M-learning Standards Review Report
Background, Discussion and Reasoning behind Standards
Recommendations
E-standards for Training
V2.0 Reviewed 31 October 2008
Australian Flexible Learning Network
flexiblelearning.net.au
Page 4
M-learning Standards Review Report
Version Information
Version
Date
Comments
1.00
2007-01-08
2.0
31 October 2008
Working draft of updates for EEG Reference
Group review
Revision History
Version
Date updated
Updated by
Sections updated
Initial 0.1
31/10/2006
Leonard Low
Initial Version
Draft 0.2
9/11/2006
Leonard Low
First Draft Version, incorporating feedback from first
Reference Group meeting.
Draft 0.3
11/01/2007
Leonard Low
Incorporating feedback from initial EEG review.
Changes include 1.1, 4.2.1.1, 4.2.5.1, 4.3.3.1, 4.4.3.3.
Draft 0.5
15/02/2007
Owen ONeill
Document formatted within Framework guidelines.
Version 2.0
19/12/2008
Ian Whitehouse
Document undergone major review, restructure and
update by GlobalNet ICT under 2008 m-learning
review and update funding
Disclaimer
Readers of the report and the standards are encouraged to make their own enquiries and confirmations as to the
best hardware, software and technology standards for their own particular situation.
Additionally the authors of this report have referred to some proprietary and non proprietary software, hardware,
manufacturers and organisations. Please note that by referring to them the authors are in no way endorsing any
particular one over another but have included them as we felt that it was necessary to provide at least minimal
direction and examples.
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M-learning Standards Review Report
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 1
1
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4
2
The Need For M-learning Standards ........................................................................... 5
2.1 An Activity-Based Methodology .............................................................................................. 6
2.2 Consultation and Review with Peer Group ............................................................................. 6
2.3 Review of Current Literature ................................................................................................... 7
3
Literature Review Methodology .................................................................................. 7
3.1 Identification of M-Learning Activities ..................................................................................... 7
3.2 Analysing Activities to Determine Criteria ............................................................................... 7
3.3 Researching Existing Standards And Practices ...................................................................... 7
3.4 Analysing Technology Deployment Changes ......................................................................... 8
3.5 M-Learning Standards Overview............................................................................................. 8
4
Current Design, Development and Implementation of Mobile Content .................... 8
4.1 M-learning Life Cycle .............................................................................................................. 9
4.2 Issues for Broader Implementation of M-learning ................................................................... 9
4.3 Meeting Mobile Consumer Requirements ............................................................................. 11
4.4 Mobile Platform Strengths and Weaknesses ........................................................................ 14
4.5 Mobile Devices and Content Formats ................................................................................... 16
5
Mobile Platforms ........................................................................................................ 17
5.1 Mobile Phones and Smart Phones ....................................................................................... 19
5.2 PDAs ..................................................................................................................................... 19
5.3 UMPCs and Tablet PCs ........................................................................................................ 19
5.4 Netbooks ............................................................................................................................... 20
5.5 Portable Digital Media Players .............................................................................................. 20
5.6 Mobile Gaming Devices ........................................................................................................ 21
5.7 Removable Storage Memory Formats .................................................................................. 21
5.8 Reduced-Size Memory Formats ........................................................................................... 22
6
Mobile Content Development .................................................................................... 22
6.1 Mobile Audio.......................................................................................................................... 22
6.2 Natural and Synthetic Audio.................................................................................................. 23
6.3 Resolution and Compression ................................................................................................ 23
6.4 Mobile Audio - Additional Considerations ............................................................................. 24
7
Mobile Video Using Smart Phone, PDA or Mobile Phone ....................................... 26
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7.1 Resolution ............................................................................................................................. 26
7.2 Compression ......................................................................................................................... 27
7.3 Containers ............................................................................................................................. 27
7.4 Additional Considerations For Media Viewed On A Smart Phone, PDA Or Mobile Phone .. 27
8
Mobile Photography................................................................................................... 28
8.1 Document Publication ........................................................................................................... 28
9
Interactive Media ........................................................................................................ 29
9.1 Flash Lite ............................................................................................................................... 29
10 Mobile Content Support ............................................................................................ 30
10.1 Accessibility ........................................................................................................................... 30
10.2 Content Packaging ................................................................................................................ 30
10.3 Metadata ............................................................................................................................... 30
10.4 Java ....................................................................................................................................... 31
10.5 Ajax ....................................................................................................................................... 32
10.6 CSS ....................................................................................................................................... 32
10.7 XML ....................................................................................................................................... 33
10.8 Silverlight ............................................................................................................................... 33
11 Mobile Content Delivery ............................................................................................ 34
11.1 Mobile Web ........................................................................................................................... 35
11.2 Relevant External Standards ................................................................................................ 35
12 Wireless Data Connectivity ....................................................................................... 36
12.1 Infrared Data Association (IrDA) ........................................................................................... 36
12.2 Bluetooth ............................................................................................................................... 36
12.3 Wi-Fi/WLAN (802.11a/b/g) .................................................................................................... 37
12.4 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)/ Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) 37
12.5 3G And 4G (High Speed Mobile Phone Data Services) ....................................................... 37
12.6 WiMAX (802.11n) and HDSPA ............................................................................................. 38
Table of comparatives WiFi / WiMAX......................................................................................................... 38
12.7 GPS ....................................................................................................................................... 40
12.8 RFID ...................................................................................................................................... 40
12.9 Types and Use of RFID Tags................................................................................................ 40
12.10 NFC (Near Field Communication) ....................................................................................... 42
12.11 2D Barcodes ........................................................................................................................ 43
13 Recommendations for Maintaining the M-learning Standards into the Future .... 44
14 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 46
Appendix 1 - Mobile Activities Considered ..................................................................... 47
Appendix 2 - Case Study Examples ................................................................................. 52
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Appendix 3 – Selected Vendor Technical Documentation ............................................. 68
Select Bibliography........................................................................................................... 70
More Information............................................................................................................... 73
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Executive Summary
Computer-based learning, with ‘new learning’ pedagogies and powerful, portable/mobile
digital devices, continues to attract considerable interest from the VET sector in what is
now commonly referred to as m-learning (mobile learning). It has been categorised in the
A guide to working with m-learning standards1report by the national training system’s elearning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework).
m-learning = digital mobile learning
The report also goes on to say that many learning activities could be categorised as
’mobile learning‘ with examples such as where learning happens outside of a formal
classroom situation.
The following are some examples of mobile devices that can be used to facilitate learning:






mobile phone
Smartphone
PDA (personal digital assistant)
personal digital media players (eg iPod and MP3 player)
Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC)
Netbook.
The vast number of hardware and software platforms available for supporting m-learning
and the scope for divergent configurations and personalisation of these platforms means
that there is a need for m-learning standards. These standards are designed to provide
guidance in relation to various systems and methods for facilitating the development and
delivery of m-learning resources. After all, it is the learner who is mobile rather than the
device (Sharples, Taylor and Vavoula, 2005) and this key principle of m-learning makes
the most of being on location, providing immediate access and being connected.
The investigation and documentation of standards and good practices for m-learning is
one way that these outcomes may be facilitated. This report presents an updated review
into formats for delivering and participating in mobile learning, including a discussion of
various delivery and interaction formats which now also includes some case studies. The
resulting m-learning standards have been published in a separate document, which
recommends a ’baseline‘ set of format standards and practices for m-learning practitioners
and allied professionals.
Because of the divergent nature of digital mobile devices, with various hardware form
factors, functionalities, software platforms and services, researching all of the relevant
informational and technical standards for this update and review was a considerable task,
given the time constraints required. As highlighted in the Framework’s 2007 M-learning
Standards Report, previous literature reviews have covered the theoretical design and
development of m-learning strategies, but despite numerous acknowledgements of the
1
http://e-standards.flexiblelearning.net.au/docs/m-standards-guide-v1-0.pdf
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lack of standards in mobile technologies facilitating m-learning (Grohmann, Hofer and
Martin, 2005). From observations in undertaking this review and update, it would seem
that this continues to be the case.
What is apparent, from the updates identified in 2008, is the level of change since the
original report in 2007, prompting the report reviewers to contemplate how to maintain the
m-standards into the future. While a number of the previously identified ’baseline
standards‘ have only changed slightly, the difference in the infrastructure, technology and
software that is now available has been significant.
The challenge into the future is how the m-standards remain relevant. In keeping with the
principles of ‘Community of Practice’2, it is considered appropriate at the time of this
review of the standards to look at technological options that will allow for a quality
controlled yet practical way of maintaining, updating and publishing the m-learning
standards themselves in a ’real time environment‘. A well-known source of what is popular
with practitioners and others is Wikipedia3.
The following are opportunities recommended for consideration:
Consider the utilisation of a published web version of the m-learning report and standards
that are then maintained and updated on an ongoing basis by content experts in the
various areas covered by the m-learning report and standards.
This could be achieved by an agreement with a contractor(s) to do the work for a small
retainer, with the broader educational community being provided with a permanent online
tool (wiki, forum or something else) to submit content, standards input for review and
publication on a regular basis – suggest quarterly.
Those given Framework funding for their projects should be required as part of their
funding, to contribute back to this site (via the permanent online tool) their experiences
and outcomes wherever they impact on the m-learning report and standards. This will
ensure that the content stays current and relevant to educational practitioners into the
future.
These recommendations will require the Framework to carefully consider both the
technical and logistical issues involved, but we believe they can be overcome with careful
early planning and the establishment of clear business rules (systems and processes) for
future updates.
2
http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/webdav/site/flxsite/shared/Secretariat/2008_Framework_Business_Plan.p
df
3
http://en.wikipedia.org
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In summary the main focus of this report has been to review, edit and update the ’baseline
m-learning standards‘ used to facilitate mobile learning. To achieve this, the report
discussions have been aligned and focused on four key areas:




platforms
content delivery
content development
content support.
As was the view expressed by the original m-learning standards report author it is
important to ensure where reasonably possible:


Resources are compatible with baseline standards to assist in the delivery and to
reduce demands on memory, processor, and presentation.
Exploit the capabilities of more advanced delivery contexts to maximise quality and
usability, through adaptive delivery or by providing alternative versions of
resources that are optimised for a number of delivery contexts.
Adherence to these basic principles should facilitate the creation of m-learning resources
that are aligned with both national and international practices for mobile technology use.
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1 Introduction
Mobile learning, in general terms, incorporates within its scope a wide range of activities
that provide learners with convenient or contextualised opportunities to access and
engage in learning that includes some form of interaction with mobile technology. A
number of approaches to mobile learning capitalise on the aspect of ’mobility of the
learner‘ in combination with established teaching and learning pedagogy. This shift
requires a change in how we consider complex interactions of teaching and learning and
the required philosophical changes required when using mobile technologies (software
and hardware). To date, many...
“…mobile applications still have a largely horizontal character, but new
developments and capabilities are beginning to show how certain vertical markets
can gain unique business benefits from mobility. The growth of mobility-enabled
applications is driven essentially by the same factors that are driving IT and
business process change, namely the need to be more responsive, optimize the
efficiency of staff resources, and shorten the cycle time of key processes
throughout their value chain.” (Drake and Ryan 2008).
Produced by the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible
Learning Framework (Framework), the scope of this report has been to focus on the
documenting of broad ‘baseline standards‘ for both the operating systems and device
technologies used in facilitating mobile learning of a high quality. Examples of mobile
platforms and devices now include – a range of operating systems, software and
hardware and devices such as the Smart phone4/iPhone5 and the Netbook6 (potentially
the Ultra mobile PC (UMPC) replacement technology).
The report and standards document have been broken up into four key areas:

platforms

content delivery

content development

content support.
For the purpose of differentiating mobile learning in general from the more specific
concept of ubiquitous digital learning, this document will refer to the term ‘m-learning’ to
describe activities within the scope as described above and will exclude the more
conventional devices such as PCs laptops and tablet PCs.
Due to the rate of technological change, this report now speaks of ’good practice‘ rather
than best practice.
4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Phone
5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphone
6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook
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2 The Need For M-learning Standards
The need for standards in m-learning has been well established by educators and
education support professionals over the last few years (Grohmann, Hofer and Martin
2005). The E-learning Guild’s August 2006 international survey on m-learning estimated
that by May 2007, over 40% of training organisations will be using mobile learning, with
the majority of this usage in tertiary institutions (E-learning Guild 2006). Furthermore,
some 77% of survey respondents identified reliability as the most important feature of mlearning – over speed, security, flexibility and interactivity.
Q23. Key Feature of Mobile
Learning
Yes, we currently deliver
learning through mobile
devices
No, but we will deliver learning
through mobile devices in the
next 12 months
Reliability
77%
80%
Speed
68%
75%
Security
61%
73%
Flexibility
56%
62%
Interactivity
42%
45%
Percentage of respondents identifying five key features as either ‘Extremely
Important’ or ‘Very Important’ (E-learning Guild 2006)
However, the survey also found that less than 7% of respondents reported belong to
organisations that currently have ‘very well’ or ‘highly developed’ best practices for
m-learning. This showed a significant gap between the number of organisations
implementing m-learning, and the number of organisations with established
implementation guidelines, and demonstrates an urgent need for the establishment of
standards and best practices in m-learning.
While the E-learning Guild survey’s respondents were mostly based in the USA, Australia
has a comparable mobile device market. Australia has historically equalled or exceeded
the US in terms of mobile phone uptake (DCITA 2000), and has equal consumption of
other mobile digital technologies such as media players and personal digital assistants
(PDAs). This position has changed particularly in context of the convergence of PDAs,
media/audio players and the current trend in mobile phone handsets i.e. Smart phones.
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The E-learning Guild has since resurveyed its membership in 20087 and some of the key
findings suggest that there have been some key movements across a range of areas
where standards (both generic baseline and proprietary) can support. For example:







