WLS User Guide - Centre for Instructional Development
Contents
1. project http www wpeau ca Goals e To provide lessons and interactive exercises for practicing English grammar that would improve workplace communication provide practical and useful vocabulary and Introduce relevant situations e Mobile access optimized for use on the iPhone Investigators Dr James O Driscoll Athabasca University Learning Communities Project Methodologies Created in 2008 this is a series of lessons in English language learning and practice which are divided into eighty six sections and presented as a series of simple web pages which are formatted to fit smaller screens The lessons are organized into sections on Vocabulary Grammar and Pronunciation Practice Lessons include audio and video content that is embedded in small web pages B http www jibc ca news jibc releases first iphone app 14 http www jibc ca programs courses elearning mobile applications 15 http www m libraries org sites default files 2F 2 20AU7Years pptx 16 a https elab athabascau ca research mobile 2013 Vancouver Community College 17 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects To test students small multiple choice quizzes written with minimal style using PHP are offered in each lesson Overall the presentation is lean and fast and represents a good example of practical lessons that have been formatted to accommodate smaller screens It s worth noting that the flow through of the lessons and acti2. 05 50 8 70 Samsung GT 19500 Galaxy S IV 22 0 01 52 22 73 Samsung SGH i717 Galaxy Note 22 0 05 37 18 18 Samsung SGH T889 Galaxy Note II 20 0 06 30 25 00 Nokia Lumia 710 17 0 02 56 29 41 Samsung GT P3110 Galaxy Tab 2 7 0 17 0 02 43 5 88 BlackBerry 9320 BlackBerry Curve 9320 16 0 06 10 18 75 HTC Amaze 4G 16 0 00 07 12 50 Samsung GT 19100 Galaxy S Il 16 0 01 58 43 75 BlackBerry 9810 Torch 4G 13 0 07 42 23 08 Samsung GT 19100M Galaxy S Il 13 0 00 09 15 38 SonyEricsson X10a Xperia X10 13 0 03 01 7 69 Samsung GT N5110 Galaxy Note 8 0 WiFi 12 0 04 20 8 33 Huawei U9200 Ascend P1 11 0 05 52 18 18 Samsung SGH T589W Gravity Smart 10 0 02 49 30 00 Asus ME301T MeMO Pad Smart 10 9 0 01 06 11 11 Google Nexus 10 9 0 02 12 11 11 Samsung SGH 1896 Galaxy S Captivate 9 0 12 36 22 22 Nokia 500 8 0 00 46 50 00 Samsung GT P1000R Galaxy Tab 8 0 13 51 37 50 Samsung GT S5830D Galaxy Ace 8 0 07 08 37 50 Samsung SGH T999V Galaxy SIII 8 0 01 19 50 00 BlackBerry 9900 Dakota 7 0 00 39 28 57 HTC PJ401 One S 7 0 03 42 42 86 Google Nexus S 6 0 05 34 33 33 Samsung SGH 1757M Galaxy SII HD LTE 6 0 00 36 16 67 Samsung SGH T499 Galaxy Mini 6 0 00 59 16 67 SonyEricsson LT28i Xperia lon 6 0 02 30 66 67 SonyEricsson ST18a Urushi 6 0 12 33 33 33 Asus Eee Pad TF201 Transformer Prime 5 0 00 41 20 00 HTC Desire HD 5 0 04 10 20 00 TOTAL 5 792 0 04 27 20 34 2013 Vancouver Community College 25 Centre for Instructional Development Report
3. Case Studies o Case Studies of Mobile Projects Undertaken at VCC o Developments in Mobile Access to VCC s Moodle LMS o Case Studies of Mobile Projects at Other Institutions e Conclusions commentary on project outcomes and influential trends e Sources and Supplementary Data This is a living document which may be periodically revised to reflect updates in VCC mobile initiatives or improvements in technology standards or best practices The long term goal of this report is to provide practical examples and approaches that can easily be adapted to the needs of VCC faculty From the examples in this report we hope to develop reliable patterns best practices or suggested policies that will help ensure ongoing success in mobile teaching and learning at VCC b DOCUMENT CONVENTIONS e Unless otherwise indicated the terms Instructor and Student will refer to Instructors and Students of Vancouver Community College e Depending upon the context the term mobile or the phrase mobile project may refer to either mobile learning projects or mobile teaching projects e Text that looks like this may still be subject to further discussion or definition by the author and or CID 2013 Vancouver Community College 4 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects 2 PROJECT CASES AND INITIATIVES This section describes case studies of a variety of mobile teaching and learning projects Some of these projects were un
4. Facetime Flipboard Goodreader Ignition Thoughts Keynote LinkedIn Notability Numbers Pages PearlTrees Pocket Informant Prezi for iPad Pulse iPad Hospitality Kevin Kovalycsik Educreations Whiteboard Explain Everything iPad PACE Cheryl Howrigan AppleTV Creative Book Builder Evernote Interview Assistant ResponseWare Twitter iPhone ee el Robin Popow Audio video recording apps iPhone Android Hospitality Mandy Davies Audio video recording apps iPhone Android TESOL Rita Dickson Sara Yuen Kayako Mobile Blackberry CID Blair Friesen Facetime Moodle iPad CID John Love Kayako Mobile Moodle ResponseWare Twitter Blackberry CID John Love b RECENT STATS ON MOBILE MOODLE ACCESS AT VCC Using Google Analytics to track traffic to VCC s Moodle website we can see general access patterns Summary of Results Here are some general statistics on mobile access to the VCC Moodle server moodle vcc ca for the period of May 1 to June 1 2013 e Of 35 501 total visits 5 792 16 were from a mobile device either a smartphone or a tablet e About 72 of the 4 174 combined smart phone and tablet accesses were from Apple platforms iPad iPhone or iPod e Android based devices including Samsung HTC Huawei SonyEricsson and Google phones and tablets accounted for 1222 accesses or about 21 of all mobile accesses e Blackberry phone and tablet devices accounted for 231 acc
5. Flash and moving to HTML5 Opera Chrome and Firefox are rapidly adapting to support the HTML5 standard Using Performance Support to aid Mobile Learners Where acquiring new skills and demonstrating specific competencies is deemed critical corporate and industrial training has leaned towards providing just in time support and real time help This is generally referred to as Performance Support and can be closely associated with mobile learning mLearning and job site or corporate workplace training Using Smaller Devices to Deliver Immediate Support Instead of requiring that all online learning be facilitated solely via a centralized LMS some training providers have opted to offer supportive material in forms that are easier to consume on small displays Assumed Benefits A rationale for this seems to be that since learners are already using their smartphone or tablet to access news and information from media outlets and to stay connected with colleagues via email or social media the learner will almost always have a mobile device on them So if the provider is able to offer immediate delivery of content in situ and remove or reduce access barriers for the learner both parties will see an advantage Possible Risks This approach could require a level of custom development possibly outside of the scope or capabilities of a centralized LMS One concern that arises is if a learning provider already offers LMS based content
6. content optimized for mobile devices Functionally it seems effective it loads fast is relatively sequential and straightforward and has practically no GUI design which might get in the way of presenting essential content However that minimalism is also a potential weakness aesthetically the minimal presentation appears unpolished and inelegant and there is little no constructive use of colour or institutional branding and little in the way of online help As such it s difficult to know in which context s this online learning module was intended to be used Was it meant as a dated proof of concept for phone based learning Was it intended as a stand alone self study resource or was it part of some guided or blended learning experience It appears to be designed as a custom set of PHP and HTML pages perhaps without an LMS or CMS driving the backend If this is true then maintenance of the web content might require special experience e g PHP authoring or a dedicated web editing tool e g Dreamweaver c TRENDS WORTH WATCHING Local Trends in Smart Phone Use A June 2013 online poll conducted by Insights West and mobile agency loamota surveyed 849 British Columbia residents aged 18 about their mobile phone use Among the results found e Overall 64 of British Columbian adults surveyed now own a smart phone and use their device an average of nearly two hours every day e 86 of 18 34 year olds surveyed now own a
