The Role Of Mobile
Learning In European
Education
Mobile Learning Country
report
Slovenia
Editors
Zsolt Ispán
Gábor Kismihók
December, 2007
Corvinno Technology Transfer Center Ltd.
Ali utca 7, 1025 Budapest, Hungary
Tel. +36-1-786-2427
http://www.corvinno.com
Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
DRAFT version
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Research methodology .................................................................................................................... 3
Slovenia - facts ................................................................................................................................ 4
Mobile technology........................................................................................................................... 5
Policy issues .................................................................................................................................... 5
Projects ............................................................................................................................................ 6
eMapps ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Mobile Game Based Learning (mGBL) ...................................................................................... 7
The result ................................................................................................................................. 8
UNITE ......................................................................................................................................... 9
AITMES .................................................................................................................................... 10
References ..................................................................................................................................... 12
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Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
DRAFT version
Introduction
This report has been written as a part of an EU Socrates project called „The Role Of Mobile
Learning In European Education”1. In this project an attempt has been given to try to discover
what mobile learning related activities are going on around the world.
This report itself is dealing with Slovenia. The authors followed the following structure:
1, Giving a draft overview about mobile technology in the country
2, Describing the most important policy issues connected to mobile learning
3, Collecting research projects, various activities, pilots and/or business cases regarding
mobile learning
Sometimes project descriptions were taken directly from the websites or source documents. The
authors not always have the expertise to judge or rephrase the content of project descriptions or
legislative issues, but mentioning them in this report was relevant. If this is the case the source is
always indicated carefully.
The authors, editors of this report were trying to collect reliable information about the given
country, however changes may have happened since the last review of this paper. The editors are
opened to revise the report in case it’s necessary. We also believe that there is several
information available in the official language of the country, nevertheless we only concentrated
on data and information in English. In case there is something what you, dear reader, are missing
from the text, please let us know.
Research methodology
When gathering data and information for this project we mostly used desk research with the
following methodology:
•
•
•
Web searching, using the following terms: “m-learning”, “mlearning”, “mobile
learning”, “ubiquitous learning”, “pervasive learning”
Exploring websites of local government agencies, policy makers related to eLearning
and mLearning.
Searching for research groups, initiatives, projects appearing in mLearning related
international, English speaking conferences
The content gathered through these searches went through a revision by a domain expert. After
the revision the report has been written.
1
http://www.ericsson.com/socrates2006
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Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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Slovenia - facts2
Figure 1, Slovenia3
Country name:
Government type:
Capital:
Area:
Population:
GDP - per capita (PPP):
Telephones - main lines in use:
Telephones - mobile cellular:
Telephone system:
Radio broadcast stations:
Television broadcast stations:
Internet country code:
Internet hosts:
Internet users:
2
3
conventional
long
form:
Republic
conventional short form: Slovenia
parliamentary democracy
Ljubljana
20,273 sq km
2,009,245 (July 2007 est.)
$23,400 (2006 est.)
837,500 (2006)
1.82 million (2006)
general assessment: NA
domestic: 100% digital (2000)
international: country code - 386
AM 10, FM 230, shortwave 0 (2006)
31 (2006)
.si
134,266 (2007)
1.251 million (2006)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/si.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/si-map.gif
4
of
Slovenia
Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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Mobile technology
Slovenia’s telecommunication market is quite small (2 million inhabitants) but sophisticated. It’s
been served by three mobile operators and it was one of the first country, which launched 3G and
MVNO operations in Central Eastern Europe4. Telekom Slovenije dominates the market, with
its Mobitel subsidiary accounting for more than two-thirds of all mobile phone users as of March
2007. Until recently, it also held the country’s only third generation license5. At the end of 2006,
the mobile penetration level reached 90%, placing Slovenia above the EU-25 average (87%).
The whole market (fixes line, long distance and international telecommunications services,
mobile communication, data communication, Internet access) was liberalised in January 2001.
