Mobile Immersive Learning

A White Paper

2013 www .daden.co.uk

Who are Daden?

Immersive 3D learning and visualisation specialists

Founded 2004, but experience since late 1990s

Times Higher Education Winner 2009

US Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge winner 2010

Nearly 50 projects in immersive environments

Introduction

Most work on immersive environments to date has been on desktop systems given the need for good graphics capability

Smartphones and tablets now have the power to render good immersive environments

Tablets in particular offer a screen size which suits the immersive experience

This means that we can now put rich and engaging immersive experiences literally into the hands of the learner

Virtual Geology

Combines a variety of modelling techniques including aerial radar and photography, photogrammetry, and manual building from site visits

As well asreal world tasks, users can also do things which are not possible in real life, e.g.flying over the landscape, and even bringing up a slice of geology through the landscape.

Implemented on PC/Web and iPad

Whole app includes 6 sites, providing 6 nice bite-sized piece of learning.

Even when used on the real landscape the app provides students with additional context and functionality that can further enhance the learning experience.

Developed for the Open University

Lets students go on a virtual field trip, roaming over 100 sq km of the English Lake District,

Examine detailed models of rock outcrops, and pick up specific rocks scanned at an even higher level of detail at particular sites of interest

Immersive Learning

Immersive learning is a type eLearning where the user feels that they are in the learning environment.

They are not just clicking on menu options or watching bits of video, but feel as though they are in the house, on the street, entering the hospital, and typically performing a task as they would in real life.

But beware virtual classrooms built just to deliver Powerpoint, video and other VLE content in!

Benefits of Immersive Learning

Deliver better understanding and learning: Learning by doing and within the real context

Improving retention: Spatial, visual, audio and other cues. Virtual muscle memory

Reducing costs: Especially travel and set-up

Doing the impossible: And highly uneconomic, unsafe or impractical (eg closing sites, high risk etc)

Gaining a subjective view: Putting yourself in other stakeholders positions

Changing learner dynamics: Harder for individuals to dominate the experience

Supporting distance learning: A richer social environment than a chat room, and ideal for collaborative remote learning

Avatar or no Avatar

Does the user actually need to see, or be represented as, an avatar in order to be immersed?

If the environment and navigation is effectively designed then an avatar is not necessary

Many users find avatars a stumbling block to immersive learning so no avatar may increase usage

Keyboard-less/mouse-less navigation will be an issue on mobile platforms so again removing the avatar might improve the user experience

Mobile Learning

Mobile Learning (or m-learning) is typically defined as computer based learning (or eLearning) away from the desk and desktop (also referred to as untethered).

Computer delivered mobile learning has been around since laptops in the mid 80s but this was really just portable eLearning

Phones and smartphones have encouraged a more bite sized and serious gaming approach to learning but hampered by small screen size

Tablets now offer a near ideal mobile immersive learning environment

Bereavement Training

We have also completed health trainers for other hospitals and the medical departments of universities on topics ranging from paramedic training and patient transfer procedures to running tests in a pathology lab.

All these apps would work well as Mobilescapes, since again they have a bite size format and could be used on a tablet device either in the evenings or on the way to work, or potentially to refresh procedures even on the ward.

There could also be a role in using them to walk stakeholders, particularly patients and next-of-kin at the bedside, through upcoming procedures

Developed nursing staff (and other stakeholders) at NHS University Hospital Birmingham

Takes the student through the procedures to be followed when someone (expectedly) dies on the ward.

Even though the patient is just a game character students still felt a sense of loss when she actually dies.

Mobile Learning Context

Informal: Learning may take place on a sofa, on the bus, in a coffee shop for as long as the learner wants to learn

Unplanned: mLearning is often unplanned, some spare or dead time that can be filled

Short duration: mlearning sessions are usually relatively short; minutes, not hours.

Cluttered environment: Competing with other media, noise and people

Ad-hoc space: Fine motor control and complex interfaces a problem.

Unobtrusive: Less obtrusive than laptops and interaction with others still possible/encouraged

Just-in-time: Ideal for just-in-time learning, whether on the job at the work place or for revision on the bus on the way into school.

Connectivity: The mobile device may, or may not, have an active wireless link back to the network although without it synchronous learning with other students is, of course, not feasible.

Mobile Learning Advantages

Informal & Unplanned & Ad-hoc: The learning can take place when and where the student wants, covering what they want (or need) and for as long as they have.