20.2% of Guild member’s use Podcasts sometimes or often and 17.3% use
m-learning sometimes or often in their organisations.
Members with seven or more year’s experience in e-learning use podcasts 33%
more often and m-learning 25.6% more often than members with six or fewer
year’s experience.
Asia Pacific leads all geographic regions in m-learning adoption, with 21.4% of
members using m-learning sometimes or often. Canada lags with 10.7%.
37.5% of Guild members completing the m-learning survey indicate they plan to do
more m-learning in the next 12 months.
Blackberry is the most popular development platform with 46.6% of Guild members
that plan to implement m-learning targeting Blackberry devices. Windows Mobile is
next with 26.9% followed by the iPhone with 15.2%.
81.4% of Guild members that have implemented m-learning have seen
improvement in learner/user access and availability.
59.4% of Guild members that have implemented m-learning have seen improved
user performance.
2.1 An Activity-Based Methodology
To define appropriate standards and best practices for m-learning, the first stage was to
identify the learning activities associated with the practice of m-learning. By doing this, a
learner-centric standards model was developed to support the known activities of teachers
and learners, rather than a more generic standards model.
For example, a generic standards model might have addressed the provision of ‘audio’ as
an important standard where as an activity analysis of m-learning shows that one of the
primary activities of m-learning is the use of podcasts, which are (almost entirely) speechbased. This understanding of an m-learning activity then necessitates the documentation
of m-learning standards that primarily support the recording and delivery of speech-based
audio resources, rather than audio more generally. The importance of this distinction from
a technical implementation point of view will become more apparent when the appropriate
format for audio together with other standards that are highlighted within this report.
2.2 Consultation and Review with Peer Group
The purpose of the peer consultation and review phase has been to gather and present
the findings of the literature review and incorporate feedback as at October 2008 from
Australian and international m-learning practitioners mobile content experts and
associated support professionals for debate and refinement to overcome the limitations of
a theoretical research approach to a very practical area such as teaching and learning.
7
http://www.elearningguild.com/research/archives/index.cfm?action=viewonly2&id=132&referer=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww%2Eelearningguild%2Ecom%2Fresearch%2Farchives%2Findex%2Ecfm%3Faction%3Dview%26fro
mpage%3D1%26StartRow%3D1%26MaxRows%3D40%26selection%3Ddoc%2E30
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2.3 Review of Current Literature
Utilising this activity-based model of m-learning, a further literature review was conducted
to expand the accumulated body of knowledge of good practice from educators and
technical specialists that informs the development of standards and good practice in
m-learning.
3 Literature Review Methodology
The literature review phase involved first determining the relevant issues for review and
looking at how they could be used to update the m-learning standards. Additions to the
original report authors selected bibliography together with a series of footnotes have been
applied as part of the literature review relating to m-learning activities, resource
development, technical standards and human use issues.
3.1 Identification of M-Learning Activities
The initial report utilised the exploration of m-learning activities were via a learner-centric
activity model of m-learning (Low and O'Connell 2006). Using this model as a baseline in
conjunction with the research into m-learning activities that other educators have worked
with and recorded the following has been developed and provided. The original report
identified and categorised a large number of m-learning activities (see Appendix 1). This
aspect has been expanded to include a number of case study examples (see Appendix 2)
that have been documented to provide examples of how some of these technologies have
been used.
3.2 Analysing Activities to Determine Criteria
These documented activities have been categorised according to a criterion that includes:
 the data files and formats required to support the activities
 the hardware or software that may impact
 aspects of usability and access
 operating environment/conditions i.e. how they are being used/applied in practice.
These technical and human aspects of m-learning have formed the basis of the criteria
used for researching and recommending the standards set out within this report.
3.3 Researching Existing Standards And Practices
The extensive literature review of the derived standards criteria involved the recording of
all publications referenced, and how these related to particular criteria identified as
requiring development of standards. The original researchers have used over 200
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reference sources with the review researchers adding significantly to this number so as to
make some educated judgements on aspects of the standards developed8.
3.4 Analysing Technology Deployment Changes
The device capabilities of mobile technologies are more uniform than ever, and more
flexible in terms of adding and/or developing software etc with many technology suppliers
providing downloadable Software Development Kits (SDKs). Other examples of
technology deployment include:

If a PDA is missing a codec9, for example, it is usually possible to either install the
required codec to operate with existing media player software, or install a new
player that is able to handle the required codec. Mobile and Smart phones can
also now be more easily user upgraded but are sometimes subject to propriety
arrangements. For example, the ability to install applications or to update
operating system software such as the Mac OS X (iPhone) Symbian (Nokia),
Windows Mobile (Microsoft) and the impending release of Android10 (Google) and
the various supporting applications.
Two useful tables comparing the various ‘Smart phones’ and ‘networks and connectivity’
have been referred to in Appendix 3.
3.5 M-Learning Standards Overview
The development of m-learning standards and good practices must continue to address
issues affecting the creation, delivery, interoperability, and discovery of mobile learning
resources. In the investigation of these issues, equity and accessibility issues should also
be given consideration, to reduce barriers to those accessing m-learning content. For
example W3C11 have released its Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 Basic Guidelines - W3C
Recommendation 29 July 2008 for those who are delivering web content to mobile
devices. It should be noted that these are expressed as ’guidelines‘ only. There are other
usability and accessibility considerations that need to be considered by practitioners such
as learners with varying levels of language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) and social and
economic conditions which are outside the scope of this report.
4 Current Design, Development and Implementation
of Mobile Content
8
The reason for this is as because it was documented in version 1.0 of the report and the very short review
timelines given to the consultant as part of the review of the m-learning standards in 2008.
9
A codec is any technology for compressing and decompressing data. Codecs can be implemented in
software, hardware, or a combination of both. Some popular codecs for computer video include MPEG
10
http://code.google.com/android/
11
http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/
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4.1 M-learning Life Cycle
Like all learning, m-learning should be educationally designed on the basis of:
 sound teaching and learning theory
 development of appropriate teaching and learning activities
 implementation in accordance with standards and best practices (Low and
O'Connell 2006).
The educational design of m-learning can still be achieved using existing teaching and
learning theory; the opportunities presented by m-learning enable a full range of
pedagogies to be adopted by educationalists designing m-learning. An understanding of
the relevant formats, codecs and containers used to support learning activities becomes
more important as learning activities are developed. The continual updating of their
understanding has become an important issue for m-learning resource developers and
teaching practitioners.
4.2 Issues for Broader Implementation of M-learning
Although a number of issues and good practices for the implementation of m-learning may
be derived from parallels with the development of computer-based training (‘e-learning’) a
decade ago, the mobile platform has different strengths and weaknesses compared to a
desktop or web platform. For example, screen resolution means video or text content
needs to be reformatted to suit the mobile device, the devices processing capabilities,
storage capacity and screen format. If the device or the user has the ability to swap the
display from portrait to landscape, is the information still clear enough to easily view or
downloadable. As a number of the mobile device challenges such as display resolutions,
storage, memory and processor capacities, and conflict of hardware and software
platforms and standards of the past are rapidly disappearing issues such as equity,
usability and accessibility are slowly being overcome.
Anytime we are expecting learners to use these devices for as long as they might use a
web page, then we do not understand how people use and interact with mobile
technology. This raises particular issues such as the human interactions and technical
aspects surrounding the use of mobile devices for remote connectivity such as the mobile
web12.
This is supported by Daoudi Najima and Ajhoun Rachida (2008) who say:
“The exploitation of technological advances in learning has resulted in an
exponential progress in this field through e-learning applications in the last decade,
and currently through the emergence of a new concept called m-learning... m12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Web
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learning must benefit from e-learning technological advances in order to avoid
reinventing the wheel. Nevertheless,
m-learning, which is characterized by the use of mobile devices, permits, for
example, the learners' mobility during their learning, and, as opposed to e-learning,
allows a continuous change of the context.
Moreover, m-learning faces some constraints caused by the use of its mobile
technologies such as the limited screen size, reduced energy, resolution capacity
and location change during an activity. Yet, there is an agreement among most
research laboratories interested in e- and m- learning on the parallel use of these
two learning environments.
Therefore, it would be more sensible to allow communication and exchanges, to
facilitate the sharing of learning subject matters and data between the two
environments and thereby to avoid the reproduction of contents that already exist.
In other words, an educational heritage which is exploitable independently of the
environment of its development must be created. The utilisation of standards can
offer pedagogical contents some structures which facilitate the interchangeability
between e and m- learning.”
Access to data from mobile devices has in the past 12 months improved significantly
within Australia with greater market penetration of the 3G13 (third generation of mobile
phone standards and technology) network infrastructure and device availability. There are
still however some limitations, particularly in the context of the technical aspects i.e. not all
telecommunication providers yet have sufficient 3G infrastructure and coverage) and the
economic constraints i.e. Australian data plans continue to be relatively expensive. This
means that content needs to be built with this mobile constraint in mind.
The speed at which mobile devices can currently access networked data wirelessly
continues to be below the speeds achievable using cabled network connections. As speed
is improving, particularly in context of the current 3G network in Australia, it is envisaged
that this will continue into the near future with technologies such as Long Term Evolution14
(LTE) - a technology that should allow for speeds over 200Mbit/s and WiMax15. Ericsson
has already demonstrated LTE peak rates of about 150Mbit/s which means that it already
meets key 4G requirements.
13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G (viewed 25 October 2008)
14
http://www.ericsson.com/technology/whitepapers/lte_overview.pdf
15
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/WiMax-has-here-and-now-advantage-overLTE/0,130061791,339288112,00.htm
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4.3 Meeting Mobile Consumer Requirements
As shown in the diagram below, the statistics suggest that over 80% of all new mobile
phone connections are Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications, the most
common standard for mobile phones in the world. Over 40% of subscribers found within
the Asia Pacific region.
“The ubiquity of the GSM standard has been an advantage to both consumers
(who benefit from the ability to roam and switch carriers without switching phones)
and also to network operators (who can choose equipment from any of the many
vendors implementing GSM. GSM also pioneered a low-cost (to the network
carrier) alternative to voice calls, the Short message service (SMS, also called
"text messaging"), which is now supported on other mobile standards as well.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gsm)
Source http://www.gsmworld.com/news/statistics/pdf/gsma_stats_q2_08.pdf
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As shown in the diagram below it is anticipated that global “broadband subscriptions are
expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2012. Around two-thirds of these consumers will use
mobile broadband. Mobile data traffic is expected to overtake voice traffic in 2010, which
will place high requirements on mobile networks today and in the future” (Ericsson 2007).
Source http://www.ericsson.com/technology/whitepapers/lte_overview.pdf
Also interesting to note but not surprising is that “Packet data traffic started to exceed
voice traffic during May 2007 as an average world in 3G (WCDMA16 networks) as shown
below. This is mainly due to the introduction of HSPA17 in the networks. In many cases,
mobile broadband can compete with fixed broadband on price, performance, security and,
of course, convenience” (Ericsson 2007).
16
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCDMA
17
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Speed_Packet_Access
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Source http://www.ericsson.com/technology/whitepapers/lte_overview.pdf
Further evidence of growth and market maturity is found within a posting on
http://mlearning.edublogs.org who say that:
“…an annual study conducted by the University of Adelaide and mobile phone
company m.Net as part of a larger international study, the number of Australians
(aged between 18 and 50) using their mobile phone to access the internet has
doubled in the last twelve months to 40%. In addition, 60% of respondents citing
improved mobile services and lower mobile internet data costs as being a reason
to change mobile carriers.
The researchers believe these figures indicate the tipping point has been reached
for Mobile Data Services (MDS) in Australia, with the use of MDS to become
commonplace in the next 6 to 12 months.
I imagine that with a critical mass of consumers willing to change mobile carriers
for lower mobile data costs, mobile carriers will need to price mobile data more
competitively in the near future; which would, of course, entice even more mobile
phone owners to start using mobile data services.
This is great news for mobile learning in Australia, and the good news for
educators in the United States is that the international study also found that while
the US still lags behind Australia in the use of MDS, it’s closing the gap…”
(Reported in The Australian IT via Mobile Marketing Watch) and sourced from
http://mlearning.edublogs.org/2008/04/18/mobile-internet-the-tipping-pointreaches-oz/
Recommendations on standards for delivery formats need to take into account the ability
of created content to be exchanged with (and accessed on) an ever increasing range of
mobile and non-mobile devices and systems. An example of this is the ’mobile web‘ where
there is no need for a fixed network/landline connection and the number and evolution of
related operating systems18, markup languages (see diagram below) and SDKs.
18
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system (viewed 25 October 2008)
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Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mobile_Web_Standards_Evolution_Vector.svg
It needs to be noted that m-learning content is not just delivered on, but may also be
created using mobile devices, eg using a phone camera or PDA sound recorder (Waters
2006), although there are some formats that are well established as de-facto standards
i.e. almost all photo capable mobile devices save images in the JPEG format (Wikipedia
2006a) mobile devices rarely provide the user with many choices on how content is
formatted.
In particular, the containers and codecs19 employed for recording of video and audio vary
widely between mobile digital devices, and it would be ineffectual to demand strict
adherence to any set of recording standards for certain types of mobile media in these
circumstances.
Generally, what is important is to have high quality content that can be adapted to suit
each mobile device platform and takes into account possible limitations of the final
playback device. The particular circumstances in each case are discussed in more detail
in the appropriate sections that follow.
4.4 Mobile Platform Strengths and Weaknesses
The mobile platform has different strengths and weaknesses compared to a desktop or
standard web platform. For example screen resolution means video or text content needs
to be reformatted to suit the mobile device, the devices processing capabilities, storage
capacity and screen format. Additionally the quantity of text and duration of the
video/audio have to be considered carefully too.
19
A codec is a device or program capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream or signal.
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To help overcome some of these aspects. mobi20 is a top-level domain approved by
ICANN21 and managed by the mTLD global registry that provides the internet to mobile
devices via the Mobile Web. It is reported to be backed and sponsored by a number of
large organisations including; Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson, Vodafone, TMobile, Telefónica Móviles, Telecom Italia Mobile, Orascom Telecom, GSM Association,
Hutchison Whampoa, Syniverse Technologies and Visa.
It is understood that dotMobi have engaged with the W3C Mobile Web Initiative (MWI)22 to
help formulate the MWI Best Practices for mobile content. mTLD has also released a free
testing tool called Ready.mobi23 to analyse the mobile readiness of websites. It does a
free page analysis and gives what is called a .mobi Ready score from 1 to 5. The report
tests the mobile readiness of the site using dotMobi's recommended best practices.
Some recent research papers that are relevant here to highlight some of the challenges
and opportunities are:
Paper 1: Effects of Aging and Display Contrast on the Legibility of Characters on
Mobile Phone Screens (Hasegawa, Miyao, Matsunuma, Fujikake and Omori 2008)
“The use of text email with short message service (SMS) is spreading ... we
evaluated the legibility of characters on the liquid crystal displays of mobile
phones. When characters are small, younger people assure readability by
shortening the viewing distance. However, elderly people find it far more difficult to
see small characters. Moreover, legibility deteriorates as the contrast of display
becomes lower.”
Paper 2: User Interface Cultures of Mobile Knowledge Workers (Mannonen 2008)
“Information and communication tools (ICTs) have become a major influencer of
how modern work is carried out. Methods of user-centered design do not however
take into account the full complexity of technology and the user interface context
the users live in. User interface culture analysis aims providing to designers new
ways and strategies to better take into account the current user interface
environment when designing new products. This paper describes the reasons
behind user interface culture analysis and shows examples of its usage when
studying mobile and distributed knowledge workers.”
Paper 3: Personalisation and User Profile Management (Bartolomeo, Petersen and
Pluke 2008)
Personalisation and effective user profile management will be critical to meet the
individual users’ needs and for achieving e-Inclusion and e-Accessibility. This
paper outlines means to achieve the goal of the new ICT era where services and
devices can be personalized by the users in order to meet their needs and
preferences, in various situations. Behind every instance of personalisation is a
20
http://mtld.mobi/
21
http://www.icann.org/
22
http://www.w3.org/Mobile/
23
http://ready.mobi/launch.jsp?locale=en_EN
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profile that stores the user preferences, context of use and other information that
can be used to deliver a user experience tailored to their individual needs and
preferences. Next Generation Networks (NGN) and the convergence between
telephony and Internet services offer a wide range of new terminal and service
definition possibilities, and a much wider range of application in society. This paper
describes the personalisation and profile management activities at European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Technical Committee Human
Factors, together with relevant experimentations in recent European research
projects.
Paper 4: mLearning, the First Step in the Learning Process Revolution (Conde,
Muñoz and García 2008)
The learning process is subject to continuous changes due to the changing needs
of users. These changes are most often accompanied by new technologies which
are constantly appearing in our modern computerized society. The Internet has
allowed the optimization of the learning process through supported learning
platforms, in addition to this, the dissemination of mobile devices such as PDAs
allows for a new stage in this process, mLearning. This is based on the ability of
the user to access their course information at any time and place without the
restriction of needing to have a computer in their possession, this along with other
characteristics will determine the direction of ubiquitous learning.
4.5 Mobile Devices and Content Formats
The 2008 Mobile standards report includes a range of technologies that have previously
not been included in the 2006 report. This is due to a number of factors including the lack
of availability in 2006 of this technology at that time. Amongst these are the Netbook
computers, small, low cost (under AUD$500) laptops, typically with screen sizes below 10
inches and running either a GNU/Linux or MS XP Home Edition platform. It is estimated
that “…sales of about 5.2 million globally this year, rising to eight million in 200924”.
During 2008, these computers have begun to be incorporated into learning delivery in
Australia and have been piloted in some states and territories, including Tasmania and
New South Wales 25. Internationally they are becoming one of the preferred mobile
computing platforms for educational programs due to their increased portability and a
higher functionality than smaller mobile options such as PDAs.
Apple iPod26 devices continue to position themselves strongly in the mobile learning area
world wide, with support coming from educators and trainers, and through case studies.
24
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/217917/netbook-sales-to-top-50-million-by-2012.html
25
http://sites.google.com/site/situatedlearning/
26
Apple iPod Education
http://www.apple.com/education/itunesu_mobilelearning/ipod.html
Educational profiles for iPods
http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/
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Although mobile phones are popular in Australia, some limitations to their full use in
education and training still remain, including provider data plan costs for students, phone
screen ‘real estate’ and attitudes to mobile phones in schools and colleges.
5 Mobile Platforms
Mobile delivery platforms were more diverse in 2008 than ever before. In this section a
range of specific mobile technologies have been identified that are of importance to
current and future requirements of m-learning.
Technology is changing. Where PDAs and mobile phones used to be considered new
e-learning tools, the technology used in these devices is now considered standard. The
authors of this review acknowledge that while technologies such as PDAs and mobile
phones are still owned and used by educationalists around Australia, they are increasingly
being superseded by other mobile technologies.
The technology identified within this review includes most technologies that were included
in the 2006 edition, but this review seeks to expand on the initial detail provided and
includes new platforms that were either not available during the first production of the
standards or not at a stage of mainstream use.
The delivery platforms identified in this document are divided into ‘devices’ and
‘operational pathways’.
Examples of devices
Device type
Example image
Mobile phones
Smart phones
PDAs
iPods in the classroom
http://www.apple.com/au/education/ipod/lessons/
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Digital media players
Mobile gaming devices
UMPCs
Tablet PCs
Netbook computers
Examples of operational pathways
Operational pathway
Context defined
Mobile web
The mobile web refers to accessing the World Wide Web using a
mobile device (such as mobile/Smart phone, PDA) or other portable
technology (such as a Netbook), without a cabled connection.
RFID
(radio frequency
identification)
An automatic identification method that relies on storing and
retrieving data using devices called RFID tags. The technology
requires an RFID reader and a RFID tag.
NFC
(near field
communication)
A short-range high frequency wireless communication technology
that enables the exchange of data between devices over short
distances (1 to 2 cm). The technology is an extension of RFID
technology.
QR Barcodes
Provides high capacity encoding of data that is capable of storing
and handling large quantities and types of data such numeric and
alphabetic characters.
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5.1 Mobile Phones and Smart Phones
As a result of to the advances in mobile technology over the last two years, considerable
updating and expansion of information under this heading has been required. The mobile
phone is currently the most ubiquitous portable communications technology available. In
mid 2007, mobile phone services in Australia began to out number the population, with
21.26 million mobile phone services in use (ACMA Communications Report 2006–2007).
Mobile phones now come in many forms, models and brands, making it increasingly
difficult to formulate a standard definition for a mobile phone. These days, most mobile
phones have a broad range of functionalities, for example

