The Importance of the Learnerâ??s Environmental Context in the Design of M-Learning Products

Abstract

As mobile devices, such as PDAs, iPods, and mobile phones become more common, corporations are turning to mobile learning to improve employee performance. Todayâ??s m-learning designers often tend to borrow design ideas from their e-learning experience; many designs attempt to re-fit e-learning methodsâ??even e-learning productsâ??to a small screen. I suggest here that designers would be better served by considering the entire context in which learners will use a particular m-learning program. In this paper I describe two examples of m-learning designs that go well beyond the idea of refitting e-learning to a small screen and illustrate how these designs make use of the learnerâ??s environmental context. Finally, I propose a set of contextual factors designers should consider when designing m-learning products.