Figure 1: Mobile Web 2.0 concept map
| Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 2010, 26(1), 1-14. |
AJET 26 |
Smartphones give you wings: Pedagogical affordances of mobile Web 2.0
Thomas Cochrane and Roger Bateman
Unitec New Zealand
An Outstanding Paper Award recipient, ascilite Auckland 2009 Conference Built on the foundation of four years of research and implementation of mobile learning projects (m-learning), this paper provides an overview of the potential of the integration of mobile Web 2.0 tools (based around smartphones) to facilitate social constructivist pedagogies and engage students in tertiary education. Pedagogical affordances of mobile Web 2.0 tools are evaluated, and student usage and feedback is outlined via an interactive multimedia timeline (using YouTube videos) illustrating how these mobile Web 2.0 pedagogical affordances have transformed pedagogy and facilitated student engagement in a variety of course contexts. A rubric for evaluating appropriate smartphone choices is provided, and a model for implementing mobile Web 2.0 pedagogical integration is presented.
Now in 2009, over five billion songs and 1.5 billion iPhone applications (within a year of the opening of the iTunes App Store, with a catalogue of over 65,000 applications available) have been downloaded from the iTunes store. The majority of our students now own at least a cameraphone capable of mobile blogging, recording and uploading video to YouTube, email, and browsing the Internet. Smartphones have matured into feature-rich miniature multimedia computers, including features such as HSPA connectivity (3.6 Mb/s and higher wireless mobile broadband connectivity), built in virtual or physical keyboards for easy text entry, a high resolution digital still and video camera, a GPS, high capacity memory storage (now 8 Gb and higher is standard), high resolution touchscreen user interfaces, and a wide variety of pre-installed and downloadable applications that integrate with Web 2.0 social software.
The research overviewed herein implements and investigates the application of wireless mobile devices (WMDs) in a variety of tertiary education courses within New Zealand. The first author is part of Te Puno Ako (formerly the Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation team) at Unitec, and as such is ideally situated at Unitec to promote and research the potential of WMDs to enhance the delivery of courses and student learning. The research covers a series of mobile Web 2.0 project implementations within courses from different schools at Unitec between 2007 and 2009, with the aim of informing an institutional m-learning strategy. The project developed an intentional community of practice (COP) model for supporting new technology integration, pedagogical development, and institutional change. Beginning with a small selection of early adopter trials, the results of the research are now informing a wider integration of wireless mobile computing. Trials and pilots were established to establish support for the concept from tutors and students at Unitec. The initial proof of concept trials have lead to the integration of the m-learning project model into the newly developed institutional e-learning strategy. The trials played an important role in exploring the skills and confidence of academic staff in utilising the technology before full implementation within their courses. The research follows a journey of discovery for the key participants (including the researcher and the lecturers involved), that has been recorded in over thirty research outputs during the past four years.
Key benefits of m-learning for tertiary education include:
Figure 1: Mobile Web 2.0 concept map
The wider project research questions are listed below. Question 4 is the main focus of this paper:
| Activity | Overview | Examples | Pedagogy |
| Video streaming | Record and share live events | Flixwagon, Qik http://www.qik.com/ | Real time event, data and resource capturing and collaboration. |
| Geo tagging | Geo-tag original photos, geo-locate events on Google Maps | Flickr, Twitter, Google Maps http://tinyurl.com/5a85yh | Enable rich data sharing. |
| Micro-blogging | Post short updates and collaborate using micro-blogging services | Twitter http://tinyurl.com/2j5sz3 | Asynchronous communication, collaboration and support. |
| Txt notifications | Course notices and support | Txttools plugin for Moodle and Blackboard txt and twitter polls: http://www.polleverywhere.com/ http://twitter.polldaddy.com http://twtpoll.com/ | Scaffolding, learning and administrative support |
| Direct image and video blogging | Capture and upload images and video of ideas and events | Flickr, YouTube, Vox | Student journals, eportfolios, presentations, peer and lecturer critique. |
| Mobile codes | 2D codes scanned by cameraphone to reveal URL, text, etc. | QR Codes, Datamatrix 2D Codes http://tinyurl.com/af2u6d | Situated Learning - providing context linking |
| Enhanced student podcasts | Remote recording of audio, tagged with GPS and images, etc. | AudioBoo | Situated and collaborative learning - providing context linking |
| Social networking | Collaborate in groups using social networking tools | Vox groups, Ning, peer and lecturer comments on blog and media posts http://tinyurl.com/4uz6rj | Formative peer and lecturer feedback. |
Almost all smartphones now include a built in camera that is capable of capturing still images and video. Most smartphones also include a built in GPS (Global Positioning Service) that works via satellites to provide longitude and latitude information for geo-tagging and geo-location. This facilitates geo-tagging original photos, and the ability to geo-locate events on Google Maps, adding a location dimension to captured images and video. Web 2.0 services that support geo-tagged photos include Flickr and Picasaweb.
Mobile codes are two-dimensional codes similar to bar codes that allow a user to encrypt information such as a URL, a paragraph of text, GPS coordinates, or a business card. This code is then decrypted using a smartphone's built in camera via a compatible mobile code application. Applications include sharing of announcements and course links with students, and creating engaging fun discovery activities.
