Hastings College

Year 2: WILMA (Work-based Individualised Learning through MP4 Applications) 2008/2009

This project investigates the use of MP4 mobile technology supported by social networking in teaching the work-based areas of ‘Hair & Beauty’ and ‘Construction’, and A-level students. It will investigate the impact of these technologies, analysing results across subject areas and levels of learning. Narrated presentations and videos will be developed by staff and delivered to students on the Apple range of iPods. A social Networking site will be used for peer-peer collaboration and the use of Wikis and Blogs deployed for additional learning delivery. Students iPods will be used both on Campus, in the workplace and off-site.

Project Aims

This project aims to demonstrate the use of personal MP3/MP4 players across a range of learning activities, including the work-based vocational areas of ‘Hair & Beauty’ , ‘Construction’ and academic A levels. Social Networking facilities will also support this learning.

A further aim is to demonstrate the ease with which Staff can develop media rich learning content and how such content once developed can be used in a variety of Teaching & Learning environments.

The project also aims to assess the contribution mobile-learning can make to the recruitment, retention and success of learners in the sample.

Project Objectives

To increase staff skills in the creation of ‘small-burst’, media rich learning objects and students' confidence to use this content in and out of the classroom;
To ascertain the multi-functional use, by students, of consumer mobile media devices both in the workplace and at college;
To monitor the cost-effectiveness and quality of the learning experience using format shifted content produced by academic staff when delivered via the iPod range of MP4 players;
To explore the impact of a managed roll-out of the iPod technology on attainment, e-Confidence and participation within a Further Education setting;
To provide a unified and ubiquitous platform for learning content delivery both inside and outside the college and the workplace via a learning platform based on podcasting subscription (push model) and connectivism rather than the pull model used by current VLE thinking;
To monitor the impact on the use of other more expensive IT resources across the college when students access web, email and other services via their personal mobile device;
To monitor the effect of learning support offered by the use of other applications embedded in the iPod Touch such as calculators, converters, dictionaries etc.;
To monitor the use of add-on peripherals to the device such as Microphones etc, to support students with writing difficulties;
To monitor the impact on learning by deploying large quantities of short-length content each addressing one learning outcome rather than large ‘text-book’ style content via a VLE.