National Institute

For Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(An Organization of the ministry of Ministry of MSME, Govt of India)

Skilled Electronic Mechanic

Training syllabus

ESDP Module (SMOP0200M)

National Institute of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme) (An Organisation of
Page 1 of 164

the Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India) +91-40- 23608544-218, Yousufguda, Hyderabad

50 0 045 Website: http://www.nimsme.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
List of authors

... ........................................................ 9

Use of mobile devices in educational administration

The use of SMS (short messaging system) within educational administration

13

The use of SMS messages in teaching and learning

SMS quizzes. . . . . . . . . . . .23
Voice messages to students and IVR systems for FAQ . . . . . . . . 28

Introduction

Desmond Keegan
Page 2 of 164

Mobile learning: a practical guide is a

hands-on, how-to-do-it guide for education
and training institutions who wish to
introduce mobile learning.
Definition
Mobile learning (learning) is defined as the
provision of education and training on
mobile devices: Personal Digital Assistants
(PDAs), smart phones and mobile phones.
In defining mobile learning one confronts
tensions between functionality and
mobility. There is a continuum from the
point of view of functionality in the
devices used for Learning and learning.
This

FUNCTIONALITY

Continuum goes from desktop computers to

laptop computers to PDAs or handhelds or
palmtops to smart phones to mobile phones.
There are many, especially in the United
States of America who include laptop
computers in their definition of mobile
learning.
I disagree. I feel that in the definition of
mobile learning the focus should be on
mobility. Mobile learning should be
restricted to learning on devices which a
lady can carry in her handbag or a
gentleman can carry in his pocket. I,
therefore, define mobile learning as
the provision of education and
training
on
PDAs/palmtops/handhelds, smart
phones and mobile phones.

MOBILITY
PDAS

Laptop
Computers

Mobile
Handheld

Smartphones

Computers

Phones
Palmtops

E-LEARNING

M-LEARNING

Figure 1. Functionality and mobility in a definition of mobile learnin

g
National Institute of Micro Small and
Medium terprises (ni-msme)
Page 3 of 164

Language), but they were not successful

because not enough people owned one.
Never in the history of the use of technology
in education has there been a technology
that was as available to citizens as mobile
telephony. The statistics are stunning:
One of the characteristics of mobile learning
is that it uses devices which citizens are used
to carrying everywhere with them, which
they regard as friendly and personal devices,
which are cheap and easy to use, which they
use constantly in all walks of life and in a
variety of different settings, except
education.
Statistics
The justification of mobile learning comes
from the law of distance education
research which states that It is not
technologies with inherent pedagogical
qualities that are successful in distance
education, but technologies that are
generally available to citizens.
A typical example is the 12 laser discs of
the early 1990s. These laser discs had
excellent pedagogical possibilities and
excellent courses were developed for them
especially in the field of ESL (English as a
Second

In July 2005 Ericsson announced that the

number
of mobile devices in the world had topped
2 billion for the first time. They forecast
ownership of 3 billion mobile phones as
early as 2010 and this for a world
population of somewhat over 6.5 billion.
It is calculated that in the United
Kingdom alone the number of SMS
messages
sent
annually
is
37.000.000.000. These figures are
repeated in most countries of the
world.

Page 4 of 164

Mobile Learning: A Practical Guide

Recent research on audience characteristics
published by
the BBC in Britain shows the ubiquity of mobile
devices
especially in the 16-24 age group, the university age
group. The BBC research in this group shows that it
characterises a mobile phone as a necessity and not
a
luxury (BBC 2004).

Penetration of ownership of mobile devices in

most
counties in Europe, is now over 100%. These are
the
figures:

Country

Mobile Phone
Penetration

Country

Mobile Phone
Penetration

Austria

103%

Latvia

96%

Belgium

88%

Lithuania

96%

Cyprus

107%

Luxembourg

107%

Czech Republic

111%

Malta

107%

Denmark

101%

Netherlands

102%

Estonia

96%

Norway

106%

Finland

102%

Poland

71%

France

79%

Portugal

99%

Germany

91%

Slovak Rep

85%

Greece

100%

Slovenia

44%

Hungary

92%

Spain

94%

Ireland

101%

Sweden

113%

Italy

111%

UK

108%

Fig 2. Data sources: WCIS (World Cellular Information Service) (2006) and
Ovum.
Thus it can be taken as a given that all
students in all European further and higher
education institutions in all countries in
Europe possess one.

Projects
The European Commission has played an
important role in bringing about the arrival
of mobile learning. It has funded three
Leonardo da Vinci projects and two IST
research projects in the field. Here is a brief
look at the work of these projects.

