This review of the literature is third in a series of investigations into educational technology curriculum integration for the Tucson, Arizona office of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). It is a broad investigation into the theory, methods and delivery of supportive instructional materials to refugees via mobile learning. It examines current international program methods that will aid in design of U.S. mLearning programs to support the IRC’s mandated goal of promoting self-sufficiency for resettled refugees.

As mobile access and massive open online courses (MOOCs) become a global reality, the realm of potential distance learners is expanding rapidly. Mobile learning (mLearning) as well as MOOCs are based on similar characteristics as shown in the literature review of this study. They both enhance a community feeling, increasing networking and collaboration; they strengthen lifelong and informal learning, they use social media to a large extend and they are ideal for setting up communicative dialogues. The focus on learner interactions is of interest, as research has shown that dialogue is an important element for learning and knowledge enhancement, and mobile access increases the opportunities to enter into such interactions. This thesis study used a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to investigate the impact of mobile accessibility on learner interaction in a MOOC. The study showed that opening up a MOOC for mobile access has immediate impact on learner interactions, as participants with mobile devices tend to interact more with their fellow learners in comparison to their non-mobile colleagues. This was deduced from the mixed methods approach looking at web-based statistics, an online survey, an analysis using the Community of Inquiry framework and one-on-one interviews with volunteers. The study formulated a set of 20 strategies and possible consequences deriving from the analysis of the impact of mobile accessibility in a MOOC and more specifically how this affects learner interactions. These strategies might optimize the impact of mobile access on learner interactions in an informal, open, online course. Future research needs to support the findings, embracing a larger learner population from a more varied background. Overall, this research hopes to add to the body of knowledge strengthening the field of distance education. / 2013-02

As mobile technologies have increasingly become a part of personal and work environments, mobile learning is emerging as a viable alternative for training and education needs. Faced with the need for innovative and cost-efficient ways for training government employees, agencies and departments are considering the use of mobile learning. The availability of a wide range of mobile technology provides many options. Other than the Department of Defense, little is known about implementing mobile learning in United States government cabinet level agencies and departments. A concurrent, mixed methods case study was used to examine how organizations decide to use, implement and evaluate mobile learning efforts. The framework and context were established through a thorough review of recent, related research literature. A purposive sampling strategy was used with the goal of targeting participants that have the greatest potential of using or considering the use of mobile learning. Three research questions guided the study and concentrated on the influences on the decision to implement mobile learning, the approaches organizations take and the methods used to evaluate implementations. A self-administered online questionnaire, using both structured and semi-structured questions and a review of publicly available documents were used to build a picture of the evidence that described the current state of mobile learning in cabinet-level agencies and departments. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected, integrated, interpreted and compared. Connections and relationships were made between mobile technology use, mobile learning environments, mobile learning content, educators and trainers, mobile learners and mobile learning evaluations. The results revealed that cabinet-level agencies and departments have begun to make use of mobile technology to support the delivery of business service. To a lesser extent, perceptions are forming, and the role of mobile learning continues being defined, as organizations are cautiously adopting its use. Policies and guidelines are in the early stages of development. The results contribute to the growing body of work on the use of mobile learning.

