Aspects of mobile learning

This year there are a few presentations on mobile learning. Here's a report from two of them: What do learners think of mobile phones for language learning? In their presentation in session 1, Esther Stockwell and Glenn Stockwell discussed aspects of mobile phone use in language learning among Japanese students. The students, who used their mobile phones in their everyday life for e-mailing (which is also texting in Japan - sms is not done) and phoning, were positive to using mobiles in langauge learning. When asked, they claimed that they would primarily use it for vocabulary training, secondly for listening practice and on third place came grammar practice.

In session 3 there was another presentation on mobile learning, dealing with a more course specific project: Using mobile devices for listening and speaking practice in languages: The L120 Mobile Project, by Demouy, Eardley, Kukulska-Hulme and Rhodri. The questions raised here were dealing with investigating contexts in which students engage in mobible activites when learning French. They were evaluating the benefits in order to better understand how to integrate interactive activitites since mobile phones are changing people's learning habits. The project described two groups of students working with listening activities through audio clips. This, students found very useful since they could practice pronunciation and intonation.