7. from within VCC Next we ll do the same for the projects that were researched from institutions outside of VCC Finally we ll describe some of the wider trends in technology or culture which may directly or indirectly impact our mobile teaching learning initiatives Due to the small sample of projects reviewed first hand or via third party research papers it must be said that any conclusions or opinions stated herein will be largely anecdotal or informal in nature This report covered a small and diverse set of mobile projects mostly from within VCC Aside from the fact that this makes for a very idiosyncratic cross section without many common objective factors or criteria it s also skewed towards tendencies or resources inherent in VCC So without further research it may be difficult to compare VCC projects to outside mobile learning teaching trends CID shouldn t develop mobile best practices in a bubble and should continue to investigate mobile teaching learning projects explore practices and techniques and communicate with investigators based at VCC as well as with experts at other institutions a CONCLUSIONS FROM PROJECTS WITHIN VCC Observations from VCC Mobile Initiatives Facilitation and Production e Mobility provides portability convenience and flexibility Mobile may help to speed up content and assignment submission review and presentation by giving users new capabilities and allowing work to be done asy
8. hold the means in their own hands physically and symbolically This may be more evident with smartphones than tablets 2013 Vancouver Community College 19 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects Other Observations and Suggestions about Mobile Access at VCC e Forthe most part Moodle access by mobile devices at VCC seems to echo the distribution of devices in the consumer marketplace Source Google search This general information indicates which platforms might be our highest priority were it necessary to optimize a service or offering for one particular platform e We cannot predict specific trends in mobile platforms so for practicality s sake we should maintain test as few scenarios and systems as possible A platform generic design or delivery approach that works with our central LMS is probably the best approach to serve our increasingly mobile students and faculty e With relatively limited resources it may not be practical for VCC to create custom websites or custom apps specifically to cater to certain platforms e g iPhone users or specialized needs e g students who need a custom phone tablet app to retrieve information in the field In practical terms platform specific projects need very compelling business and use cases in order to justify the time and cost of custom software development However if the college s primary LMS can provide an interface that stakeholders agree is usable enough to cover t
9. natural way that one might communicate with a pencil or a whiteboard marker and feels very natural for a non technical user e Acceptance of this new tool approach was not a problem for Chris His department had already purchased iPads for faculty and he was comfortable using handheld and desktop technology 2013 Vancouver Community College 8 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects Overall his learning curve for the Educreations Whiteboard iPad app was fairly flat since he d already been using other apps on his iPad for a number of months Some disadvantages of this approach were e Compared to a large LCD monitor on a desktop PC the smaller size of the iPad screen sometimes seemed a bit cramped and limited the amount of detail possible when drawing To compensate for the smaller screen size Chris would create additional pages in Educreations e You cannot use Educreations on the iPad to demonstrate how to surf the web or how to use a software application because you cannot capture the actions of other screens or applications you can only capture what you create on each page of the Educreations app itself e Sequences recorded using Educreations cannot be easily downloaded from the Educreations server e g to back them up It s possible to recapture them off the screen but this might not be a process that typical users would find easy or convenient Results This method allowed a busy instructor to create ori
10. rs a Web based Mobile Workplace English Lessons Leaming ara Web based mobile courss b CASES IN DETAIL MOBILE INITIATIVES BY FACULTY AT VCC These case studies are informal and ad hoc in nature Details were gathered from observation and or participation emails or phone calls with VCC faculty or via online research Using a Tablet to Replace Expensive Document Projectors This describes efforts to improve in class teaching using inexpensive consumer mobile technology Information was compiled from workshop demonstrations and interviews with the Investigators Goal To provide a low cost alternative to expensive single purpose document projector stand systems like the Elmo Investigators Robin Popow CID Methodologies Robin discovered a metal stand Justand that can be used to hold any mobile device in place over a surface aimed at any angle Combining this hands free stand with Apple TV to transmit the device s 2013 Vancouver Community College Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects picture wirelessly to an LCD projector Robin has created a flexible low cost solution 200 that can be used to replace an expensive single purpose Elmo document projector stand 500 1700 Results This looks like an extremely practical and promising solution Given that many VCC faculty already have their own smart phones and quite a few departments now have iPads the cost to the department may
11. testing of Moodle using various models of web browsers on desktops and mobile devices d MOBILE PROJECTS BASED OUTSIDE OF VCC The following projects from other institutions may provide useful reference patterns for future mobile initiatives at VCC A Custom iPhone App for First Responders This describes a stand alone Apple app for first responders developed at the Justice Institute of BC JIBC This project was reviewed from online sources and by using the JIBC app Goals e To design a custom smart phone app that provides just in time information for Emergency Managers in the field e To make content downloadable to the mobile device in case an Internet connection is not available Investigators Tannis Morgan JIBC Methodologies For this project existing content and media was repurposed by JIBC s Emergency Management Division and developed into a custom app for the Apple iPhone The app takes the form of a glossary of terms and procedures and some entries also include images or video clips 10 http en wikipedia org wiki Twitter Bootstrap ig http theming sonsbeekmedia nl 2013 Vancouver Community College 16 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects The rationale for creating a Glossary would seem to be universality and need many first responders will benefit from having quick convenient access to critical reference information such as terminology and procedures definitions and this informati
12. to one basis If the student has an inquiry about their status or grades Chris can quickly show the student their marks in the college s CORSys web based student administration system Chris likes that this gives him a more student focused approach to tutoring bringing him to the student s aid at their desk and at their convenience instead of his Chris and other instructors use the Chromebooks mostly for showing students their marks but they have also set up each one with a Google account allowing the instructor to easily email a student directly from within CORSys CCA has three Chromebooks one for the Science lab one for Chris Math room and one for the English classroom Chromebooks do not have local hard drives and rely on Google web services for file storage and application software CCA is also considering using Google Drive for storing or exchanging files and using the Chromebook s built in webcam to do a Google Hangout video chat with any of their students who cannot come to CCA Results Using the Google Chromebook CCA can better bring information and online resources right to students in real time This makes more effective use of time for students who may have a limited window of time in which to be tutored and keeps them in the room with the instructor without breaking train of thought At 5260 Chromebook also has a slight price advantage over the iPad It also has a physical keyboard and touchpad which some users fin
