Mobiles Lernen als Chance für Afrika
(Interview) Klein aber fein –
das Handy ist in Afrika das Kommunikationsmedium Nummer eins.
Für Lernprojekte eingesetzt, ermöglicht das mobile
Telefon persönliches und flexibles Lernen für einen
großen Personenkreis. John Traxler von der Universität
Wolverhampton berichtet im Interview mit eLearning Africa
von Herausforderungen und Chancen des mobilen Lernens. Text
in Englisch.
eLa: Mr. Traxler, can you tell us more about the
current premises for mLearning in Africa?
John Traxler: Mobile learning is a phrase that's been applied
mainly to a set of activities largely in North America, the
Pacific Rim, and Europe over the last five years. It has grown
out of particular problems, challenges, and circumstances.
The movement for 'mobile' learning is in some respects a reaction
to the limitations of 'static' learning. Many of us involved
in mobile learning think that it takes us further than 'static
learning'. We had large, static, and impersonal computers,
institutions, and infrastructure in place for eLearning, and
now mobile learning gives us learning that can be personal,
portable, and flexible.
In other parts of the world, the mobile learning movement
is growing out of different environments. In Africa, mobile
learning is partly a way of dealing with the challenges of
poor connectivity, mains electricity, and PC availability
on the one hand, and on the other hand, has been stimulated
by the enormous spread of mobile phones and by the vigour
and talent of the mobile phone networks.
eLa: Do you see different attitudes towards mLearning?
John Traxler: There are indeed fundamental differences. In
Europe, the Pacific Rim, and North America, the learners'
experience with mobile learning is often characterised as
'informal', 'spontaneous', 'bite-sized', 'private' 'opportunistic'
and even 'disruptive'. The dominant pedagogic debates are
about the tensions between behaviourism and social constructivism,
as embodied in the broadcast and discursive functionalities
of virtual learning environments respectively, and perhaps
about the drive for personalisation, inclusion, participation,
and lifelong learning. In other parts of the world, in this
case Africa, we have to recognise that there are different
educational traditions and priorities and that many of the
preoccupations and assumptions mentioned above make little
sense.
eLa: Given the fact that so many people use mobile
technologies, can one say that there is an African way of
mLearning?
John Traxler: We hope that the champions of African mobile
learning can exploit whatever technologies and devices are
already available and appropriate, and that mobile learning
in Africa can challenge the accepted trajectory of e-learning
development that has grown out of the North American, Pacific
Rim, and European contexts. The “African way”
can, perhaps, give unique insights into the problems of supporting
remote, nomadic, or rural communities or work with innovative
blends of technologies and modalities. This year’s eLearning
Africa conference provides a great opportunity to create a
more permanent network of people interested in the uniquely
African dimension to mobile learning.
eLa: How far has mLearning actually come?
John Traxler: Mobile learning across the world is facing challenges
of breaking through from short-term pilots and trials to deployment
that is large-scale, sustained, and sustainable, and is equitable,
accessible, and inclusive. It has been possible to achieve
some of these goals individually, but has proven far more
difficult to achieve them in combination. Further progress
will depend on rigorous and appropriate evaluation that talks
to different stakeholders, for example, education ministry
officials, commercial technologists, donors and teachers,
and maybe learners in terms of the language, values, and priorities
that are specific to them.
Of course, every country is different, and so mobile learning
in South Africa is different from mobile learning in Kenya
- two countries where I'm familiar with mobile projects. Each
situation is different, so – for example - degree students
at the University of Pretoria, primary teachers in Kenya and
small-scale organic farmers in Kenya will all have some similarities,
but, of course, differences also exist. Perhaps in these examples
we should look at how we make links with agricultural extension
workers, teacher trainers, or university lecturers globally
and look for a matrix of mobile learning across countries
and specialisms.
eLa: What are your findings so far?
John Traxler: The project in Kenya using SMS to support in-service
teacher training is now undergoing large-scale trials with
thousands of primary teachers in districts across the country.