The most common activities with the mobile phone are the followings:
• The digital camera on mobile phone is used at least once a month by 41,7% of users
aged 12-65
• Playing games on cell phones is the next most favourite service with 12,8%
• Downloading music, pictures and listening to music: 11,3%.
The internet usage of Slovenia developed a lot in the past few years and now it’s almost reached
the EU average. The figures are the following, according to the Statistical Office
YEAR
Users
Population
% Pop.
2000
300,000
1,997,800
15.0 %
2004
750,000
1,956,916
38.3 %
2006
950,000
1,959,872
48.5 %
2007
1,250,600
1,962,856
Internet usage in Slovenia
63.7 %
6
According to a survey (September 2006.) 38% of the population aged 12-65 use internet on PC,
13% use PC and mobile access and 5% get on-line via their mobile phones7.
Policy issues8
The Slovenian government has passed a few year general documents that specifically touch on
mLearning. Targeted research projects related to ICT in education and lifelong learning was
funded by the former Ministry of Education and the National Research Agency. However the
strategies haven’t been came into force yet, at least there is a promising initiative.
4
http://www.budde.com.au/Reports%5CContents/Slovenia-Mobile-Market-Overview-Statistics-4093.HTML
http://www.itireports.com/cma_slovenia.htm
6
http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/si.htm
7
http://slovenia.ris.org/index.php?fl=2&lact=1&bid=494&parent=13&p1=276&p2=285&id=651
8
Based on the Project: Next steps in developing Information Society Services in the New Member States, The case
of eLearning, IPTS DG JRC
5
5
Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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There is still no document (at the beginning of 2007) which regulates eLearning and mLearning
in the education system, but there are two promising drafts of strategies and action plans which
will be probably accepted later.
The most important European documents, which influence the Slovenian mLearning
development are the followings:
• Copenhagen declaration
• Bologna declaration
• i2010
Five years ago there were many barriers which kept adults from participating in lifelong
learning. For example, lack of access to employer-provided training reduces the likelihood of
participation9. In recent years the country starts to realize the importance of continuous education
for staying employable and fortunately the government realized it too and tries to make adult
education more attractive for Slovenians.
There are several documents and strategic plans handling with adult and lifelong learning, but
one of the most important is the Adult Education Master Plan to 2010. There are three main
objects10:
• increasing participation of adults in non formal general education activities for
personal development and improving participation in cultural, political and social
activities in communities
• improving education attainment
• increasing participation in education and training related to improving employability
However the copyright is not fully regulated in IT supported educational activities yet, it hasn’t
caused many problems. Educational institutes are using the following methods:
• If a teacher develops digital content or services within paid hours, then this of course
belongs to school which decides whether to make it public or not.
• If a teacher develops a product outside their paid hours, the schools usually identify
its value in the early stage and in case of positive evaluation buy the application.
Due to Slovenia is a small country the logistic and financial resources, teacher training,
organisation and management are much less and easier to implement than in a large country.
With cheap and powerful palmtops or small portable computers, enabling effective educational
usage, the potential easiness of adopting mLearning will further rise.
Projects
eMapps
eMapps is a project of “Motivating Active Participation of Primary Schoolchildren in Digital
Online Technologies for Creative Opportunities through Multimedia” and is operated within the
9
http://www.euser-eu.org/eUSER_eLearningCountryBrief.asp?CaseID=2260&CaseTitleID=1101&MenuID=117
http://www.euser-eu.org/eUSER_eLearningCountryBrief.asp?CaseID=2260&CaseTitleID=1101&MenuID=117
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Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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6th Framework Programme. The target audience of the project are children of the ages between 9
and 12.
The aim of the project is to build communities of creative, networking children in the new
member states, generating their own cultural content and communicating with peer groups in
other countries and to develop adaptable interactive tools (primarily games played on a mobile
platform) with which to deliver learning objectives and which help to integrate the use of ICT
into education (http://www.emapps.com).