they can offer access to the internet, web browsing, email, Global Positioning
System (GPS) tracking, multimedia messaging (MMS), SMS, still image capture
and video

they often have wireless functionality such as Bluetooth and WLAN

new or emerging additions like NFC and QR barcode functionality (these are
detailed later).
Mobile phones that have multiple functionality, such as that described above, are often
referred to as Smart phones.
The current operating systems used by mobile phones vary depending on model and
manufacturer (See Appendix 3).
5.2 PDAs
While PDAs are considerably less widespread than mobile phones, there are situations
where their slightly larger screens (than standard mobile phones) and flexible software
options make them a preferred device for enabling digital m-learning.
From 2006 through to the review of these standards in 2008, manufacturers gradually
moved away from using the standard PDA platform to using Smart phones and integrated
portable digital devices, including portable gaming technologies. However, because the
standard PDA platform is still available on the market and used within organisations, it will
continue to be a useful mobile delivery device for learning in the near to medium future.
5.3 UMPCs and Tablet PCs
A UMPC is a fully functional computer now mostly running a Microsoft Windows Vista
platform. The UMPC has all the functionality of a standard Tablet PC but in a more
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compact package, usually with a standard 7” screen. Second generation UMPCs27 28 are
still in circulation but current pricing and competition with the cheaper Netbooks is limiting
their popularity for learning applications.
A Tablet PC29 is a notebook or slate-shaped mobile computer, equipped with a touch
screen or graphics tablet/screen hybrid technology. This allows the user to operate the
computer’s touch screen with a stylus or a finger touch instead of a connected keyboard
or mouse. It offers a more mobile way to interact with a computer and Tablet PCs are
often used where a conventional notebook is impractical.
Most Tablet PCs run either MS XP tablet edition or Vista based operating systems; all
allow for direct screen input via a handheld stylus and keyboard. Platform considerations
are similar to the UMPC.
5.4 Netbooks
Netbooks are small, light laptops that are usually defined by their size, often having a
small screen under 10 inches and weighing around 1kg. They can run open source (eg
Linux) or proprietary (eg Microsoft XP) operating systems.
In 2008, some emerging Netbooks were shipped without a standard operating system,
they ran by loading their drivers to a Smart phone, and could then be used as a standard
computer. Examples like these support remote desktop, virtualisation and other cloudbased (i.e. mobile web based) environments (Perez 2008).
Additionally by mid-2009 it is predicted that a new range of very portable and low cost
Netbooks will be available that run proprietary Microsoft Windows 7 or Linux, with touch
screen (known as multi-touch) capability (Taylor 2008).
Netbooks are usually low cost and often retail below AUD$500. According to Gartner30
Netbooks will hit sales of about 5.2 million globally this year, rising to eight million in 2009.
Gartner claims that around 50 million of the ‘smaller form’ devices could be shipped in
2012.
5.5 Portable Digital Media Players
The market for portable digital media players is roughly divided into two sectors:
inexpensive, lightweight audio-only players with low memory capacities; and high-end
27
http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/29/meet-the-second-generation-of-umpcs-shoulda-been-first/
28
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9822055-1.html
29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_PC
30
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/217917/netbook-sales-to-top-50-million-by-2012.html
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multimedia players featuring colour screens, video and photo capabilities, and larger
memory capacities. Market forces and changes in available technology tend to suggest
that this divide is slowly changing. For example colour screens and video playback is now
relatively inexpensive on mobile devices. ‘No name’ brands are now under AUD$100 and
Apple has the iPod Nano for AUD$20031, with decent storage sizes and colour video
playback.
Current reductions in standard memory costs have meant a decrease in overall costs for
many devices at the high end; additionally more models are becoming available with
increased memory capacities, colour screens and video playback at the lower end of the
market.
These devices are also increasingly becoming a fundamental component of converged
technology, such as the Smart phones.
5.6 Mobile Gaming Devices
Mobile gaming is an increasingly popular technology. In the last few weeks of 2007
Australians spent over $1.3 billion on electronic games, mobile gaming being the preferred
platform, with over 2.3 million units selling for one mobile device manufacturer in 2007
alone (http://news.com.au 2008).
Mobile gaming machines over the last few years have been an important device in the
delivery of learning, including the resurgence of one brand on the back of ‘brain training’
educational programs32.
All well known mobile gaming platforms are proprietary and therefore require applicable
Software Development Kits (SDK)33.
5.7 Removable Storage Memory Formats
A number of flash memory card formats are currently in commercial use, enabling the
expansion of internal storage capabilities in mobile devices as well as the exchange of
information between compatible mobile devices. Leading Flash memory formats currently
include:

MultiMedia Card (MMC)

Secure Digital (SD) Card family, including MiniSD and TransFlash

Sony MemoryStick family, including MemoryStickDuo

xD Card

CompactFlash.
The potential storage capacities and prices of all of these formats are roughly equivalent,
commonly allowing 2-4GB of external storage, and as much as 16GB. However, the lack
31
http://store.apple.com/au
32
http://wirededucator.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/nintendo-ds-as-a-learning-tool-in-schools/
33
http://ps2dev.org/psp/Projects/PSPSDK
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of cross-compatibility of most memory card formats can, however, reduce the deployment
and exchange of memory cards. Furthermore, the size of some full-size memory cards
can make them unsuitable for use in mobile devices where designers actively aim to
reduce all dimensions of those devices – particularly mobile phones.
The cost of flash memory has significantly reduced since the original 2007 report, making
it a useful and viable consideration for data storage in mobile devices. Although some
constraints do exist, they are far outweighed by the benefits eg portability and low cost.
Constant advances in this technology continue, such as those by SanDisk Corporation
and Toshiba Corporation who have co-developed Multi-Level (MLC) NAND flash memory
using 43 nanometre process technology34.
5.8 Reduced-Size Memory Formats
To reduce the dimensions of digital devices, four reduced-size memory card formats are
currently widely implemented in mobile phones and many Smart phones:

Mini-SD cards which can be adapted to be read in full-size SD Card readers and
products 35.