13. 93 8 https play google com store apps details id com moodle moodlemobile https build phonegap com apps 314601 builds 2013 Vancouver Community College 15 Instructiona Jevelopment Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects The Moodle Bootstrap Responsive Theme The Moodle Bootstrap theme is an adaptation of the Twitter Bootstrap CSS project incorporated by Totara LMS and Moodle org into Moodle version 2 5 in May 2013 Its main advantage is its Responsive Web Design a single theme using one GUI system with a common codebase that automatically adapts itself to the size and proportions of the user s available display In theory this should provide mobile Moodle users with all the features that desktop users expect but located in different areas or at different scales or orientations It may also introduce significant GUI changes in Moodle in terms of visual appearance and usability In practical terms it remains to be seen how well this new theme will actually work and how well it will be accepted by our Moodle users Recent and Projected Results A Moodle 2 5 system upgrade is tentatively planned for October 2013 or later To date CID has only briefly evaluated the Moodle Bootstrap on a demonstration website and has not yet evaluated the Moodle Mobile iPhone app Further results may be listed here in a future revision of this document For the most part results will come from functionality
14. A EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW OF INITIATIVES ccesccescccscccesccesccesecenceececeeseeesseesseeeceeecseceeeeoaes 5 B CASES IN DETAIL MOBILE INITIATIVES BY FACULTY AT VCC scceeecceeccesccesecessccescceneeenees 5 Using a Tablet to Replace Expensive Document Projectors cc eee cece eee eee ete n eens 5 Using an iPad to Improve Student Engagement in Class cece eee eee aasa naaa eee eee 6 Using Google Chromebooks for Mobile Student Support amp Administration 7 Using an iPad for Rapid Course Content Production c cece ec eect e nee eee naa nets 8 Using Mobile Apps to Improve Teacher Student Access amp Productivity aaa 9 Using Mobile Devices for Student Oral Journals in Online TESOL Courses 10 Using Mobile Devices to Create Student ePortfolio Vide OS ccc cece cece cece eee eneeenees 11 Using Mobile Devices to Enhance Learning for ESL Students ccccccee eee eeeeeeeeees 12 C IMPROVING MOBILE ACCESS FOR VCC MOODLE USERS cssccesccescecseeceeecceesceeceeeceeeeeeee 13 GA AA 13 BackakQUNdaaaa a ma an apa ka o r a a eae bac ee 13 Influential Factors for Improving Mobile Access ccce cece cece cece ee ee Aa aka 14 Initial Moodle Testing on Mobile DeViceS cc cece ec cece eee e eee cnet en eee e eens 1 5 Overlapping Strategies to Improve Mobile ACCESS aaasanannaaaaaanaaa nanana e ee eaaee 15 Recent aind Projected ReESUIES
15. Centre for Instructional Development Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects An overview of initiatives in mobile teaching and learning at VCC and elsewhere E John Love Centre for Instructional Development Vancouver Community College Version 0 3 Last Updated September 13 2013 VANCOUVER Gg COMMUNITY Centre for COLLEGE Instructional Development 2013 Vancouver Community College Centre for Instructional Development Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects File c documents and settings jlove my documents dropbox vcc mobile_research_project mobile_tech_research_report_rev0_3 docx Revision Date Changes Author 0 1 June 21 2013 Initial outline research E John Love 0 2 July 11 2013 Added case studies edited re organized document E John Love 0 3 Sept 13 2013 Added edited case studies finished conclusions E John Love 2013 Vancouver Community College Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 72sp 300 AGAD NANANG Da DA NINA NAA aaa add A DOCUMENT SCOPE AND PURPOSE cccscscccccccccecccciscccctctococosssocccccccccccsssceccuceccscscssceaceccccs 4 B DOCUMENT CONVENTIONS ccccccccccccccccscecccccccccececescccccccecscecececccccccccecuesesscccccccecees 4 2 PROJECT CASES AND INITIATIVES ccccccccecccccccccccscccccccccccccccccccccccccscccceccceccsceceeD
16. MOBILE MOODLE ACCESS AT VCC cescescscescescnccscascnccecescnscesesceees 24 Summary of Results sc aakala da akin aaa kn Sibi AI PR GG sate wheseeeluadaddvaacainberd ens 24 Detailed Results on Moodle Mobile Device Access 22 2 a cece eee e nee e ene teeenene 25 C RESULTS FROM INITIAL MOBILE DEVICE TESTS sscscescsscsccccsccnccecsscnccecsscnccecsscnseeesens 26 D ADDITIONAL RESEARCH SOURCES csceccsccnccecsscnccecancnccecencnscecenceccscesceccesescesoesesceees 27 BINENE AA AA aaa 28 2013 Vancouver Community College Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects INTRODUCTION This report was compiled by the Centre for Instructional Development CID It documents mobile teaching and learning projects at Vancouver Community College and other institutions Most projects involve higher education and all use mobile computing technologies to enhance teaching and learning both inside and outside the classroom a DOCUMENT SCOPE AND PURPOSE This report offers brief practical case studies documenting the technologies methodologies intended goals and if known final project outcomes and recommendations For the purposes of this report mobile technology will be defined as including smart phones palmtops tablets phablets and thin client laptops This report covers the following topics e Project Cases and Initiatives case studies of mobile projects at VCC and elsewhere o Executive Overview of
17. NDEX Improving Moodle Access for VCC Mobile Users 13 Stats on Mobile Moodle Access at VCC Project Cases Detailed Breakdown cccescceeseseeeeeesteeeeeees 24 High level Overview ceeceeeeeeseeeeeeeeesseeeeeeetees 5 Stats on Mobile Moodle Access at VCC Mobile Projects Outside VCC 16 SUMMANY iniinis an eii na haan 23 VCC Cases in Detail uu ma nanwnnnwwana wanna awanannwasana 5 Summary of Mobile Apps and Platforms at VCC 23 Results of Initial Mobile Device Testing 25 2013 Vancouver Community College 28
18. aaa DN BIKER GANGBANG 16 D MOBILE PROJECTS BASED OUTSIDE OF VCC nana a 16 A Custom iPhone App for First Responders cece eee cee renee eden eee ee nett tenets 16 Web based Mobile Workplace English Lessons cccccccee cece cence eee ee eee eeeeeeeeeneeeeenaes 17 Ts CONCLUSION anG NGAGE 12 A CONCLUSIONS FROM PROJECTS WITHIN VCC cccscccsccscccccescsccsccnscnssensonscccsensansaessesens 19 Observations from VCC Mobile Initiatives 2 masa cece cece ee ee eee Aa 19 Other Observations and Suggestions about Mobile Access at VCC aaa 20 B CONCLUSIONS FROM PROJECTS OUTSIDE VCC sccsccesccssccccescnsceccescnsccesonscessensonsoeesons 20 The IBC iPhone App Project aa niente died eee LABAG PISKAL PBA pea eile a 20 The Athabasca Mobile Workplace English Course ccc cece ce cece cee e eee e eee ee eeneeeeenenees 21 C TRENDS WORTH WATCHING isccececescsscessscidcssssciecescccnedsccseseccevwevesssnenetsenssssecessnsuecueyes 21 Local Trends in Smart Phone Use wccsicsucciets ce iacsaeugnados Enne E NAGAGANAP ENNA cena ma 21 Trends in Tablet Use Across North America 222222022 00s anna 22 Using Performance Support to aid Mobile Learners 2 22022200 22 4 SOURCES AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA ccccccccecccccccccccecccccccccccccsccccscccccssseses Z A KNOWN MOBILE APPS AND PLATFORMS AT VCC esesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesesee 24 B RECENT STATS ON
19. d more convenient than a tablet Since Chromebooks are thin clients 2013 Vancouver Community College 7 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects that use solid state memory instead of a hard drive they re also lighter and much faster to boot than laptops or netbooks Using an iPad for Rapid Course Content Production This describes efforts to create course content rapidly using iPad tablets in the College and Career Access CCA department Information was compiled from personal experience email and interviews with the Investigator Goal To find an easier more immediate way to create animated narrated lesson demonstrations for online courses Investigators E John Love CID Chris Potter CCA Background Chris Potter is a Math and Science instructor in College and Career Access CCA self paced online courses Chris s initial goal was to capture a screen based demonstration of algebra techniques and solutions Initially John and Chris had decided to go about this by creating a Powerpoint presentation that could include graphics and animation and then be screen recorded using Jing Jing would allow a potentially large slideshow file to be converted to the more compact Flash format while allowing Chris to add an important voice over narration and embed the presentation into his Moodle course As John and Chris began pre production planning on paper it became apparent that the project would become too complex and take too
