Use of Emerging Mobile Learning Technologies to Teach Females in the 21st
Century
Mohamed Ally, Ph.D.
حمل المرجع من المرفقات
University of Alberta, Canada
E-mail: mohameda@athabascau.ca
Abstract
It is a well known fact that for countries and economies to prosper in the
21st century, the citizens of the countries have to be well education and be creative and innovative. This implies that
Females as well as males have to be educated so that they can become productive citizens. The use of
Emerging Learning Technologies in E-learning, Online Learning, and
Mobile Learning will allow educational institutions to reach
Females students in their local communities to get an education rather than having them leaving their communities to learn. Hence,
Females will be able to continue to maintain their Islamic and social values and learn at the same time. Delivering
Learning materials to
Females will give them access to
Learning materials and at the same time, they will improve their expertise on the use of information, communication and
Mobile technologies. Previous studies have shown that if implemented properly,
Mobile technology can be used to delivery instruction and to provide support to learners. Using
Emerging Learning Technologies to reach
Females will place
Learning in the hands of
Females to improve themselves and apply what they learn to help family members and other members of society to become educated.
Designers of Learning materials for Females must take into account the I
slamic, cultural, and moral values of the society so that quality education is provided to female learners.
Introduction
As we move into the
21st century, the use of
Emerging Learning Technologies such as
Mobile devices, laptop computers, and palmtop computers is having a major impact in distance education. These
Technologies allow students to access
Learning materials and use the internet to collaborate with each other. As a result, there has been significant growth in E-learning and
Mobile Learning in education and training. These
Technologies will allow organizations to reach students who do not have access to face-to-face education and at the same time, provide flexibility in the delivery of education.
Examples of students who will have access to education include females, individuals who live in remote rural areas and those who have family responsibilities. Some muslim Females are not comfortable in a group face-to-face Learning environment where males are present. The use of distance education Technologies such as Mobile technology will allow muslim Females to learn from a distance.
All humans have the right to access
Learning materials and information to improve their quality of life regardless of their gender, where they live, their religion, their status, and their culture.
Mobile learning, through the use of
Mobile technology, will allow female citizens of the world to access
Learning materials and information from anywhere and at anytime. Learners will not have to wait for a certain time to learn or go to a certain place to learn. With
Mobile learning, female learners will be empowered since they can learn whenever and wherever they want. Learners can use the wireless
Mobile technology for both formal and informal
Learning where they can access additional and personalized
Learning materials from the Internet or from the organization server. Female workers on the job can use the
Mobile technology to access training materials and information when they need it for just-in-time training.
Gulf countries need to develop a sense of urgency to educate the majority of the population to join the workforce to make the countries better prepared for the challenges in the
21st century. There is a need to produce a modern, highly trained and motivated workforce while maintaining traditional Islamic values and morals. The education system must reach out to the
Females so that they can become productive and contribute to society according to the values of the culture. The best way to do this is to use
Emerging Learning Technologies to implement E-learning and
Mobile learning. However, there must be more research on the use
Emerging Learning Technologies in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries to prepare the systems and infrastructure to reach
Females and other students (Al-Harthi, 2005).
In some parts of the world,
Emerging Learning Technologies are being implemented as a way to improve the quality and expanding access to education for previously underserved sectors of the population. However, to achieve success, teachers and students need to develop new skills and modify their attitudes that will contribute to successful implementation of E-learning and
Mobile learning. At the same time, educators need to become more aware of the need to design programs that respond to the specific needs of learners from diverse ********s and cultures. This group of learners should include
Females so that they can have access to education and at the same time, develop their information and communication
Technologies skills to function in the
21st century.
There are many benefits for using
Emerging Learning Technologies for teaching females. The most important benefit is that
Females will have access to quality education from anywhere and at anytime without having to leave their communities and families for extended periods of time. This will maintain the existing quality of life while
Females obtain an education to contribute to the society and the workplace. Also,
Females will gain expertise on the use of
Emerging information and communication
Technologies when they learn with the technology. The
Females can then use the expertise they acquire to
Teach their children about the technology and those that go into teaching will be able to model the use of the
Emerging Technologies in the classroom for future workers and teachers.
This paper will examine the use of
Emerging Learning Technologies to
Teach Females and other students and will cover the following topics: use of
Emerging Learning Technologies in education, how to design
Learning materials for delivery on
Emerging Learning technologies, the skills required by students and teachers to function in a technology-****d
Learning environment, and research studies on the use of
Emerging Learning Technologies in education.
