Design and Implementation of Mobile Learningat Open University Malaysia

Zoraini Wati AbasInstitute of Quality, Research and Innovationzoraini@oum.edu.myTina LimInstitute of Quality, Research and Innovationtina_lim@oum.edu.myHarvinder Kaur Dharam SinghCentre for Assessment of Prior Learningharvinder@oum.edu.myWei Wen ShyangFaculty of Science and Technologywswei@oum.edu.myOpen University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

With learners going mobile, supporting their learning through mobile phones appears tobe timely and appropriate, especially for learners in an open and distance learning environment. Mobile learning in the form of short messaging service was piloted withone of the University’s first semester compulsory courses in May 2009. The course,“Learning Skills for Open and Distance Learners” was selected on the basis of itsimportance in preparing learners for the learning environment at the University. t theend of the course the students are expected to be able to have been able to manage their learning better and to benefit from the blend of pedagogies. The text messages weredesigned in such a way as to prompt learners to apply principles related to, among others, the study skills, time management, stress management and use the university’slearning management system, digital library collection and participate in the online forums. The approach taken was to ensure that learners were prompted to think, read, practice or discuss issues during the class tutorials or forums. The five types of text messages were those related to forum, content, tips, motivation and course management.The paper describes the design and implementation of the mobile learning initiative at OUM. Feedback from 712 students using a questionnaire is also included in the paper.

Since its inception in 2001, OUM has been practicing blended learning. The blended mode comprisesface-to-face learning, self-managed learning and online learning. With recent advances in informationand communication technologies (ICT) that have resulted in the proliferation of affordable portable andmobile devices such as mobile phones, it was timely for OUM to explore the use of mobile learning asone of the ways to support and enrich learning and more importantly to engage learners in the learning process.

As reported in BuddeComm’s Annual Publication for Malaysia titled, “Telecoms, Mobile andBroadband,” there are 27 million mobile service subscriptions for a population of 26 million people.Malaysia, in fact, has the second highest mobile penetration in South East Asia after Singapore.Malaysians are noted to have been big adopters of SMS, what with 73 billion SMS sent during 2008(Bharat Book Bureau, 2009).

In view of the fact that about 99 percent of OUM’s learners have a mobile phone (Abas, Chn’g & Mansor, 2009), the use of SMS to support learning was explored.One of the main objectives of m-learning is to reach as many learners as possible. Hence, naturally SMStutoring is selected as a next m-learning method to improve learners learning experience. SMS tutoring is based on the Short Messaging System technology to deliver the messages to the learners. SMS tutoringcan be considered a complement to the face-to-face tutorials in ODL mode of which the meeting time between the tutors and learners is limited to ten hours per semester.

Literature Review

Although there are some drawbacks by using mobile phones for learning such as the small screen size for viewing, the advantages of mobile learning compared to e-learning cannot be ignored. Among othersthese are:

Majority of learners have mobile phone compared to PC or laptop (MCMC, 2008).2.Most of the mobile phones are cheaper than PC or laptop, that explain why high penetration rateamong Malaysian.

Mobile phones are of smaller size and lighter in weight and therefore can be carried around tolearn at anytime anywhere.4.High mobile phone penetration rate ensure most learners engage in mobile learning based on‘technological push’ pedagogy.In discussing the design of mobile learning environments, Valentine (2004) emphasized that it needs to beconsidered within a blended learning mode in the same way as other learning delivery mode. Further, shenoted that mobile learning is meant to enhance learners’ learning experience, and ought not to be used asa primary method for delivering a course. Valentine stressed that m-learning is a very powerful methodfor engaging learners especially for ODL learners which face-to-face meeting is very limited. Mellow(2005) concurred and opined that the use of learning management systems to complement face-to-faceinteractions “may not be enough to fully engage our students or offer them the flexibility in their studylife that is recognised as being important to provide an environment for deep learning and understandingto take place … (but) the integration of mobile devices will offer true flexibility for our students and fit inwith their digital lifestyle” (p. 469).Learning anytime anywhere, accessible to the masses, but tailored to the individual (Thomas, 2005) isconsidered a desirable environment for learning in the digital age. This is particularly crucial in ODL. Theflexibility offered by m-learning can support self-managed learning, an important component of the OUM blended learning mode. It has the potential to support the learning process and engages the learner inspecified activities. According to Keegan (2007), the use of SMS messaging for tutoring is well-established as a form of academic support that is successful in enabling students to focus on the academiccontent, to come better prepared for tutorials and to be more ready to participate actively in discussions.When learners receive SMSes ahead of their tutorials, there is an “expansion of time” in that studentshave more time to reflect and react to the information they receive. Further, nuggets of content sent viaSMS are more easily absorbed and have been found to be effective in helping learners learn facts (UdayBhaskar & Govindarajulu, 2008).In addition, effective and efficient blended learning that is able to engage the learners is very important.Field (2005) said that in order for learning to be effective, the learner needs to engage with module

content and concepts. The use of m-learning such as SMS tutoring can support such engagement by providing tips and course summary. According to Ryu & Parsons (2009), m-learning also supportscollaborative activities by “strengthening the organization of the learning material and information,supporting communication among group members, and helping the co-ordination between learningactivities” (p. 10). This is of particular importance to distance learning programmes that offer blendedlearning pedagogies. Research has also indicated that SMSes sent in a timely manner to remind learnersabout administrative matters such as examination dates, contact session dates and registration deadline aresuccessful in reducing the drop-out rate of distance learners (Ericsson Global, n.d.; Keegan, Kismihok,Mileva & Rekkedal, 2009).

The Mobile Learning Initiative

The pilot project for mobile learning via SMS tutoring involved 74 tutors and 1863 first-semester studentswho were enrolled in a course titled, “Learning Skills for Open and Distance Learners” during the May2009 semester. Several meetings and a workshop were held prior to the start of the May semester to planand discuss implementation strategies. The objectives of the mobile learning project were to:(1)enhance the blend of learning modes currently used at OUM;(2)increase the flexibility of learning; and(3)encourage and support ubiquitous learning.Table 1.

Categories of SMS, Their Purpose, Examples and Quantity

CategoryPurposeExample QuantityContentTo help learners locate/remember important course facts easilyThere are 4 pairs of learning styles:Active/Reflective; Sensing/Intuitive;Visual/Verbal; Sequential/Global.Which is yours? See Appendix 1.115ForumTo remind and motivate learnersto participate in discussionforumsWhat are the strategies & advantages of OUM blended learning modes? Discussin myLMS forum.4TipsTo provide hints/strategies tolearners on how to do well intheir studiesDo you know you can change your password in myLMS? Try or ask your tutor 4MotivationTo motivate learners to perseverein the learning processMotivation Quote: “The man who candrive himself further once the effortgets painful is the man who will win” by Roger Bannister 2CoursemanagementTo provide timelyannouncements/reminders ontutorial dates, assessments andother aspects related to coursemanagementMid-sem exam on 16/7 at 4.00-4.45 pm.Topics 1-4. 25 multiple choicequestions. Sample & practise questionsmay be downloaded thru myLMS6In the duration of 11 weeks, a total of 31 SMSes were sent free-of-charge to tutors and students. Themaximum number of characters available was 145. The five categories of SMS together with the purposes, the number sent and examples are shown in Table 1.