20. dertaken at other institutions but most were undertaken by VCC faculty or staff a EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW OF INITIATIVES This section provides an at a glance overview of project case studies herein describing institutions and platforms Links below lead to the text for each project Initiative or Project Purpose Location Technology Tablets to Replace Document Projectors Teaching VCC CID iPad Apple TV Justand Using an iPad to Increase Student Engagement ee VCC CCA iPad whiteboard app earning Chromebooks for Mobile Student Support Admin Teaching VCC CCA Chromebook Google based software Using Tablet for Rapid Course Content Teaching VCC CCA iPad whiteboard app ksing Mog le Apps ko improve TegcherGiugent Teaching VCC Hospitality iPad numerous productivity or news apps Productivity Using Mobile Devices for Student Oral Journals in Teaching r R Online TESOL Courses Learning VCC TESOL iPhone iPad various student devices Using Mobile Devices to Create Student ePortfolio eatin VCC Hospitality IPhone and Android smart phones Kodak Videos 9 prany Flip camcorders Using Mobile Devices lo Eiihance Learning tor Learning VCC TESOL iPhone iPad various student devices ESL Students Improving Mobile Access to Moodle LMS Delivery VCC CID Moodle LMS various mobile devices Custom iPhone App for First Responders Leaming wag Institute Custom iPhone app j i
21. dustry According to Kevin iPads are showing up everywhere in Hospitality nowadays He has found that using some social media sites can be risky meaning they could represent a security risk or could be misused to overly blur the line between the Teacher Student relationship For this reason he generally avoids FaceBook for student interactions but uses and promotes LinkedIn for professional networking Kevin wants to help his students adapt to the changes caused by mobile technology in the Hospitality industry and to encourage his students to be technically confident enough to use whatever mobile device or software necessary to succeed Using Mobile Devices for Student Oral Journals in Online TESOL Courses This describes an instructor s efforts to use tablets and mobile phones to enhance teaching learning in the VCC TESOL department Information was compiled from emails with the Investigator Goals To demonstrate to VCC TESOL teacher trainees how mobile technologies can supplement their teaching practice when they go out into the world and apply the teaching skills they have learned in the program Investigator Rita Dickson TESOL Background As a pronunciation teacher trainer Rita Dickson ensures that her TESOL trainees have a strong grasp of the characteristics of English sounds and that they know how to enhance the pronunciation intelligibility of their student learners Methodologies Rita s Teacher trainees
22. e Compared to the regular Moodle desktop theme the MyMobile theme was not a complete solution o Users could not create new Moodle content but could edit existing content i e Turn Edit on Edit or Update capability o The Grader Report aka Gradebook was difficult to use on mobile screens o Moodle s File Picker and certain user dialog windows were difficult or almost impossible to use e g sometimes an OK button cannot be clicked to save a setting because it is located off the right edge of the screen Influential Factors for Improving Mobile Access Improving Moodle access for VCC s mobile users has many technical social or institutional factors to consider Here are factors which CID is trying to track Mobile use is still in the minority at VCC but is continually growing and evolving At VCC mobile users may account for about than 5 10 of Moodle users on average Historically they ve not been a major concern However since the anytime anywhere nature of mobile platforms is extremely compelling and driven by aggressive commercial marketing and a growing digital native subculture mobile use at VCC will likely continue to grow in proportion with the market Use of particular platforms e g iPhone Android Blackberry etc can be idiosyncratic but most often appear to follow general trends in the marketplace Currently Apple iOS and Android are the most predominant platforms It s not unlike
23. e Student ePortfolio Videos This describes the use of mobile devices to enable students to more easily complete assignments in the VCC Hospitality department Information was compiled from emails with the Investigator Goals To empower students to use their mobile phone or miniature camcorder to create and deploy short videos for ePortfolios Investigators Mandy Davies Bachelor Hospitality Management and students Background Mandy has been an Instructor Computer Applications and Career Prep in VCC s Hospitality Department for a few years She is quite technically proficient having created websites for commercial customers and taught a variety of technical topics including web design print publishing and software development In Career Prep 2 students are encouraged to brand or market themselves and to present an ePortfolio to panelists and peers at the end of the term Students must practice applying for work in the 2013 Vancouver Community College II Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects industry or must genuinely obtain a position As part of their ePortfolio each student must record a brief YouTube video of a mock job interview two minutes maximum Methodologies Students recorded their mock interviews using their smart phones most often IPhone or Android devices or using Kodak Flip camcorders supplied by their Instructor When required students were provided with instruction in video recordin
24. er own devices requires extra cost and effort to ensure that devices are charged or properly configured e In one case a student was concerned about her privacy while practicing The student opted to use her smart phone to practice privately instead of posting her audio to the Voice Thread website So in this case the personal device solved the privacy challenge helping the student to practice with more confidence c IMPROVING MOBILE ACCESS FOR VCC MOODLE USERS This section describes ongoing initiatives by the Centre for Instructional Development with assistance from IT to improve the experience for mobile device users who access VCC s Moodle LMS Initial Goals e To investigate and document mobile usability on the VCC Moodle LMS v 2 2 4 e To understand the affordances of mobile platforms and the needs expectations of users e To find ways to improve mobile usability for VCC Moodle users on an ongoing basis Background When VCC upgraded to Moodle 2 2 in Aug 2012 it offered mobile users a special MyMobile theme which could automatically present a mobile optimized user interface to users 2013 Vancouver Community College 13 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects Advantages of the MyMobile Theme Moodle had finally provided mobile users with a standard graphic user interface that was designed for use on small touch screens It was an automatic device independent solution Disadvantages of the MyMobile Them
25. esses about 4 all mobile accesses e The remaining devices approx 3 were other platforms e g Asus eeePad or were not identified 24 As more data is continually gathered these numbers will change and become more accurate 2013 Vancouver Community College 24 Centre for Instructional Development Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects Generally real time traffic monitoring of moodle vcc ca in June 2013 showed 95 of accesses from desktop computers and 5 from tablets Detailed Results on Moodle Mobile Device Access Device Visits Avg Visit Duration New Visits Apple iPad 2 197 0 06 03 17 52 Apple iPhone 1 884 0 03 10 24 58 Samsung GT 19300 Galaxy SIII 262 0 02 45 19 08 RIM PlayBook 159 0 02 25 10 69 Samsung GT P3113 Galaxy Tab 2 7 0 104 0 03 48 5 77 Apple iPod 93 0 01 30 22 58 not set 87 0 04 57 26 44 Samsung GT P5113 Galaxy Tab 2 10 1 70 0 06 47 15 71 Samsung GT S7560M Galaxy Ace II x 61 0 02 47 18 03 Samsung GT P7510 Galaxy Tab 10 1 58 0 07 42 13 79 Samsung Galaxy Nexus 57 0 03 07 22 81 Samsung GT P5113 Galaxy Tab 2 10 1 WiFi 57 0 02 17 3 51 Samsung SGH 1317M Galaxy Note II 45 0 06 50 22 22 Samsung SGH T989D Galaxy S II X 45 0 07 01 15 56 Google Nexus 7 42 0 02 20 19 05 Samsung SGH I747M Galaxy SIII 41 0 02 58 17 07 RIM Z10 36 0 02 22 16 67 Samsung SCH 1930 ATIV S 25 0 01 48 4 00 SonyEricsson ST25a Xperia U 24 0 10 16 8 33 Asus TF101 Eee Pad Transformer TF101 23 0
