How can mobile learning be more inclusive?

I believe mobile learning has revolutionized education by making learning accessible anytime, anywhere. It creates inclusivity and accessibility meeting the needs of Learners and giving them support in a friendly to engage effectively in the learning process. In addition, mobile learning can be personalized allowing for learners .This promotes inclusivity by catering to diverse learning styles and abilities. Add to that the ability to access all material offline allowing learners in areas with limited internet connectivity to access educational content. Furthermore, mobile learning facilitates collaboration and virtual exchange. This encourages interaction and engagement among international learners creating education without boarders.

O m-learning inclusivo é como abrir as portas do conhecimento para todos, independentemente de onde est?o ou quais desafios enfrentam. é reconhecer que cada aluno é único e merece uma experiência de aprendizado que se adapte a ele, n?o o contrário. Ao focar na inclus?o, estamos n?o apenas compartilhando educa??o, mas também construindo pontes de compreens?o e respeito mútuo. Esta abordagem n?o só ajuda a superar barreiras físicas e sociais, mas também nutre um ambiente onde todos se sentem valorizados e capazes de alcan?ar seu potencial pleno.

Inclusive m-learning isn't just about technological solutions; it's deeply rooted in acknowledging and addressing the diverse challenges faced by learners. This includes not only physical and technological accessibility but also cultural, linguistic, and gender considerations. Emphasizing the learner's diversity and unique contexts, inclusive m-learning strives to provide equitable educational experiences for all, thereby promoting social justice and upholding human rights in the realm of education.

Making content accessible: Provide multiple formats, captions, and adjustable features. Representing diverse backgrounds: Include diverse voices and stories in content. Catering to different learning styles: Offer personalized learning paths and collaboration tools. Addressing the digital divide: Make resources affordable and accessible to all.

Let’s format more learning for mobile phones. There are more than 10-billion mobile phones globally – most of those in developing countries short on bandwidth, being used in agriculture, health, financial services, government involvement, entrepreneurship, employment (World Bank), and of course, education.

O m-learning inclusivo é como construir uma ponte entre a educa??o e a vida real para todos, especialmente para aqueles que, por tanto tempo, foram deixados à margem. é dar voz e escolha aos alunos, permitindo que eles aprendam de maneiras que ressoam com suas experiências pessoais e aspira??es. Ao integrar flexibilidade e relevancia no processo de aprendizagem, estamos n?o apenas educando, mas também empoderando os alunos a se tornarem participantes ativos em suas comunidades e no mundo maior. Isso vai além do acadêmico; é sobre fomentar a inclus?o, o respeito e a compreens?o em uma sociedade cada vez mais diversificada.

As Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and wearable devices become easily accessible to people, these soon will become a common means to access learning. They have the power to deliver content equitably across learners. However, for a true equitable learning experience, we have to recognize the affordances it provides and strive towards tuning it to the needs of diverse learners transcending countries, cultures, social-economic stratas, learning abilities and circumstances. We need a robust infrastructure of educators, learning designers, developers, UX designers, product designers, curriculum developers and others working together in an inter-disciplinary exchange of skills, knowledge and expertise.

Inclusive m-learning transcends traditional educational boundaries, addressing the unique needs of diverse learners. By integrating cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic contexts into learning, it fosters a deeper connection between education and students' lives. This approach not only enhances academic engagement but also nurtures critical life skills like adaptability and digital literacy. Importantly, it equips learners to actively participate in an increasingly digital society, fostering inclusive social participation and expression. In essence, inclusive m-learning reshapes education into a more accessible, relevant, and empowering journey for every learner.

I work for the roofing industry. The focus of much of the training I develop is for roof system installers. The people doing the work. They don't have offices, or access to desktop computers. The opportunities to reach field employees with safety training, along with proper installation techniques that a mobile device provides is a game changer. It brings our training to the roof deck and directly in the hands of the people that can use it in the moment. The addition of a good foreman, and content delivered on a mobile device onsite, brings new meaning to just-in-time training. Mobile learning can and has become the great equalizer in our industry.

Mobile learning acts as a crucial bridge, especially for students in low-performing schools, helping overcome educational disparities. It provides personalized support, flexibility, and fosters community connectivity. The widespread use of mobile technology introduces a more convenient and flexible learning approach, enhancing engagement, motivation, and overall accessibility to education. In schools facing performance challenges, mobile learning becomes a lifeline, particularly where access to PCs or laptops is limited.