BACKGROUND: In 2009, the Government of the Republic of Vietnam adopted legislation requiring all clinicians to complete continuing medical education (CME) credits in order to maintain licensure. Several CME in-person and distance-based courses have been developed and as of 2015, a national distance-based electronic learning (eLearning) network was being established. However, the uptake of CME courses remained low despite high clinician demand. Vietnam’s high mobile phone ownership rate of 1.4 mobile subscriptions per person presents an opportunity to leverage this for CME. This study investigated how mobile technologies could strengthen delivery of distance-based CME courses and improve national CME program administration. METHODS: A literature and policy review was conducted. Qualitative methods were employed to collect and analyze key informant interviews of 52 global and Vietnamese experts, including selected policy makers. Interviews were supplemented by six focus group discussions with Vietnamese physicians, nurses, midwives and physician assistants. Transcripts were analyzed using an inductive coding methodology. A framework was developed to organize and present results for government consumption. RESULTS: Globally, examples and supporting evidence related to mobile technologies for CME were limited. Experts reported three main use cases for using mobile technology for CME in Vietnam: 1) delivery of CME courses (N=34; 65%); 2) registration and tracking of CME credits (n=28; 54%); and 3) sending alerts and reminders on CME opportunities (n=23; 44%). The national CME policy environment in Vietnam was supportive of introducing mobile technologies within the eLearning network. However, there was a widespread lack of awareness and capacity to design and deliver distance-based CME courses. Mobile phone ownership was high and health workers reported interest in acquiring CME credits via mobile. Financing options to develop and implement distance-based CME courses were limited. CONCLUSION: Despite the paucity of evidence related to mobile technologies for learning, there is potential to innovate and strengthen the evidence base using these technologies for CME in Vietnam. Introducing mobile technologies within the national eLearning network would improve clinicians’ access to CME, particularly in rural areas, and can strengthen national CME program administration. Key recommendations were developed to provide the government with concrete steps for national level adoption.

This thesis researched characteristics and success rates of Nepali participants in a series of online courses in order to develop a pedagogical model designed for an open university in Nepal, based on the geographical, regional and linguistic diversity of Nepali learners. The original contribution to knowledge is the examination of geographic, regional and linguistic backgrounds of Nepali learners and a determination as to whether these factors influence the online learning of Nepali students. It is expected that the resulting model may serve as a construct for open university initiatives in Nepal and in other developing countries. A mixed methods, descriptive, multiple case study approach using surveys, 4 short pilot courses, interviews and observations was used to provide data that would generate a pedagogical model. The results determined the design of the pedagogical model based on the needs of students in developing countries and in particular Nepali open university students. A study of Nepal’s history and diversity, existing open university models worldwide, and educational theory formed the foundation of this study. Combining the aforementioned review, with the information gained through the surveys, short pilot courses, interviews, observations during extensive travel throughout Nepal, and using inductive analysis, the framework for a pedagogical model for an open university in Nepal emerged. Although limited to a small group of volunteers, the original contribution to scholarship was the creation of the first pedagogical model for an open university in Nepal. / 2013-10

The theory of capillarity is an organic metaphor invoked to explore the role of network communications as a vehicle for education in a healthy society. Capillarity is offered as a theory in two parts: a mechanism for distribution and a method for engagement. Capillarity seeks to build an architecture that reflects radical humanism's emphasis on access and inclusion as a vehicle for classical humanism's emphasis on the individual expansion of potential and consciousness. The technical instrument whereby this program of humanist education may be deployed is mLearning

