The College of West Anglia

Year 2: Embedding Mobile e-Learning Technology to Facilitate Teaching and Learning in Demanding Physical Environments 2008/2009

This project will address the application of mobile learning technologies in demanding physical environments where teaching and learning is currently delivered via traditional means. The project will address two curriculum areas: firstly: land-based and agriculture, and secondly - outdoor sports and leisure.

Project Aim

The project aims to embed mobile learning technologies in two curriculum areas where significant teaching is being delivered to promote learning in field-based/outdoor situations. Firstly, in land-based and agriculture, where the external physical environment impacts on all aspects of farming and rural industry. Secondly, in sports and leisure, where specific outdoor activities are instrumental in the individual development, learning and assessment process. This embedding will have immediate impact on the delivery of the curriculum in specific areas by engaging tutors and learners in new teaching and learning interactions which will inform, influence and improve the future design of the curriculum.

Project Objectives

The primary project objective is to generate new teaching and learning opportunities by positioning mobile learning technologies in curriculum areas where traditional approaches to teaching and learning dominate. A common factor in land-based/agricultural and sports/leisure education is the outdoor environment where extremes of weather and physical geography are intrinsic factors in the teaching, learning and practical performance of relevant vocational skills. These environmental factors have constrained the application of ILT in these curriculum areas but this focus on traditional approaches is increasingly divorced from the reality of workplace skills and industry practice. To achieve the primary objective the project will pursue curriculum-specific objectives to acquire and apply mobile learning technologies to establish new capability in the following areas:

1. Land-based & Agriculture.

1.1. Remote Weather Station – to enable remote monitoring and recording of weather conditions across/between college sites and at partner sites in schools across the region. This provision will be based on established technologies to measure and log temperature, barometric pressure, rainfall, sunlight and wind speed/direction with mobile connectivity to enable access and data retrieval for subsequent analysis and review by learners.

1.2. Environmental Monitoring – to enable direct measurement and recording of environmental factors for ecology/hydrology fieldwork via portable equipment with sensing and logging facilities and bespoke software on a rugged tablet PC for data analysis and presentation in the field. Teaching areas include soil chemistry, hydrology, species distribution, woodlands and freshwater ecology with learners acquiring and recording data in the field for uploading and subsequent analysis.

1.3. Field Monitoring – this will enable the detailed mapping and recording of field patterns to inform seed/yield and fertilizer combinations in arable farming via hand-held and tractor-based equipment and devices. The use of GPS-based positioning equipment with high-resolution local mapping will inform learning and illustrate the application of mobile technology in agriculture with remote access to centrally-held ILT resources via a WiFi ‘umbrella’ extending across the college farm/campus.

1.4. Animal/Crop Husbandry – to enable remote recording and storage of data relating to animal and crop feeding, growth, breeding and health factors on the farm with learners able to input/upload live data and to access/download records from a central resource via the WiFi ‘umbrella'.

2. Sport & Leisure.

2.1. Map-reading & orienteering – to equip learners with rugged GPS/PDA devices to facilitate map-reading / direction-finding in rough and potentially dangerous terrain whilst participating in outdoor activities. The provision of GPS enabled PDA’s with digital Ordnance Survey maps will enable learners to plan routes, establish check-points and prepare notes in advanced, to utilise GPS tracking and guidance during the climb, and to review and analyse ‘actual’ against ‘plan’ after the activity.

2.2. Remote teaching & learning – to enable tutors to access teaching and learning materials remotely via a rugged tablet PC with WiFi/GMS/3G connectivity for use in field-based learning on outdoor activity programmes. Relevant content can be beamed directly to learners for pre-event briefing and post-event debriefing to deliver new learning and to reinforce the learning experience.