Programme

Project leader

Title

Ericsson Education Ireland

From e-learning to m-learning

Ericsson Education Ireland

Mobile learning:
The next generation of learning

IST FP5

LSDA UK

The m-learning project

IST FP5

Giunti Ricerca Italy

The MOBILearn project

Ericsson Education Ireland

The incorporation of mobile

Learning into mainstream
Education and training

Leonardo
Vinci

da

Leonardo
Vinci

da

Leonardo
Vinci

da

Fig 3. Mobile learning projects funded by the European Commission

I a
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Mobile Learning: A
Practical Guide
Servic
e)
provid
If
a
es
lecture
imme
,
or
diate
similar
comm
activit
unicati
y, has
on
to be
with
cancel
the
led at
studen
short
ts.
notice
the
SMS
univer
message
sity or
s can be
colleg
sent in
e can
this way
comm
either to
unicat
the
e with
whole
the
student
studen
body, or
t body
to
concer
students
ned by
of
a
the
faculty,
postal
or
a
servic
departm
es or
ent or a
by
class
email.
groupin
This is
g.
not an
Hundre
effecti
ds
of
ve
thousan
means
ds
of
of
these
comm
adminis
unicati
trative
on.
SMS
The
message
use of
s have
SMS
been
(Short
sent out
Messa
to
ging

students
mobile
phones
by
universi
ties
through
out the
world.
The
develo
pment
of
a
series
of 5-6
screen
mobile
learnin
g
acade
mic
suppor
ts for
studen
ts
is
the
second
tier of
the
strateg
y
propos
ed in
this
book.
This is
the
sendin
g out
of 5-6
screen
s
of
acade
mic
materi
al to

studen
ts
PDAs,
smartp
hones
or
mobile
phone
s.
These
acade
mic
suppor
ts can
be
course
summ
aries;
help
with
particu
larly
difficu
lt parts
of
a
course
that
have
caused
difficu
lty to
studen
ts in
the
past;
assign
ment
guidan
ce;
exami
nation
prepar
ation
and so
on.
Tens
of

thousa
nds of
these
suppor
ts have
been
sent to
studen
ts
phones
by
univer
sities
around
the
world.
The
final
tier
of
the
appr
oach
in
this
book
is
the
deve
lopm
ent
of
cour
se
mate
rials
for
mobi
le
learn
ing.
This
is
cruci
al
for

mobi
le
learn
ing
to be
incor
porat
ed
into
main
strea
m
educ
ation
and
train
ing.
Structu
re
of
this
book
Part
One
of
this
book
deals
with
the
use
of
mobi
le
devic
es in
educ
ation
al
admi
nistra
tion.
Mobi
le
devic
es
are

prese
nted
as
impo
rtant
com
muni
catio
ns
devic
es

which
have
many
advan
tages
over
the
postal
syste
m or
email.
Part
Two
deals
with the
use of
SMS
messagi
ng
in
teaching
and
learning
.
Billions
of SMS
message
s
are
sent
annuall
y in all
countrie
s of the
world
and the
challeng
e is to
harness
this
technol
ogy for
educatio
nal
purpose

s.
Part
Three
deals
with
the use
of
a
wide
range
of
wireles
s
technol
ogies,
besides
SMS
messag
ing, in
teachin
g and
learnin
g. The
focus is
to
demons
trate
how
these
technol
ogies
can be
used
for
educati
onal
purpos
es.
Part
Four
deals
with
the
goals

of
mobile
learnin
g
which
will
enable
it to be
incorp
orated
into
mainst
ream
educati
on and
trainin
g.
Part
Five
gives
exam
ples
of
mobi
le
learn
ing
succe
sses,
whic
h
demo
nstrat
e that
mobi
le
learn
ing is
alrea
dy
movi
ng
into
the
main
strea
m.
Just as

the
related
fields
of
distanc
e
educati
on and
elearnin
g have
becom
e
accept
ed
fields
of
mainst
ream
provisi
on, the
role
ahead
of the
field of
mobile
learnin
g is to
becom
e
incorp
orated
into
mainli
ne
educati
on and
trainin
g.
Referen
ces
BBC
(2004)
Resear
ch on
audien
ce
charac

teristic
s
http://
www.
bbc.co
.uk/co
mmiss
ioning
/marke
tresear
ch/
audi
ence
grou
p2.s
html
Worl
d
C
el
l
u
la
r
I
n
f
o
r
m
at
i
o
n
S
e
r
v
ic
e
s
(
2
0
0
6
).

M
o
bi
le
p
h
o
n
e
p
e
n
et
ra
ti
o
n
in
E
u

r
o
p
e
a
n
c
o
u
n
ti
e
s.
www.gii
.co.jp/e
nglish/e
p4209_
mn_wor
ld_gsm.
ht

m
Mobile Learning: A
Practical Guide
Comput
ing. He
is
involve
currentl
ments
are in
y
the
working
Service
as
a
Layer
Technic
of
al
telecom
Training
networ
Consult
ks. She
ant for
is
Ericsso
currentl
n
y
Educati
investig
on and
ating
speciali
how
sing in
new
enablin
telecom
g
technol
technol
ogies,
ogies
such as
which
IP
provisio
MultiM
n data
edia
services
Subsyst
and
em
content
(IMS),
for
may be
mobile
employ
network
ed to
s.
deliver
or
John
manage
Kavana
mobile
gh has a
learnin
B.Sc in
g
Comput
solutio
ing in
ns.
Multim
Bryan
Jones
holds a
B Sc in
Applied

edia
Systems
from
the Dun
Laoghai

re
Institute
of Art,
Design
and
Technol
ogy. His
backgro
und is
in
Assistiv
e
Technol
ogies
and
Web
Accessi
bility
Guideli
nes. His
speciali
sation is
in mLearnin
g
solution
s,
dynami
c
content
generati
on and
standar
disation
. He is a
Membe
r
of
Enginee
rs
Ireland.