The game is played in 10 countries: Czech Republic, Great Britain, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Every partner school had to play its own game
and after that they shared the experienced in a workshop. The name of the game-type is ARG
(Alternative Reality Game), which tries to connect the real and the virtual world. The game is
built by online sources, but the events – what happen during the game – are usually played
outside. Players use mobile chat for live communication.
eMapps has developed three different platforms:
• The Rep Game: Teachers use that platform for creating multimedia content and to
upload them to the desk game.
• The Desk Game: This is the main platform, where the game is played. After the
teachers established the teams, and the game finished, children can use this platform
to upload the multimedia work which they produce during the game.
• The GIS map: It is used to define the game territory by using UTM coordinates via
GPS.
Mobile Game Based Learning (mGBL)
The project was established on October 1st 2005 by five countries (Great Britain, Italy, Croatia,
Austria and Slovenia) and founded for three years by European Community through the 6th
Framework Programme. The project main aim is to use the mobile phone to implement games
bridging the real and the virtual world. The project idea is based on the fact that today mobile
devices are getting more and more diffused. Particular mobile phones can represent what young
adults, with different level of education and culture, have in common. The target audience is
younger people aged 16-24, people with high interest in mobile technologies and in lifelong
learning, and their teachers. A special focus is given on the implementation of mechanisms
known from marketing and psychology to trigger an emotional learning process.
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Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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Figure 2, The mobile phone as a bridge11
A new form of game-based learning will be developed by this project. The mobile phone will act
as a trigger for social interactions. mGBL will contribute new learning models to the learning
and mobile market. The focus is on the support of decision making in critical situations, not only
in a cognitive, but also in an emotional way. mGBL example implementations will be in the
fields of e-health, e-commerce and career guidance.
There were many expectations from the platform: to develop at least two game templates, which
are easy-to-use, can promote decision-making skills and last but not least cost effective.
The result
A software platform was developed, wherewith the real and the virtual world can be connected in
different ways. For example: graphical codes on buildings which can be read by camera phones.
One of the most important advantage of these games, that they can be used as stand-alone
applications, but also as support for traditional classroom-based learning processes.
Figure 3, The mGBL platform12
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http://www.mg-bl.com/index.php?id=57&no_cache=1
Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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As we can see in the illustration the mobile phone is the central gateway between user groups,
the mGBL platform and the real world as well as the medium and part of the mobile game. The
mGBL platform is responsible for the planning, controlling, and administration of the games.
The reporting modules are also a very important part of the platform. By the help of it, the
students can measure his/her learning success.
The results of this project will enable new forms of learning as well as offering support for
traditional learning processes and will offer the opportunity to involve the mobile channel for
presentation and training of learning content. The research results of this project will also offer
impulses for the field emotion-based marketing.
UNITE
UNITE is an IST project under the FP6 framework, which tries to provide and develop
innovative services. The project main aim is to contribute the improvement of education in
secondary schools, based on innovative technologies.
The project’s results are a technical platform and a pedagogical guidance. The platform supports
the re-ruse of content material, the integration of mobile learning activities. eLearnig scenarios
are developed, based on the technological and pedagogical components. The project objects can
be summarized in six points13:
•
•
•
•
•
•
12
13
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the development of an adequate pedagogical framework: allows the daily use of
UNITE platform in the classrooms.
the parallel development of an innovative eLearning IT platform: support the use of
mobile devices in learning
The definition on innovative eLEarning scenarios based on the pedagogical
framework
The development of a Europe-wide repository of re-usable eLearning content, placed
within the UNITE IT platform
The development of an adequate validation framework including the organization and
implementation of appropriate validation activities, in order to prove the validity of
the technological and pedagogical developments
The investigation of the sustainability and the degree of the wider deployment of
UNITE by schools in Europe.
http://www.mg-bl.com/index.php?id=57&no_cache=1&C=0
http://www.unite-ist.org/RDWork/tabid/64/Default.aspx
Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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Figure 4, building component of U)ITE14
In the figure above the buildings components of UNITE can be seen. As a result of the project an
advanced eLearning platform is developed. The Microcosmos platform enables the
communication and collaboration among the learning community and its linked to a learning
management system.
