Mobile computer-supported collaborative learning may have different meanings depending on the context in which it is applied. Mobile CSCL includes any in-class and out-of-class use of handheld mobile devices such as cell phones, smart phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to enable collaborative learning.
Overview
The adoption of mobile devices as tools for teaching and learning is referred to as M-Learning. M-Learning is a rapidly emerging educational technology trend. The New Media Consortium has listed adoption of mobiles for teaching and learning on a "One Year or Less" Adoption Horizon."One Year or Less" Adoption HorizonJohnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2011). [The 2011 Horizon Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. M-Learning research comprises a range of mobile devices and teaching and learning applications. However, the research available for collaborative applications that involve mobile devices is limited. Examples of collaborative mobile learning applications can be found in examples from early adoption of PDA technology, and in recent examples of location-based, mobile collaborative games.
History
Wireless-enabled handheld devices have been used as early as 2004 to facilitate collaborative learning. Devices such as PDAs and PocketPC's traditionally lack cellular connectivity, but are capable of wireless connectivity. This connectivity enables collaborative learning through software-based, decision-making tools and shared display of learning material.
Elementary school learners
Wireless interconnected handhelds have been used to foster collaborative construction of words among elementary school students. Students in a first grade classroom in ChileZurita G. (2004). A constructivist mobile learning environment supported by a wireless handheld network. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 20(4), 235-243 were organized into groups and asked to construct words from syllables. Each student was issued a handheld which identified their group and presented one syllable. Students had to read the syllable and communicate with the rest of their group and decide the appropriate syllable sequence required for word formation. The mobile system employed incorporated a group-based answer approval system that allowed students to submit responses and decide whether more words could be created from the available syllables.
Middle school learners
Cooties,Savill-Smith, C. & Kent, P. (2003). The use of palmtop computers for learning - A review of the literature. m-Learning.org Research Report. retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://www.m-learning.org/docs/the_use_of_palmtop_computers_for_learning_sept03.pdfShields J and Poftak A (2002). A report card on handheld computing. Technology and Learning, 22 (7), 25–36. is an interactive, collaborative simulation designed for wireless handheld devices. Originally designed for middle-school students, Cooties enables students to study the spread of infectious diseases. In Cooties, a teacher can select which student(s) to infect and which students to give "degrees of 'immunity'". The device displays icons for all students, and differentiates those with and without infection. As students move about, they "spread" disease. As the simulation progresses, students can then form a scientific hypothesis about how the disease is spread.
High school learners
Networked handhelds can be used to mediate collaborative group decision-making for science problems. Students in a high-school physics class in ChileCortez C. (2004). Teaching Science with Mobile Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (MCSCL). WMTE '04 Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE International Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE'04) ., p. 67. were issued networked PocketPCs and organized into groups. Students in each group were asked to answer the same multiple choice physics question. Students could only proceed once the group established consensus on an answer.
The software was further developed to mediate the interaction of students in small-groups facilitating their collaboration in activities related to different subject areas. In these activities the groups of students share a set of questions that includes multiple responses that they have to analyze and decide the answer they want to submit as a group. This requires shared commitment and individual responsibility in order to make collective decisions and reach consensus. The methodology uses technology-supported face-to-face collaborative learning as a tool for the assessment of learning.Nussbaum, M., Gomez, F., Mena, J., Imbarack, P., Torres, A., Singer, M., & Mora, M. (2010). Technology-Supported Face-to-Face Small Group Collaborative Formative Assessment and its Integration in the Classroom. In R. Sternberg & D. Preiss (Eds.), Innovations in Educational Psychology: Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Human Development (pp. 295-323). New York: Springer
Museum learners
Several research projects have been conducted on handheld devices for applications in museum learning.museum learning Musex is an application in which elementary school students can enhance their understanding of exhibits by collaboratively (in pairs) answering related questions via PDA in museums. Musex enables students to monitor each other's status and allows them to move around different exhibits in museums at their own pace. Musex not only promotes the interaction between the students and the exhibits with low interactivity, but also facilitates the mutual communication between students themselves.Koji Yatani, Mayumi Onuma, Masanori Sugimoto, and Fusako Kusunoki (2004). Musex: a system for supporting children's collaborative learning in a museum with PDAs. Systems and Computers in Japan, Vol. 35, No. 14.