Desmo
nd
Keegan
is
a
former
Director
General
of the
Italian
Open
Univers
ity
system,
Consor
zio per
lUnive
rsit a
Distanz
a. He
has
contribu
ted
widely
to the
literatur
e
of
distance
educati
on, elearning
and
mobile
learning

. He is a
consulta
nt
in
distance
training
with
Ericsso
n
Educati
on
Ireland.
Gabor
Kismih
ok is a
PhD
student
at the
Depart
ment of
Informa
tion
System
s
of
Corvin
us
Univers
ity of
Budape
st
writing
his
thesis
about
adaptiv
e
assessm
ent
technol
ogies in
eLearni
ng
environ
ments.
He is
also
busy
with
various

Europe
an
mLearn
ing and
eLearni
ng
researc
h
projects
.
Judy
Nix is
EU
Projects
Manage
r with
Ericsso
n. She
has
a
special
interest
in
mobile
learning
and has
manage
d two
successf
ul
projects
in this
area:
Mobile
Learnin
g: the
next
generat
ion of
learnin
g and
The
incorpo
ration
of
mobile
learnin
g into
mainstr

eam
educati
on. She
has
worked
in
Ericsso
n
Educati
on in a
number
of roles
includin
g Guest
Service
s
Manage
r,
Marketi
ng
Manage
r
and
Service
Deliver
y
Manage
r.
Geari
d

Sillea
bhin
has
been
workin
g in the
DEIS
Depart
ment
for
Educati
on
Develo
pment
in the
Cork
Institut
e
of

Technol
ogy
Ireland
since
1998
where
his
main
activitie
s
include
the coordinati
on of
several
EU-

fields.
sponsor
ed
projects
relating
to
elearning
as well
as some
mainstr
eam elearning
support
and
develop
ment
work
within
the
institute
. He is
also a
lecturer
in
elearning
and
media
studies.
He has
publishe
d
a
number
of
papers
and
designe
d
a
range of
research
projects
on
a
range of
themes
in
elearning
and
related

Peter
Penny
holds a
B.Sc.
in
Psychol
ogy
Applie
d
to
Inform
ation
Techno
logy.
He is
currentl
y
a
researc
her on
the
Leonar
do da
Vinci
GATE
WAY
project
promot
ed by
Dun
Laogha
ire
Institut
e
of
Art,
Design
&
Techno
logy
(IADT)
.
Joaac
him
Pietsc
h is a
lectur
er at

the
Instit
ute of
Art,
Desig
n and
Techn
ology
(IAD
T) in
Dun
Laoag
haire,
Irelan
d,
with
resear
ch
intere
sts in
Cogni
tive
Theor
y of
Multi
media
and elearni
ng
Torstei
n
Rekke
dal is
profess
or
of
distanc
e
educati
on and
Directo
r of R
& D at
NKI
Distanc
e
Educati
on,
Norwa

y. He
has
worked
in
distanc
e
educati
on
researc
h since
1970.
He has
produc
ed
a
stream
of
researc
h
publica
tions in
the
field of
distanc
e
educati
on and
online
learnin
g. He
has
chaired
the
researc
h
commit
tees of
the
Europe
an
Associa
tion for
Distanc
e
Learnin
g
(EADL
) and
the
Internat

ional
Council
for
Open
and
Distanc
e
Educati
on
(ICDE)
.
In
2003
he was
conferr
ed with
an
honorar
y
doctora
te
of
the
British
Open
Univers
ity for
his
researc
h work
in the
field.
He is
presentl
y chair
of the
standin
g
commit
tee for
quality
of the
Norwe
gian
Associa
tion for
Distanc
e and
Flexibl
e
Educati

on.
Mark
Riorda
n is is
the
Head
of the
Techno
logy
Depart
ment at
the
Institut
e
of
Art,
Design
and
Techno
logy
(IADT
). He
holds a
PhD in
Compu
ter
Scienc
e from
Trinity
Colleg
e
Dublin
and is
a
Charter
ed
Engine
er.
Prior
to
joining
IADT
in
1999
he held
a
numbe
r
of
Resear

ch and
Techno
logy
Develo
pment
positio
ns in
Industr
y and
Acade
mia.
John
Russell
works
as the
Interne
t
system
s
manag
er for
NKI
distanc
e
educati

on. His
main
focus is
runnin
g the
develo
pment
team
that
builds
and
runs
the
NKI
distanc
e
educati
on web
sites,
includi
ng
SESA
M, the
LMS
of
NKI.

Mobile learning/SMS (Short Messaging System) academic administration kit

Judy Nix, John Russell and Desmond Keegan

The context for the use of mobile devices in academic administration is presented. Uses in
administration, combating drop-out, distance education and learning support are described.
Implementation strategies both in-house development and the purchase of a system from an
SMS gateway provider are explained.
The context
Never in the history of the use of
technology in education has there
been a technology so widely
available to citizens as mobile
technology.
One can safely assume that every student in
every higher and further education
institution in every European country
possesses a mobile device.
The need
Academic administration
All students enrolled in all higher and
further education institutions today have a
frequent need for information from their
institutions about timetable changes,
assessment deadlines, feedback from tutors
and other urgent administrative details.
Although nearly all of these students carry a
sophisticated communications device which
they use constantly in all walks of life, isnt
it strange that they do not use it in their
education or training programme?
Equally, all higher and further education
institutions today have a frequent need to
provide information to their students
about timetable changes, assessment
deadlines, feedback from tutors and other
urgent administrative details. Although
nearly all of their students carry a
sophisticated communications device
which they use constantly in all walks of
life, isnt it strange the institutions do not
use them to communicate?

