top performers
Box 3: Operation Numerika – the British Army in partnership with Epic
All soldiers are expected to have entry level 3 mathematics if they are to progress their career but many enter the army with level 2 and without change may never achieve their full potential. A review of full learning process quickly concluded there was a need to support struggling students in new ways given that traditional ‘homework’ with text books and exercises was uninspiring, failed to encourage repeat attempts and had a stigma attached. Operation Numerika was designed to address the problem, the first programme of its kind to use Nintendo DS to provide tailored support for students back at barracks.
Ingredients for success Focus groups of learners ensured the design ‘hit the spot’. The maths exercises were designed in context of army life and were written in partnership with active soldiers and subject experts.
Staff are competitive so gaming encouraged them to repeat a series of increasingly complex exercises.
Useful visualisations helped to aid understanding, demonstrate relevance and overcome language barriers.
The Nintendo platform provided the access where it was needed without the need for extensive technical support and IT investment of a laptop.
Face-to-face tutors were proactive in embedding the programme into the learning experience, raising the profile and ensuring confidence
Benefits
The solution has exceeded the Army’s requirements by engaging soldiers in mathematics to raise their numeracy levels to entry level 3. Winner of Best Mobile Learning 2009
both practice and assessment of language and communication skills.We naturally have conversations on the phone, not in a language lab so let’s exploit the power of the medium more effectively.
Going into the unknown
There is currently a significant interest in mobile learning but this is coupled with significant scepticism as this is a new medium for both business and the training function. When going into the unknown, it is important that steps are taken together. Top performers are twice as likely to involve users in their learning design and we found that all of the award winning studies involved their staff in the design of the solution – from trialling ideas about apps (Box 1) to involving them in the content design itself (Box 2). Designing trials and gathering feedback throughout the pilot stages are critical elements of introducing innovation and stepping into the unknown.
Accessible technical environment Our award winners highlight the importance of delivering on multiple platforms in an accessible technical environment – this is not just about mobile devices but what does the learner need and where are they when they need it? Limiting Learnosity’s initial offering on the mobile (Box 4) would have restricted new opportunities that Skype provided for voice capture, concentrating purely on voice capture would have limited the other possibilities that mobile devices opened up for embedding assessment even further into the learning flow.
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Box 4: Learnosity – Assessment innovation
The Learnosity voice system initially won awards for using mobile phones to help students around the world practice and learn foreign languages. Individuals can use their phones to listen to a sentence, respond and then compare their answers to a model answer. This provided a more natural form of assessment testing where test responses are recorded over the phone. Since its inception 15 million speech capture assessments have been delivered on six continents.
Ingredients for success Individual practice via the phone helps those that are less sure of their skill to build confidence in speaking out loud.
Supporting apps allow learners to download a week’s worth of work, complete a range of exercises and then sync their work back to the server.
Find out where people are using technology to connect with each other and to learn – and take advantage of it for assessment.
The system started on the mobile phone but soon extended to incorporate Skype conversations and PC as well.
Assessments can now also be embedded within activities, iBooks and web pages
Teachers have more vital one-to-one time when they can listen to their students’ individual language progress away from the class. They can also capture and record ad hoc evidence of success in places where traditional technology makes it difficult – eg the sports field or the art room.
Benefits Using speech capture resulted in an average 11% grade improvement. It also increased enjoyment with research in a project in Ireland showing that the number of students who said that they ‘really enjoyed learning Irish’ increased from 36% to 85% following the introduction of the mobile phone to the mix. Winner of Most innovative Learning Product 2009 and Best Mobile Learning Solution 2010
Integration with classroom training Finally, seven out of 10 top performers ensure that their technology enabled learning is integrated with their classroom programmes and with many mobile applications. Tutor support and encouragement was a key ingredient in the success of Operation Numerika. The trainers at the Royal School of Artillery integrated the immersive exercises on the iPad as a prerequisite to help prepare for the classroom and also as a critical group exercise that involved the active participation of every student. In conclusion, currently some of the most innovative practices from the
awards have come from the academic and military perspectives but the lessons that they share are relevant to anyone taking their first steps into using mobile devices effectively.We look forward to hearing more about how business is using mobile from this year’s awards (deadline for submission 31 July)
Laura Overton, Towards Maturity Created as part of the Good Practice Partnership with the E-Learning Awards Listen to the award winners in the ELA webinar series at
http://www.elearningage.co.uk/webinars.aspx 1 From Towards Maturity 2011-12 Benchmark
www.towardsmaturity.org/2011benchmark
e.learning age may 2012
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