Upon reading through the various articles on mobile learning studies, it struck me how many still suffer from what I would call 'Ally-syndrome'. Mohamed Ally (Athabasca Uni, Canada) talks/writes about the benefits of transition when it comes to mobile learning but his many examples of accomplished projects show merely substitution of existing didactic materials onto a mobile medium.
I do like Ally's 'aspects of mobile learning', that seem to hint in the direction of a separate mobile didactic. Those aspects in ascending order of complexity:
object (using buttons)
linearity (putting things in order)
support
update (keeping track)
construct
reflective
simulation
hyperlinked (synthesise information)
non-immersive contextual
immersive contextual (virtual)
And so again I found mentions like 'for courses that offer Web-based materials, redesigning is necessary if they are to be accessed by mobile devices' (Thornton & Houser, 2005). Redesigning is substitution, from Web-based materials to mobile devices as much as from books to Web-based materials. Mobile learning is about more than just changing the medium. It could provide a starting point for a different view on learning and teaching.
Oh, and by the way - the concert last Wednesday was absolutely brilliant! Loved that world premiere of 'Impossible Things', you could hear a pin drop through all the 30 minutes of it, mesmerising and powerful stuff.
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