If a lecture, or similar activity, has to be

cancelled at short notice the university or
college can communicate with the student
body concerned by the postal services

or email. These are not always effective

means
of communication so many of the
students will turn up for the cancelled
lecture and be inconvenienced. The
institutions administration may come in
for criticism.
However, if a lecture, or similar activity, has
to be cancelled at short notice, the university
or college communicates with the student
body concerned by SMS (Short Messaging
System), all of the students will receive and
read the message, no-one will turn up, noone will be inconvenienced and the
institutions administration will have been
successful. SMS messages can be sent in
this way either to the whole student body, or
a faculty, or a department or a class
grouping.

13

Drop-out
Government decisions in a number of
European countries have heightened the
importance of the reduction of the drop out
rate in universities and colleges. In some
instances subsidies can be reduced if the
drop-out rate is not reduced. The prevention
of avoidable drop-outs has been an
intractable problem in higher education for
years and often costly methods, like
increased counselling and mentoring, have
been introduced to combat the phenomenon.
The University of Ulster in Northern
Ireland has had great success in the use of
SMS messaging for the reduction of
student drop-out. It found that sending
SMS messages to students who have been
identified as being at risk, has been a very
successful approach for keeping students
in the system and for maintaining the
government per capita grant.

Mobile Learning: A
Practical Guide
to other
areas
like
The
assignm
Univers
ent
ity of
deadlin
Ulster
es.
sent out
messag
The
es
to
Univers
students
ity
of the
conside
type
rs that
Sorry,
speed
we
is
missed
essentia
you
l
in
today.
dealing
The
with
universi
dropty
outs:
initially
Two
feared
weeks
that this
and
might
they
be
are
intrusiv
gone.
e. On
Other
the
method
contrar
s
of
y
the
dealing
students
with
did not
dropfind it
outs
intrusiv
have a
e at all.
lead
The
time of
students
several
appreci
weeks.
ated it
The
and
Univers
wanted
ity
the
regards
universi
dropty
to
outs
expand
reducti
the
on as a
service

duty of
care.
They
feel
that a
frequen
t cause
of
dropouts is
that
Nobod
y
cares.
Groups
of
4.500
student
s can
be
alienati
ng. The
persona
l touch
of
a
messag
e on a
mobile
phone
can be
an
answer
(Keega
n
2006).
Distanc
e
Educati
on
In its
facult
y of
educat
ion in
2002,
the
Unive
rsity

of
Pretori
a,
South
Africa
, had
hundr
eds of
studen
ts
enroll
ed in
the
equiva
lent of
a PostGradu
ate
Diplo
ma in
Educa
tion
by
distan
ce
educat
ion.
None
of
these
studen
ts had
email
or
could
avail
of
eLear
ning
but all
had a
mobil
e
phone.
They
were
all
fulltime

teache
rs
emplo
yed in
rural
school
s.
The
univer
sity
used
mobile
phone
s very
succes
sfully
in
their
paperbased
distan
ce
educat
ion
progra
mmes
for
univer
sity
admini
stratio
n,
achiev
ing
almost
immed
iate
comm
unicati
on by
SMS
messa
ging
in an

area
where
email
was
unavai
lable
and
post
took 5
to 15
days.
The
profile
of these
students
in 2002
was as
follows:

The
maj
ority
live
in
rural
area
s

100
%
are
fulltime
emp
loye
es
(tea
chin
g)

0.4
%
had
acce
ss to
email

sm
all
gro
up
or
ind
ivi
du
al
S
M
Ss
to
spe
cifi
c
stu
de
nts
ext
rac
ted
fro
m
the
dat
abas
e
on
an
ind
ivi
du
al
bas
is
for
spe
cifi
c
ad

mi
nis
trat
ive
sup
por
t
(Br
ow
n
20
05)
.
The
advanta
ges and
success
es were
signific
ant:

In
resp
ons
e to
a
rem
inde
r for
regi
strat
ion
for
cont
act
sess
ions
,
58
%
of
the
lear
ners
regi
ster
ed
befo

re
the
clos
ing
date
com
pare
d to
the
nor
mal
exp
ecte
d
perc
enta
ge
of
belo
w
40
%.

I
n
r
e
s
p
o
n
s
e
t
o
a
r
e
m
i
n
d
e
r
o

f
t
h
e
c
o
n
t
a
c
t
s
e
s
s
i
o
n
d
a
t
e
s
,
9
5
%
o
f
t
h
e
l
e
a
r
n
e
r
s
t

h
a
t
r
e
g
i
s
t
e
r
e
d
f
o
r
t
h
e
c
o
n
t
a
c
t
s
e
s
s
i
o
n
s
a
t
t
e
n
d
e
d
.