Η εισαγωγή των νέων Τεχνολογιών της Πληροφορίας και των Επικοινωνιών (ΤΠΕ) στην εκπαίδευση άλλαξε σημαντικά τη μορφή και τη λειτουργία της. Με την υιοθέτηση των νέων τεχνολογιών αναπτύχθηκε και αναπτύσσεται ακόμα η ηλεκτρονική μάθηση (e-learning), m-learning και η εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευση απέκτησε μια νέα διάσταση και νέες δυνατότητες. Είναι χαρακτηριστικό ότι η ανοικτή και εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευση αποτελεί έναν από τους βασικούς προπομπούς της νέας εποχής στο χώρο της εκπαίδευσης. Η κινητή ηλεκτρονική μάθηση θα χαρακτηρίσει τις νέες στρατηγικές, τις πρακτικές, τα εργαλεία, τις εφαρμογές, και τους πόρους για να εκπληρώσει την υπόσχεση της πανταχού παρούσας, προσωπικής, και συνδεδεμένης εκμάθησης, καθώς βασίζεται στην ιδέα της εκμάθησης με κινητές συσκευές οπουδήποτε οποιαδήποτε στιγμή, παρέχοντας μεγαλύτερη ευκολία στην κίνηση, τη σύνδεση σε κάποιο δίκτυο και τέλος χαρακτηρίζεται άπό νέες στρατηγικές και τα εργαλεία. Επομένως, προσφέρει ανεξαρτησία. Στόχος της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι να υλοποιηθεί ένα σύστημα που θα βασίζεται στα διεθνή τεχνολογικά πρότυπα για ανοικτή, σύγχρονη και ασύγχρονη εκμάθηση για κινητά τηλέφωνα και ειδικότερα για iPhones. Θα χρησιμοποιηθεί και επεκταθεί η πλατφόρμα ανοικτού κώδικα Moodle και το σύστημα θα πληρεί όλες τις τεχνικές προδιαγραφές καθώς τα κινητά τηλέφωνα απαιτούν ειδικές τεχνικές και λειτουργικές απαιτήσεις. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, αποσαφηνίζονται βασικοί όροι για την μάθηση και την εκπαίδευση, καθώς επίσης παρουσιάστηκαν ακροθιγώς και οι τύποι εκπαίδευσης και μάθησης. Στη συνέχεια, παρουσιάζεται η υφιστάμενοι κατάσταση στα παραδοσιακά Συστήματα Διαχείρισης Μάθησης και στα Προσαρμοστικά Συστήματα Ηλεκτρονικής Μάθησης. Αποφασίστηκε να χρησιμοποιηθεί ως βασικός πυρήνας του συστήματος ένα παραδοσιακό σύστημα διαχείρισης μάθησης, το Moodle, βασιζόμενοι σε μια αξιολόγηση (Sabine 2005) που διεξήχθει σε εννιά Εφαρμογές Ανοικτού Κώδικα (Open Source) εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευσης. Ο κύριος στόχος της αξιολόγησης ήταν οι ικανότητες και τα χαρακτηριστικά των συστημάτων αυτών στην προσαρμογή και την εξατομίκευση και το Moodle έλαβε τη μέγιστη αξιολόγηση σε πέντε από τα οκτώ κριτήρια που τέθηκαν. Στόχος αυτής της έρευνας ήταν να βρεθεί το καλύτερο σύστημα ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης ανοικτού κώδικα το οποίο θα μας επέτρεπε να αναπτυχθεί μια πλατφόρμα κινητής μάθησης που θα συνδίαζε τα πλεονεκτήματα των σύγχρονων Προσαρμοστικών Συστημάτων Ηλεκτρονικής Μάθησης, όπως η προσαρμοστικότητα και την εξατομίκευση με τα βασικά χαρακτηριστικά των παραδοσιακών Συστημάτων Διαχείρισης Μάθησης, όπως είναι η επαναχρησιμοποίηση και η ολοκλήρωση. Πραγματοποιήθηκε εγκατάσταση του Moodle σε διαθέσιμο server της σχολής Μηχανικών Η/Υ και Πληροφορικής και πραγματοποιήθηκε κατάλληλη επέκταση του με τέτοιο τρόπο ώστε τα μαθήματα να προσαρμόζονται στις δυνατότητες κάθε μαθητή, στους μαθησιακούς στόχους του, καθώς και στα επίπεδα γνώσης, και το τρόπο μάθησης του κάθε μαθητή, ενώ ταυτόχρονα να είναι προσβάσιμα και από κινητές συσκευές όπως iPhones και iPads. Για να επιτευχθεί η πρόσβαση στα μαθήματα της πλατφόρμας από κινητές συσκευές εγκαταστάθηκαν σε ένα iPhone οι εφαρμογές mPage και mTouch. Ύστερα από πειράματα που διενεργήθηκαν η εφαρμογή mPage παρουσιάζει πλεονεκτήματα έναντι της εφαρμογής mTouch και του web browser. Τα πλεονεκτήματα που εμφανίζονται και αναλύονται στην παρούσα διπλωματική οφείλονται στο γεγονός ότι η mPage επικοινωνεί με τη δική της web service και είναι σε θέση να ζητά μόνο τα δεδομένα που χρειάζεται. / The integration of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has changed significantly the field of education. Due to the adoption of the new technologies, e-learning has been emerged and developed. As a result, distance learning has transformed and new possibilities have appeared while m-learning gives new potentials. The m-learning will feature new strategies, practices, tools, applications, and resources to fulfill the promise of ubiquitous, personal, and connected learning, as it is based on the idea of learning with mobile devices anywhere at any time, providing greater ease of movement, connecting to a network and finally filled by new strategies and tools. Therefore, it offers independence. The aim of the thesis is to implement a system based on international technology standards for open, synchronous and asynchronous learning for mobile phones and especially for iPhones. The open source platform Moodle will be used and be extended and the system will meet all technical specifications as well as mobile phones require specific technical and functional requirements. More specifically, initiallly this thesis clarify key terms of learning and education as well as present briefly the types of education and learning. Then, it presents the current situation in the traditional Learning Management Systems and Adaptive e-Learning Systems. Based on an evaluation (Sabine 2005) conducted in nine open source platforms of elearning management system, we decided to use as a core system of our platform, a traditional learning management system, the Moodle, The main objective of the evaluation was the skills and the characteristics of such systems to be adaptive and personalized. Moodle received the highest evaluation in five out of eight criteria. The objective of this research was to find the best system of e-learning open source which will allow us to develop a mobile learning platform that combines the advantages of modern e-Learning Adaptive Systems, such as adaptability and customization with the essential features of traditional systems Learning Management, such as reuse and integration. An installation of Moodle took place in a server of Computer Engineering and Informatics and an extension carried out so that the courses appear to be customized to each student, the learning objectives, and the levels of knowledge and learning styles of each student, while are accessible from mobile devices like iPhones and iPads. mPage and mTouch applications installed on an iPhone to gain access to the courses of the platform from mobile devices Following experiments carried out proved that mPage has advantages over the mTouch and web browser to the fact that mPage communicates with its own web service and be able to request only the data needed.

