By its own admission “The NMC Horizon Report is not a predictive tool. It is meant, rather, to highlight emerging technologies with considerable potential for our focus areas of education and interpretation” (2012).
Within my own (Higher Education) context the university in which I work has recognised the importance of mobile and tablet computing and invested heavily in infrastructure to support learning by these means.
Their most prominent investment to date was the outsourcing (upgrading) of video servers to an external provider (Echo 360). This system provides universal playback of video on any device along with highly valued analytics, something only dreamed about on the old internal server infrastructure.
While my organisation is an early to mid-adopter of this technology (in an Australian context) implementation may have been delayed due to financial considerations. Downturn in numbers across the board in response to lower international student numbers (due to the Global Financial Crisis) has been a reality for all Australian Universities.
This crisis led to rationalisations (a euphemism for drastic job cuts) in a number of areas within the university but was forward looking as to what investment was needed to be competitive.
Development of mobile apps for android and apple devices was another example of investing in the mobile revolution and meeting market demand.
The final investment worthy of note in my own organisation has been the introduction of a bulk SMS provider. Recognition of the fact most people are within arms-reach of their mobile phone for the majority of the day.
The common aim with all of the above investments is to reduce technological barriers to learning and increase engagement between the learner and various touch points within the university (including lecturers).
As difficult as the organisational infrastructure issues are to solve they pale into insignificance when compared to educational staffing issues. The chasm between lecturer ability can be huge, from those who have trouble turning on a mobile device to those who practice coding their own simple apps.
As well ownership of a device doesn’t necessarily equate to knowing how to use it or having the desire to use it in a particular way. The same can be said for learners. For example I personally turn off location services on my devices as a security measure.
Desires and paranoia aside one staffing issue which hasn’t been widely addressed is education. In the first instance education on how to use devices and secondly the pedagogy behind their use, with the former being left to the marketplace.
Within my university there have been attempts to address how devices are utilised. To date this has been done by showcasing those using mobile technology in an innovative way. Whilst widespread throughout the university these showcases have been sporadic but highly reliant on the motivation of the innovator. No buyout of time, no financial incentive and perhaps most importantly no clear direction or pathway is mapped as an organisation.
This is not to say the five minute showcases have been ineffective, but rather could be more effective with a buyout of time for innovative staff to develop a ‘how to guide’. Like many other universities this is a financial impossibility.
With mobile technology so new and so pervasive in everyday life there will come a tipping point for adoption within the education space as predicted in the 2012 and 2013 Horizon reports. As for now the industry will be dotted with those striving for ever more innovative ways of using mobile devices in their context and those who have expensive Angry Bird paperweights.
Paul, it seems as though the main issues affecting Higher Education in Australia and Education Queensland in terms of the uptake of mobile learning are very similar. The 2 biggest barriers are infrastructure and education on mobile pedagogy. It is great to see sharing of success stories but as you said, it's time for this sharing to be taken even further.
ReplyDelete