Le
ar
ne
rs
re
sp
on
de
d
en
m
as
se
an
d
al
m
os
t
im
m
ed
iat
el
y
to
in
fo
r
m
ati
on
pr
ov
id
ed
in
S
M
Sm
es
sa
ge
s.
If
it
c

a
n
b
e
d
o
n
e
s
u
c
c
e
s
s
f
u
ll
y
i
n
r
u
r
a
l
A
fr
i
c
a
it
c
a
n
c
e
rt
a
i
n
l
y
b
e
d
o
n
e
s

u
c
c
e
s
sf
u
ll
y
i
n
E
u
r
o
p
e.
Learnin
g
Support
and atrisk
student
s
There
have
been
efforts
at EU
and
govern
ment
level to
encoura
ge
a
wider
particip
ation in
the
third
level
educati
on
system
by
encoura
ging
students

from
more
diverse
backgro
unds to
attend
college
s. One
of the
major
concern
s in the
third
level
educati
on
system
in
Ireland
is the
retentio
n
of
student
s,
an
issue
that is
extreme
ly
importa
nt
to
the
Institut
es
of
Technol
ogy
nationw
ide.
Over
the past
number
of
years,
factors
such as
the
falling
number

of
applica
nts, a
reductio
n
in
entry
point
require
ments,
increasi
ng
number
s
of
nonnational
students
and
students
with
disabilit
ies have
combin
ed
to
change
signific
antly
the
profile
of
students
entering
the IT
sector.
The
reductio
n in the
number
of
students
opting
for
careers
in the
Science
and
Enginee
ring

fields
has
meant
that the
issue of
student
retentio
n has

99.4
%
had
a
mo
bile
pho
ne

Mobil
e
phone
suppor
t
to
these
rural
distan
ce
learni
ng
studen
ts
entaile
d
sendin
g
bulk,
preplanne
d
SMSs
to:

st
ud
en

all
stud
ents
;

become
paramo
unt for
the
existenc
e
of
these
courses.
ts
of
a
sp
ec
ifi
c
pr
og
ra
m
m
e
fo
r
ge
ne
ral
ad
mi
ni
str
ati
ve
su
pp
ort
as
w
ell
as
m
oti
va
tio
na
l
su
pp
ort
;

spe
cifi
c
gro
ups
of
stud
ents
extr
acte
d
fro
m
the
data
bas
e
for
spe
cifi
c
adm
inist
rati
ve
sup
port
(cus
tom
ised
gro
up
SM
S);
and

The
Depart
ment of
Engine
ering in
IT
Tallagh
t,
in
Dublin,
began
to
address
these
issues
by
implem
enting
an
Engine
ering
Learnin
g
Support
Unit
(ELSU)
in
2003.
The
main
aim of
this unit
was to
provide
incomi
ng
student
s
on
Year 1
fulltime
Engine
ering
courses
with an
extensi
ve
range

of
support
service
s
in
order to
make
the
introdu
ction to
third
level
educati
on
a
smooth
process
,
thereby
improvi
ng
student
particip
ation
and
retentio
n.
ELSU
has
been

develop
ed
to
provide
a
flexible
student
driven
support
networ
k,
coverin
g both
academ
ic and
nonacadem
ic
issues,
in order
to
facilitat
e
an
improv
ed
learnin
g
environ
ment.

Mobile

learning/SMS (Short
Messaging
System)
Academic
administration kit
importan
The
t
main
informati
responsi
on was
bilities
introduc
of ELSU
ed
as
include:
part of
Provi
LSU at
ding
the
the
beginnin
nece
g of the
academi
ssary
c
year
resou
2005/20
rces
06. The
and
main
infra
reason
struc
for
tural
impleme
supp
nting this
orts
tool was
to
to allow
supp
students
ort
to
be
first
continual
year
ly
and
stude
quickly
nts
informed
of any
Early
changes
identi
within
ficati
their
on of
courses.
atrisk
Up
to
stude
this
nts
point,
email
The use
was
of SMS
predomi
as
a
nantly
means of
used.
providin
However
g
, it was
students
found
with
that

email
was not
an ideal
solution
as not all
students
would
check
their
college
mail
accounts
on
a
regular
basis
and,
therefore
, would
often not
receive
informati
on they
needed
until it
was too
late.
Furtherm
ore,
email
was not
appropri
ate for
conveyin
g
importan
t
informati
on
at
short
notice.
Student
details
were
obtained
from a
Microso
ft Excel

database
and the
SMS
tool was
impleme
nted
within
Microso
ft
Outlook
.
Any
member
of the
teaching
/support
staff
could
use the
tool to
send
message
s to an
individu
al
student,
a group
of
students
or the
entire
list of
registere
d
students
in Year
1
Enginee
ring.
Some
exampl
es
of
where
the
SMS

tool has
been
used in
IT
Tallaght
include:

N
o
t
i
f
y
i
n
g
s
t
u
d
e
n
t
s
a
b
o
u
t
c
h
a
n
g
e
s
i
n
t
h
e
i
r
s
c

h
e
d
u
l
e
/
t
i
m
e
t
a
b
l
e

Chan
ges
regar
ding
room
alloc
ation
s for
lectur
es

Re
mi
nd
in
g
stu
de
nts
of
mi
dse
m
est
er
ex
a
m
ti
m
es,
da
tes

an
d
ve
nu
es

ble
on
the
de
par
tm
ent
not
ice
bo
ard
s

Re
min
din
g
stu
den
ts
of
dea
dlin
es
for
sub
mis
sio
n of
cou
rse
wor
k
No
tify
ing
stu
de
nts
wh
en
the
ir
test
/la
b
res
ult
s
ha
ve
bee
n
ma
de
ava
ila

