1. Technology in The Health
Studies Classroom:
Mobile Learning
AppsForHealth
May 16, 2013
Agnieszka Palalas, Ed.D.

2. Overview
• Briefly about my work in the area of technology-assisted
learning
• M-learning defined
• Select mobile stats
• Why m-learning
• What’s next and recommendations?

3. 3
• Learning or training: knowledge construction, skill
development and performance support
• Learners participate across locations, times and contexts
(inside and outside the classroom)
• Enabled by portable devices and web connectivity
• flexible on-demand access to learning materials, experts,
peers and other resources
• tools to create content and interact with peers, experts,
learning systems and supports, and the environment in
which the learning is occurring
• M-learning devices: handheld, highly portable, connected,
always-on, personal, ubiquitous
…contingent on needs and context
What is mobile learning?

4. 4
The 8 mass media in chronological order:
• 1st Mass Medium: Print from the 1500s
• 2nd: Recordings from late 1800s
• 3rd: Cinema from about 1900
• 4th: Radio from the 1920s
• 5th: Television from the 1950s
6th: Internet form the 1990s
• 7th: Mobile from the 2000s
• 8th: Augmented Reality from the 2010s
Tomi Ahonen: http://www.communities-dominate.blogs.com
What is mobile technology?

5. 5
• First truly personal mass medium
• First always‐on mass medium
• First always carried mass medium
• First to connect and access just-in-time from whenever
• First portable multimedia toolkit (incl. apps)
• First portable gateway to the network of learners and experts
• First tool enabling interaction with context and real-life hands-
on practice supported/mediated by experts
• Used habitually, frequently, on-demand, spontaneously
• Ubiquitous
Mobile technology = tool

6. 6
Today
• 7.1 billion mobile phone subscriptions on the planet
• 7.1 billion total global population
• 695 million units in 2012
Spring 2013
• Mobile phone subscriptions > global population
• Nearly 100 countries have passed 100% per-capita mobile
penetration rates
• The average cellphone user in America looks at the phone 150
times per day, in Britain - 200 times per day
Tomi Ahonen: http://www.communities-dominate.blogs.com
Background stats: global

7. 7
• By the end of 2013: 50% of new phones sold -
smartphones
• 2015 (Q2/Q3): 50% of all phones in use -smartphones
• By the end of 2020: 100% of new phones sold-
smartphones
Tomi Ahonen: @tomiahonen (Twitter Feb 16, 2013)
Background stats
Global forecast

8. 8
• Smartphone usage has increased from 33% in March 2011 to 48% in
March 2012 (universally across all age groups and across Canada)
• 47% of mobile phone users have a
data plan (2011: 37%)
• Tablet ownership among cell phone users has quadrupled, from 5% in
2011 to 20% in 2012
• 75% of these tablet connected to a cellular network
• 70% of smartphone users downloaded apps (up from 58% in March
2011)
Quorus Consulting Group Inc., (2012). 2012 Cell Phone Consumer Attitudes Study.
Background stats
Mobile Phone Usage in Canada in 2012

9. Context: mHealth
• Health is one of the fastest-growing areas of mobile
technology application
• mHealth will be worth $23 billion by 2017
(PricewaterhouseCoopers - PwC)
• mHealth is diverse: embraces all ages, continents, and
people
• mHealth requirements:
o Internet connectivity
o Ubiquitous access to information
o Secure data handling (health privacy issues)
o Mobile-enabled content design
o Social networking options for healthcare workers, patients, or health
enthusiasts
o Training on the use of the technology

10. mHealth apps: select uses
• Education and awareness to raise general health awareness
• Remote data collection through secure synchronization
• Data collection and exchange at the point of care
• Communication and training for healthcare workers
• Disease and epidemic outbreak – live data through
crowdsourcing
• Diagnostic and treatment support – e.g., first aid app
• Drug reference and medical calculators
• Personal well-being - keeping track of personal diet, workouts,
heart rate, etc.

11. Trend Toward Mobility
Smartphones
replaced
feature phones
Education: Trend toward mobility
WOW!

12. Extreme mobility still supplemental
Use device for academic
purposes
Own device
Important to do from
a mobile device

13. 13
All 13 pertinent to m-learning…
1. Continue to support blended-learning environments and reward innovation
2. Work with faculty to experiment with open educational resources and game-based learning
3. Develop mobile IT strategies that allow for cross-
platform compatibility
4. Prioritize the development or improvement of mobile-
friendly resources and activities that students say are
important
5. Identify what additional value or resource desktops provide beyond the user-owned laptop, and consider
alternative and perhaps more affordable options to meet this need.
6. Consider multiple communication channels between the institution and students and between instructors
and students; students say they want options
7. Bridge the gap between the technologies that have seen the greatest growth (e-portfolios, e-books/e-
textbooks, and web-based citation/bibliographic tools) and students’ attitudes about their importance
8. Provide students with networking opportunities…
ECAR recommendations

14. Health studies
Select benefits of m-learning
• Access to current information at the point of care
• Increased time with patients
• Enhanced learning experience and learning outcomes
such as pharmacological knowledge
• Improved clinical learning experience
• More organized learning experience (organizers, etc.)
• Preparing students for the mHealth world and a
healthcare environment that requires the use of
innovative technologies

15. 15
Any classroom: benefits 1/2
• Personal, private and familiar (reduce perceived barriers to learning)
• Fit into the lives of learners (productive ‘dead’ time)
• Portable and flexible (whenever, wherever)
• Immediacy of communication (incl. speech and data-sharing)
• Enhanced access to learning (dispersed communities, isolated situations)
• Access to mentors, tutors and others learners on-the-move
• Perceived as an acceptable way for learners to receive reminders
and chasers (time management)
• Bite-sized e-learning resources delivered to learners (field practice, work-
based learning)
• Abstract (representational) and concrete (environmentally-situated)
knowledge integrated
• Student-centred; enhanced student engagement, satisfaction and
empowerment

16. 16
Any classroom: benefits 2/2
• Active learning (hands-on, experiential, real-life context)
• Contextualization: situational, embedded learning (location-aware)
• Capturing of data, record of learning processes
• Context-inspired authentic content and challenge
• Connecting learning across contexts
• New learning environments
• Continuity across the life span
• A route to learner autonomy
• Flexible collaboration >> collaborative, connected learning
• Accessibility for learners with special educational needs
• Reflection in close proximity to the learning event

17. Barriers to implementing m-learning
• Cost (devices and mobile data plans)
• Ergonomic limitations of handheld devices
• Technological difficulties
• Comfort levels of students and staff
• Infrastructure restrictions
• Security issues
• Multiplicity of mobile platforms and standards
• Inadequate deign of learning materials
• Lack of buy-in and experimentation
• Resistance from stakeholders
• Insufficient m-learning expertise

18. Recommendations
• Incorporate m-learning in strategic, business, & educational plans
• Allocate monetary and human resources to facilitate research &
development of m-learning
• Form partnerships between education, public & private sector
• Create a culture of innovation & develop a research agenda
• Disseminate research findings & share best practices
• Develop standards and policies for m-learning
• Encourage buy-in from all stakeholders by providing professional
development, sharing information & collaborating
• Broaden access to m-learning solutions by developing cross-
platform applications & maintaining/developing infrastructure

19. Mobile is an entirely
new ecosystem!

20. Thank you
Dr. Agnieszka Palalas
GBC: aga@epluslearning.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/apalalas
Presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/agaiza
Publications: http://athabascau.academia.edu/apalalas