Jon Gregson. SOAS

Editor's Notes

• #2: In August 2007, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) launched its new Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP), and the former Wye Distance Learning Programme (DLP) that had been part of Imperial College London since 2000, was transferred to SOAS and became integrated into CeDEP. CeDEP offers postgraduate distance learning courses through the University of London and has over two thousand students located in more than one hundred different countries. The programme includes MSc course in thematic areas including ‘Applied Environmental Economics’, ‘Environment and Biodiversity’, ‘Sustainability and Development’ and ‘Public Policy and Management’. Many of the students are based in Africa and developing countries. During the last decade, the approaches used within the distance learning courses for tutoring and courseware production, have been enhanced to encompass a blend of printed, electronic and where possible face-to-face methods. This has enabled the programme to innovate with distance learning pedagogy and encourage constructivist approaches situated in the learner context that support collaborative and interactive learning activities. E-Learning tools and approaches, that make use of e-mail, Online Learning Environments and courseware CD-Roms have been developed, and the access barriers faced by students has always been an important consideration. As e-learning approaches have been introduced, there has been a concern that students based in developing countries where internet and email access is more constrained are the least likely to fully benefit. This more towards use of e-learning, has brought considerable enhancements, but equally it has created a level of disconnect with some of our learners. This concern became one of the main personal drivers for the author embarking upon a two year project, funded by the Centre of Distance Education of University of London, exploring how m-learning can enhance distance learning approaches. Alongside colleagues from University of Pretoria, four students in Tanzania and Malawi have been involved with the project since 2005 giving insights from the Southern African context. In 2007 a further twenty students became involved in piloting use of learning materials that are being developed for use on Nokia N70 mobile phones which possess capabilities for communication, image and video capture and sound recording. This project has recently been awarded a further grant for an extension into a third year, where the potential for scaling up activities will be explored. This presentation will describe the two main phases of the pilot project. The first part of the presentation will focus on the work done in 2006, explaining the project methodology; relevant insights gained from the Southern Africa context and reviewing the main insights gained from a baseline survey of students in the region; and highlighting the pedagogic and technical considerations. The second part of the presentation will focus on the second phase which commenced in the latter part of 2006 and has been continuing in 2007. During this phase, the project has involved working with course authors and tutors, and investigated the scope for redesign of written content as multimedia for use on the mobile device; tutoring in innovative ways; and developing new types of learning activities that make use of the functionality of mobile technologies. The scope for designing new forms of activities for distance learners, which potentially can involve co-creation and sharing of learning resources, and draw on greater levels of interaction and collaboration, is just being touched on, but is seen as having considerable potential as mobile technologies become more widespread. The aim of the presentation is to share insights that will facilitate the design of a scaleable learning environment for mobile learners in developing and developed countries. It highlights how mobile technologies offer the potential for a postgraduate distance learning programme to make stronger and more equitable connections with its learning community, whilst also innovating and, making greater use of multimedia and the scope for collaboration. The lessons learned should inform us as we anticipate more affordable mobile technologies and related data services in the near future.