Inf
or
mi
ng
stu
de
nts
of
lec
tur
er
ab
se
nc
e
an
d/
or
ca
nc
ell

Mak
ing
stud
ents
awar
e of
time/
date/
venu
e of
ELS
U
supp
ort
sessi
ons

ed
cla
sse
s

Tellin
g
stude
nts
about
impo
rtant
event
s in
the
colle
ge

The
SMS
tool as
part of
Outlook
was
initially
develope
d
and
impleme
nted by a
member
of
the
lecturing
staff but
the
Departm
ent
of
Engineer
ing has
decided
to invest
in

a more
sophisti
cated
system
for
providi
ng
informa
tion to
student
s
via
SMS,
as they
view it
to be an
importa
nt part
of all
courses
within
the
depart
ment.
In
IT
Tal
lag
ht
the
use
of
S
M
S
me
ssa
gin
g
has
be
en
vie
we
d
as
a
val

ua
ble
ad
diti
on
to
the
aca
de
mi
c
en
vir
on
me
nt
for
its
si
mp
lici
ty
an
d
eff
ect
ive
nes
s
in
co
nv
eyi
ng
inf
or
ma
tio
n
bet
we
en
sta
ff
an
d
stu
de
nts

(O
S
he
a
20
05)
.
Implem
entation
strategie
s
The
recomme
nded
strategie
s
for
universit
ies and
colleges
who
want to
introduc
e SMS
messagin
g to their
administ
ration
are either
to
develop
an
inhouse
solution
or
approach
an SMS
service
provider.
1.
Inhouse
develop
ment
SMS is a
mobile
phone
technolo
gy that
allows
short text

message
s to be
sent and
received
on
a
mobile
phone.
Typically
message
s are 160
character
s
in
length,
but this
can be
extended
by
combini
ng
a
number
of
message
s
together.
For
example
if three
message
s
are
combine
d
it
would be
possible
to send a
message
slightly
shorter
than 480
character
s long.
However
this
normally
means
you
would be
charged

for each
message
(3
message
s in the
example)
. Support
for
combini
ng SMS
message
s varies
from
service
provider
to
service
provider
and this
should
be
checked
if long
message
s
are
required.
Mobile
operators
have a
node in
their
network
called an
SMS
Service
Centre
(SMS-C)
that
handles
SMS
message
traffic.
Typicall
y each
mobile
operator
will

allow
Third
Party
SMS
aggregat
ors/servi
ce
provider
s
to
connect
to their
SMSCs.
Such
aggregat
ors are
likely to
have
connecti
ons
to
many
different
operators
or
to
other
aggregat
ors.
Direct
connecti
ons to an
operator
SMS-C
are
expensiv
e.
Aggrega
tors with
direct
SMS-C
connecti
ons will
recoup
that cost
by
providin
g their
own
Applicat

ion
Interface
by
which
other
content
provider
s
can
send
SMS
message
s.
Normall
y
the
cost for
such a
connecti
on to an
aggregat
or
is
much
less. The
bottom
line
is
that it is
much
more
cost
effective
to
connect
to
an
SMS
aggregat
or than
to
a
mobile
operator
SMS-C.
Indeed
connecti
ng to an
aggregat
or may
give the
applicati
on
access to
a much

wider
audience
.
For
example,
universit
ies are
likely to
have
internati
onal
students
that have
mobile
phones
from
their
home
country.
15

It
is
likely
that
a
connecti
on to a
local
Mobile
Operator
s SMS-C
would
not
allow
delivery
of SMS
message
s to such
students.

Mobile Learning: A
Practical Guide
are
difficul
Writin
t
to
g
an
test,
applica
require
tion
expens
that
ive
connec
special
ts to an
ised
operato
equipm
r SMSent,
C
expert
require
knowle
s
dge
special
and
ist
normal
knowle
ly
dge of
expens
the
ive
SMS
SDKs
protoc
(Servic
ols
e
involve
Develo
d.
pment
SMSKits).
C
Alternat
protoc
ively
ols
SMS
such as
Content
SMPP
aggrega
(Short
tors will
Messa
usually
ge Peer
have a
to
SOAP
Peer)
(Simple
3.4 are
Object
difficul
Access
t and
Protoco
compli
l)
or
cated
HTTP
to
interfac
work
e that
with,
can be

used to
develop
applicat
ions.
Such
technol
ogies
are
normall
y free to
obtain
and
expert
knowle
dge is
readily
availabl
e
through
develop
er
forums
on the
internet.
In
addition
content
aggrega
tors are
usually
very
helpful
and
definitel
y more
accessib
le than
mobile
operator
s
for
support
questio
ns.
In
Su
mm

ary

Ad
van
tag
es
of
SM
S
agg
reg
ator
s
ove
r
dire
ct
ope
rato
r
SM
SC:

G
r
e
a
tl
y
r
e
d
u
c
e
d
c
o
n
n
e
c
ti
o
n
f
e
e
a
n

d
o
n
g
o
i
n
g
m
o
n
t
h
l
y
r
a
t
e

io
n
al
m
o
bi
le
p
h
o
n
es

M
or
e
li
k
el
y
to
b
e
a
bl
e
to
d
el
iv
er
S
M
S
m
es
sa
g
es
to
in
te
rn
at

Ag
gre
gat
ors
nor
mal
ly
use
sta
nda
rd
inte
rne
t
tec
hno
log
ies
suc
h
as
SO
AP
or
HT
TP.
Mo
bile
ope
rat
ors
nor
mal
ly
req
uir
e

tele
co
m
spe
cifi
c
pro
toc
ols
suc
h
as
SM
PP
3.4
whi
ch
are
co
mp
lica
ted
and
exp
ens
ive
to
im
ple
me
nt.
For
the
purely
financ
ial
and
techni
cal
reason
s
outlin
ed
above
it
makes
a lot
of
sense

to
conne
ct
directl
y to
an
SMS
aggre
gator
s SMS
gatew
ay.
The
followi
ng is a
typical
call
flow
when
sending
an SMS
messag
e from a
universi
ty
applicat
ion to a
student.

