IADIS 2011 mobile learning: a pedagogical model

One of the most relevant presentations for my institution was presented by a Finnish team describing a pedagogical m-learning model for decentralized tourism education.  Tourism students resided in their place of learning for classes etc at a ski resort approx 50 km from the institution, but extended their learning within the environs of the ski resort. The institution was important to the model in providing ICT support, language teacher support, and school services, but the resort and the communities in the Lapland area were the real place of learning and made heavy use of mobile devices to gather information from the various locations.  Again, in an applied learning context this model made total sense to me, where the institution really takes on a different role in supporting the learner, and the use of mobile devices in the actual place of learning is not just an add-on but an essential component.  This model gave me a lot to think about in terms of when and why m-learning is so useful to applied education.

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