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Karen McCloskey Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
kmccloskey@ntu.edu.sg
Challenges in Mobile Learning Research: Developing and Employing a Smart Phone App in Foreign Language Teaching Bio data Dr.
Karen McCloskey holds a PhD in French literature from the University of Toronto.
She has always been an avid user of technology in her teaching and research and was an
active member of the SATOR (Société d’Analyse de la Topique dans les Œuvres
Romanesques) research group developing a database to house ‘topoi’ or narrative
building blocks. She taught French language and literature in Canada for 10 years before
joining the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. The vast technology
available at NTU has oriented her current research towards the use of new technologies
in the language classroom. Recent articles include teaching French past tenses using
clickers.
Abstract Navigating the rapidly increasing domain of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) is
wrought with challenges. This paper highlights the main areas of concern when
developing a smart phone app entitled the
Virtual Language Table for language practice
anytime anywhere outside the classroom by text-based chat, video or voice. Along with a
small team, I developed the app for use by four levels of French language students at the
Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
To form a theoretical framework for the project, I was drawn to Sharpies, Taylor and
Vavoula’s (2007) idea that communication is the driving force of learning, the basis for
their theory of mobile learning, which in turn is based on Pask’s (1976) understanding
that communication is not a simple exchange of knowledge, but an occurrence in which
people become informed based on other people’s ‘informings’.
The communication
necessary for language learning and use seems to go hand in hand with this
notion. Theoretical considerations in this young field were not the only challenge in
developing the app, but this paper discusses the very practical setbacks as well. These
range from convincing a grant committee of the viability of the app to the technical
challenges faced by our vendor when transferring his server to the one at the university.
After initial testing with the first group of users, I will be able to highlight the challenges
of using the app. From the student reactions and reflections via a late-semester
questionnaire I will be able to elucidate some of the technical and practical challenges
confronting the researcher dealing with this type of mobile learning research.