Micro-SD (Transflash) cards which can be adapted to be read in Mini-SD and fullSize SD Card readers and products.

Sony MemoryStick Duo cards which operate only in Sony-based mobile phones,
but can be adapted to also be read in other Sony products.

Reduced Size MultiMedia Card (RS-MMC) cards which can be adapted to be read
in MMC and full-size SD Card readers and products.
These formats generally sacrifice the increased potential memory capacities available in
larger flash memory cards for reduced size and portability more suited to the smaller
physical size of mobile phones.
6 Mobile Content Development
6.1 Mobile Audio
Mobile audio is identified as a commonly currently utilised medium for delivery of
m-learning. Audio is also the most pervasive of all of the media, and can be readily
deployed to personal digital media devices, such as iPods, PDAs, and even mobile
phones. In fact, every one of the 16 devices listed in the E-learning Guild’s survey of
mobile devices supports some form of digital audio playback (E-learning Guild 2006).
Even the Sony Reader, designed and marketed as an textual e-book reader, can play
both MPEG-1 Layer 3 (MP3) and Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) files (Sony 2006c).
34
http://www.physorg.com/news121535769.html
35
http://www.sdcard.org/developers/tech/
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A consideration when formulating standards is the number of audio implementation.
“According to one developer, there are 400 different implementations of audio in
mobile devices. This often means different versions of content must be produced
to adequately meet consumer demand, with substantial additional cost of
production and testing. It’s also practically impossible to test on 400 different
handsets…Exacerbating the problem, some of the mobile content format
standards are limited in scope.” (Mobile Audio Working Group of the Interactive
Audio Special Interest Group, 2007)36
6.2 Natural and Synthetic Audio
Audio file formats can be classified into natural audio (formats that support playback of
sounds originally captured by a recording device eg MP3, WMA, WAV) and synthetic
audio (where the sound is created from a synthesiser eg MIDI or Text-To-Speech)
(Seppanen 2004).
“One of the biggest drivers of change is the ability to use the cell phone as a
portable music player. Phones that play files in the MP3/WMA/AAC formats are
becoming more and more popular” (Mobile Audio Working Group of the
Interactive Audio Special Interest Group, 2007)
Synthetic audio is quite a niche area and no standards can be recommended for enabling
its use, apart from noting the widespread and long-established use of MIDI, and the
adoption of SP-MIDI and Mobile XMF as the chosen mobile synthetic audio codecs in the
3GPP standard for mobile phones (Seppanen 2004).
Text-to-speech, and accessibility considerations in general, are relatively rare in terms of
mobile software implementations. While there are software products that enable text-tospeech capabilities on mobile devices37, including PDAs and iPods (an asset for improving
the accessibility of mobile learning resources), the systems for enabling text-to-speech
functionality relate more closely to choice of hardware and software than any particular
text-to-speech standards.
6.3 Resolution and Compression
To store natural audio, the original analogue sound must be sampled into a digital form.
The more samples, the more detailed and accurate the digital copy. The resolution of
digital audio is measured in bit depth, sample rate, and channels (eg 16-bit, 44.1KHz,
Stereo).
The bit depth governs the accuracy of the sample and is analogous with the colour depth
of a video display,16-bit digital audio translates to 65,536 different values.
The third component of audio resolution is the number of channels. A stereo sound
contains two distinct channels, each one carrying sound differently. The greater the
number of channels, the more information required to reproduce a sound and the larger
36
http://www.iasig.org/pubs/mawg-rpt.pdf and http://www.odiogo.com/ (examples only)
37
http://www.digitalfuturesoft.com/dfttsmobilesdk.php
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the file. For example, a speech file may only require one channel (mono) to accurately
record or convey informational content.
Uncompressed sound files take up a lot of data storage space. To reduce the storage
requirements (data ‘weight’) of a sound file, digital audio is usually compressed,
particularly for mobile use. The compression of a sound file involves encoding it with a
compression algorithm. To read it on a delivery device, the device must support the same
compresser/decompressor (codec) algorithm to decode the compressed file.
In the process of encoding a file, some algorithms preserve all of the sound information
and are known as ‘lossless’ codecs. Other algorithms discard information about a sound;
such codecs are known as ‘lossy’ codecs, and are designed to be able to still sound
almost identical to their source files, despite saving considerable data storage space
(Sony 2006a). When a compressed file sounds almost identical to its original version, it is
said to be ‘transparent’.
The most common method of specifying how much a sound file is compressed is by
specifying the ‘bit rate’ of the compressed file. A higher bit-rate will improve the sound
quality, but will increase the size of the audio file (Sony 2006a). Some codecs are more
efficient than others and can provide better sound quality than others despite using a
lower bit rate.
Additionally, to save further data weight, some codecs have the ability to change how
many bits are used for different parts of a sound file, depending on the complexity of
sound at a given time; these codecs are known as Variable Bit Rate, or VBR sound files.
While VBR files are more efficient, VBR is not fully supported by all devices or protocols
(BVT 2003).
Common natural audio formats in mobile devices are MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3),
Windows Media Audio (WMA), WAV, Advanced Audio Codec (AAC), and Adaptive MultiRate (AMR)38.
6.4 Mobile Audio - Additional Considerations
The use of VBR encoding can assist in further reducing file size or increasing quality;
however, it should be noted that VBR may be unreadable by certain mobile platforms,
including older Apple iPods (Tempus Fugit 2005), so use of Constant Bit Rate (CBR)
encoding is recommended for improving compatibility.
Mobile devices have limited amplification power, so it is advisable to enhance the file’s
volume and range using the technique of peak normalisation.
Most compressed digital audio formats allow metadata (ID, ID3 or ID3v2 ‘tags’) to be
included with the audio. Many digital audio devices can both read and display this
metadata information, making it easier for learners to navigate and locate content. It is
38
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40248/1/Audio-Best_Practice.pdf
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recommended that the associated file metadata for each audio file be properly with at
least the following minimal data:

Title

Artist (Author)

Album (Collection)