Literature Review
Mobile Technology in Education
With the rapid development of technology, education is making the transition from print to e-learning to
Mobile Learning which is defined as the delivery of electronic
Learning materials, with built-in
Learning strategies, on
Mobile computing devices to allow access from anywhere and at anytime (Ally, 2004). The shift from print materials to E-learning to
Mobile Learning is possible because of the rapid development of computer and communication technologies. As the demand for access to education grows and increasing numbers of adults return to schools for education and training, the need for new
Technologies to facilitate
Learning is becoming more important.
Mobile Learning provides flexibility: in time and ******** of study; in availability of information and resources; and in forms of communication, such as synchronous and asynchronous, and using various types of social interaction methods through the Internet.
The use of
Mobile technology in education is a recent initiative due to the availability and rapid advancement of
Mobile devices such as smart phones, PDAs, palmtop, tablet PCs and handheld computers. A key benefit of m-learning is its potential for increasing productivity by making
Learning available anywhere, at anytime. However, it is a delivery technology that is currently untapped in the education field. As distance education students increasingly use
Mobile technology for everyday and work life, educational organizations must design courses and
Learning resources for delivery on
Mobile devices. When designed properly,
Learning materials can be delivered on a variety of
Technologies to allow students to learn and access course materials at their convenience.
There has been limited research on the use of
Mobile technology in distance education (Ally, et al., 2009; Ally, 2008; Ally et al., 2008; Yang et al, 2008). Previous research on the use of
Mobile technology in education looked at applications in classroom settings. It has only been recently that studies of the use of
Mobile technology have moved outside the classroom. Dong and Agogino (2004) concluded that m-learning is most useful when it links real-world situations to relevant information resources. They explored how downloading key information to a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) would help to enrich the
Learning experience of students on a field trip. They also suggested the scenario of students at a museum being able to use their PDAs to provide relevant information. Waycott and Kukulska-Hulme (2003) also studied the use of PDAs outside the classroom. They focused exclusively on students’ experiences with reading course materials and taking notes using PDAs. They found that using PDAs for reading and note taking was less than ideal. Students were getting lost in the documents, and were unable to make notes as comprehensively and easily as they could with a paper copy of the materials. However, their study was conducted using a PDA which at the time was relatively affordable and offered most features common to PDAs, but which didn’t come close to offering the technology available today. The technology of PDAs has improved dramatically in the past three years. Screens are bigger and better, and systems have more memory, more multimedia capabilities, and better methods for inputting data. Given the constant advancements in this field as well as the plethora of possibilities – PDA types with individual capabilities, various systems and applications, and methods for delivering digital library content - there are more questions than answers in the
Mobile Learning field. According to Clyde (2004), the challenge is to identify the forms of education and training for which
Mobile Learning is particularly appropriate, the potential students who most need it and the best strategies for delivering
Mobile education.
Although
Mobile Learning is a recent development and there have been some research conducted in this area (Attewell, 2005; British Educational Communications Technology Agency, 2004; Keegan, 2002; Savill-Smith & Kent, 2003). Preliminary investigations report on the limitations of
Mobile devices especially the limitations of the small screen size, but also limited processing power, battery life, and memory capacity. Other problems have been encountered because of the wide range in operating systems (Palm OS, ******s CE, Linux) and the differing input devices (Holzinger, Nischelwitzer, & Meisenberger, 2005). Overall, the research on the educational use of
Mobile devices is very limited and at the early stages. However, research shows that
Mobile devices can be more easily integrated across the curriculum than desktops computers (Moseley & Higgins, 1999). This is possible since many students already have
Mobile devices and the wireless
Technologies do not need extensive infrastructure as desktop computers. The mobility enabled by these devices can also foster a greater feeling of work ownership by students.
The goals and pedagogical approaches when using
Emerging Learning Technologies must be clear as in traditional teaching (British Educational Communications Technology Agency, 2004). Teachers find they have greater confidence in supporting students and increased access to data from anywhere combined with increased efficiency and accuracy (Perry, 2000). Brown (2004) reported that there is already value of using
Mobile phones in the management of distance learning. Taylor (2005) is researching
Mobile devices use in teacher education in Kenya. White (2004) has conducted research using
Mobile devices in disadvantaged communities in a developed country. English as a Second ******** (ESL) and other ********s are also being taught using
Mobile devices. Song and Fox (2005) found significant improvements in learner performance of ******** tasks. Others have successfully used
Mobile devices for teaching pronunciations and listening skills (Ally, et al., 2009; Uther, Zipetria, Uther, & Singh, 2005). Tense ITS is an adaptive system used for teaching English tenses to ESL learners, with significant positive outcomes (Bull, Cui, Roebig, & Sharples, 2005). Research has also looked at the adaptation of content for
Mobile Learning using
Learning objects and creating appropriate ****data (Ally, 2004; Friesen, Hesemeier & Roberts, 2005).
