To be presented at: "Ideas in Mobile Learning Symposium", 6th - 7th March 2014, Watershed, Bristol UK, Organised by Designing for Digital Learners (D4DL) Research Group. This event is supported by QR (Quality Research) funds from UWE Bristol Now closed to new submission, but we have a few places left. Register at: http://goo.gl/jVypI7 BIIML 2014 Preliminary Programme now available: http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/8540 Event link: http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloudscape/view/2896

1. Mobile ‘comfort’ zones: overcoming barriers
to enable facilitated learning in the workplace
Anglia Ruskin University Trainee Teachers
Debbie Holley,
Reader, Education & Technology
Anglia Ruskin University
&
Sue Sentance
National Academic Coordinator for
the Network of Excellence
BCS Academy/Computing At School

2. Mobiles have transformed how we
communicate – it’s a new way of life
For Pachler et al (2010:3) it is now accepted that mobile devices have
a number of important characteristics which make them attractive
from an educational perspective, including increasing portability,
functionality, multimedia convergence, ubiquity, personal ownership,
social interactivity, context sensitivity, location awareness,
connectivity and personalisation

3. Anglia Ruskin draws it trainee teachers from a wide area of
the East of England; so their school placements are widely
spread
They recruit a diverse range of trainees and cover a range
of subjects, this study was carried out with 12 ICT trainee
teachers. One trainee chose not to take part.
All have a mobile phone
All use text messaging
Some have internet access via phone
Most have phone contract; some on pay as you go
Some use Facebook
Some use Twitter

4. A student questionnaire plus tutor analysis of early written work
showed:
Trainees are unused to academic writing (the PGCE course is at Masters level)
Trainees are full-time on placement (limited number of days in University)
Trainees feel isolated from the university
Trainees struggle to find time for reading
Trainees do not reflect on their reading
Preparing for teaching in their placement school class is the
focus of attention
A science class at Cornelius Vermuyden Secondary School

5. So – issue - how to scaffold trainee teacher engagement with their
studies when they are in their placement school?

6. Our ‘Research Problem’
To find out if mobile technology (eg TxtTools software)
could be used to support our trainees on placement.
Approach taken:
• Four key interventions ‘24 hour cycle’
• Each based around a peer review journal article
‘recommended’ reading for their assignment
(Curriculum & Pedagogy)
• Tutor prompts students to reflect on article by
sending initial message, students work in triads
(note they are based in schools different geographic
locations)
• 140 character messages are collated and sent round
groups to scaffold learning during the period
• Tutor adds in new questions, refines discussions, and
creates a word document for all participants at end
of period

7. Response from initial question from tutor – usually around defining
terms before building up ‘discussion via text’

8. Project findings:
Educational benefits identified by tutor:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Encouraged trainees to read
Encouraged trainees to reflect on the reading rather than just skim
read
Encouraged concise writing and discouraged descriptive comments
Trainees commented on each other’s comments
Compensated for lack of university sessions with trainees to a small
degree
Set the focus on their assignment
May assignments had more critical reference to literature than
January assignments
Negative points from trainee teachers: – mostly about
use of this technology
• Conciseness was difficult – 160 character limit
• Didn’t like the messages being anonymous
• Some concerns about invasion of privacy
• Wanted to see complete thread of responses
• “We already have too many other things to
do”

9. Framework for analysis:
Three emergent themes from the research:
Comfort/lack of comfort with their identity as ‘technological learner’
Issues of personal/ private space re arrival of SMS messages
Development of emergent CoP

10. Populated model showing trainee barriers
a) their individual reported personal/academic crossover ‘comfort zone’ which ranges from an acceptance and
embracing of the 24 hour digital world through to SMS messages only in my ‘usual’ working hours of 9-5
b) Their willingness to be a contributor in an emergent group of practice from passively reading the SMS that
others read to actively wanting to co-construct knowledge with their peers (via SMS)
c) Their attitudes to technologies, ranging from willingness to experiment/ try out a new idea to rejecting a
new technology (such as the mobile phone for learning purposes) in favour of more comfortable/ familiar
technologies such as facebook.

11. Thank you for listening
We would welcome
thoughts, comments for
developing model
further?
For some, cultural capital would
assist:
“To possess the machines [they]
only need economic capital; to
appropriate them and use them
in accordance with their specific
purpose [they] must have access
to embodied cultural capital
either in person or by proxy”
Bourdieu 1986
The challenge is how to develop the
classroom of the future….
And it is a collaboration with our
students..

12. References
Bourdieu, P. (1986). ‘The forms of capital’ (R. Nice, trans.). In J. Richardson (ed.) Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of
education. New York: Greenwood Press.
Holley, D., Sentance, S & Bradley, C (2011). Balancing the demands of in-school placement with out-of-school study’ available electronically
from http://escalate.ac.uk/8140 [accessed 10/10/2013]
Lave, J. and Wenger, E., 1991.Situated learning:legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pachler, N., Bachmair, B. and Cook, J. (2010). Mobile Learning: Structures, Agency, Practices. New York: Springer.