If Album is not void, then also Track.
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7 Mobile Video Using Smart Phone, PDA or Mobile
Phone
Digital video generally consists of two major elements: a digital video track with a
synchronised, accompanying digital audio track. These components of the video are
known as data streams. Additional or alternate data streams can be present in a video
file; the various data streams are multiplexed, or ‘muxed’ together to present all of the
content in a single file (Sony 2006b). The textronix diagram overleaf shows how video
standards have evolved over a significant period of time39.
7.1 Resolution
The resolution of audio streams contained in a digital multimedia video file are governed
by the same factors affecting stand alone audio files, as described previously.
The resolution of the video screen is determined by its visual resolution – the number of
pixels that are used to render each frame, measured as width x height; and its temporal
resolution – how many frames are displayed each second (fps). The greater the visual
resolution, the more detailed the picture; the greater the temporal resolution, the smoother
the motion in the video.
Twenty-four (24) fps is the minimum frame-rate required to produce motion that appears
perfectly fluid to the human eye.
39
http://www.tektronix.com/video
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7.2 Compression
Each data stream within a video file can be independently compressed, such that the
amount of compression of the visual stream may be different to that used for the audio
stream (for example). As with audio compression, video compression usually results in a
loss of quality.
Compression codecs often have sub-features that modify their performance, resulting in a
large number of codec variants. However, it should be noted that some playback
hardware and software does not support certain codecs or sub-features of codecs. If an
encoded data stream cannot be properly decoded because the rendering platforms does
not understand it, it may ignore the extensions encountered, or even not render at all.
To identify and manage the various codecs and variants, most employ distinguishing
names and variants that describe extensions and enable the identification of which
features and parameters can be used in an applicable context.
For example, MPEG-4 video can be encoded using Simple or Advanced Simple profiles in
levels 0 to 5, and other video codecs include MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. MPEG-4 has many
implementations and extensions – for example, WMV9, H.264, DivX, XVid, and so on
(Sony 2006b).
7.3 Containers
The separate data streams are usually multiplexed (‘muxed’) into a single file by
embedding them in what is known as a container file. Examples of container file formats
include Audio Video Interleave (AVI), MPEG, and MPEG-4 (which is a standard that
defines video compression codecs as well as a container format and can be confusing).
7.4 Additional Considerations For Media Viewed On A Smart
Phone, PDA Or Mobile Phone
Some practitioners have advised of free and easy to use Windows-based tools for
creating videos and video slideshows, such as Windows Movie Maker40 and Microsoft
Photo Story41. These programs enable the creation of mobile content for a number of
applications, but only export in Windows Media Video (WMV) format. WMV is a
proprietary standard and will not play in most non-Windows environments. If platform
interoperability is desirable, WMV videos can, however, be easily converted to other video
formats such as those just described in the section Compression above.
40
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/default.mspx
41
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/PhotoStory/default.mspx
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8 Mobile Photography
Camera phones are increasingly becoming the most widely used general imaging device
available, although current research indicates that users still prefer to use their standard
digital camera as their main imaging device (Infotrends 2007).
A recent 2008 Australian survey of 1,500 demographically representative participants has
revealed that camera phone ownership increased from 44% in 2007 to 66% in 2008
amongst individuals. It should be noted however that the same survey also found that the
use of the camera phone by individuals as a camera actually reduced slightly over the
same period (PMA Australia 2008).
The efficient compression of the JPEG format for storing files means that the predominant
image format for storing photographic images on mobile phones remains JPEG. JPEG is
also widely regarded as the standard for web photographic images and is compatible with
almost all mobile image viewing devices, including PDAs, mobile phones, compatible
iPods, and other media players, and is also compatible with the 2008 W3C Mobile Web
Best Practice Guidelines 1.042.
8.1 Document Publication
When creating documents for viewing on mobile devices, the limitations of these devices
still needs to be considered, particularly in terms of screen size. In the future this may
change as more devices with larger screens, such as the iPhone, find their way onto the
market.
Almost all PDAs and Smart phones have the ability to view documents created in
Microsoft Word; all other devices in these categories have the ability to read, but not edit,
Microsoft Word documents, and the ability to view Word documents is increasingly
common in mobile phones. Unfortunately, cross-platform support for other file formats,
including RTF, is not known at this time, due to insufficient data.
42
http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/
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Furthermore, many PDAs and Smart phones have the ability to read Adobe PDF
documents, either natively or through the installation of free software. However, it should
be noted that PDF documents that have been created using an optical scanning, nonOCR (Optical Character Recognition) process may be stored as, effectively, large image
files. PDFs for mobile delivery should therefore be created from an electronic source as
tagged text.
9 Interactive Media
9.1 Flash Lite
Flash Lite was originally developed by Macromedia (now Adobe) in 2003 to run Flashbased rich content on the latest generation of mobile devices. There are two main
implementations used by Flash Lite enabled devices, stand-alone and browser-based.
In the ‘stand-alone’ model, Flash Lite exists as a separate media application. This is more
suitable for larger applications and games due to greater access to processor power
(Sony 2006d). Most mobile devices require vendor installation to provide stand-alone
Flash player capability; however, PDAs and Smart phones using the Windows Mobile 6.1
operating system may install the latest Flash Lite player (version 2.0) which will also
enable stand-along player capability on those devices.
In the ‘browser-based’ model, Flash Lite runs as a ‘plug in’ within the mobile web browser.
This is better suited to simple web content, games or animations, as it exhibits slower
frame rate and [poorer] screen quality when compared to the stand-alone version (Sony
2006d).
Flash Lite 3 is the current version, however this version may not be compatible with all
mobile technologies yet. Flash Lite 3 allows developers to quickly create engaging mobile
applications, and increase customer adoption. (Adobe, 2008)43.
Note: W3C mobile web best practices will fail a mobile web page that delivers any
embedded object, including a Flash file, to a device that does not support it.
43
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashlite/
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10 Mobile Content Support
10.1 Accessibility
Accessibility guidelines for the mobile web are addressed by the W3C Mobile Web Best
Practices guidelines. They stipulate that while resources may be made to adapt so as to
take best advantage of the capabilities of a particular device or platform, whatever method
is used should not diminish the accessibility of the content (W3C 2008a).
10.2 Content Packaging
A number of Australian and international projects have been investigating the deployment
of learning objects on mobile devices. In particular, the Framework’s QTImPlayer44 has
had some success in the packaging and deployment of questions and tests conforming
with IMS Question and Test Interoperability (IMS QTI) specifications. In 2007, a
Framework project extended the QTImPlayer for use with PDAs45.The latest version of the
QTImPlayer will run using Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 5.0 and 6.0.
10.3 Metadata
The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) offers this definition.
“Metadata is structured information that is created specifically to describe another
resource. It provides basic information such as the author, the date of creation and
the subject matter of the item described. Metadata can be compared to a library
catalogue record that facilitates discovery of a particular work by providing
information such as title, author, publisher, subject, description of the work,
location, etc…Metadata can also be used to organise, store and retrieve items for
information management purposes. The advantage of using a metadata standard
is that data sets will interoperate with other sets that use the same standard.
Metadata standards within the international education community there are two key
metadata standards: the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) and IEEE LOM
v.10 metadata.” (EDNA, 2008)
Developing web content for mobile devices is more challenging than developing for
the desktop web. Compared to desktop Web clients, mobile web devices come in a
much wider range of shapes, sizes and capabilities. The mobile web developer
relies upon accurate device descriptions in order to dynamically adapt content to
suit the client. (W3C 2006d)
The following framework was originally informed by a speculative analysis of existing W3C
Mobile Web Initiative activities and publications, as well as the work of the W3C Device
Independence Workgroup.
44
http://flexiblelearning.net.au/qti2007
45
http://qti2007.flexiblelearning.net.au/qtimplayer/html/faq.html
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The W3C metadata system for the mobile web appears to be firming up with Device
Description Repository Simple API W3C Proposed Recommendation September 2008. It
deals with web content delivered to mobile devices with benefits identified as
“…being tailored to take into account a range of factors such as screen size,
markup language support and image format support.” (W3C 2008)
Additionally W3C Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 Basic Guidelines46 have now included
metadata under classes of products (section 6.1) which applies to one class of product content delivered to a mobile device as part of the delivery protocol (W3C, 2008).
Vetadata is the VET system's official metadata application profile, based on the IEEE LOM
standard. Vetadata aims to improve interoperability and discovery of educational
resources across the VET system. Documentation can be found at:
http://e-standards.flexiblelearning.net.au/vetadata/index.htm.
10.4 Java
The Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME)47
“…provides a robust, flexible environment for applications running on mobile and
other embedded devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants
(PDAs) and other Java capable devices. Java ME includes flexible user interfaces,
robust security, built-in network protocols and support for networked and offline
applications that can be downloaded dynamically. Applications based on Java ME
are portable across many devices, yet leverage each device's native capabilities.”
(Sun, 2008)
Native Java support in Microsoft Windows Mobile devices still has some challenges but
there are Java Virtual Machines which claim to run on Windows Mobile. For example
Mysaifu JVM is a Java Virtual Machine which runs on Windows Mobile48. It is free
software under the GPLv2 (GNU Public License Version 2).
Java should still be considered as a viable development platform for both PDAs and
mobile phones.
46
http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/
47
http://java.sun.com/javame/index.jsp
48
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~dat/java/project/jvm/index_en.html
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10.5 Ajax
The term Ajax represents a broad group of web technologies that can be used to
implement a web application that communicates with a server in the background, without
interfering with the current state of the page.
In the case of the mobile web, it is in effect a web browser that is capable of interpreting
(X)HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and capable of communicating with servers using the
XMLHttpRequest function, are able to combine these technologies and provide users with
interactive web pages – a combination popularly referred to as AJAX (Opera 2005).
A number of mobile phone, Smart phone and PDA mobile web browsers feature built-in
support for AJAX; with web browsers such as the popular Opera Mobile browser 49
available for download to any mobile phone supporting J2ME (Opera 2008). Continuing
development is occurring in this technology.
Handling of embedded scripts is supported in some mobile phones and PDAs.
Note: W3C mobile web best practices will fail a mobile web page that delivers any script to
a device that does not support it.
10.6 CSS
Cascading style sheets (CSS) support for mobile devices is challenging, with a number of
manufacturers having their own standards. It appears that a reliable way to present the
mobile style sheet is to use the <link> element. Another reason to use the link style sheets
(for all styles and all devices) is that the mobile technologies don't have to download linked
style sheets they don't need - an important saving over tight bandwidth.
Some current phones apply ’screen‘ styles as well as ’mobile’ styles, others ignore both. It
is recommended that simple style sheets are used, as small screen sizes mean they are
limited in what you can achieve anyway.
W3C Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Revision 1 (CSS 2.1) Specification50 has developed
a specification that defines CSS 2.1 as a style sheet language that allows authors and
users to attach style (eg fonts and spacing) to structured documents (eg HTML documents
and XML applications). By separating the presentation style of documents from the
content of documents, CSS 2.1 simplifies web authoring and site maintenance.
CSS Mobile Profile 2.0 W3C Candidate Recommendation 1 August 200851 has released
its specification that defines a general a subset of CSS 2.1 that is to be considered a
baseline for interoperability between implementations of CSS on constrained devices (eg
mobile phones). Its intent is to ensure that implementations, due to platform limitations
49
http://www.operamini.com/
50
http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/CR-CSS21-20070719/
51
http://www.w3.org/TR/css-mobile/
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that cannot support the entire specification, implement a common subset that is
interoperable not only amongst constrained implementations but also with complete ones.
Additionally, this specification aligns itself as much as possible with the OMA Wireless
CSS 1.1 Specification. At the same time, OMA is continuing to do alignment work in OMA
Wireless CSS 1.2. This is aimed at aligning the mandatory compliance items between
CSS Mobile Profile 2.0 and OMA Wireless CSS 1.2. (W3C 2008)
Please note that the mark-up Language Support: XHTML™ Basic 1.1 W3C
Recommendation 29 July 200852 still exists and it is also the reference found within the
Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 Basic Guidelines W3C Recommendation 29 July 200853
CSS 1.0 is still recommended.
10.7 XML
The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is regarded as a general purpose specification
for creating custom markup languages. It is classified as an extensible language because
it allows its users to define their own elements. Its primary purpose is to help information
systems share structured data, particularly via the Internet. XML is recommended by the
W3C, see Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)54.
10.8 Silverlight
Microsoft Silverlight55 is described as being “a cross-browser, cross-platform, and crossdevice plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and
rich interactive applications for the Web.” It is said that on mobile devices, Silverlight
provides a homogenous platform for developers to target a large number of devices as
well as deliver rich interactive applications with scalable vector graphics UI and mobileoptimised media.
”Additionally Silverlight for mobile enables developers to reuse their existing
desktop code, content and skills, and leverages the flexible .NET programming
model.” (Microsoft Silverlight FAQ 2008)
This is a new platform and has been highlighted to alert readers of this document and to
flag potential standards discussion and consideration in the future.
52
http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-xhtml-basic-20080729/
53
http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/
54
http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/REC-xml-20060816/
55
http://silverlight.net/learn/mobile.aspx
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11 Mobile Content Delivery
Broadband is a transmission technology/terminology describing the travel of data with a
bandwidth, or capacity, greater than traditional capabilities of a copper phone line. Within
telecommunications in Australia, broadband is also defined as any service speed greater
than 256Kbps. Wireless broadband is the ability to offer data at broadband network
speeds using a wireless transmission technology. For example, the current 3G offerings
from a variety of Australian telecommunication providers including wireless USB
modems56 that can be used with Netbooks.
The term ’mobile‘ typically defines a network that uses a cellular transmission technology
such as GSM or CDMA to deliver voice services to mobile handsets, Smart phones etc. A
cellular network can also use technologies such as HSDPA, 3G, or GPRS to allow for data
transmission, but this transmission is traditionally shared as part of the overall capacity of
the voice network. It is important to remember that data networks are built specifically for
data carriage, which includes data-based voice services such as VoIP or IP trunking.
Voice networks are built primarily to facilitate voice, with a capability of supporting data
applications – normally as a value-added service being offered by the mobile carrier.
Wireless is a general term used to describe a ’family‘ of technologies that allow the
transmission of information using radio-based systems (transmission via radio waves)
rather than by a physical connection such as copper or fibre. A radio-based system is a
system capable of transmitting data, voice or a combination of both using a radio based
signal over a spectrum of radio frequency – typically VHF, UHF (free to air TV), MHz or
GHz (data).
There are many types of wireless technologies that have been developed for a variety of
different applications and allow for the transmission of data, voice or a combination of
both. Some of these include:








Infra Red (IR)
Radio Frequency (RF)
Bluetooth
WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) – LAN “hotspots”
Cellular (mobile networks such as HSDPA, 3G, GPRS)
Microwave
Satellite
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).
56
http://www.telstra.com.au/telstraprepaidplus/broadband/prepaidwireless.html?ti=TRprep_wireless_bb_modem-tcom-292x163
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11.1 Mobile Web
In 2008, wireless broadband technology increased nearly 90% in six months, with over
809,000 subscribers at the end of June 2008; compared with 433,000 subscribers at the
end of December 2007 (ABS 2008)57. Mobile internet and RFIDs, among other key
technologies, will soon allow the creation of an ‘internet of objects’ whose services will
weave themselves into users’ daily life. Tomorrow’s internet services will expand to
various fields like health, education, proximity services and energy management 58.
Standards for content that is intended to be delivered using web browsers installed on
mobile devices are comprehensively advised by the activities of the W3C Mobile Web
Initiative (MWI), a collaboration of industry and technology experts that is hoped to
“…improve web content production and access for mobile users and the greater web”
(W3C and Berners-Lee 2005).
11.2 Relevant External Standards
Two main ‘in-progress’ publications of the MWI directly advise aspects of standards and
best practices in m-learning content development:
Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 - Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0, Basic Guidelines,
W3C Recommendation 29 July 2008, which specifies standards and best
practices for delivery of mobile web-based content.
W3C mobileOK Scheme 1.0 - W3C mobileOK Basic Tests 1.0, W3C Working Draft
10 June 2008. According to this draft document, ”mobileOK Basic primarily
assesses basic usability, efficiency and interoperability”.
In addition, a W3C development wiki has been set up to gather best practice techniques
on the full range of development technologies for the mobile web and this continues in
2008. This, together with the mobileOK Scheme as described above includes a direct
mobileOK tester that tests websites for mobile readiness. This tool is available through the
main page of W3C group59.
The recommendations set out in W3C’s Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 and mobileOK
Basics Tests 1.0 Working Draft are quite lengthy and are not be repeated here. Suffice it
to say that they mandate support for the default delivery content provided above, while
encouraging the use of adaptive methods to allow content developers to take full
advantage of the capabilities of any given delivery platform.
57
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/8153.0Media%20Release1Jun%202008?opendocu
ment&tabname=Summary&prodno=8153.0&issue=Jun%202008&num=&view=
58
http://www.internet2008.eu/spip.php?article9
59
http://www.w3.org/
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12 Wireless Data Connectivity
12.1 Infrared Data Association (IrDA)
The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) has published a number of standards regarding the
use of infra-red electromagnetic radiation as a means of free space communication. It is
generally considered to be a legacy technology in the wake of wireless, non-line-of-sight
data protocols such as Bluetooth and WLAN, but should not be completely discounted as
a potential tool for learning approaches incorporating information sharing between
participants.
Very Fast Infrared transceivers are now available, offering transmission speeds of 16Mb/s,
and an Ultra Fast Infrared specification is being developed, offering speeds of 100Mb/s –
comparable to most cabled computer networks, and 50 times faster than the fastest
Bluetooth connection currently available.
12.2 Bluetooth
Unlike IrDA, Bluetooth does not require line-of-sight between devices to establish and
maintain a data connection. The Bluetooth specification defines three ‘power classes’ of
Bluetooth, offering varying ranges of data connectivity:

Class 1 (100m)

Class 2 (10m)

Class 3 (1m).
There are also a number of revisions of the Bluetooth specification:

Bluetooth 1.0, the original specification, contained a number of errors subsequently
corrected in v.1.1

Bluetooth 1.2 is backwards-compatible with previous versions, but contains
security and reliability improvements (and consequently, higher speeds).

