Mobile learning debate – final votes counted

Epic’s mobile learning debate closed for votes this week with 54% supporting for the motion that learning on smart phones is less about new technology than it is about a new approach to pedagogy. More than 150 people attended the debate at the Learning Technologies Exhibition in January this year, and since then over 1,000 votes have been cast online at elearningdebate.com

The ‘for’ argument was led by the UK’s only Professor of mobile learning, John Traxler, who was accompanied by Kim Whittlestone, a senior lecturer in independent learning at the Royal Veterinary College. They argued that mobile devices are chaotically diverse, volatile and ephemeral – it would be wrong for any learning and development strategy or policy to be based on them.

Meanwhile, up against them was acknowledged expert in mobile learning, Professor Mike Sharples, President of the International Association of Mobile Learning. He was supported by Dr Mike Short, Vice President of Research and Development for O2. They argued that in the smart phone, at last, we have a new and powerful tool to interact, and that successful learning is surely all about interaction.
 
Marcus Boyes, who heads Epic’s mobile division says, “Fitting learning into our hands, our pockets and the gaps in our days through mobile technology is undoubtedly the way forward. That means employing new kinds of technology, such as authoring tools, and new kinds of pedagogy through cutting-edge instructional design. One is proving just as important as the other to the growing number of organisations who are approaching us for help with their mobile learning strategies.”

Epic is to host another E-learning Debate, on Wednesday 6 October 2010 at the Oxford Union. The debate will focus on informal learning, and, like the others, will include an impressive array of prestigious speakers and an invited audience of leading thinkers from across HR, training and education. To register interest in attending, go to www.elearningdebate.com