Short duration: It can be squeezed into short periods of otherwise dead time

Unobtrusive: It can take place whilst other things are going on and even whilst still interacting with the physical world

Just-in-time: The learning can take place immediately before the user needs the knowledge

Mobile Immersive Learning

With powerful tablet computing devices such as the iPad it is finally feasible to consider creating mobile immersive learning experiences.

Can have almost all of the features of an immersive experience: large, detailed and graphically rich environments, virtual characters to interact with, complex simulation logic, and avatars (if required) to control.

Potentially bring all of the benefits of immersive learning to the mobile user, and those of mobile learning to the immersive experience.

Need to be mindful of the limitations of devices and context, but also leverage the unique affordances of both.

Mobile Immersive Synergies

As well as the more generic benefits of mobile and immersive learning the areas where the benefits are potentially the most synergistic are:

Using the immersive environment to revise/learn tasks immediately before they need to be done in the real world

Using the immersive environment to explore the history of the site or location around you

Stand in the physical location whilst using the virtual environment to test ideas and plan for future activities

Apollo 11

Visitors dressed in spacesuits

Overlay shows exact tracks followed by the astronauts

Head-Up Display shows the actual photos (and even videos) taken from where the learner is, helping to place material in context

Exercise has just the right structure to work as an immersive mobile learning application, bite sized chunks or longer exploration

Could also be used as a collaborative exercise in the classroom with each student (or group) having their own device to put themselves on the moon

Developed for North Lanarkshire Council

Innovative vLearning application to showcase the capabilities of immersive environments and encourage STEM education

Fully immersive exploratory environment that linked existing archive material to a context rich environment.

A Challenging Environment

Does the clutter and busyness of the local environment combined with the reduced screen size and limited user interface of the mobile device reduces the level of immersion that the user experiences and hence, perhaps, the quality of the learning?

We have not been able to find any empirical studies on this, but you need only look at the people on a bus or train looking at their devices with their headphones plugged in to see how immersed they can be in relatively passive media (eg video) within such environments.

However such experiences have three major features:The amount of user interface interaction is limited

The experience is compelling, driven by a strong narrative (or melody)

The users wants to see them

Designing the Experience

This suggests that when designing a mobile immersive learning experience we should pay special attention to these areas:Focus the learning on what users will really want to do

Ensure that navigation and interaction is as simple as possible this may well suggest that micro-control of avatars is not the way to go on mobile devices

Ensure that the experience and narrative drive of the learning is as compelling as possible.

One possible way to enhance the immersive experience on mobile platforms is more use of audio.

Tuning the Experience

So when developing a mobile immersive learning application, how should we look to tune the immersive experience so that it works best within a mobile environment? These are some of the points that we think should be considered:Navigation: Support point-and-click navigation as well as direct avatar control, and no-avatar modes

Duration: Keep short 5 to 10 minute segments

Audio: Use sound both foreground and ambient

Content: Make self-contained as the user may not have access to other books or resources

Save Points: Since sessions might be interrupted have the equivalent of save points that let the user save their current position/state and restart later

Narrative: Make sure there is a strong narrative that keeps the user engaged despite other distractions

A Typical Mobile Immersive Design

The option of avatar or avatar-less (point & click) modes

An initial briefing segment, possibly 2D (as the app is designed to be stand-alone)

A number of nuggets, small learning exercises suited to short duration learning windows

Simple navigation using large, touch-screen friendly, buttons

A low interaction guided mode for use whilst learning or revising with significant (or even variable) scaffolding, and a freedom mode when practising or assessing

Serious game elements such as scores, countdown timers etc as required to potentially increase motivation

Virtual characters to explore the social dimensions of a task, but with option driven dialogue rather than the free-text dialogue we typically use in desk based immersive applications

Embedding of existing learning assets eg documents, video etc since we cant rely on links

Review and confirmation of learning stage again possibly in 2D

Automated posting of results to a learning management system (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), possibly with some form of store and forward to cope with sessions completed when out of communications.

Virtual Library of Birmingham

Since May 2013 the Library staff have had access to the physical library

They report a real sense of deja-vu; they already know the space intimately since they've been working in its virtual twin for over two years.

Quite apart from the value of a portable model which could support contractor and stakeholder discussions a mobile, immersive version of the Library could now be combined with augmented reality technology for use in the physical build to create a true mixed-reality experience letting the library staff approach book, customer and building management in whole new ways.

