 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.
In the course of eLearning Africa 2007, various mobile learning experts will discuss the issue and give illustrative input:
Wednesday, May 30, 9.00 – 10.45
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
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