Superar barreiras como a falta de acesso a tecnologia e habilidades digitais exige n?o apenas recursos, mas também compreens?o e paciência. é crucial criar conteúdo e ferramentas acessíveis que abracem a diversidade de necessidades dos alunos. Além disso, apoiar educadores e alunos com treinamento e orienta??o adequados é fundamental para garantir que o m-learning seja usado de forma eficaz e ética. Enquanto navegamos por esses desafios, devemos também advogar por políticas e padr?es que garantam privacidade, seguran?a e igualdade no m-learning, assegurando que esta jornada educacional seja inclusiva e justa para todos.

Governments need to invest in appropriate devices for mlearning for those who need them. Parents cannot be expected to fill the gap. Devices need to be carefully selected for longer lifespan, lower environmental impact (including recycling or return programs), lowest HR cost for maintenance and support, and best total cost of ownership. There are still too many examples of rushing to buy the cheapest option without considering the longer term implications of disposing of devices or the total cost of ownership.

In my opinion, m-learning needs to adapt the option to change the language of the content which will enable the users to learn using their preferred language. English is definitely the most common language for learning but if the contents can be changed to different regional languages, it will enable inclusion for the users who aren't familiar with English.

Some ideas that come to mind; If the student is going to use a personal device, find out what the device is and the operating system. Make sure that instructional applications work on lower-end devices. Allow flexible turn-in times for students that might have obligations outside of what would be considered normal day hours. Provide research resources in order to include students that might have limited data time. Make sure students are aware of adaptive resources like speech to text, and text read aloud.

Challenges of inclusive m-learning include: 1. **Technological Barriers:** Disparities in access to mobile devices and reliable internet can limit inclusive m-learning, particularly for individuals in economically disadvantaged areas. 2. **Digital Literacy Gaps:** Not everyone may be familiar with using mobile devices or digital tools, leading to potential exclusion for those with lower digital literacy skills. 3. **Content Accessibility:** Ensuring that learning materials are accessible to individuals with disabilities (e.g., visual or hearing impairments) on various mobile devices can be a challenge.

Access to devices or data can be a cost issue. There may also be a feeling of embarrassment, particularly among younger learners, if their device is less ‘flash’ than those around them. An easy solution is to design mlearning activities in groups or pairs where learners can choose to use their device or that of someone else. This approach combines the benefit of the affordances of the technology itself with a dialogic/collaborative opportunity.

Ensure content is compatible with screen readers, offers subtitles, audio descriptions , offer content in various formats like text, and audio. Also ensure that examples, scenarios, and case studies are inclusive and respectful.

Conduct regular accessibility audits to identify and address potential barriers in mobile learning apps or platforms. Ensure that the m-learning content is compatible with screen readers, voice commands, and other assistive technologies. Gather feedback from diverse user groups, including individuals with different abilities and learning styles. Conduct usability testing to identify areas for improvement and ensure that the platform meets the needs of a diverse audience. Professional Development; Provide training for educators on inclusive teaching practices in the context of m-learning. Equip educators with the skills to adapt content and assessments to meet the needs of diverse learners.

Ensure your engagement with your learners is truly engaging - ensure it's where they want to be. Coach learners on how to avoid addiction. In my learning groups, where not everyone can afford a connection, a lead learner shares the learning with the group and the group discusses, feeds back and helps each other and me to do what we need to do. Coach your learners and providing them with ample opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning is a priority for any educator but for m-learning it's a must. During the pandemic, because my learners were used to taking responsibility for their learning, we needed to e-meet less often and were set as many practical tasks as possible so that they would learn away from the screen.

Setting aside the technical issues, multiple formats suggested, etc., there is a place where all feel equal and everyone at this stage in technical development has "digital literacy". That place is discussion. Too many developers focus on multiple tools that may or may not be easy to use, particularly in mobile environment, and discussion is overlooked. A good investigative question on a discussion board or sent out to class members in a text can allow each person to offer a personal perspective on an issue. It allows them to use their backgrounds, their knowledge, their cultures, etc., to connect with other members of the class, while learning. Discussion is the second best way to learn anything; it should never be left out.