A
univ
ersit
y
adm
inist
rato
r
uses
the
appl
icati
on
GUI
to
ente
r an
SM

S
mes
sage
.
The
adm
inist
rato
r
then
sele
cts
the
distr
ibuti
on
list
for
a
parti
cula
r
stud
ent
clas
s or
can
ente
r a
onc
e
off
mob
ile
num
ber

W
he
n
the
ad
mi
nis
trat
or
cli
cks

on
se
nd
me
ssa
ge
,
the
ap
pli
cat
ion
wil
l
bui
ld
a
co
nn
ect
ion
to
wa
rds
the
S
M
S
ag
gre
gat
ors
S
M
S
gat
ew
ay.

Th
e
S
M
S
gat
ew
ay
wil
l
acc

ept
the
me
ssa
ge
an
d
for
wa
rd
it
to
the
mo
bil
e
op
era
tor
tha
t
the
rec
ipi
ent
is
wit
h
for
del
ive
ry
to
the
ir
ph
on
e.

So
me
SM
S
gate
way
s
will
pro
vide
deli

ver
y
rep
orts
bac
k to
the
uni
vers
ity
appl
icati
on
whe
n
the
mes
sag
e is
deli
vere
d to
the
reci
pien
t.

Legal
require
ments
SMS
SPAM
In the
last
year or
so
some
very
strict
rules
governi
ng the
sending
of
unsolici
ted text
messag
es have
been
introdu
ced.
Fines
of up to
5,000
per
messag
e
are
being
applied
.
It
is
critical
that the
mobile
phone
owners
permiss
ion is
obtaine
d before
any
SMS
messag
es are

sent to
their
phone.
This
can
either
be
in
writing
where
the user
signs an
authoriz
ation
when
they
register
at the
college
or
by
the user
sending
a
registrat
ion text
messag
e to the
applicat
ion.
App
licat
ions
sho
uld
adh
ere
to
the
rele
vant
data
prot
ecti
on
legi
slati
on
and
regi

ster
with
the
loca
l
data
prot
ecti
on
com
plia
nce
age
ncy.
Mobile
phone
users
should
be able
to
remove
themsel
ves
from
the list
at any
time
and
access
to this
removal
process
should
be
immedi
ate and
easy to
use.
Case
study
NKI,
Bekk
estua
,
Nor
way,
has
intro

duce
d an
inhous
e
SMS
servi
ce.
The
setup
A
GSM
mode
m
termin
al in
its
simple
st form
is just
a
mobile
phone
that
can be
connec
ted to
a
compu
ter.
There
are, in
fact, a
lot of
mobile
phones
on the
market
that
can do
this.
Howev
er,
NKI
purcha
sed a
special

ised
GSM
termin
al, the
Sieme
ns
T35i.
This
sort of
termin
al
is
cheape
r than
a
mobile
phone
as
it
does
not
have a
screen
or
keyboa
rd. It
also
has an
antenn
a that
can be
placed
a good
distanc
e
(about
5
metres
) away
from
the
termin
al.
This
was a
necessi
ty as
the
termin

al was
to be
located
in an
underg
round
server
room
and the
signal
from
the
GSM
networ
k was
very
weak.
Being
able to
locate
the
antenn
a high
up and
close
to the
outer
walls
gave a
much
better
signal.
Connec
tion to
the
termina
l
is
done
via the
serial
port on
the
server.
There is
a fairly
standar
d set of

comma
nds that
are
used by
GSM
termina
ls.
These
are
a
super
set of
the
original
Hayes
AT
comma
nds for
modem
s. Each
manufa
cturer
can also
add
custom
comma
nds so
for
advanc
ed
progra
mming
the
docume
ntation
for the
modem
may be

necessa
ry.
A
decisio
n was
made
to run
the
server
on the
LINU
X
operati
ng
system,
but
softwar
e etc is
availab
le for
all
major
operati
ng
system
s.
LINU
X was
used as
the rest
of the
web
applica
tion
stack is
on it.

Mobile

learning/SMS (Short
Messaging
System)
Academic
administration
With
Onc
these
e the
progr
mod
ams it
em
is
is
possi
conn
ble to
ecte
send
d up,
raw
its
code
time
to the
to
mode
find
m and
out
if it
check
wor
that
ks!
every
The
thing
easie
is
st
worki
way
ng.
to do
this
A
is by
typica
usin
l run
g a
in
term
Kerm
inal
it
woul
prog
d
ram
look
such
somet
as
hing
hype
like
r
this.
term
inal
or
Ker
mit.

at+cops?
-- check connection
should return service
provider

If no service provder
check sim code with
at+cpin?
or
use
at+cpin=<code>
at+cmgf=1
-- set the modem in
text mode
at+cnmi=2,1,0,0,1
--set the modem to
listen
at+cmgs=+47xxxxxxx
-- xxx is destination
number
at the > type your
message end with Ctrl
and Z to send

If
all
goes
well the
first
messag
e
has
been
sent by
the
modem.
Howeve
r, it is
not
possible
to write
this sort
of code
for each
and
every
messag
e that is
sent.
Gatewa
y
softwar