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Using presentations in an m-Learning environment enables delivery of rich content to a mobile phone learner. This study investigated how to prepare and stream presentations from a desktop computer to a mobile phone in near-realtime. It also addressed communication between users using interactive text chat in the same environment. Our analysis of text/podcast-based m-Learning applications revealed limited interactivity and lack of diversity in content streamed. To address this, we developed a mobile-based application that uses a task-timer model to synchronize with a server every n units of time to enable near-realtime streaming of presentation slides between mobile and desktop users. The application included text-based instant messenger. Laboratory experiments investigated the use OpenOffice and PowerPoint presentations and techniques used to convert these presentations into mobile phone compatible formats. Experiments were carried out with smart mobile phones running on a third generation cellular network. We employed transaction-logging techniques in addition to automated image analysis techniques to observe and record data. Analysis of the results revealed using presentations enabled more rich content than text-based models such as short message service-based frameworks and podcasts. Although m-Learning is not yet widely adopted, applications such as the one developed in the study offer high hopes for m-Learning because of the use of rich content and interactivity between users.

Using presentations in an m-Learning environment enables delivery of rich content to a mobile phone learner. This study investigated how to prepare and stream presentations from a desktop computer to a mobile phone in near-realtime. It also addressed communication between users using interactive text chat in the same environment. Our analysis of text/podcast-based m-Learning applications revealed limited interactivity and lack of diversity in content streamed. To address this, we developed a mobile-based application that uses a task-timer model to synchronize with a server every n units of time to enable near-realtime streaming of presentation slides between mobile and desktop users. The application included text-based instant messenger. Laboratory experiments investigated the use OpenOffice and PowerPoint presentations and techniques used to convert these presentations into mobile phone compatible formats. Experiments were carried out with smart mobile phones running on a third generation cellular network. We employed transaction-logging techniques in addition to automated image analysis techniques to observe and record data. Analysis of the results revealed using presentations enabled more rich content than text-based models such as short message service-based frameworks and podcasts. Although m-Learning is not yet widely adopted, applications such as the one developed in the study offer high hopes for m-Learning because of the use of rich content and interactivity between users.