m-Learning at e-Learning Africa 2008

(AKWAABA,"welcome" in the Akan language)

I’m now back from “e-learning Africa” in Accra! Summarizing my impressions and following up on links to projects and products in the m-learning field, I think that m-learning didn't quite get the attention that it should have had at the conference. The potential for m-learning in Africa is huge!

Like I mentioned in a previous post, one problem with the concept of m-learning (mobile learning) is that it has a different meaning to different people, the goals are different and the approaches to the subject differ.

M-learning can be used to supplement class room based learning by introducing "authenticity" (learning on site), to use spare time on the bus etc. In the industrialized and richer parts of the world approaches like these are relevant.

But in other parts of the world, the most important aspect of m-learning is that it can be used to increase access to learning, using cheaper equipment like portable media players or mobile phones that can operate without daily access to electricity. M-learning can create access to knowledge where books are not available or too expensive, and create possibilities to keep in touch with teachers, tutors and fellow students while at a distance.


There is a functioning infrastructure for mobile communication in many parts of Africa and a potential for mobile learning which is not yet exploited.

However there were some interesting activities related to m-learning at the conference e.g. the session: "Mobile phones offering a lifeline to learners".

One project was presented where mobile phones were supplied to grade 10 school girls in South Africa The phones, Nokia 6300, were not planned to be used for making telephone calls, but were loaded with content for “grade 10 maths” and math games.The material was from Mindset, a NGO in South Africa. On their website (http://www.mindset.co.za/learn/default.asp) Mindset has resources for learning. Some of these, I’m guessing, were used in the mobile phones.The project was in its initial phase, but so far with good results! The students learn by them selves or with help from family and friends how to use the equipment and programs. (They are no allowed to use mobile phones in school.)

In Nigeria, PDA's were used in a campus project to access the same material on the PDA's as on the PC, using wireless communication. CSS were used to handle the different environments; the same web pages was used for the computer screens as for the PDA screens.

At the exhibition a company called SMSWEB (http://www.smsweb.co.za/) presented their services. They offer a system that can send messages via SMS from a web interface. Interfacing SMS to the web offer many interesting possibilities.

Use of SMS and MMS for learning

A easy to use and stable user interface in applications for learning is essential! Using SMS on the mobile phone side of the application is one alternative. Using "social software" systems like Blogs, Facebook and Twitter together with SMS could be an intresting alternative.

I tried Twitter together with Blogger, you can se the results on my "Reseblogg" (http://bnyres.blogspot.com): I send a SMS to Twitter and my SMS then shows up in the blog!



I also installed Blogger Go on my mobile; it makes it very easy to send MMS to the same blog.

There are many applications linking SMS to a web interface. Linking SMS to Learning Management Systems like Moodle may also be an attractive alternative

Applications for learning and mobile phones

I took a look at some applications for e-learning on mobile phones... I think it could be very attractive to run the user interface for a complete LMS on a mobile.

I found MobiGlam from Wales which is implementing an interface for Moodle in mobile phones (http://mobi.etrainingwales.com/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php). I got an account from the university and was able to test a simulation on my computer, it looked nice.

I also found co4mo "the Mobile Community Platform of eLibera" (http://elibera.com:8080/pages/home.xhtml) and installed it on my SonyEricsson P990i.Not many of the functions worked though. I then read the instructions for co4mo on SonyEricsson P990:

"Status: not so good, only the basic features work
Features: You can't play (or record) audio and video, No Bluetooth features, You can't use files (audio, video, pictures) from your mobile phone, You can't store files to your mobile phone, No file caching, No location features
Test report: No test report for this device avaliable"

Will this type a applications be a realistic alternative for e-learning? There are 100's of different type of mobile phones out there....

Maybe one should focus on using SMS, MMS and when where 3G is available, web applications?

Me learning?

E-learning and m-learning (mobile learning) have different meaning to different people, e.g. the goals are different, the approaches to the subject differ...

M-learning can be a way to supplement class room learning, to introduce "authenticity" (on site learning), to use spare time on the bus, etc.

But m-learning can also be a way to increase access to learning while using cheaper equipment. For example mobile phones can operate without daily access to electricity, you can use them to read and write where books are not available or too expensive, and they can be used to keep in touch with teachers, tutors and fellow students while at a distance.

The last few days I have tried to update myself on tools and applications for m-learning, especially on the matter of communication between mobile phones and internet applications.

I will publish some reflections on this blog, please feel free to comment and supplement!