The built in camera on smartphones can record video and audio at up to almost DVD quality. This facilitates students recording events, interviews, and reflections with a visual dimension, and sharing these online via a variety of mobile friendly video sites such as YouTube. Video streaming applications such as Qik and Flixwagon allow real time sharing of video directly from smartphones to these web based services. Qik and Flixwagon then archive the video stream for later viewing, sharing and commenting. Additionally, video streaming sites integrate with other mobile Web 2.0 technologies such as Twitter - creating an automatic announcement on Twitter regarding a live video stream that a student's Twitter followers can then watch in almost real time. Qik and Flixwagon also feature the ability to forward video streams to a user's YouTube account for sharing on that service as well. Additionally, Qik and Flixwagon also support the association of geo-location data with video streams, providing a Google Maps link to the actual location of the recorded event.
Microblogging is another mobile friendly form of social networking. Microblogging is a cross between SMS texting, blogging, and instant messaging. Microblogging is an asynchronous, collaborative communication technology, suited to use on mobile devices. The most popular microblogging service is currently Twitter.
Vox and Ning are examples of blog/e-portfolio/social networking sites that support direct uploads from mobile devices via email, and provide small-screen formatted versions of their sites for mobile viewing. These sites facilitate collaborative group work, without the additional (often distracting) 'features' of sites such as Myspace or Facebook.
| Affordance | Smartphone | |||||||||
| iPhone 3G | G2 Android | Palm Pre |
N97 | E90 | N95 + kbd | 5800 XM | P1i | iPhone 3GS | ||
| 1 | Image capture | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | Video capture | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Video streaming | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Mobile Web experience | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Text entry | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | GPS | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Touch screen | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | Application availability | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Ease of user interface | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | 3G | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | WiFi | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 12 | Cost | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 13 | Availability in NZ | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | Screen size | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Video out | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Portability - size, weight | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Score | 40 | 38 | 40 | 42 | 35 | 37 | 38 | 25 | 42 | |
M-learning project summaries
Bachelor of Product Design (2006 to 2009)
Diploma of Contemporary Music (2008 to 2009)
Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts (2009)
During the second semester of 2008, third year Bachelor of Product Design student Dan decided to use the smartphone's camera to record still images and video podcasts outlining significant and iterative steps in his negotiated major project design process when designing a snow kite harness. This allowed students to reflect and critique their design work and design methodology using visual media rather than simply creating a text-based book or online journal. This took place over the six-month product design project. Video clips were recorded on the N95 from the design studio on campus, from testing in the local park, and from test flights during two ski-field trips in the South Island of New Zealand. The course lecturers followed Dan's blog posts, offering tips and design guidance while on campus, at home, and while attending overseas conferences. The video clips were later edited and compiled into a ten-minute video overview of the most significant design steps taken over the course of the design project. The compilation video was then uploaded to YouTube and the student's blog for showcasing and sharing. Upon graduation, Dan continued to use his blog to track the further development of his major project through to commercialisation. Via his blog Dan was able to regularly and easily update all of the stakeholders now involved in his project.
Without the mobile technology I would have had to do a lot more writing, and because I don't like writing I suspect I would have skipped out a lot of my ideas - I have a lot of ideas and then I either discard or include them, and that's something I'm learning as a designer is to document my thought processes, its part of the design process so you can reflect on your decisions. So I found with the mobile technology, being able to pick up the phone, turn it on, video myself talking to it like it was a diary, sort of Captain Kirk style, that I can actually use the design processes that other people write, easier to do. So it made it easier for me to video my thoughts and feelings about the project (Third year Product Design student, Dan, 2008).
As a faculty staff member who comes from a creative industries background that is mostly immersed in a standard, studio teaching model, Roger has witnessed a number of benefits for mobile Web 2.0 technologies to enhance teaching and learning. The standard studio teaching environment of one communal space and one timetable is unlikely to offer the best support and learning opportunities for todays creative students; it does not mirror the 'real contemporary world'. Mobile web 2.0 technology allows for a shift away from the default studio environment to a new more fluid and dynamic situation. Utilising mobile Web 2.0 has disrupted the timetabled, studio learning environment and has placed the student groups into a social constructivist framework. The m-learning trials required Roger to develop a set of new skills and attitudes. Initially this proved to be uncomfortable and time consuming. However, as he immersed himself into the initial trial, the obvious benefits for teaching and learning he encountered convinced him to continue.
The chief benefits noted are increased interaction between students, increased interaction from external, non-timetabled commentators, and the development of student reflective journals. Clients have been able to track projects in the making, add comments and steer students, if need be. At final presentations, clients have arrived 'knowing' the projects and can engage deeply on the project's outcomes and validity. Student blogs have effectively become online reflective journals. Design students often struggle to document their design process and methodologies and as a result, can find it hard to remember how they arrived at their end result. The use of blogs has created a 'bread crumb' trail that students and staff can go back to, both during and after the project, to check their working.