26. ext User Support In any software system mobile or not users with different levels of ability or experience will benefit from different styles of real time support offered in the context of their application software In context user support can improve the usability and user acceptance of mobile software solutions Examples include e The quality of on screen Help links that provide screen level contextual help e Availability of tooltips or icons throughout an application which provide quick explanations of how to use specific features In line with UDL recommendations for best practice improved usability and supportiveness in user interface design generally has a positive impact on learner success 3 http www udlcenter org aboutudl whatisudl conceptofudl 2013 Vancouver Community College 23 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects 4 SOURCES AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA a KNOWN MOBILE APPS AND PLATFORMS AT VCC This is an unordered inventory of mobile platforms and apps used by VCC faculty or staff for teaching learning or support This is a work in progress Ubiquitous software tools like email are not included App Software Mobile Platform Dept Users AppleTV Educreations Whiteboard YouTube iPad CCA Jane Parker oe Whiteboard Facetime Moodle Prezi for iPad CCA Chris Potter CORSys Google Drive Moodle Google Chromebook CCA Chris Potter Peter Herd Dropbox Explain Everything Evernote
27. g and how to upload videos to their own YouTube account Results According to Mandy the pressure and spontaneity imposed on the student by recording quick mock interviews provided a more realistic result and replicated real world interview jitters This probably wouldn t have been possible without handheld recording devices which were easy to use or were already familiar to her students Mandy has said believe that as instructors we assume that all of our students are tech savvy because they can text on smart phones use Facebook and open up ready made apps Experimenting with the basics combined with technology and real world experience interview trepidation empowers and enables students Mandy will use this method again in future but notes that publishing videos to YouTube did present challenges for some of her students In future she plans to focus more on the YouTube permissions and perhaps demo the process myself for uploading a video using annotations etc Using Mobile Devices to Enhance Learning for ESL Students This describes the use of mobile devices to enable students to more easily complete assignments in ESL studies at VCC Information was compiled from emails and a telephone interview with the Investigator Goals To empower students to use their mobile phone or tablet to record and review their English pronunciation Investigators Sara Yuen TESOL and students Background S
28. ginal digital lessons at a rate and in a style that was convenient and appropriate for his needs and skills To date Chris has created about a dozen little animated demonstrations ranging in duration from 1 to 10 minutes and has embedded them into his Moodle courses Using Mobile Apps to Improve Teacher Student Access 4 Productivity This describes an instructor s efforts to promote the use of iPad apps and cloud based services to his students in the Hospitality program Information was compiled from online articles and videos and from a telephone interview with the Instructor Goals e To give students rationale for using mobile tech in their future careers and to raise awareness of emerging technologies in the Hospitality sector e To motivate students and faculty to improve their level of technical literacy e To demonstrate real world practical use cases for iPad apps and cloud based services Investigators Kevin Kovalycsik Hospitality Methodologies Kevin is extremely eager to evangelize his students and colleagues in the use of mobile technology and new media He sees it as a mandatory fact of life for professionals in the Hospitality sector He is a power user of a variety of smartphone and tablet apps social media and cloud based services and has been using hand held computing devices since the dawn of the Palm Pilot For example he will introduce iPad apps to his students according to functional need and which pract
29. he needs of mobile constituents then that may be the best solution albeit a compromise In practical terms VCC will have the best chance of offering reliable and predictable mobile access for learners staff or faculty by focusing on how well the Moodle LMS can enable mobile access e CID should strive to develop best practices in design and content creation for mobile users This initial list of recommendations will evolve from CID s ongoing research For example o Optimal size of graphics and text for smaller screens o Useof Alt tags on images and meta tags in pages o Alternatives to Flash as a content type e g iPad compatible HTML5 code o Use of YouTube for video hosting and the MP3 format for audio files o Use of PDF for read only documents o Ongoing support education and training of mobile best practices for faculty which may include workshops updating online courses like OTSM2 updating DLSupport Knowledgebase articles etc b CONCLUSIONS FROM PROJECTS OUTSIDE VCC The JIBC iPhone App Project The JIBC iPhone app project illustrates that a large institution with a dedicated budget and a team of subject matter experts can identify an area of critical need and can develop a stand alone software solution to fill that need https www google ca search q breakdown of mobile devicetuse in northtamerica 2012 amp oq breakdown of mobile d evicetusetin northtamerica 2012 1 If deemed necessary this op
30. ibility in how when and where they complete Oral Journal assignment s According to Rita participants have been very receptive to the mobile approach e Rita observes that use of mobile technology tends to arise quite naturally calling it such a peripheral part of the teacher training that do it s not really planned for but arises quite organically as learners explore how Oral Journals can be made more relevant to them shaped for their purposes e Working with mobile devices also improves the effectiveness of the Oral Journal strategy by accelerating the submission and review process thus allowing more time for reformulation tasks in which students re record and resubmit their work based on the Teacher s feedback e By going mobile Rita enjoys more flexibility in meeting her student s needs saying it s made me more able to support the population that serve and it s allowed me to teach my learners to do the same and I ve been able to basically run my consulting business off my iPhone e Some of the risks or challenges noted by Rita include that her mobile approach is on the periphery of the teacher training that we do at VCC and that she has not followed up on this initiative in any concrete way She recognizes the blurry boundary lines between work and leisure time enabled by using smart phones for work and says one has to be disciplined Using Mobile Devices to Creat
31. ical problems will be solved or which competitive advantages will be realized The functional areas which he covers include mind mapping outlining note taking presentation building personal networking and communication text video and cloud based file storage Kevin cites asynchronous communications with his students as a major competitive advantage both for him as an Instructor and for his Students as future working professionals e g mobile access to services like Twitter and email allow him to send his Students useful news videos or articles He also uses 2013 Vancouver Community College 9 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects www coursesmart com to provide eTexts that can be distributed to his students mobile devices and related note taking apps Kevin s personal platforms of choice are the Apple iPhone and iPad He loves being able to access business news from the Wall Street Journal or Forbes from anywhere to stay up to date on business and economics news Results Results from this interview are anecdotal or inconclusive Kevin has observed that while all his students have smart phones fewer have iPads and this can challenge him to find homogenous solutions or approaches as an Instructor It can be difficult to know how students are benefitting from Kevin s tool and service recommendations but he seems to be actively trying to align his examples with the evolving use of mobile technology in the Hospitality in