Adotar uma abordagem centrada no aluno no m-learning é como dar a eles as chaves para abrir um mundo de conhecimento personalizado. Cada aluno trilha seu próprio caminho de aprendizagem, explorando conteúdos que ressoam com suas experiências e aspira??es. é permitir que aprendam no seu ritmo, no seu espa?o, de maneira que fa?a sentido para eles. Ao incentivar a intera??o e a cocria??o, estamos fomentando uma comunidade de aprendizado colaborativa, onde ideias e experiências s?o compartilhadas e enriquecidas. E ao conectar o aprendizado com situa??es reais, estamos preparando-os n?o apenas academicamente, mas também para a vida, equipando-os com habilidades para pensar criticamente e agir criativamente.

I suddenly discovered my learners with conditions that led to difficulties with learning in class were liberated in being able to organise themselves in one place at home (rather than moving from class to class) and were able to focus on learning. What comes out of m-learning, if we do it well, will be learners who take responsibility for their learning, and who know how to manage devices (rather than become addicted to them), they will be able to develop themselves as learners and transfer this to life. However, one does have to ask, if we think we're doing ordinary-education well, why aren't we achieving this already?

In my opinion, there should be an option of collaboration so that a user can connect with other users and can discuss the learnings or concepts for better understanding.

Reflecting on my own mobile experiences (education and other), I found the following engaging: (1) collaboration platforms that support interactivity like Miro and Lucid (2) communication platforms that are built to facilitate interactions and organize virtual people (like Butter) (3) tasks that are built to have both synchronous and asynchronous subtasks.

Mobile learning can become more inclusive by?ensuring accessibility features like screen readers, captioning, and adaptable interfaces are integrated. Content should be available in multiple languages and formats, considering different learning styles and catering to diverse cultural backgrounds. Different features of MS office can be used e.g immersive reader, read aloud, sound to text, etc.

There are still too many governments separating professional learning procurement and planning from device purchase programs. Unless these are tightly linked, educators will not use devices effectively as part of their pedagogy. Roll out of learning and device deployment needs to be synchronized.

Making mobile learning more inclusive involves considering diverse needs and ensuring accessibility for all learners. Here are ways to promote inclusivity in mobile learning: 1. Accessible Design 2. Universal Design for Learning to meet the needs of all learners. 3. Multilingual Support: Include options for multilingual/translation support. 4. Audio Descriptions and Transcripts: This support the impaired. 7. Simple Navigation: To enhances the overall user experience for everyone. 8. Engage Diverse Perspectives. 9. Assessment Flexibility 10. Community Engagement: Encourage collaboration among learners. 12. Professional Development: Provide ongoing professional development for educators

By considering the following, institutions and organizations can create comprehensive m-learning environments that maximize the benefits of diverse, mobile learning for a global audience. 1. Comply with accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for people with disabilities. 2. Provide m-learning content in various languages 3. Allow offline access to content 4.Encourage user feedback and regularly update the m-learning platform based on user experience 5. Participate in global partnerships to leverage resources and expertise to develop and promote comprehensive m-learning initiatives. 6. Development of programs suitable for various age groups 7. Implement programs to improve digital literacy

M-Learning, whether synchronous, asynchronous, or a hybrid, offers unique opportunities and challenges, but also has immense potential for inclusivity. Its adaptability, accessibility, and ability to accommodate diverse learning styles make it a powerful tool for all learners. Key techniques to ensure inclusivity include a user-friendly interface, collaboration, multimodal communication strategy, use of content formats like videos, podcasts, interactive simulations, and gamified components, and offline access/offline library/archive, similar to asynchronous learning. These techniques ensure that all learners thrive and benefit from the platform's flexibility and adaptability.

Moving to remove places we find people especially students use mobile for their classes their online courses and online education as they won't come to cities daily but language is the biggest constraint for them. Therefore learning can be more inclusive by ensuring content is accessible to diverse and remote learners, incorporating features like text-to-speech, providing alternative formats for materials, accommodating various learning styles, and designing user-friendly interfaces for those with disabilities too. Additionally, considering bandwidth constraints and creating content in multiple languages can enhance inclusivity in m-learning.