Bluetooth 2.0 is backwards compatible with previous versions, and improves both
the range and speed of previous implementations (as much as 10x)

Bluetooth 2.1 is backward-compatible with previous versions and allow better
filtering of devices before connection, reduced power consumption and stronger
encryption for connections
Bluetooth enables the exchange of information between compatible devices, as well as
streaming of audio content using Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). A2DP
requires particular codecs and data encoding schemas that have been incorporated into
the audio and video recommendations for digital mobile learning, to ensure compatibility
with Bluetooth headsets that may be used by learners.
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12.3 Wi-Fi/WLAN (802.11a/b/g)
The set of standards for Wi-Fi, also known as Wireless LAN or WLAN, is 802.11. Each
amendment to the standard has been accorded a letter – a, b, g and n respectively, and
has improved on the range, speed, (or both range and speed) of previous versions of
Wi-Fi.
A number of mid-to-high-end PDAs and many Smart phones are capable of connecting to
other Wi-Fi capable devices using built-in hardware. Additionally, Wi-Fi hardware can be
added to most other PDAs using PCI, CompactFlash, or SDIO expansion slots. Wi-Fi
capability is still not generally available in portable media players or mobile phones,
however this seems to be improving with a number of new devices starting to incorporate
this technology i.e. the iPhone.
802.11g and 802.11n Wi-Fi data speeds exceed those of IrDA, do so wirelessly and at
longer range than Bluetooth, and are capable of supporting ad-hoc and multi-user
networks. Networking a number of 802.11 devices together in such a fashion can be
accomplished without any connection costs, and can facilitate the sharing and transfer of
information between learners and between teachers and learners.
While Wi-Fi internet connections through a commercial wireless access point may incur
timed billing, on-campus connections to an institute’s own internet backbone are capable
of providing free wireless internet connections for staff and students. An Australian
example of this is Telstra’s WiFi access points at selected McDonalds, Starbucks etc.
12.4 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)/ Enhanced Data rates
for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
Second generation (2G) telecommunication systems combined with GPRS are often
described as ’2.5G‘ - a technology between the second 2G and third (3G) generations of
mobile telecommunications. EDGE is standardised by the 3rd Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP) as part of the GSM family and is described as being ’2.75G‘. The Global
mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) states that, as of May 2007, there were 223
commercial GSM/EDGE networks in 113 countries, from a total of 287 mobile network
operator commitments in 142 countries (source: http://www.gsacom.com) 60.
12.5 3G And 4G (High Speed Mobile Phone Data Services)
3G refers to the ‘third generation’ of mobile phone connectivity, whose primary advantage
is wider data bandwidth and correspondingly higher wireless data access speeds.
Of the 21.26 million mobile phone services in operation around the world at 30 June 2007,
more than 4.5 million (or about 20%) of these were 3G mobile services in Australia. This
represents a 192% increase between 30 June 2006 and 30 June 200761.
60
http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/edge/index.shtml
61
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_311135
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Further advances in mobile telephony are seeing the emergence of fourth generation (4G)
standards, capable of data connection speeds surpassing those of most wired networks.
At this stage, the technology has been successfully tested in proof of concept
demonstrations, but no commercial 4G implementations are available.
All four Australian major mobile operators - Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Hutchison - are
well underway to completing faster 3G network upgrades. The Telstra Next G network is
the first step in a three-year plan. The Optus HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network
upgrade and build is scheduled for completion in 2010. The Vodafone Australia national
3G HSPA will reach 95% of the Australian population and Hutchison plans to boost its
coverage to 96% of the population during the first half of 200962.
The rapid growth in 3G subscribers is of course mainly due to substitution from 2G. By
2009, BuddeComm predicts that the 3G subscriber base will in fact surpass the 2G
subscriber base total.
There is a great deal of discussion going on currently about mobile data, wireless
broadband and mobile media, but the reality is that mobile voice and SMS still generate
90% of mobile revenues. A full-blown, end-to-end IP-based wireless broadband
infrastructure will not be in place until 2012-2015. So the changeover, especially over the
next few years, will remain rather slow, with an initial change starting perhaps later in 2009
when Optus has its nationwide 3G HSDPA network in place63.
12.6 WiMAX (802.11n) and HDSPA
“WiMAX is a wireless broadband standard that enables data to be transmitted over long
ranges using a licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Different WiMAX standards provide
different types of access, from fixed (802.16d – an alternative to fixed wired access such
as cable, ADSL and DSL, where the end user's access point is fixed in location) to mobile
(802.16e – for access via a mobile device such as a mobile phone, PDA, or laptop)64.
The benefits of WiMAX is high speed. WiMAX is able to provide broadband speeds from
64Kbps to in excess of 100Mbps, which is far in excess of fixed line technologies such as
ADSL, ADSL2+, and VDSL2+
Table of comparatives WiFi / WiMAX
Type Std.
Freq. Max
Rate
WiFi 802.11
2.4 GHz
2Mbps
WiFi 802.11a
5 GHz
11Mbps
62
http://www.reportlinker.com/p096365/2008-Australia-Mobile-Communications-Statistics-Trends-andForecasts.html
63
http://www.voiceanddata.com.au/news/26992-Telstra-dominates-mobile-market-in-2-8
64
Clever Communications Australia Limited 2008-10-26
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WiFi 802.11b
2.4 GHz
54Mbps
WiFi 802.11g
2.4 GHz
134Mbps
WiMAX 802.16
10 - 66 GHz
< 70 or 100Mbps
WiMAX 802.16a
2 - 11 GHz
15Mbps
802.16e
< 6 GHz
15Mbps
“High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is like having your home broadband
experience delivered to your mobile phone or Netbook. HSPA is part of the GSM
3G network and is predominately a software upgrade of the network infrastructure.
To use the high speed variant you need a mobile device that is HSPA enabled” 65.
“HSPA is the latest technology to enable even faster data rates for mobile users
available today. The evolution has seen familiar acronyms such as GPRS (the first
packet technology giving around 128kb/s) to EDGE (an enhanced version offering
around 240kb/s) and then the introduction of 3G networks increasing the data rate
to 384kb/s. For example on a HSDPA 3.6mbps network a user can download a
typical music file of around 3Mbytes in 8.3 seconds and a 5Mbps video clip in 13.9
seconds.”
“While on the surface both WiMAX and HDSPA offer the ability to transmit data
wirelessly, the differences between WiMAX and HDSPA technologies – such as
speeds, transmission distances and pricing – stem from the applications for which
they were originally developed.
Commonly referred to as Next Generation 3G or NextG™ (Telstra) HSDPA (High
Speed Downlink Packet Access) allows pre-existing mobile telephony networks to
be capable of supporting up to 10Mbps of mobile voice, video streaming, and data
transmission on handheld and portable devices. (However the current NextG™
service offered by Telstra has a peak of 1.5Mbps.) This means that HSDPA
solutions ‘share’ data with voice on the same network, unlike WiMAX that is
dedicated for data and is able to segment its voice requirements on a per user (not
network) basis. WiMAX, on the other hand, is a wireless network technology built
for the transmission of high-speed data from 64Kbps to in excess of 100Mbps over
long distances. This means that it can offer a true enterprise grade data solution,
with the ability to provide guaranteed Quality of Service and a number of other
features typical to data networks such as the ability to customise the network
based on customer requirements.” (Clever Communications Australia Limited,
2008)
65
http://hspa.gsmworld.com/about-hspa/default.asp
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12.7 GPS
Global Positioning System (GPS) in learning requires the use of:


Purpose-built GPS Receiver hardware, capable of communicating with the US
Military NAVSTAR GPS satellites orbiting Earth.
–
Dedicated hardware units are commercially available and now widely
deployed throughout Australia and internationally
–
Many PDAs now either come with built-in GPS hardware; most others can
be extended to add GPS capabilities.
–
Mobile telephones have begun to feature GPS capabilities and this is
becoming a common standard feature of Smartphones.
GPS software, to perform translation, tracking, and mapping functions.
There are a number of mobile devices including mobile phones that now have GPS
capabilities. There are emerging examples of GPS based learning examples such as
experiential/interpretative type activities - many are proprietary with some open source66.
12.8 RFID
RFID tags are able to exchange basic wireless information with specially designed
hardware readers. RFID technology is used throughout the world in many areas from
defence to commercial asset tracking including retail goods.
It has been stated that, “Virtually every company on Earth will be required to use RFID in
one way or another to remain competitive in the global market” (Rfid Journal)
“Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a name for a set of automation
technologies that allow relatively large amounts of data to be associated with
objects by attaching a tag to them. These tags usually contain a small integrated
circuit (or silicon chip) which is electrically connected to an antenna. The tags can
be ‘read’ (that is, the data extracted) automatically via fixed or mobile readers,
sometimes called ‘interrogators’, or via handheld manual scanners. Just as light is
used to illuminate a barcode, and reflected light is processed in a barcode scanner
to read the barcode, an RFID tag is read by a reader transmitting a radio frequency
(RF) field, and the tag reflecting a response back to a receiver in the reader.
However, unlike a barcode, RFID operation does not need a line of sight, and tags
can be read through some materials. The data read or ‘captured’ from the tags are
then processed by software and can provide real time information about the tagged
items. This information can be analysed or instantly shared online within an
organisation or between different organisations.” (DCITA, 2006)
12.9 Types and Use of RFID Tags
There are two main types of RFID tag:
66
http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=39380
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
Passive RFID, containing an antenna and processing chip, but no integrated
power source. Passive RFID tags must be ‘stimulated’ by an external radio signal
which also powers their ability to exchange data.

Active RFID, containing an antenna, chip, and internal power source, capable of
independently emitting a radio signal.
Use and operation of RFID tags include:

Require dedicated hardware units capable of reading RFID tags many of these are
becoming standard within mobile phones such as NFCs. “According to industry
analysts ABI Research, by 2012 around 292 million handsets or just over 20
percent of the global mobile handset market will come with built-in NFC capability.”

In some circumstances they require dedicated hardware capable of encoding/
writing to RFID tags, particularly where you wish to use the tags to store
information other than its preloaded id number. Tags are often just used as unique
identifiers that then trigger information on a database situated on another piece of
technology. There is no need in this case to have writable tags or writer
technology.

Are mostly re-usable active or passive RFID tags. These can be quite cheap but
do incur a cost on a per-item basis. They are however completely reusable and
most are very durable, with plastics and PVC tags that can be completely
embedded into objects, making them more resistant to tampering or vandalism.

They do not need line-of-sight like barcodes to function and can be covered by
substances such as mud, paint and other materials and still have full functionality.

Can occur in adverse conditions such as areas of excessive moisture and extreme
temperatures

Information can also be recalled using RFID technologies without using phone
networks and therefore not incurring a network cost.
“The way tags are fitted is crucial for their electronic identification. Tags on metal
surfaces need special plastic underlay’s, while tags concealed beneath liquids are
effective only in conjunction with certain technologies (125 KHz, 13.56 MHz), if at
all. Key RFID frequency ranges and their applications are:

13.56 MHz (HF) A globally standardised and approved frequency, primarily
for inexpensive, passive RFID tags for identifying individual objects

125 KHz (LF) A globally standardized and approved frequency, primarily for
inexpensive, passive RFID tags for identifying animals

400 MHz Used, for instance, for the remote control of vehicle central locking
systems
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
868 MHz (UHF) A frequency standardized in Europe for active and passive
RFID tags for logistics

915 MHz (UHF) An analogous frequency used in the United States. The tags
usually support the entire frequency channel from 850 to 950 MHz and can
thus be used in global logistics processes