32. inion could be verified or clarified by interviewing project participants directly 2013 Vancouver Community College 20 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects We might speculate that because much of the reference material terminology and definitions may not need to change frequently the ROI and maintenance aspects of this project may be more attractive and less risky over the long term What is unknown from this preliminary investigation of the JIBC project is e How well accepted is this app by real First Responders in the field There are usability industry and cultural issues attached to that question like any complex software hardware project e How cost effective or easy was it to distribute this app exclusively through the Apple Store e Does an Apple only solution limit the usefulness or acceptance of this solution e What is the true ROI of this app development cost vs real operational savings across project lifespan The JIBC Glossary app project is a good example of Performance Support see below where critical reference information is made available to users in the field via a custom smart phone application It s reasonable to assume that this project was developed with many more resources than are typically available at VCC and that this app was neither inexpensive nor rapidly designed The Athabasca Mobile Workplace English Course This project demonstrates a low impact practical presentation of online
33. long to produce A simpler more immediate approach was needed Methodologies Taking inspiration from RSA cartoon animations and a series of math videos by Mrs Jenkins John and Chris decided to record small 1 2 minute sequences using a free whiteboard style recording app called Educreations Whiteboard After exploring different styluses and the drawing capabilities of the app Chris was soon ready to begin developing sequences on his own Being an informal improviser at heart Chris preferred recording short sequences on the fly wherever and whenever he had extra time His end result was a series of simple hand drawn illustrations of algebraic rules and solutions which he narrated and accompanied with background music from his favourite jazz musician The final animated sequences are stored in an account on the Educreations website and can be played back either through the iPad app over the web from a special URL or embedded into Chris s Moodle courses This iPad approach to demonstration had some distinct advantages e Unlike a computer based screen recording approach running Educreations Whiteboard on an iPad was portable and easy to set up no microphone to hook up e For Chris as the creator the mode of working was drawing writing or doodling using a finger or inexpensive stylus which was more natural and intuitive for him than moving a mouse around while recording on screen actions This follows the
34. ly that Faculty will try to edit or administer Moodle courses using tablets e g IPad so the mobile usability of Moodle s Gradebook and File Picker must be fully tested Extensive tablet based testing is required for CID and DLSupport to understand any related pitfalls or issues TBD It s reasonable to assume that most of the smart phone users who access a VCC Moodle course will be students viewing course content outside of class time so it s important that mobile course access be reliable and consistent for them As far as the author is aware to date mobile access for online learning has not been formally required in any online course at VCC This leaves the choice of whether or not to access Moodle via mobile as a personal choice by each user Since smart phones are usually personally owned issues or inquiries regarding mobile web access do not necessarily fall under the responsibility of VCC Helpdesk or DLSupport This also leads to cases where problems with mobile Moodle access may not be anticipated by Faculty or revealed to VCC Helpdesk or DLSupport 2013 Vancouver Community College I4 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects e ts believed that iPads and eReaders have become more popular among VCC s small community of visually impaired Moodle users Accessibility for visually impaired users has not yet been deeply tested under Moodle 2 5 but known issues are being followed in Moodle Tracker e Moodle org is making effor
35. mall groups she passed the iPad around to students while everyone satin a circle Results According to Sara her students felt that the course and the instructor were modern and had done a lot of work to prepare lessons in this way Sara says that students liked using mobile tech they were impressed and highly engaged by it and were more inspired to learn on their own Familiarity with how to use her particular brand of tablet and its general ease of use may also have had a strong positive impact on engaging her students Personal recording devices like phones or tablets allow recording to occur in the classroom in the existing group situation making a more fluid or natural student exchange Using smart phones to record their speech outside of class gave students the flexibility and privacy needed for more effective practice and removed the excuse of not having enough time to complete assignments Sara said that she would definitely use mobile tech again with her ESL learners Generally mobile tech impressed and inspired them and changed their attitudes towards learning putting more of sense of control in their hands It encouraged them to be more active to work independently when they could and not to be passive or reliant on the instructor Some challenges Sara noted e Sara is one of the first Instructors to use mobile devices in her department and has opted to use her own personal equipment Buying and maintaining h
36. nchronously Where desktop computers or laptops are not available tablets are often convenient substitutes e Tablet ease of use levels the playing field for computer literacy To some users touch screen devices seem more approachable immediate and less intimidating than keyboards and mice e Marketplace and culture have provided device literacy and orientation Most users come to school already knowing how to use a smartphone or tablet some from a very early age Student Engagement and Ownership e Student engagement is positively impacted by the use of smartphones and tablets Students may become less passive and more active demonstrative or vocal Familiarity with a device may ease acceptance of content or bring confidence Younger students appreciate the use of mobile technology especially if they re already familiar with it in some way Tablets seem to encourage social interaction more than laptops They can be passed around the table or the classroom and used in shared group contexts allowing for more collaborative situations e Using one s personal mobile device to interact with content may increase a sense of ownership confidence and responsibility The student may take more personal responsibility in completing assignments or may enjoy being able to decide when and where they complete their work on their own terms or in private Overall ownership or control of the medium may improve ownership of learning outcomes students
37. on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects c RESULTS FROM INITIAL MOBILE DEVICE TESTS From April to June 2013 CID tested a variety of mobile devices to determine how well they worked with version 2 2 4 of the Moodle LMS These test results are somewhat incomplete not every device was tested against all criteria and they refer to Moodle 2 2 4 and the MyMobile Moodle theme both of which may become moot once Moodle is upgraded to version 2 5 The test cases below were inspired by a presentation by Lambda Solutions at MoodleMoot 2013 Is Moodle Mobile v NO v NO NO NO Moodle theme triggered Moodle Moodle set Moodle set setto emit set to emit to emit to emit Desktop Desktop Desktop Desktop theme theme theme theme Retest wi Retest wi Retest wi Retest wi Mobile Mobile Mobile Mobile theme theme theme theme Login works V V v4 v Expand Collapsed NA NA x Topics Expand Collapsed NA v x V Weekly Discussion v V v Forums Read Topic Discussion NA v LE Forums Add thread Reply Subscribe File Picker Y v v Upload File Page Resource Y v v View Page Resource v v v YouTube Video Page Resource x x x Flash Video e g FlowPlayer Glossary Activity NA M NA Folder Resource Yes but y don t Embed Book Resource v v 2 http www slideshare net LambdaSolutions making your moodle mobile 2013 Vancouver Community College 26 Repo