Roger has witnessed an increased engagement in the course from students when using mobile Web 2.0 technology. With each project over the last 3 years the initial 10-14 day period of the projects sees a drop off in 'normal' project activity. This is due to the newness of the tools used, the setting up of the software and hardware, and the fun students have exploring the new technology made available to them. The increased engagement from students using mobile Web 2.0 comes from a sense of connectivity via immediate access to the Internet, photo sharing, IM, emailing and the usual phone and txt messaging the WMDs bring. Students often group together looking at online material, and send each other files and photos, URLs and other digital information. Video blogging has become a favourite activity and is an effective way to get out of studio information across in a short space of time. There is also a sense of current technology being embedded into the learning experience. Finally, students' editorial skills have increased due to the constant need to monitor the content of their blogs.
The trials have shown that there are key issues to confront if mobile Web 2.0 is to be successfully integrated into courses. The issues include assessment and staff participation, staff blogging and professional development, and technology choices and support. Projects that do not carry an assessment weighting see a slower and lower uptake. Students want to receive credit for doing something that takes time, focus and commitment. It is vital that staff participate in the blogging process and run their own blogs alongside the student ones. Students want to see that staff are visiting their blogs and commenting on posts as well as offering information that might assist them with their projects. This doesn't mean staff are required to comment on all posts, but reading the blogs is important.
Our projects have allowed students to have the WMDs free of charge. This ensured that participants had the tools they needed to work effectively. A regular technology update is also required and we have found that the most effective way for this to occur is in a community of practice form with participation from a technology steward. Over the last 3 years, the introduction of mobile Web 2.0 tools into the Bachelor of Product Design has facilitated significant flexibility for students allowing them to stay connected, share their ideas widely, participate in world wide creative communities, and choose to work in virtually any context on and off campus.
Reflective vodcasts illustrating Roger's m-learning journey
Based upon these experiences, in order to achieve an explicit move to a social constructivist learning environment using mobile Web 2.0 tools during 2009, a staged and scaffolded approach has been adopted (Table 3). This staged approach allows the bridging of the PAH (pedagogy, andragogy, heutagogy) continuum (Luckin, et al., 2008), and the embedding of mobile Web 2.0 affordances that support each stage. Additionally, as the life span of mobile computing is generally shorter than that of desktop computing, a staged rollout of WMD computing for students involved in three year long courses could be achieved to minimise the redundancy of the student owned WMDs. Academic staff development is critical in facilitating the pedagogical focus of this rollout.
| Deliverable | Timeframe | Outcome |
| Establish weekly COP with lecturers and technology steward. Establish support requirements (with IT Services and telco) | Semester 1 | Staff develop competency with m-learning. Staff develop pedagogical m-learning activities based on social constructivist pedagogies. |
| M-learning projects with staff and students. Implementation of the m-learning activities within each course and assessment. | Semester 2 | Increased student engagement. Flexible delivery. Facilitating social constructivist pedagogies and bridging learning contexts. |
| Staff publish and present case studies based on project implementation. | End of Semester 2 and beginning of Semester 3 | Conference, journal publications and symposia presentations |
A staged integration of m-learning (mobile Web 2.0) across the three years of a program could be structured as shown in Table 4 below.
Based on the experiences gathered from fifteen mobile learning trials over the last three years, the researchers have short listed a number of pedagogical critical success factors:
Lecturers' requirements for an m-learning rollout
| Stage | Web 2.0 tools | M-learning tools | Student course related costs | Course timeframe | PAH alignment |
| Level 1 | Social collaboration with peers and lecturer. Student generated content. | Use of student-owned netbook or mid-range smart-phone, LMS and basic Web 2.0 sites | Netbook $700 Internet paid access $250 | 1 year certificate programs, or first year of longer programs | Pedagogy |
| Level 2 | Social collabora-tion with peers and 'authentic environments'. Context aware | Student owned laptop and/or mid-range smartphone | Laptop cost $750 ($1500 spread over 2 years) and/or smart-phone $750. Internet paid access $250 | Second year of two year or longer programs | From pedagogy to andragogy |
| Level 3 | Context independent. Student generated contexts. | Student owned laptop and/or high end smartphone | Laptop cost $750 ($1500 spread over 2 years) and/or smartphone $750. Internet paid access $250 | Third year of program | From andragogy to heutagogy |
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This article received an Outstanding Paper Award at ascilite Auckland 2009 Conference, gaining the additional recognition of republication in AJET (with minor corrections). The reference for the Conference version is:
Cochrane, T. & Bateman, R. (2009). Smartphones give you wings: Pedagogical affordances of mobile Web 2.0. In Same places, different spaces. Proceedings ascilite Auckland 2009. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/auckland09/procs/cochrane.pdfAuthors: Thomas Cochrane, Te Puno Ako (Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation) and Roger Bateman, Product Design Unitec New Zealand, Private Bag 92025, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. http://www.unitec.ac.nz/ Contact author: tcochrane@unitec.ac.nz Web: http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/~thom/ Please cite as: Cochrane, T. & Bateman, R. (2010). Smartphones give you wings: Pedagogical affordances of mobile Web 2.0. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(1), 1-14. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet26/cochrane.html |