The new physical Library of Birmingham opens to the public in September 2013 a fuller case study will be available then.

Developed for Birmingham City Council

Since January 2010 the library staff have an an immersive 3D model of the library that they've been able to walk around and change.

Used for a wide variety of tasks from public education and liaison with sponsors to planning and agreeing tasks and equipment placement with contractors.

Single or Multi-User

Until recently the majority of mobile games, and certainly mobile learning experiences were single user.

However immersive environments are often at their best when in a multi-user, synchronous learning mode

Just as the widespread availability of WiFi and 3G is making multi-user mobile gaming a reality, so to can we now think about multi-user synchronous mobile learning in immersive environments.

Multi-user does require a degree of learner/tutor co-ordination, to ensure that people are in-world at the same time

There is a difference between multi-user and collaborative simulationA mult-user simulation could allow users to see each other but not be able to effect other players environments and learning pathways

In a collaborative simulation everyone can effect the same environment so that tasks can be shared

Potential Applications

Mobile immersive learning could be applicable across a whole range of learning situations.

The learning tasks which are probably best suited to immersive learning are:Those which have a strong spatial component, or can be represented as such

Those which have a strong social/collaborative component

Potential Applications

Areas in which we think mobile immersive learning could be particularly strong include:

Vocational task trainers, in areas from health and care to utilities and transportation

Emergency planning

Maintenance and health & safety

First responder skills training

Virtual fieldwork (eg geography, geology, even biology!)

Virtual history & heritage

Platforms

A mobile immersive lerning application could potentially be delivered on any mobile device with a suitable screen and set of controls.

In practice we find that iPad (or even iPad Mini) sized devices are better suited to the richness of an immersive environment and the finer control sometimes required.

We can easily generate an exercise that will work on an iOS or Android device, as well as on PC/Mac, and in the browser, the biggest differences being that the tablet versions need a user interface optimised for touch rather than mouse and keyboard.

It is possible to run the applications on smartphones, but significant thought needs to be given to the design of the user interface at that scale.

Disaster Management

Since Superstorm Sandy we've been working with the team at NYC OEM to put the managers back through the simulation to help prompt the lesssons-learned from the storm, and to identify possible future improvements to the simulation.

One potential issue with the original simulation was its length it could run to over 5 hours when taken in one go.

However within that there were 5 distinct phases and around 60 learning vignettes.

Broken down into bitezise chunks it would be a lot easier for individuals to run through the vignettes during commuting down time even though there is still a case for a synchronous, collaborative virtual exercise as well.

Developed for the Office of Emergency Management in New York City 2 years before Superstorm Sandy

Immersive training exercise to teach emergency managers how to set up and manage a hurricane shelter providing emergency accomodation and services to those effected by a hurricane.

The Benefits

The benefits of mobile immersive learning are of course fundamentally about being able to bring the benefits of immersive learning to a mobile user. Expressed in terms of the potential/example application areas identified above this could mean:Letting a nurse or care worker rehearse a task for the next day whilst sat at the kitchen table whilst the kids play around them

Letting an emergency planner review procedures and options after they've been deployed but during the down time between a warning and an actual incident

Rehearsing a maintenance task from inside a warm van or crew room before having to head out into the wind and rain

A first responder refreshing their skills ready for an exam whilst their vehicle is parked up waiting for tasking

A geography student doing a virtual field trip from the comfort of their favourite sofa

A history student touring a virtual historical site whilst on the bus on the way in to college

Mobilescapes

Mobilescapes are Daden's mobile immersive learning environments developed to meet your mobile training needs.

Drawing on our extensive experience of creating PC based Trainingscapes for clients in the UK and abroad, Mobilescapes can provide a variety of engaging, immersive experiences for your users, delivering the features and benefits described in the preceeding pages.

Mobilescapes can be delivered on iPad or Tablet devices, and equivalent environments can also be delivered in a PC/Mac web browser or as downloadable/installable applications on a desktop computer.

For more information on Mobilescapes please contact us at info@daden.co.uk.

White Paper

The full white-paper is available for download:

http://www.daden.co.uk/daden-releases-white-paper-on-mobile-immersive-learning/

Web: www.daden.co.ukEmail: info@daden.co.ukYouTube: www.youtube.com/dadenmediaTwitter: @dadenlimited

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David Burden
Managing Director
Daden Limited

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