38. on may be needed under conditions where Internet access is not available and may not necessarily be subject to frequent changes For these reasons a custom stand alone app is a good solution Results JIBC released this app through Apple s App Store in April of 20127 The free iPhone JIBC ICS IMS app provides a thorough glossary with over 125 terms commonly used in the emergency management field and contains easy to read definitions of terms used in the Incident Command System ICS and Incident Management System IMS ranging from Access Route to Unity of Command It also contains a selection of videos that supplement the text definitions First hand use of the app by the author has shown that e the download installation process is slow due to the app s large size due to embedded media e only a few of the topics reviewed contained demonstration videos some others contained graphics and the majority of the topics were just text descriptions Web based Mobile Workplace English Lessons This describes a web based course for mobile learners developed by Athabasca University This project was reviewed from online articles papers and a review of the web based course Athabasca University seems to have a strong history of research into mobile technology in teaching and learning Among their various mobile projects found online we ll look at one representative example their Mobile Workplace English
39. only be the Justand metal stand approx 5100 5160 retail and the cost of an AppleTV device approx 5150 retail Working with IT Robin has set up Apple TV in the CID office and in at least two classrooms one Downtown and one at Broadway Using an iPad to Improve Student Engagement in Class This describes efforts to improve in class student engagement in the College and Career Access CCA department Information about this initiative was compiled from workshop demonstrations email and interviews with the Investigators Goal To find a better way to engage students during classroom collaborative writing activities Investigators Jane Parker CCA Robin Popow CID Background Jane teaches English in CCA Previously when teaching English grammar and sentence structure in a group writing activity she would divide her class into four teams Each team would devise a brief story with one member elected as a scribe to write the story down on paper Another member of the group would then present their written piece at the front of the class Jane found that students were often hesitant to come to the front of the class and some were reluctant to give comments or advice Methodologies With assistance from Robin Jane used an iPad and a free app Educreations Whiteboard to provide a more interactive and stimulating way to present Using her iPad to take a snapshot of a group s written page she used the Educreations a
40. pp to draw on top of the screen capture using a stylus to demonstrate corrections or annotations to the class Jane would transmit the live feed from her iPad to the classroom s overhead projector so that students could clearly see what she was doing in order to display her editing actions on the big screen while she described and discussed them with her students Jane could connect a cable from the output of her iPad to the video connector on the classroom ETU console or if she wanted to be more mobile with her tablet and move freely around the room during her demonstration she could also wirelessly transmit the iPad image to the projector using AppleTV Results Jane found a dramatic improvement in the engagement of her students using this new method Passive or quiet students would be more active and vocal and teams now seemed more interested in what other teams had done Seeing their work projected on the big screen seemed to serve as a reward encouraging teams to try harder and to outperform their competitors Jane has given this lesson twice so far and plans to give it again about four times in the next year The experience has made her feel less intimidated by technology and has also inspired her to consider 2013 Vancouver Community College 6 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects creating more mini lessons using the Educreations Whiteboard app instead of using PowerPoint She can present her Educreations lessons in cla
41. rt on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects Assignment Activity Online Text V Assignment Activity Upload Single File Quiz Activity Multi choice Quiz Activity Written Essay Questions Quiz Activity True False Calendar Block vy Messages Read v d ADDITIONAL RESEARCH SOURCES Aside from resources cited in the footnotes the author also consulted these sources e Ally Mohamed PhD and Agnieszka Palalas State of Mobile Learning in Canada and Future Directions Athabasca University n d Web 20 June 2013 e http www m libraries or sites default files 2F 2 20AU7Years pptx e Elias Tanya Universal Instructional Design Principles for Mobile Learning The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning Athabasca University Feb 2011 e Prensky M 2005 What can you learn from a cell phone Almost anything Innovate 1 5 accessed June 20 2013 e Evans Benedict Mobile is Eating the World Enders Analysis May 17 2013 e http e http e http e http www mobilelearnin 2013 Vancouver Community College ortal or www open uoguelph ca TSS technolo ca blackberry com content dam blackBerr aterloo BCS pdf www cnie rcie ca q node 123 contentview whitepapers mlearning aspx df caseStudy northAmerica english UofW Centre for Instructional Development Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects 5 I
42. smart phone 2013 Vancouver Community College 21 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects e 18 of owners surveyed consider themselves addicted to their device e Inan average week the self described addicts spend 2 5 hours a day actively using their smart phone compared to 1 6 hours for those not addicted and half 51 check their smart phone at least once every half an hour compared to just 24 of those not addicted Trends in Tablet Use Across North America According to a recent report from Gartner Research tablet use is currently estimated at about 10 level of smart phone use e Tablet use is projected to more than double in the next 4 years from about 200 million tablets shipped in 2013 to 468 million tablets shipped in 2017 In the same time period smart phone use will grow from 1 87 billion units shipped in 2013 to 2 23 billion units in 2017 an increase of about 30 or about 360 M units e Even though tablets represent approximately 10 of the size of the smart phone market they appear to be growing at high enough rates that the market may see almost the same number of tablets being shipped as smart phones in the same periods A general reaction to these possible trends is tablet use will become more commonplace and driven by the outside market VCC s customers will drive the use mobile technology both inside and outside the college Also anecdotally as of 2012 rich content is shifting away from
43. ss or may embed them into her online Moodle courses The biggest challenge that Jane found was in getting familiar with using the iPad app and ensuring that AppleTV would work before each class AppleTV requires a special port to be opened in the classroom s wireless router which had to be configured by IT Using Google Chromebooks for Mobile Student Support amp Administration This describes efforts to improve student service and communications in the College and Career Access CCA department Information was compiled from email and interviews with the Investigators Goal To provide an inexpensive portable way to access student records or online resources while interacting with students in real time Investigators Chris Potter Peter Herd CCA Background CCA desired a lightweight portable way to keep data at the instructor s fingertips while moving about their classroom or department In the past to review student grades instructors would have to bring a student to a desktop PC or send them to the CCA office If this need arose in the middle of a lesson the instructor might lose contact with the student who d lose their train of thought or maybe not return to the classroom at all So bringing student records up right in front of the student right in the moment became a driving need Methodologies Chris takes the Chromebook with him into his Math classroom and tends to move from table to table assisting students on a one