Current trends
Results from the quarterly 2011 Mobile Intent Index survey indicate that mobile internet users are most likely to use devices as a "social connector".PRNewswire (2011, Feb). New Study Shows 'Intent' Behind Mobile Internet Use. retrieved 2011, Oct, 10, from PR Newswire Web Site: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-shows-intent-behind-mobile-internet-use-84016487.html However, mobile users were less likely than non-mobile internet users to use mobile devices to learn.Finn, Ruder (2011). Mobile Intent Index. retrieved 2011, Oct, 10, from Intent Index Web Site: http://www.intentindex.com/mobile/ The following trends identified regarding mobile learning are notable:
64% indicated an intent to educate themselves.
69% indicated an intent to do research
95% indicated an intent to keep informed.
In 2010, Project Tomorrow conducted the Speak Up 2010 national survey,Speak Up 2010 national survey and invited participation from students, parents, teachers, librarians, administrators and technologists from private and public education sectors. Respondents identified mobile device usage as a key teaching and learning trend. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed indicated its importance to facilitate communicate in support of learning.Project Tomorrow (2011). The New 3 E's of Education: Enabled - Engaged - Empowered. How Today's Educators are Advancing a New vision for Teaching and Learning. Speak Up 2010 National Findings. K-12 Teachers, Librarians & Administrators. May 2011, from Tomorrow.org Web Site: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/pdfs/SU10_3EofEducation_Educators.pdf In the eSchool Media STAR (School Technology Action) Report analysis of the survey, "48 percent of high school students and 34 percent of middle school students" used social networks such Facebook to collaborate with other students on class projects.eSchool News. (2011) School Technology Action Report : Everything You Need to Know About Mobile Tech and Your Schools. eSchool Media, Inc, from eSchoolnews.com Web Site: http://www.eschoolnews.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2011/09/mobile_star.pdf
Location-based collaborative mobile games
Location-based mobile games mediate play through the use of mobile devices at specified locations. Use of collaborative location-based games rely on the availability of Wireless or GPS connections to enable players to receive and share game information. Rooted in the discipline of geomatics, geospatial games prompt students to tackle environmental issues such as climate change and sustainable developmentBarma, S. & Daniel, S. (2011). Mind your game, game your mind! Mobile gaming for co-constructing knowledge. In T. Bastiaens & M. Ebner (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2011 (pp. 324–334). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.Daniel, S. (2011). Geomatics for gaming and learning. retrieved Oct 10, 2011, from GeoEduc3D Web Site: http://geoeduc3d.scg.ulaval.ca/index.php?lg=en by situating collaborative play in outdoor spaces. One way to create location-based games is by creating social scavenger hunts using the SCVNGR software on iOS and Android mobile devices.
Groundwater survivor
Groundwater Survivor, a game located on the University of Guam campus, asks middle school students to collaborate to find fresh water. Students play the role of "shipwreck" survivors who are looking for sources of fresh water. Along the way, they must determine potential water sources, and must decide between contaminated and potable water sources.Wallace, P. (2011). Student-Community Collaboration to Construct Mobile Learning Games. Educause Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 3.
Collaborative play is designed with the Wherigo mobile platform. Game software is compatible with Garmin GPS handsets and HP IPAQ devices.
Mentira
Designed as an iOS application, Mentira is an augmented reality game designed to help University of New Mexico students learn to speak Spanish. In the project Taking Language Learning Out of the Classroom and Into the Streets, students are immersed in solving the mystery that is Mentira. Situated in Albuquerque, New Mexico, players must interact with real people and collect clues to help them solve the mystery, and in the process read and interact with the application in Spanish. Mentira was developed using the ARIS iOS game platform.
Foreign language learners
A mobile-device-supported peer-assisted learningDefinition of "peer-assisted learning" (MPAL) system runs on tablet computers and is used to facilitate collaborative reading activities of elementary English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. An MPAL system consists of a phonological-skills training module and a peer-assessment module. Online helpers (typically more advanced students) can assist their peers in the peer-assessment module via Skype. While evaluating their peers' oral reading, online helpers identify mispronounced words by marking the words with a stylus. The MPAL system is then used to assess the readers' performance as a "fail" or "pass" based on the accuracy ratio provided. MPAL successfully promotes EFL learners' motivation to improve reading skills, and makes them engaged in reading activities; thereby ensuring that learners have timely online assistance anytime and anywhere.Yu-Ju Lan, Yao-Ting Sung, and Kuo-En Chang (2007) A mobile-device-supported peer-assisted learning system for collaborative early EFL reading. Language Learning & Technology, Vol. 11, p. 130 – 151
Collaborating in discussion boards on a mobile device