AITMES15
The idea of the project is to train in new ways of elearning using mobile technologies for
improving educational and training methodologies under multiple educational scenarios based on
TCP/IP networks.
Objectives: Training through real scenarios with teachers. Seeing how these scenarios work out
in practice under several networks outside and indoor and extract conclusions for a Handbook.
Enhancing the competence of Teachers using mobile devices to create, search and modify
networked information resources and share it on real time over mobile networks such as GPRS,
3G, WIFI. Discuss the learning consequences of the different strategies for training purposes.
Target Group: School Teachers and Adult educators.
14
15
http://www.noe-kaleidoscope.org/group/nms_acc/Case%20Studies/unite.html?ac_adm=Print
http://www.aitmes.org/index2.html
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Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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Main activities: Implementation and evaluation of the usage and the replicability of the used
tools, methods and applications developed by the project, such as training Pedagogy, Web
mobile graphical interface. Customizing developed interfaces to a wider European community
reflecting wider cultural/educational requirements but with an emphasis on strong participation
by teachers and mobile technologies. Running local and international workshops.
Expected Outputs:
•
•
•
•
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A Handbook as model for implementing the use of Mobile Technologies in training.
10 Trained teachers that train other 100 teachers
To implement Mobile Education Platforms and create multimedia content at the schools
and beyond extending education to almost any environment by the use of Mobile devices
such as 3G phones, PDA, GPS and Pocket PCs under GPRS, WIFI and UMTS networks.
A workshop model will be submitted to Comenius and Grundtvig.
Mobile learning report 2007, Slovenia
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References
Documents of European Commission
Council of the European Union. 2003. Council Conclusions on Reference Levels of European
Average Performance in Education and Training (Benchmarks) [online]. Available from:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/after-council-meeting_en.pdf
Danish Technological Institute. Undated. Study of the e-learning suppliers’ “market” in Europe
[online]. Prepared for the Directorate-General for Education and Culture. Available from:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/mLearning/doc/studies/market_study_en.pdf#search=
%22mLearning%20suppliers%22 [Accessed 11 September 2006].
European Commission. 2001. The mLearning Action Plan – Designing tomorrow’s education
[online]. Available from: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2001/com2001_0172en01.pdf
[Accessed 11 September 2006].
European Commission. 2002. eEurope 2005: An Information Society for All [online]. Available
from:
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/2002/news_library/documents/eeurope2005/eeu
rope2005_en.pdf [Accessed 11 September 2006].
European Commission. 2005. Information Society Benchmarking Report [online]. Available
from:
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/benchmarking/051222%20Final%2
0Benchmarking%20Report.pdf [Accessed 11 September 2006].
European mLearning Summit. 2001. Summit Declaration [online]. Available from:
http://www.career-space.com/whats_new/mLearningSummit1.doc [Accessed 11 September
2006].
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ - Eurostat
Related websites
http://www.the-infoshop.com/study/iti50977-si-telecom.html
http://www.mobilecomms-technology.com/projects/tus-mobil/
http://www.itireports.com/cma_slovenia.htm
http://www.budde.com.au/Reports%5CContents/Slovenia-Mobile-Market-Overview-Statistics4093.HTML
http://www.eusereu.org/eUSER_eLearningCountryBrief.asp?CaseID=2260&CaseTitleID=1101&MenuID=117
http://www.noe-kaleidoscope.org/group/nms_acc/Case%20Studies/unite.html?ac_adm=Print
http://www.unite-ist.org/RDWork/tabid/64/Default.aspx
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