44. teach their online learners to use Oral Journals where the Teacher has each student learner submit a short audio sample of their English speech e g 90 seconds The Teacher reviews the student s audio and provides personalized feedback In the past students recorded their audio submissions using workstations in a dedicated audio lab The Teacher would collect each submission on a USB key and email it back to the student for review Then the Teacher would email each student a new audio file containing the Teacher s personalized tailored feedback in which the Teacher models correct pronunciation etc 2013 Vancouver Community College 10 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects Rita s mobile technology enhancement on this method was to get student learners to use their smart phones and or tablets to record and email their speech samples and for the teacher trainees to use their phones tablets to provide each student with their tailored feedback Results e Rita has determined that generally at about midway through the trainees ten month program of study they are usually ready to begin using commonly available mobile devices like tablets or smart phones She observes that dedicated language labs are now no longer the norm for language tutors who implement Oral Journals e By using mobile devices to record submit and review audio content Rita s teacher trainees and their students enjoy more convenience and flex
45. to learners with desktop PCs or larger displays how would the provider avoid having to create separate presentation or 2 Gartner Research April 2013 http www gartner com newsroom id 2408515 2 http en wikipedia org wiki Mobile learning Approaches 2013 Vancouver Community College 22 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects content to support a sub set of mobile users In other words if mobile workers in the field require a coaching or reference system that they can easily access from their phone say as an iPhone app would it need to be designed and delivered specifically for that audience Would it need to be maintained as a separate project from any larger online curriculum from which it may have originally been derived The key user advantages of deploying a custom smartphone or tablet app are that it may be much easier to use the form factor is convenient the configuration is personal and familiar and unlike most web based systems authentication logging in doesn t have to become an impediment to use it can be designed out of the user experience or minimized e g the app remembers the user s credentials However these advantages come at a development cost there needs to be solid use cases and business cases for investing time and money in tools and expertise Custom apps require their own design programming and maintenance life cycles like any software development project Real time In cont
46. ts to improve support for mobile devices for future versions Initial Moodle Testing on Mobile Devices Variations in browser behaviour screen format resolution or system setup may cause each mobile device to present the same web page in a slightly different way It s practically impossible to uncover or predict every possible variable but CID has tried to get hands on experience accessing Moodle on a variety of different mobile devices For details refer to section 4 c Mobile Device Testing Results Overlapping Strategies to Improve Mobile Access There are a number of potential solutions for improving the Moodle experience for mobile users Moodle 2 5 System Software Update Since a number of solutions that address mobile access are associated with Moodle versions 2 4 and or 2 5 CID decided to upgrade VCC s Moodle servers from 2 2 4 to 2 5 In conjunction with IT CID is currently planning a Moodle 2 5 upgrade writing and revising a software test plan and documenting and evaluating features and known issues At the time of this writing a Moodle 2 5 system upgrade is tentatively planned for October 2013 or later Moodle 2 5 functionality testing will be both formal and ad hoc with critical Student Instructor facing functionality being tested first and less used functionality tested next Testing will be prioritized and scheduled according to the most used client side platforms desktop browsers first followed by widel
47. tudents must practice their speaking and presentation skills Being able to record and review their voices privately or in a class setting provides them with valuable practice Methodologies Sara set up a class blog to provide course materials and assignments to her students online No audio lab was used for recording or review the class used an iPad or their own web enabled devices to access the web and the class blog or to review student audio clips at a special website In some cases students worked together in the classroom or individually on their own time To record and distribute examples of Student s spoken English Sara used the free Voice Thread iPad app and set up an account on the Voice Threads website In class Sara used her iPad to surf to the course 1 http eslwithsara blogspot ca 2013 01 our special thingsphotos html https voicethread com share 2745702 2013 Vancouver Community College 12 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects blog or to the Voice Threads website Students who saw Sara using an iPad in class were eager to bring their iPads to class as well To record audio some students decided to use their smart phones and emailed their audio clips to Sara She provided a small digital audio recorder for other students to use For in class demonstrations she used an iPad to surf the web or to visit the class blog In large classes she connected her iPad to an overhead projector and for s
48. vities in this project seems linear following a specific sequence of topics instead of being organized as bite sized lessons or random access reference material Conclusions Technologically there seems little here that would be considered ground breaking although this is an admittedly dated example However minimal the design primarily high contrast text with no decorative graphics or visual design it s still functional and appropriate for the capabilities of an average mobile feature phone that existed prior to 2007 This site seems to require Internet access to see the lessons at http wpeau ca Operationally this project appears to be designed as a series of static web pages with no apparent database or CMS to manage content or delivery However as there are various methods for designing and managing web content in a centralized way common page templates compiling dynamically generated pages into flat files etc it s possible to update a large web project like this without manually editing hundreds of individual web pages 17 http www gsmarena com nokia n70 1153 ph 2013 Vancouver Community College I8 Report on Mobile Teaching Learning Projects 3 CONCLUSIONS In this section we ll try to identify any potentially useful patterns tools and techniques which could have practical benefit to mobile teaching learning initiatives at VCC First we ll describe high level patterns from projects and initiatives
49. y used mobile devices etc For simplicity and because we expect the functionality of mobile devices to closely match that of desktops we will execute the same standard functionality test cases on each device similar to how we would run the same set of test criteria using different web browsers to find browser compatibility performance issues The Moodle Mobile Smart Phone App Moodle org has developed a dedicated HTML5 app for mobile access called the Moodle Mobile app This was released with Moodle 2 4 and versions are available for iPhone Android and other platforms At some point during the Moodle 2 5 upgrade CID must test this app against our 2 5 development server and if it seems useful and reliable CID should consider deploying it on the production Moodle server after the 2 5 upgrade is completed This should have no impact on our desktop users and should not prohibit any Mobile theme from being served to those not using this app on their mobile device Thus the mobile app has the potential to work in parallel with other overlapping solutions serving as the first low impact improvement to VCC s mobile user experience http docs moodle org dev Mobile device support Detailed Test Plan is available upon request from the Author gt Current MS Project Plan is available upon request from the Author http docs moodle org 25 en Mobile a 7 https itunes apple com es app moodle mobile id6333595
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