the ability to stimulate collaboration with PDAs; mobile sharing of software and resources; multi-user applications and resources (multiplayer games are very popular); and wireless VoIP. As the project is still in progress, no official results are available yet.
Examples of the use of bulk SMS for administrative support:
The University of Pretoria started using mobile phone support during 2002 in three paper-based distance education programmes because more than 99% of the “rural students” had mobile phones. This is still the case. Currently nearly 98% of these students have mobile phones.
The profile of these students in 2002 was as follows:

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  The majority live in rural areas
  
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  100% are full-time employees (teaching)
  
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  77.4% are English second language speakers
  
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  83.8% are between the age of 31 and 50
  
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  66.4% are women
  
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  0.4% have access to e-mail
  
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  99.4% have a mobile phone
  

The majority of these learners live in deep rural areas with little or no fixed line telecom infrastructure.

Mobile phone support to these rural distance learning students entails sending bulk, pre-planned SMSs to:

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  all students;
  
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  students of a specific programme for general administrative support as well as motivational support;
  
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  specific groups of students extracted from the data-base for specific administrative support (customised group SMS); and
  
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  small group or individual SMSs to specific students extracted from the data-base on an individual basis for specific administrative support.
  

Some examples of SMSs sent for administrative support are provided in Table A.

SMS message	Purpose	Result
Dear Student. Your study material was posted to you today. Enquire in time, quote your tracking number: PE123456789ZA, at your post office. UP	Students do not visit their rural post offices very often and this leads to many returned packages If students know about a dispatch, they make an effort to fetch packages timely	Significant drop in returned packages and accompanying costs
If you have not submitted Assignment 2, due to late dispatch of study material, you may submit before 19 Sept. Do this urgently to help you pass your exam. UP	Extension of assignment submission date due to a late dispatch of study material Encouragement to complete the assignment	Normal assignment submission statistics
ACE Edu Management contact session block 1 from 7-9 July for modules EDM 401 EDO 401 ONLY, changed to Town Hall Main Street KOKSTAD. New letter posted. UP	Urgent notification of a venue change for a specific contact session	All the students arrived at the correct venue (as far as we know)
Dear Student. We have not received your registration for the Oct exam. Please fax registration form or letter not later than Thursday 31 July. UP	Encouragement for exam registration Notification of the deadline for exam registration	Increase in the number of exam registrations compared to previous exams
April exam proved that students attending contact sessions are more successful. Please attend July contact session. Register per fax before or on Friday 6 July. UP	Encouragement for contact session registration Notification of the deadline for contact session registration	58% of the learners registered before the closing date vs the normal rate of below 40%