62 The 8th International Scientific Conference eLearning and software for Education Bucharest, April 26-27, 2012 10.5682/2066-026X-12-009 MOBILE… [609040]

62 The 8th International Scientific Conference
eLearning and software for Education
Bucharest, April 26-27, 2012
10.5682/2066-026X-12-009
MOBILE LEARNING – THE NEW A PPROACH OF THE ELECTRONIC
LEARNING BASED SYSTEMS
Gabriel CAMPEANU
Innovation, Development and Technology Department, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden
E-mail: [anonimizat]
Abstract : As the technology evolves, new ways of learning based systems are ascending. Nowadays,
there are several Mobile Learning based program wh ich are already adopted by different institutions
all over the world. The Mobile Learning based system is a derivation from the well integrated electronic
learning system. The new learning a pproach tries to fill in several gaps which are found in the classical
and electronically types of learning. In this paper, the author has the intent to analyze and present
several advantages which ca n be found in the methodology of Mo bile Learning. Am ong them, new ideas
are pointed out such as wireless classrooms learning based systems, and industrial trainings based on mobile communication devices.
Another purpose of this paper is to briefly examine the existing devices and technologies available on
market, which are capable in supporting Mobile Learning as a new path of the progress derived from electronically supported learning.
Keywords: M-Learning, mobile learning, wireless classroom

I. INTRODUCTION
New opportunities for learning and collective inter action were materialized when the wireless
technology was available on the market. There are many terms used for the new wireless learning approach, but the most common is Mobile Learni ng (M-Learning). In the beginning, after launching
on the market of wireless smart devices, the implem entation of Mobile Learning was slow and quite
failed to touch these high expectations. One reason was the fail in building a reliable infrastructure
required to make the technology very effective. Nowadays, the state of the art technology makes
possible to adopt and implement with success, sever al learning programs based on wireless systems.
There is a diversity of factors which increased th e desire to adopt M-Leaning in the prejudice of
traditional and/or electronically supported learning. Figure 1 presents some of these characteristics,
and the demarcation line between M-learning and E-Learning.
These attributes, such as spontaneous, portable, informal, light weight, etc are compensating
the advantages of using typically E-learning based systems. With the growing of technology's features,
new characteristics, such as live videos based on 3G technology, video player, GPS, etc, are making
more and more attractive the idea of learning using wireless smart devices.
The paper is structured as follows. Section II presents a review of existing work. Section III
provides an enumeration of the most common and usable hand-held devices available on the market
and used in M-learning approach. Also, in this section are presented the most important advantages
and disadvantages which M-Learning brings. Section IV presents the integration of M-Learning into
the academically and industrial sectors. This secti on describes some of the most successful programs
adopted by universities and companies. In sec tion V are presented the conclusions and some
limitations of the paper's subject. Section VI enumerates the references used in this paper.

63

Figure 1. Attributes of M-learning and E-Learning [7]
II. RELATED WORK
Mobile Learning is a heavily researched subject , so there are many papers which present pros
and cons, limitations and/or exploratio n of this topic. There are several papers used in this document.
One of them is “Mobile Learning Update” [4] whic h presents the integration of M-Leaning into the
USA academic and industrial segments with an em phasis on already working programs. Another paper
is “Are you ready for learning?” [1] by Joseph Re ne Corbeil and Maria Elena Valdes-Corbeil which
describes in detail the advantages and disadvantaged of the most used hand-held devices available on
the market. “ MIT.EDU: M-learning Applicati ons for Classroom Settings” [2] paper presents the successful
implementation of a mobile learning program inside the MIT University. Other papers such as [3], [2],
[5], [6] describe principles and ideas for impl ementing M-Learning, on which this document was
based on.
III. SECTION
Clark Quinn, professor and a world leader in learning technology approaches, has his
own definition of Mobile Learning [1]. He de scribes it as the bridge between the new,
portable and wireless devices, an d E-learning. He predicted fe w years back that Mobile
Learning would became a way of learning which is time and place inde pendent, and would be
supported by portable devices cap able of powerful facilities such as interactivity or
connectivity.
3.1..Devices available on the market
The most common mobile devices which are av ailable on the market are listed in the
following paragraph [1]:
 iPod, a portable media played device produce by the Apple Company, provides different
functions such as download and usage of music, audio books, photos, video, etc. The device can be used by students to download lectures in audio and/ or video format. With the new improved versions
of iPod, which offer a bigger screen, users can downl oad and read electronic books (e-books). Besides
these basic functions, students can exchange between them files, share their homework and reviews or
collaborate on projects. Advantages of iPod are various: very popular, easy to use, many built-in or
downloadable add-ons. As disadvantag ed, we can enumerate the cost of the device, which can not be
supported by all the students, or the limitation of device technology in order to be used with some
complex applications.
 MP3 Player, a digital audio player device, can be used by students in listening audio
lectures. Some models have the voice record er build-in function, so it can be used to

