The Manchester College

Year 3: Qualifications going Mobile - taking mobile learning technology into the workplace and community 2009/2010

Project Description

The Manchester College will work with the Adult and Community Learning Provider People’s Voice Media, enabling learners in workplaces and communities to experience mobile learning.

The project will use mobile learning technology to support learners who have limited ICT access in their workplaces, with e-portfolios. It aims to prove the efficiency benefits for employers in the current economy.

PVM’s “trainees” will use mobile devices to record their experiences, and to deliver its Community Reporters Programme.

The project builds upon the successful MoLeNET 1 and 2, which demonstrated how mobile learning motivates and supports learners to develop independence and encourage progression.

Year 2: Preparing for Independence, Progression and Employability using mobile learning (PIPE) 2008/2009

The project builds upon Phase 1 and is designed to overcome barriers to learner engagement, and to encourage, motivate and sustain progression. It takes as its starting point the need to build a platform of confidence and independence in learning by pre-entry, entry and level 1 learners. The project extends this by taking learners, previously disengaged from learning, and uses mobile technology to progress them to a level 2 qualification. The project tests this further by using mobile technologies to support independent learning and project work by group of Level 3 Diploma learners.

Project Aims

The project will:

• Facilitate independent learning by a range of learners.
• Build learner confidence and encourage active participation in learning process
• Extend learning opportunities beyond the classroom
• Develop communication and social skills of pre-entry learners with more complex learning difficulties
• Develop learners’ literacy and numeracy skills and entry levels 1-3 through the use of multimedia rich practical activities
• Provide learners with appropriate online support and access to resources via mobile technologies for their project work.

Project Objectives:

It is anticipated that:

• A large number of Learners will develop skills to a higher level than they would otherwise in preparation for more advanced study or gaining employment.
• Learners across a range of abilities will have used mobile technologies to gain confidence and increase motivation to learn
• Learners will have gained independent learning skills through selecting and making personal choices within the flexible learning opportunities offered by mobile learning.
• A large number of staff will have the opportunity to directly engage with develop skills in using mobile technologies.
• Learning environments will be adapted and developed to support flexible learning through the availability of a range of mobile devices and learning content
• A range of contextualised learning content will be created for use with mobile devices by learners and staff
• The college will have extended its technological capability to deliver learning and assessment to mobile devices using, OurTube, Mobile Moodle and podcasting
• The college will be able to test mobile learning on a larger scale than the earlier project in order to assess its impact on learner achievement and progression.
• The cost effectiveness of mobile learning will be more fully evaluated in order to inform future ILT strategy and investment.