Benefits of Using Mobile Technologies
With the use of wireless technology,
Mobile devices do not have to be physically connected to networks to access information.
Mobile devices are small enough to be portable which allow users to take the devices to any ******** to access course materials. Because of the wireless connectivity of
Mobile devices, a female student can interact with other students from anywhere and at anytime to share information or to work collaboratively on sections in a course. Use of
Mobile devices to educate female students has many benefits because the wireless devices allow for mobility while learning. Below is a list of benefits of using
Mobile technology to educate females.
Since
Learning materials are developed in electronic format it is easy to update the
Learning materials. Also, since
Females can use their
Mobile devices to access the
Learning materials from a central server, they can receive these updates as soon as they are made.
There will be consistency in
Learning since all students will access the same
Learning materials from a series of educational networks. This will allow the transfer of
Learning materials between educational institutions and across different regions in a country.
Learning is flexible since
Females can be located anywhere and complete their education as long as they have the technology to access the
Learning materials. This is possible because of the wireless connectivity of
Mobile technology.
Females can access
Learning materials anytime so they can select the time they learn best to complete their coursework.
There will be more opportunities for informal
Learning for immediate application since
Females will be able to access the
Learning materials as needed.
Developers of
Learning materials can take advantage of the computing power of the technology to personalize the
Learning experience for individual female students.
The communication capabilities of the
Emerging technology will allow
Females to connect with each other to collaborate during the
Learning process. Also,
Females will be able to share their expertise and conduct peer tutoring.
Since the
Learning with
Emerging technology will be learner-focused,
Females will be more active during the
Learning process which will promote higher-level learning. This will help solve the problem of female students not being active in a classroom setting.
Since most female students already have
Mobile devices, educational institutions can take advantage of this opportunity and design and deliver courses for delivery on different types of
Mobile Technologies (Ally & Lin, 2005).
Research Studies Completed on Mobile Learning
The following sections describe recent research studies that were conducted on the use of
Mobile technology in education.
Teaching English Grammar on Mobile Technology
A recent research project (Ally et al., 2009) investigated the use of
Mobile phone to deliver English grammar lessons to students. The project involved a ‘before-after’ design following the achievements of target groups using pre- and post- tests on three different student groups (n=46). Subjects were given a pre-test to determine their current level of expertise in English grammar. After completing the grammar lessons, subjects were given a post-test and a retention test. The project was implemented in three different institutions with students
Learning English is a Second ******** (ESL). All students completed the same lessons and also filled out a questionnaire to give their opinions on the
Mobile technology and
Mobile learning. The course content consists of 86 lessons and related exercises teaching the basics of the English ********, ranging from the difference between “is” and “are” to verb tenses, countable nouns, and other aspects of basic grammar in the English ********. The content is interactive where students are given constant practice using a variety of question types. Four different types of questions were used to make the grammar exercises more interactive, easy to access in the
Mobile device and to test the students’ ability. They were true/false, multiple choice drop downs, changing the order of sentences, and matching questions.
Students completed three grammar tests during the study. The pre-test was written before the students attempted the lessons on the
Mobile phones. The average score on the pre-test was 15 out of 20. The post-test was given immediately following the completion of the ten assigned grammar units. The post-test average was 17.7 out of 20. A retention test, in the same format, was given to the students one week later. The average score was 18 out of 20. A slight improvement was shown after the students accessed and studied the grammar units on the
Mobile phone. There was further improvement on the retention test which was administered one week after the post-test.
Most participants in the study expressed a positive experience using the
Mobile phone to learn English grammar. In the de******ive responses, they indicated that the use of
Mobile technology for ESL would be a good supplementary medium of
Learning such as, when waiting for the bus or being on the bus or whenever there is some spare time. The flexibility of anytime availability of the
Mobile ESL materials was appreciated by the students. One major concern expressed over the user of cell phones to access the Internet and the lessons was the cost of Internet access. Availability of Wi-Fi capable phones should address the concern on the cost of access. Some students provided feedback on the limitations of the
Mobile phones. Recent developments in
Mobile technology, such as the virtual keyboard and screen, could solve the problem with the input device and screen size.