2.45 GHz An industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band approved globally
which does not require a license or registration. Used for active
transponders, for example, with temperature sensors or GPS localization.”
(BITKOM, 2006)
RFID technology allows for learning to be delivered more flexibly and therefore provides
opportunities that may not have previously existed67. For example, the use of RFID reader
enabled SD cards that can be used within PDAs/PDA phones is an available and readily
accessed technology. Other mobile phone technology enabled with NFC technology such
as that which has been developed by Nokia and others offers further opportunities. NFC is
a two way communication technology using RFID technology that is sometimes referred to
as ’contactless‘.
12.10 NFC (Near Field Communication)
NFC operates in the 13.56MHz frequency band over a distance of up to around 10 - 20
centimetres. It offers data transfer rates of 106kbit/s, 212kbit/s and 424kbit/s and higher
rates are expected in the future. For two devices to communicate using NFC, one device
must have an NFC reader/writer and one must have an NFC/RFID tag. There are two
modes of operation covered by the NFC protocol - active and passive. In active mode,
both devices generate their own radio field to transmit data. In passive mode, only one
device generates a radio field, while the other uses what is described as load modulation
to transfer data. The NFC protocol specifies that the initiating device is responsible for
generating the radio field in this case. The passive mode of communication is important
for battery-powered devices like mobile phones and PDAs that need to manage battery
use. The NFC protocol enables such devices to be used in power-saving mode, so that
energy can be conserved for other operations.
NFC is described as not enabling ’ubiquitous computing‘, where everything is connected
to a network, but rather ’ubiquitous communication‘, where people have the choice to
establish adhoc connections appropriate to their needs at the time i.e. ’on demand’ and/or
’just in time’.
RFID based technology has been trialled in Australia over the last two years examples of
which can be found in the use case examples (Appendix 2).
67
http://industry.flexiblelearning.net.au/2006/rfid_scoping_study_8dec06.pdf
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12.11 2D Barcodes
2D barcodes are visual patterns that can be printed on paper, read from computer
monitors or TV screens, or even created on and read from another mobile phone.
QR Code - distinguished by the three concentric squares visible in each code. Although
it’s proprietary (with a ‘defensive patent’ - owned but not exercised by Denso-Wave corp.),
it is the most widely adopted barcode format used in Japan, where over 30 million mobile
phones already feature the software required to decode the barcodes68. The next most
popular format is currently Semacode69 (akaDatamatrix), which is an open, nonproprietary standard. Most popular readers (such as the Kaywa Reader) support decoding
both of these major barcode formats. Support for the QR Code has been further
increased by Microsoft’s recent endorsement of the QR Code specification for its Windows
Live Barcode project70.
A QR Code can store over 4,000 alphanumeric characters within a barcode 71. The
capacity, flexibility, and inexpensiveness of 2D barcodes make their application to
education extremely diverse. For example, a QR Code may contain a summary of
information for mobile capture and portable reference, or a link to a set of bookmarks that
provide mobile learning resources.
2D barcodes can be read by selected camera phones, loaded with the correct software,
however the cost of information recall generally incurs a network charge depending on the
user’s phone plan. An example of this is the pilot where
“…selected mobile phone users on the Telstra Next G network will be able to use
their handset cameras to scan specially-designed barcodes on posters, LCD
screens and in magazines to connect directly to third-party websites such as KFC
and Pizza Hut, in a trial announced today by the Telco” 72.
“QR Codes are a ‘current’ strategy for mobile learning, for those educators
interested enough to use them; but I … can’t imagine them being the ‘future’ (Blog
posting, 2008)73.
68
http://mlearning.edublogs.org/2006/06/20/2d-barcodes-get-data-from-print-to-mobile/
69
http://semacode.com/
70
http://get.live.com/
71
http://www.denso-wave.com/qrcode/qrfeature-e.html
72
http://mobile.kaywa.com/qr-code-data-matrix/telstra-trials-qr-codes-in-australia.html
73
http://mlearning.edublogs.org/2008/03/27/andy-ramsden-are-qr-codes-the-future-of-mobile-learning/
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13 Recommendations for Maintaining the
M-learning Standards into the Future
What is apparent, from the updates identified in this 2008 report, is the level of change
since the original report in 2007, prompting the report reviewers to contemplate how to
maintain the m-standards into the future. While a number of the previously identified
’baseline standards‘ have only changed slightly, the difference in the infrastructure,
technology and software that is now available has been significant. For example
’Netbooks‘, which basically did not exist in 2007 and so, was not mentioned at all in the
2007 report, have now become very popular mobile devices within the education and
business sectors.
A future standards update example for comparison would be that Google (and its partner
HTC) are about to release a whole new mobile operating system (Android 74) and a
hardware architecture into the market which is not included in these new standards. Major
phone manufacturers (with the exception of Nokia) have pledged support for the new
platform and indicated they intend to bring out new phones to utilise this platform in the
next 12 months, or so. Pre-sales of these phones in the US already exceed the numbers
Apple achieved with its successful launch of the iPhone. The appeal seems to be that the
operating system and the SDK for these new phones will be readily available and this is
causing great interest in the development community worldwide. However, as this system
is not yet released, this 2008 report has only identified and broadly discussed it meaning
an update to the standards is almost certainly required again within the next 12 months.
The challenge into the future is how can these m-standards remain relevant? In keeping
with the principles of Community of Practice 75, it is considered appropriate at the time of
this review of the standards to look at technological options that will allow for a quality
controlled yet practical way of maintaining, updating and publishing the m-learning
standards themselves in a ’real time environment‘. A known example of this that is popular
with practitioners and others is Wikipedia76.
The following are opportunities recommended for consideration:
1. Consider the utilisation of a published web version of the m-learning report and
standards that are then maintained and updated on an ongoing basis by content
experts in the various areas covered by the m-learning report and standards.
This could be achieved by an agreement with a contractor(s) to do the work for a
small retainer, with the broader educational community being provided with a
74
Android: the first complete, open, and free mobile platform. http://code.google.com/android/
75
http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/webdav/site/flxsite/shared/Secretariat/2008_Framework_Business_Plan.p
df
76
http://en.wikipedia.org
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permanent online tool (wiki, forum or something else) to submit content, standards
input for review and publication on a regular basis – suggest quarterly.
2. Those given Framework funding for their projects should be required as part of
their funding, to contribute back to this site (via the permanent online tool) their
experiences and outcomes wherever they impact on the m-learning report and
standards. This will ensure that the content stays current and relevant to
educational practitioners into the future.
These recommendations will require the Framework to carefully consider both the
technical and logistical issues involved, but we believe they can be overcome with careful
early planning and the establishment of clear business rules (systems and processes) for
future updates.
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14 Conclusion
In summary the main focus of this report has been to review, editing and updating of the
’baseline m-learning standards‘ used in facilitating mobile learning. To achieve this, the
report discussions have been aligned and focused on four key areas:




platforms
content delivery
content development
content support.
Note that the m-learning standards have been taken out of this report and have been put
into their own document which recommends a ‘baseline’ set of format standards and
practices for m-learning practitioners and allied professionals.
As was the view expressed by the original m-learning standards report author it is
important to ensure where reasonably possible:


Resources are compatible with baseline standards to assist in the delivery and to
reduce demands on memory, processor, and presentation.
Exploit the capabilities of more advanced delivery contexts to maximise quality and
usability, through adaptive delivery or by providing alternative versions of
resources that are optimised for a number of delivery contexts.
Adherence to these basic principles should facilitate the creation of m-learning resources
that are aligned with both national and international practices for mobile technology use.
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Appendix 1 - Mobile Activities Considered
Activity
Platform(s)
Example(s) of application
Access web pages remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
PSP
Access Wikipedia or web-based
learning resource from
PDA/Cellphone
Access web pages stored locally
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Access a saved web page or webauthored reference stored on SD
card or Flash memory
Access graphics remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Accessing moblogs: Images
stored in web pages
Access graphics stored locally
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
Media Player
Diagrams or charts loaded onto
device for revision/study
Access photographs remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Moblogs: Images stored in web
pages
Access photographs stored
locally
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
Media Player, Digital Camera
View photos taken with device's
own camera, or another camera
and loaded onto device - eg of a
sequence or parts of a process, or
an exemplar or finished product
Access sound files remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Podcasts - usually voice rather
than music or other sound eg
lectures, interviews
Access sound files stored locally
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
Media Player
Podcasts - usually voice rather
than music or other sound eg
lectures, interviews
Access video files remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Video streams to mobile phone on
3G or to PDA over Wireless LAN
network
Access video files stored locally
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
Media Player, Digital Camera
Open a video recorded earlier on
mobile phone or PDA using built-in
camera, to review a recorded
learning process or event
Access formatted text document
remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Get and view a text-based
document from the web - laid out,
uneditable?
Access formatted text document
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Get and view a text-based
document from local machine -
Recall
Australian Flexible Learning Network
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Activity
Platform(s)
stored locally
Example(s) of application
laid out, uneditable?
Access spreadsheet or table data
remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
View a table eg a data table - it
seems that many mobile browsers
do not support web page tables
more than two columns wide… be
careful
Access spreadsheet or table data
stored locally
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
View a table eg a data table - it
seems that many mobile browsers
do not support web page tables
more than two columns wide… be
careful
Access database/form remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Access database/form on local
device
Smart phone/PDA
Access SCORM/IMS learning
object remotely
Smart phone/PDA
Access SCORM/IMS learning
object stored locally
Smart phone/PDA
Record
Create an image (graphic) and
store remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Create an image (graphic) and
store to local device
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Take a photo using built-in
camera and store remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Take a photo using built-in
camera and store on local device
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
Digital Camera
Record a sound using sound
recorder and store remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Podcast creation using mobile
phone or PDA as recording device
and sending to blog
Record a sound using sound
recorder and store to local device
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
Media Player
Recording a lecture for later
review/note taking
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Using moblogging to record visual
journal of learning
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Activity
Platform(s)
Example(s) of application
Record a video using built-in
camera and store remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
V-Logging using mobile phone or
PDA as recording device and
sending to blog
Record a video using built-in
camera and store on local device
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
Digital Camera
Recording a process using camera
for later review by learner;
recording competency-based task
being performed for remote
assessment by assessor
Create a text file and store
remotely
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Input and save to a web-based
form or Social Web/AJAX Word
processor
Create a text file and store on
local device
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Take notes using PDA or laptop;
save a brief memo using mobile
phone
Create a spreadsheet document
(stored locally)
Smart phone/PDA
Enter data in to local database or
form
Smart phone/PDA
Enter data into remote database
or form
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Record learner assessment,
scores, or other learning data to
remote machine or database
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Interestingly, mobile phones can
use web-based database forms,
even though almost all mobile
phones (except for Smart phones
or PDA-phones) lack the software
to edit databases locally.
Relate
Post text to web log for
commenting
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Add comment to someone else's
blog
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Edit collaborative wiki or
document on website
Smart phone/PDA
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Activity
Platform(s)
Send/receive instant text
message
Mobile Phone/Smart phone
Send/receive SMS
Mobile Phone/Smart phone
Send/receive MMS
Mobile Phone/Smart phone
Initiate/receive voice call
Mobile Phone/Smart phone
Initiate/receive VOIP call
Mobile Phone/Smart phone, PDA
Read/respond to Discussion Post
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Participate in synchronous text
chat
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
Example(s) of application
Reinterpret
Edit graphic images
Smart phone/PDA
Edit photographs
Smart phone/PDA
Use interactive activity or
application on web
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
PSP
Use interactive activity or
application on local device
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
PSP
Play educational game
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA,
PSP
Edit text-based document
Smart phone/PDA
Edit spreadsheet document
Smart phone/PDA
Edit local database or form
Smart phone/PDA
Edit remote database or form
Smart phone/PDA
Create/Interpret 2D barcode or
other (machine-readable) data
representation from/to humanreadable form
Mobile Phone, Smart phone, PDA
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For example, a Flash or Javabased program that performs an
information processing function
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Activity
Platform(s)
Example(s) of application
PC, Smart phone, PDA
Resource Metadata/Vetadata
Associated T and L Activities
Discover resources suitable for
mobile delivery from resource
collections/repositories
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Appendix 2 - Case Study Examples
Case study
CPR on your mobile telephone
Sector
Education and training
Background
CPR on your mobile telephone. The following is an extract from the Red Cross
website.
“You see someone collapse and they need CPR. Do you remember what to do?
In 3 easy steps you can download a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
instructional animation to your mobile telephone to help refresh your CPR
skills.”
“Red Cross today launches a world first in first aid- CPR instructions
downloaded to a mobile phone at the touch of a button.... The technology is a
world first, and has been developed in conjunction with Multi-Ed medical, a
Tasmanian medical education company.”
(http://1.redcross.org.au/?fuseaction=newsroom.latestnews&sub=533)
Description
Case scenario - CPR on your mobile telephone in three easy steps
Where – Australia and other parts of the world
When – the technology is currently available for download to your mobile phone
over the internet or via mobile phone. See the Red Cross website for
instructions.
Why – To provide almost instant, ubiquitous access to first aide knowledge and
information but noting that “The content contained in the download is not a
substitute for, nor does it constitute, First Aid training. You should not rely upon
this content as a source of First Aid training” Red Cross, 2008)
For who – All organisational staff presentation
Technologies used and
any issues that might
have arisen as a result of
the technology choices.
The following is an extract from the Red Cross FAQ website.
“It can display video images in the 3GPP H.263 file format, as is commonly
used to display video messaging (MMS).... It can display video images in a size
of 176 x 144 pixels. Note that your telephone software may be able to optimise
the image to display on a smaller screen size.... It can access the internet and
your agreement with your service provider allows you to download data from the
internet... It can receive premium SMS” (http://triar.multied.com/customerRequest/faq/1 )
Any aspects that need
greater understanding in
context of standards.
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Diagram
References and links

http://www.redcross.org.au/ourservices_acrossaustralia_firstaid_CPRdow
nload.htm

http://1.redcross.org.au/?fuseaction=newsroom.latestnews&sub=533

http://www.multi-ed.com/news
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Case study
NFC and iPhone mobile computing
Sector
Banking and finance
Background
A number of Australian banks have been trialling and/or deploying mobile
computing technologies to their aspects of their service areas. For example
ability to make small transaction payments, share trading and online banking
Description
Case scenario - trialling and/or deploying mobile computing technologies to
aspects of banking services
Where – Australia
When – The technology is currently available and in some cases available for
immediate use by the general public.
Why – “With NFC, purchases made by swiping the phone against a reader are
typically restricted to a low dollar value for security reasons. In the Australian
trial, such purchases will be restricted to AUD$30 although customers will be
able to spend more if they authenticate the transaction using their PIN number.
Such contactless payment technology on phones and credit cards is already
proving popular in Asia, where Sony's Felica NFC system is used by operators
including the Japanese giant NTT DoCoMo.”
“Mr Hartzer said. ’New technologies like the iPhone are helping to make internet
banking even more accessible’”
For who – All organisational staff and consumers
Technologies used and
any issues that might
have arisen as a result of
the technology choices.
NFC technology operating in the 13.56 MHz range with NFC compatible
handset, tags and middle ware technology.
Apple iPhone technology – software and hardware that has been purposefully
developed to be deployed and run on this device over the internet.
Note: It is assumed given the nature of these trials and/or deployments that the
security aspects have been planned and accounted.
Any aspects that need
greater understanding in
context of standards.
The deployment of this type of mobile technology has immense potential for
deployment to the education and training sectors. For example students could
make payments of institutional or learning resource fees directly from their
mobile handset through an NFC ’swipe and go‘ model or by accessing their
bank account from within the campus or other location. The same device can
then be used to provide them with access to their m-learning content, training
and assessments.
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Diagram
References and links

http://www.cnet.com.au/mobilephones/phones/0,239025953,339281647,0
0.htm?feed=pt_telstra