64 record in audio format file, the lectures. The biggest advantage of this device is that is
compact and really easy to be used, with an increased level of the battery life. The two
important drawbacks are the lack of interactivity with other devices, and a poor level of
build-in or download-able functions.
 Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is one of the best M-Learning devices from the market.
It combines different facilities such as In ternet and network access with a calendar,
address book, text editor. Equipped with a Wi-Fi connector and Bluetooth technology,
supplies a touch pen style interface. It has vari ous functions such as audio, video and flash
player, editing text documents, access to Web content, etc. A huge advantage is the big
screen which make easier to read files. The advantage can be considered as a drawback
from the size point of view. It can not fit in a standard pocket size compartment.
 E-Book Reader is a device specialized in reading all kind of electronic files, from the e-
books to newspapers. It can be used by stude nts in downloading, storing and/or reading
lectures, homework, reviews, etc. The biggest advantages the device brings, is the easy
reading facility due to the size of the screen. The drawback is that the device is providing
little functionality.
 Smart Phones are the most popular devices on the market. It incorporates telephone
functions with the PDA, camera, video, MP3 player features. It can be used by students in
downloading audio/video/flash files, editing text documents, accessing Web content, etc.
The advantages are various, but the main draw back comes with the size of the screen of
most of the devices available on the market , which makes the text reading difficult.

The new mobile wireless devices bring new opportunities both for students and teachers. From
the teacher point of view, the upcoming benefits ha ve to be supported by new pedagogies and ways of
instructions.
The advantage from the student view is that, the learning process can be achieved anywhere
and anytime. Also, the teacher can have access and interact with his/her students in any moment and
any place.
3.2. .Division of Learning systems
The learning systems are divided into several categories, i.e. conventional learning,
instructional learning, electronic learning and mobile learning [3]. In Figure 2 is presented the structure of learning systems area. All types of learning based systems have both advantages and
disadvantages, with a remark that mobile learning can address to many of the drawbacks of the other
types of leaning.

Figure 2. Learning systems [4]

The next section looks into the advantages and disadvantages of M-learning type of system.
3.3. .Pros and Cons
There are many and different advantages and disadvantages of implementing and usage of
M-Learning based systems. In the next paragraph, we briefly describe the most important ones as
follows [8].

65 Advantages:
 Access of lessons (video, audio and/or te xt files) from anywhere including public
places or moving trains, cars, etc.
 Students can access the M-Learning System at any time 24/7, creating his/her own
study schedule.
 Interaction with other students/instructors.
 portability
 Lower prices for hand-held devices comparing with the traditional systems.
 Saving money regarding studying materials or commuting costs.

