GETALADO, GERALD REYES

EDDE 203 - FMA 1

MOODLE MOBILE: A SHORT ANALYSIS USING ACTIVITY THEORY

The use of technology or technical media is an essential part of distance education

(Keegan, 1980). This is important to note since distance education uses technology as
the sole or primary means of teaching (Moore and Kearsley, 2012).

Mobile learning or m-learning is gaining prominence as a new and emerging area in the
field of distance education. Different mobile technologies provide different affordances
to learners, such as personalized, contextualized, and unrestricted learning (Crompton,
2013). This means that learning takes place by recognizing different learning styles and
approaches (Traxler, 2008), using electronic mobile devices anytime and anywhere, and
is not being limited by temporal and spatial constraints.

As illustrated above, m-learning provides new solutions to existing learning situations for
distance learners. What has been known as web-based learning can now take place
ubiquitously. M-learning proves to have a unique set of characteristics, and so is the
need to have a separate theory in order to explain it.

Using Activity theory, this paper aims to examine and analyze the uniqueness of m-
learning as an approach to distance education. The technological artefact to be
examined is Moodle (by Moodle, I am referring to UPOUs MyPortal), both in its desktop
and mobile versions.

Moodle Mobile and Activity Theory

Activity theory tells us that all actions are mediated the unit of analysis is of a subject
(a person) working towards an object (an objective) using a tool (Oliver, 2011). Here, it
implies that technology must be understood in its ability to mediate action. In addition,
two considerations arising from this perspective are relevant to DE:

1. All human experience is shaped by the tools and systems that we use. This
further implies that it is the purposeful use of technology within a cultural and
historical context that becomes the unit of analysis
2. Technology is understood historically. It is not static or inert but something that
develops as the society that uses it develops over time.

I will be working around this definition in analyzing Moodle Mobiles capabilities as a tool
in distance education.
When I started my graduate studies in 2015, I was accessing Moodle / MyPortal from a
desktop PC or a laptop. If I am using my iPad, I would go to the full desktop site through
the Safari web browser. Last year, I have been using Moodle Mobile (for my Android
phone and iPad) when I discovered it through my fellow UPOU students in our
Facebook group.

Both platforms (i.e. desktop and mobile) allow me to do the following:

1. access course sites

2. download necessary files
3. engage in class forums and discussions
4. interact with my course mates and FICs, and
5. take quizzes and exams, and submit my assignments.

However, the mobile version provides a more personalized and unrestricted learning. It
comes in handy I can access the contents of my course sites through my mobile
devices anytime and anywhere. It also has an integrated alarm or reminder to tell me
when to submit my course requirements or if there are new posts in the course site. My
mobile devices will just ring whenever there are important updates.

Citing the aforementioned points, both the desktop and the mobile versions of Moodle /
MyPortal were able to demonstrate what Activity Theory requires: a person (i.e. the
learner) working towards an object (i.e. course/learning content). The tool being used
here is Moodle or MyPortal.

On the other hand, if we are going to compare Moodle / MyPortal on desktop with its
mobile counterpart, the latter will have plus points over purposeful use of technology
within a cultural and historical context. M-learning is contextual, which means that
learning can take place in numerous environmental and social settings with
wireless/internet access (Crompton, 2013). While Moodle on desktop can still be
accessed in various settings, it is still tied to specific locations. For example, if a student
will access Moodle / MyPortal without a mobile device, he or she still has to go to an
internet o computer shop just to check if there updates in the course sites. On the other
hand, m-learning enables students to access course content and relevant information
immediately wherever they are. It happened to me in one of my courses, where I had to
interview a resource person for an FMA. Instead of taking note of her answers and
typing it a later time, I was able to record her answers, edit, and submit it right after the
interview.

At the same time, Moodle Mobile is also an indicator that technology develops because
of the people who find ways to develop it over time. Whereas, it can already be
accessed via a desktop computer or a laptop, Moodle has now been made available to
learners through their smartphones and tablet computers, which are more portable.
With the advent of the first mobile devices some time during the 80s and until 2005
when the term m-learning was recognized (Crompton, 2013), experts in the field of
distance education has seen the potential of mobile devices as tools for delivering
content to learners, with some researchers characterize mobile learning as an
extension of e-learning (Keskin and Metcalf, 2011). Clearly, distance education did not
stop from delivering content through desktop computers; it has gone out to respond to
be readily accessible through mobile devices. It is an indication that distance education
and the technologies it employ continue to develop to respond to the developing and
evolving needs of its users, i.e. learners and teachers alike.

Conclusion

Activity theory showed us that technologies used in distance education must be able to
mediate between people and their objectives, through peoples purposeful use of
technology in different contexts, and being able to develop over time. M-learning, as
one medium of distance education, comes as a convenient and useful approach in
delivering learning content to students of different cultural and historical contexts.
Moodle Mobile proved to be an effective tool in mediating learners and content. Being
specifically used for mobile devices, it provides learning that is context-based. In
addition, Moodle Mobile also demonstrated that technology continues to develop and
respond to the needs of the society.

References:

Crompton, H. (2013). Mobile learning: new approach, new theory. In Z. L. Berge & L.Y.
Muilenberg (Eds.), Handbook of mobile learning (pp. 47-57). Florence, KY:
Routledge.

Crompton, H. (2013). A historical overview of mobile learning: Toward learner-centered

education. In Z. L. Berge & L.Y. Muilenberg (Eds.), Handbook of mobile learning
(pp. 3-14). Florence, KY: Routledge.

Moore, M. and Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance Education: A Systems View of Online

Learning (Chapter 1; pp. 1-8). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning

Oliver, M. (2011). Technological determinism in educational technology research: Some

alternative ways of thinking about the relationship between learning and technology.
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 27, pp. 373-384.

Keskin, N.O. and Metcalf, D. (2011). The current perspectives, theories, and practices
of mobile learning. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET,
10(2), 202-208.
Traxler, J. (2008). Current state of mobile learning. In M. Ally (Ed.), Mobile Learning
Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training (pp. 9-24). Athabasca:
University of Athabasca Press

Desmond, J. (1980). On defining distance education. Distance Education,1:1, 13-36