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/67711,commonwealth-bank-trialsaustralias-first-contactless-payment-system.aspx

http://www.anz.com/australia/support/library/mr/mr20080710c.pdf

http://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/news/mediareleases/2008/110708-news-iphone.aspx
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Case study
TxtTools
Sector
Business, education and health
Background
Txttools has developed a suite of online applications that “allow you to send
and receive SMS text messages securely from your desktop to a large group or
single mobile phone instantly, in a way that is proven to save time and money.
These cutting edge applications are web based ... compatible with almost every
major VLE and MIS: including Moodle, SIM's, SITS, Blackboard, The Phoenix
Partnership's GP SystmOne, Mill Systems, TeleCare Health System, Ethitec,
Healthy Software, SoE, Baum Hart and McKesson's Total Care PAS.”
It:
Description

is quick, discreet, to the point, to the person and inexpensive

instantly sends a message to a group or individual from your computer

schedules a message to go later in the day, week, month or year

tracks the delivery of the message to the handset.
Case scenario - A variety of feedback context examples.
"txttools is an excellent, practical example of the use of text messaging in
education." Bob Harrison, e-learning consultant DfES Standards Unit
"We were just a few weeks into our first year of using text messaging to contact
students when tutors started stopping me on the corridor to say how much
better communication was now they could text tutor groups." Judy Hennessy
Planning and Quality Manager for Norton College
"As a means of communication, I find the txttools text service is more reliable
than emails, and now I wouldn't be without it!" Vicky Marsh, Timetable
Coordinator, School of Law University of Leeds
Where – UK and other parts of the world
When – The technology is currently available.
Why – To provide almost instant access to teachers, parents and learners.
For who – Many business, education and health users and consumers
Technologies used and
any issues that might
have arisen as a result of
the technology choices.
Standard desk top or laptop computer with internet capability. Access to the
txttools software application and contact details of SMS message recipients
who have a handset capable of receiving and sending SMS.
Any aspects that need
greater understanding in
context of standards.
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Diagram
References and links

https://www.txttools.co.uk

https://www.txttools.co.uk/edutxtinfo_pl.htm
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Case study
Hand-e-fit
Sector
Health, fitness and training
Background
The Australian YMCA Institute of Education and Training/YMCA Perth's project
will enhance current training opportunities for fitness industry employees working
in rural and regional WA by providing a virtual instructor for each student.
Description
Case scenario - By combining technologies - a hand-held device pre-loaded
with multimedia objects, triggered by RFID tags; a PDA; and video media - with
an existing Certificate III in Fitness qualification, the student will be provided with
just-in-time demonstrations of various practical aspects of working in a gym.
The delivery of the units for the Certificate lll in Fitness qualifications being
specifically targeted are:

SRFFIT005B Apply basic exercise science to exercise instruction

SRFFIT006B Use and maintain core fitness industry equipment

SRFFIT014A Provide advice to clients on the application of basic
anatomy and physiology to fitness programs

SRFGYM002B Instruct fitness activity skills to a client using fitness
equipment

SRXGYM002B Customise gym instructional skills to include specific
areas of expertise current in the fitness industry.
Where – Western Australia
When – Technology is currently available
Why – To provide on demand access to rich media (video) via a mobile phone
and to validate (that the media is current) and track media and user interactions.
For who – Trainers, assessors and learners
Technologies used and
any issues that might
have arisen as a result
of the technology
choices.
As found in the technical specification at http://europe.nokia.com/A4307095 a
snapshot of which is provided below:
Operating frequency

Quad-band GSM/EDGE coverage capability on five continents
(850/900/1800/1900)

Volume: 75 cc

Weight: 104 g

Dimensions: 92 x 47 x 20 mm

Main display: 2.2” QVGA TFT display with up to 16.7 million true colours
(240 x 320 pixels)
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
External cover display: 1.36” TFT screen (128 x 160 pixels)

Enhanced Series 40 user interface

1.3-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom

Full-screen viewfinder for both main and outer display

Common inbox for SMS and MMS

MMS 1.2 for creating, receiving, editing, and sending multimedia
messages up to 300 kB in size

Send email with attachments: supports SMTP, POP3, and IMAP4
protocols

Music player supporting WMA, MP3, MP4, AAC, AAC+, and eAAC+
formats

Video streaming support for 3GPP format

MIDI ringing tones up to 64 polyphonic tones

DRM (digital rights management) release 1.0

11 MB free user memory

Expandable memory capacity with hot swappable 2GB microSD memory
card

Integrated XHTML browser

Smart content download, OMA Digital Rights Management 1.0

EDGE (EGPRS): multislot class 10

GPRS: multislot class 10

13.56 MHz

Uses Java specification requirement 257 (JSR 257)
Audio quality from video. This is able to be improved through improvements in
the original source file (video/audio) capture.
Any aspects that need
greater understanding
in context of standards.
Screen size orientation when media triggered by RFID tag versus when opened
manually by user. Cause is yet to be determined but suspect that it is the
difference between media being played within the browser versus the device
player.
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Diagram
References and links
 http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/go/home/States_and_Territories/WA/pid/
523
 http://www.perth.ymca.org.au/
Case study
M Technology
Sector
Electrotechnology and electricity supply
Background
“The electrotechnology and electricity supply industry training sector in Australia
has used Work Activity Profiles (WAPs) for a number of years. Trainees and
employers in Australia have raised concerns about the time it takes, and data
integrity. We have similar concerns about the WAP system in New Zealand.
Electrical apprentices at the Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd (ARTC)
recently took part in a pilot programme which trialed mobile phone technology
(m-technology) known as a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID).”
(ESITO web site, 2008)
Description
Case scenario – “The electrotechnology and electricity supply industry training
sector in Australia has used WAPs for a number of years. Trainees and
employers in Australia have raised concerns about the time it takes, and data
integrity. We have similar concerns about the WAP system in New Zealand.
Mobile phones inserted with RFID chips were issued to selected apprentices and
supervisors. Each chip held data specific to the apprentices’ WAP requirements.
Small transmitter devices, similar to a small band aid, were attached to the work
vans and offices.
Each day, trainees used their phones to display their required WAP exposures
and simply ticked what had been completed during the day and to what level of
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supervision. Supervisors could then bring up each apprentice on their phone and
sign off the exposures in their own time.
The phones are ’swiped‘ over the transmitting device which immediately updates
the database, providing the employer and apprentice with real time, accurate
data of the apprentices’ WAP progress”. (ESITO website, 2008)
Where – Trials undertaken in New Zealand
When – Technology is currently available
Why – To provide on demand, ubiquitous access to knowledge and information
about the work undertaken and signed off – a personal digital portfolio of sorts.
To determine if the mobile technology can be used by ESITO and its members to
replace the current WAP system.
For who – Trainees, apprentices, supervisors and RTO’s
Technologies used and
any issues that might
have arisen as a result
of the technology
choices.
As found in the technical specification at http://europe.nokia.com/A4307095 a
snapshot of which is provided below:
Operating frequency

Quad-band GSM/EDGE coverage capability on five continents
(850/900/1800/1900)

Volume: 75 cc

Weight: 104 g

Dimensions: 92 x 47 x 20 mm

Main display: 2.2” QVGA TFT display with up to 16.7 million true colours
(240 x 320 pixels)

External cover display: 1.36” TFT screen (128 x 160 pixels)

Enhanced Series 40 user interface

1.3-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom

Full-screen viewfinder for both main and outer display

Common inbox for SMS and MMS

MMS 1.2 for creating, receiving, editing, and sending multimedia
messages up to 300 kB in size

Send email with attachments: supports SMTP, POP3, and IMAP4
protocols

Music player supporting WMA, MP3, MP4, AAC, AAC+, and eAAC+
formats

Video streaming support for 3GPP format

MIDI ringing tones up to 64 polyphonic tones

DRM (digital rights management) release 1.0

11 MB free user memory
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Any aspects that need
greater understanding
in context of standards.

Expandable memory capacity with hot swappable 2GB microSD memory
card

Integrated XHTML browser

Smart content download, OMA Digital Rights Management 1.0

EDGE (EGPRS): multislot class 10

GPRS: multislot class 10

13.56 MHz

Uses Java specification requirement 257 (JSR 257)
None identified
Diagram
References and links

http://www.esito.org.nz/research_and_projects/m_technology.aspx
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Case study
iPhone a goldmine for geeks
Sector
Mobile application and content developers
Background
The following is sourced from an article in the Age newspaper.
“The iPhone has become a virtual goldmine for budding software developers including several Australians - with some earning thousands of dollars a day from
relatively simple ideas.
The iPhone App Store - like iTunes but without the music - allows iPhone users to
buy third-party plug-in applications to expand the functionality of their devices.
Virtually anyone can create an application and list it on the App Store for sale or as
a free download.” (The Age, 2008)
Description
Case scenario - Currently in the Apple store there are over 400 educational
applications available for down load to the iPhone. Some of these are free whilst
many others are available for a small price.
Where – Australia and other parts of the world
When – The applications are currently available for those users who have the
correct mobile handset (iPhone) and/or apple device (iPod touch)
Why – To provide access to reliable and stable consumer educational resources
that may be applicable for teaching and learning.
Also provides an avenue for educational content developers to make their resources
available and to seek a small fee so as they can continue to develop and refine their
products and services within a known SDK environment.
For who – All who have access to the required resources and technology.
Technologies used
and any issues that
might have arisen
as a result of the
technology choices.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=MTE2NTQ
Any aspects that
need greater
understanding in
context of
Development in this environment is proprietary to Apple and their SDK environment,
policies and systems.
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standards.
Diagram
References and
links
 http://www.theage.com.au/news/smart-phone/iphone-a-goldmine-forgeeks/2008/10/14/1223750013791.html
 http://www.apple.com/webapps/
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Case study
AlwaysOn
Contributor/Sector
Dr Andrew Fluck / University of Tasmania
Background
The AlwaysOn project is a three-year study funded by the Australian Research
Council.
Description
Case scenario - Teachers found ways to prepare all the learning materials i)
before each unit commenced; ii) in digital format; iii) using affordances of the
technology such as video, podcasts, interactive activities such as chat sessions,
and quizzes. Results from previous schools in the study have found student
learning has been greater in PDA classes than online classes, and both have
produced better results than contemporary pedagogies.
Where – Devonport High School, Tasmania
When –

All Year 7 (age 13-14) classes in June 2008

All Year 9 (age 15-16) classes from July to September 2008
Why – To compare the learning behaviours of students and classroom
pedagogies of teachers in three contexts: Contemporary classes (i.e. normal
teaching), Online classes and PDA classes.
For who – High school students studying topics such as health and wellbeing,
drugs education, sex education, etc.
Technologies used
and any issues that
might have arisen as a
result of the
technology choices.
We used two main technologies. The first was a Moodle site into which teachers
placed learning materials. Online students often forgot their authentication
credentials, inhibiting access.
Any aspects that need
greater understanding
in context of
standards.
What is the criterion for authenticated access to the institutional network?
Individuals remembering credentials, or should we permit owners of authorised
devices to have access?
The second technology was individual PDAs (HP Ipaq rx 4240 and Classic 112
models) issued to every student in a class. Connecting these mobile devices to
the school network was not consistently easy (older version of operating system,
incompatible encryption standards). Students using the devices for one class a
week frequently forgot to charge and bring their PDA to school. In contrast,
regular PDA users formed habits for these maintenance tasks and appropriated
the devices for personal use. Materials prepared for online use were converted for
installation on SD cards inserted into the PDAs: students were given procedures
to perform a factory reset of the PDA and a web-site to download 120Mb+ of data
to re-image the SD card.
These students were given responsibility for minor maintenance of the loaned
PDAs – for regular charging and re-imaging after a catastrophic crash. They could
also install personal data and new applications. Are such ‘user-owned’ devices
safe to connect to the institutional network?
References and links
http://www.alwayson.edu.au
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Case study
RFID Learning Table
Sector
Education and training
Background
Just in time learning in the classroom, workplace and anywhere you happen to be.
Engaging self directed learning.
Student swipes an object that has the RFID tag attached or embedded in it, over
the reader and the learning content is played back for them on the Netbook or PC.
Technologies used
and any issues that
might have arisen as a
result of the
technology choices.
The system consists of a kit that includes a low frequency reader, sample RFID
tags, product documentation and a CD with three applications:
Editor - for adding your own multimedia content and assigning RFID tags to trigger
multimedia content.
Player - for playing back the content when it is triggered by the RFID tag being
swiped over the reader by the user.
Backup/Sync - For copying files from the Editor to a Netbook. This allows you to
publish your content to multiple playback devices.
USB plug and play RFID reader.
More information of the specifications can be found at
http://www.rfidlearningtable.com.au
Any aspects that need
greater understanding
in context of
standards.
Currently supports low frequency RFID tags. Vendor has advised that High
Frequency tags will be added in a future release.
Diagram
References and links

http://www.rfidlearningtable.com.au

http://www.danieldacey.com
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
http://www.situatedlearning.net

http://www.learningkiosk.com

http://cafechat.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/learning-table-in-the-classroom/

http://www.simerr.educ.utas.edu.au/summit/possibleideas2.htm

http://sites.google.com/site/botanicalpartnerships/
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Appendix 3 – Selected Vendor Technical
Documentation
Hardware and OS sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_smartphones
(last viewed 27 October 2008)
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Networks and connectivity sourced from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_smartphones (last viewed 27 October 2008)
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More Information
Australian Flexible Learning Framework
Phone: (07) 3307 4700
Email: enquiries@flexiblelearning.net.au
Website: flexiblelearning.net.au
E-standards for Training
Email: e-standards@flexiblelearning.net.au
Website: flexiblelearning.net.au/e-standards
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