Disadvantages:
 Limited storage capability of the hand-held device
 Limited wireless bandwidth
 The screen size of most of the devices mak es electronic files to be hard to read.
 The short battery life and often changes of this are big inconveniences.
IV. IMPLEMENTATION OF M-LEARNING
According to [5], Mobile Education (M-Educatio n) is a new approach in using the wireless
mobile technologies for education, by expand ing access to an online desktop based virtual
environment to hand-held devices such as smart phones or PDA's.
Nowadays, many academically in stitutions have embraced the new mobile learning way. One
of the strongest examples from the academic area is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which
adopted Mobile-It Education (MIT.EDU) classroom a pplication in order to prove the benefits which
come with the new technology [2]. The MIT.EDU app lications were developed inside the institute, in
order to fill some gaps such as flexibility, exte nsibility which were encountered in their typical
classrooms. The project was started by the end of the 1990s, and between 2001 and 2004 was fully
ported on the new wireless technology. The project provided evidence of the new effective way of
learning. Hoping that other people will found some usefulness in this project, all the tools and
MIT.EDU code was made public.
Besides MIT University, many schools have a dopted courses and trainings based on mobile
devices. Among them, we briefly present some of most successful programs: Abilene Christian
University (ACU), a private university from Texas, USA, was the first university which gave to all
freshman students a free Apple iPhone or an iPod Touch for academic purposes; Montclair State
University from New Jersey, USA, started a program in which, each student received a GPS based
phone for communication reasons, but was extended to include learning support; Wake Forest
University from North Carolina, USA, implemente d a Pocket PC program in order to extend and
improve students' social and academic lives.
From the industrial area, there are many comp anies which have embraced successfully the
new mobile learning path. Among them, Merrill Lynch Company, one of the world's leading financial
management companies, has adopted with huge success a mobile based application named GoLearn.
Initially, this application was build only for Bl ackBerry mobiles and provided three online courses.
With the success of its original GoLearn pilot, Merrill Lynch broaden the training topics and included
new courses such as ethical decision-making, pe rformance management, market abuse, etc.
Chrysler, another world successful company, h as adopted several online courses for mobile
phones and wireless PDA devices. They are build ing a search portal and a Learning Management
System (LMS) for mobile users, in which they can provide information and answers to frequently
asked questions and not only.
There are many other examples of companies which adopted the new M-Learning way with
outstanding results. We briefly present some of them: Sun Microsystems implemented a video
learning system for employee and partners based on Wi-Fi hand-held devices; Microsoft Corporation

66 uses a mobile courses project for employees; 3Com Company offers training and support to internal
and external employees based on use of Palm mobile devices.
Apart from the academically and industrial sector s, there are some special segments which
adapted the new M-Learning ways to their own needs. A good example is the military sector from USA which developed several programs such as Vco mmunicator Mobile LC which has the purpose to
ease the communication between soldiers and local Ira qi population; Army Excellence in Leadership
(AXL) program which increases the leadership skills, etc.
V. CONCLUSIONS
Although Mobile Learning is present on the market using state of the art technology and
devices, there is a long way in order to be fully in tegrated in academically and industrial sectors. The
paper presents the wireless technologies and the most common hand-held devices available on the
market. Also, the author describes several programs which were efficient adopted by top universities
and world successful companies. Ther e are also some limitations of the new technology due to the low
performance of the devices comparing with the classical Personal Computer (PC) / Laptop devices, limitation which somehow decrease or limit the wa ys of implementing Mobile Leaning approach.
Future work should analyze and research new ways of improving performance of integrating M-
Learning into the new technologies. Nevertheless, the technology advances every day, so the new
hand-held devices will be more powerful which will lead to a more successful implementation of
learning based on wireless systems.
References
[1] J.R. Corbeil and Maria Elena Valdes-Corbeil, 2007, Are you ready for mobile learning?, Educause Quarterly Magazine,
nr 2, pg 51-58
[2] M. Sung, J. Gips, N. Eagle and A. Ma dan, 2005, MIT.EDU: M-learning Applicati ons for Classroom Settings, Journal of
Computer Assisted L earning, vol 21, pg 229,
[3] Alonso, D. L and Norman, K. L, 1996, Forms of Control and In teraction as Determinants of Lecture Effectiveness in the
Electronic Classroom. Computers & Ed ucation, 27(3-4), pp. 205-214.
[4] Devinder Singh and Zaitun A.B., 2006, Mobile Learning In Wireless Classrooms , Mala ysian Online Journal of
Instrutional Technology (MOJIT), vol. 3, pp 26-42
[5] Farooq, U, Schafer, W, Ross on, M.B and Caroll, J.M., 2002, M-Education: Bridging the Gap of Mobile and Desktop
Computing. Centre for Human-Computer Interaction and Department of Com puter Science. Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University, pp. 1-2.
[6] Judy Brown and David Metcalf, 2008, Mobile Learning Update, Elliot Masi e's Learning Consortium Perspective
[7] John Traxler, 2005, Defining mobile learning, In ternational Conference Mobile Learning (IADIS)
[8] Regin Woodard – Advantages and Disadvantag es of M-Leanirng, 2011, available at
http://www.brighthub.com/education/on line-learning/articles/36809.aspx