I am now also involved in the early stages of another project,
also in Kenya, but this time with BioVision and Avallain,
to explore using mobile phones alongside web-based resources
to support sustainable organic farming. I have had the chance
to reflect on some of the possible lessons learnt. My experiences,
however, have not led to lessons but to questions. Let me
name some of them:
How do we strike a balance between short-term outcomes and
benefits on the one hand and sustainability and maintainability
on the other; and how do we define realistic and achievable
exit strategies for our projects?
How do we transfer and generalise what we learn; how do we
decide what to scale up and what to throw away?
How do we devise effective and appropriate evaluation and
monitoring procedures; how do we uncover ‘soft outcomes’
and ‘distance travelled’ in unfamiliar cultures
and classrooms?
How do we strike a balance between development, implementation,
and delivery on the one hand and disseminating and networking
on the other; and how do we strike a balance between informal
or local practice and attempts at influencing policy at a
higher level?
How do we reduce one ‘digital divide’ without
creating or increasing others?
How do we know what to try to change and what to try to preserve
when working with local, official, or traditional systems
and institutions?
These issues may be generic and probably not limited to eLearning,
and so further contact with the growing ICT4DEV may help us
reach sensible, sensitive and robust systems for using technology
to support, enhance, and deliver learning in Africa.
Über John Traxler
John Traxler ist Reader in Mobile Technologies for eLearning
und Director of the Applied Innovative Digital Technologies
Research Group an der Schule für Informationswissenschaften
an der Universität Wolverhampton. Er ist Co-Autor eines
Guides zum mobilen Lernen in Entwicklungsländern und
Co-Herausgeber eines Buches zum mobilen Lernen, in dem 12
internationale Fallbeispiele vorgestellt werden: Kukulska-Hulme,
A. and Traxler, J. (Eds) (2005) Mobile Learning: A Handbook
for Educators and Trainers, Routledge, London.
Auf der eLearning Africa Konferenz 2007 in Nairobi, Kenia,
werden verschiedene Experten über das mobile Lernen diskutieren
und einen Einblick in Fallbeispiele geben.
Mittwoch, 30. Mai, 9.00 – 10.45 Uhr
Cutting-Edge Technology Developments for Africa
Jon Gregson, Imperial College London & Dolf Jordaan, University
of Pretoria, South Africa (Designing Courses for Distance
Learners in Africa that make good use of mobile phone capabilities),
James Sankale, Ministry of State for Youth Affairs, Kenya,
and Thomas Power, Open University, UK (In the Palm of Your
Hand: Supporting Rural Teacher Professional Development and
Practice through the Use of Mobile Phones and Other Handheld
Digital Devices), George Matovu, Municipal Development Partnership,
Zimbabwe & Sheila Jagannathan, World Bank Institute, USA
(Good Governance Through Digital Radio: Reaching Remote Areas
in Africa), Ednah Karamagi, BROSDI, Busoga Rural Open Source
and Development Initiative, Uganda (Use of Mobile Systems
for Enabled Rural Development),Dr. Adel Besrour, Nokia Siemens
Networks, Tunisia (Mobile Learning in the African Context)
and John Traxler, University of Wolverhampton, UK (Mobile
Educational Messaging – Scaling up and sustaining)
Links
To read more about mLearning in Africa see…
http://www.mobileafrica.net/
Illustrative and natural, this interesting BBC documentary
shows how mLearning already works in Africa
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2007/01/monday_8th_january_2006.html
Das Interview ist zuerst erschienen auf eLearning-Africa.com.
Die Veröffentlichung erfolgt mit freundlicher Genehmigung.
Die eLearning Afrika Konferenz 2007 findet vom 28.
bis 30. Mai in Nairobi, Kenia statt.
- Zurück zur Rubrik "Medien & Kompetenz"
- Zum Forum "Medien & Kompetenz"
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