Figure 1:
Typical
SMS run in
Kermit
e
is
required
. There
is
plenty
to
choose
from.
NKI
chose
an open
source
gateway
called
SMS
Server
Tools.
SMS
Server
Tools
happens
to
be
availabl
e
for
window
s
and
flavours

of
UNIX/L
INUX.
It
requires
some
set up
work
but
nothing
than an
IT
professi
onal
will
struggle
with, in
fact its
a welldocume
nted
setup.
Once
the
gateway
is
up
and
running,
SMS
message
s can be
sent by
sending
simple
text
files to
the
gateway
.
The
text
files
contain
the text
to
be
sent,
along
with
whom
to send

the
message
to. The
gateway
also
accepts
incomin
g SMS
message
s
dumpin
g
the
message
s
into
the file
system
as
a
series of
text
files.
The text
files
format
is
extreme
ly easy
to read
and to
create
with a
compute
r
program
. NKI
used
java, as
thats
what is
used in
the rest
of the
web
develop
ment.
Conclus
ion
The
whole

process
of
setting
up an
SMS
service
is
in
fact
pretty
painless
for an
IT
professi
onal but
not
somethi
ng to be
attempt
ed
by
normal
users,
then
again
creating
applicat
ions to
talk to
Clickate
l
or
other
online
SMS
gateway
s is not
somethi
ng an
average
user
should
attempt
either.
Price
wise
there
is
very
little
differ

ence
betwe
en the
online
SMS
provi
ders
and
runni
ng
your
own
gatew
ay.
This
is
especi
ally
true if
you
are
sendi
ng a
lot of
SMS
messa
ges,
typica
lly
over
100K
per
year,
then it
can
be
cheap
er to
get a
deal
with a
local
mobil
e
operat
or.

Anoth
er
differe
nce is
the
cost of
handli
ng an
SMS
that is
sent
back
to the
gatew
ay.
Online
gatew
ays
charge
for

rece
ivin
g an
SM
S;
runn
ing
your
own
gate
way
mea
ns
ther
e is
no
char
ge
for
rece
ivin
g an
SM
S.
The
basic
function
set of
an
internal
SMS
gateway
is
similar
to that
of
an
online
gateway
but
when
using
your
own
gateway
it
is
easier
to send
things
like

logos
and ring
tones.
Having
your
own
gatewa
y will
also
allow
you to
send
other
advance
d
content
types,
basicall
y
anythin
g
a
phone
can
send
and
receive.
At the
moment
most of
the
online
gatewa
ys are
offering
the
ability
to send
and
receive
SMS.
Evaluat
ion
So
is
having
your
own
modem
worth

it? The
answer
as
so
often
with
technol
ogy is
it
depends
. If you
want a
quick
set up
with
minimu
m work
and
mainten
ance
and you
are
mainly
intereste
d
in
sending
SMS,
the
online
gateway
s
are
your
best bet.
If you
need to
receive
a lot of
SMS
message
s
or
send
other
forms of
content
and you

have the
staff
and
infrastru
cture,
then a
modem
and
internal
gateway
will
offer
advanta
ges. In
NKIs
case we
wish to
exploit
and
experim
ent with
mobile
commu
nication
s
and
have the
infrastru
cture
and
staff
that
allow us
the
luxury
of
having
our own
internal
gateway
2.
Using
an SMS
service
provide

r
T
h
e
r
e
a
r
e
n
u
m
e
r
o
u
s
S
M
S
s
e
r
v
ic
e
p
r
o
v
i
d
e
rs
i
n
t
h
e
m
a
r
k
et
.
W

el
lk
n
o
w
n
p
r
o
v
i
d
e
rs
w
o
u
l
d
i
n
cl
u
d
e:

The
use
of
an
SM
S
serv
ice
pro
vid
er
will
inc
orp
orat
e
thes
e
acti
viti
es:

Saad
ian
(ww
w.sa
adia
n.co
m)

KA
PO
W!
(ww
w.ka
pow.
co.u
k/)

Clic
katel
l
(ww
w.cli
ckat
ell.c
om)

C
r
e
a
t
e
a
d
a
t
a
b
a
s
e
,
c
a
t
e
g
o
r
i
s
i
n
g

t
h
e
a
u
d
i
e
n
c
e
i
n
a
s
m
a
n

y
w
a
y
s
a
s
a
p
p
r
o
p
r
i
a
t
e

Mobile Learning: A
Practical Guide

Writ
e an
appli
catio
n

Creat
e a
text
mess
age no
more
than
160
chara
cters
long

Inter
rogat
e the
datab
ase
using
a key
word

SM
PP
(Sho
rt
Mes
sage
Poin
t to
Poin
t
Prot
ocol
)

B
u
y
a
li
n
k

Sendin
g
of
group
messag
es
Group
messag
ing
enables
one to
save
time by
predefinin
g
groups
of
people
that
one
wants
to send
messag
es to.

f
r
o
m
a
n
e
t
w
o
r
k
o
p
e
r
a
t
o

r
b
a
s
e
d
o
n
t
h
e
a
m
o
u
n
t
o
f
m
e
s
s
a
g
e
s
t
o
b
e
s
e
n
t,
t
h
e
ti
m
e
s
p
a
n
f
o
r
s
e

n
d
i
n
g
a
n
d
t
h
e
c
o
s
t
p
e
r
m
e
s
s
a
g
e
.
SMS
gateway
provide
rs offer
a range
of
mobile
message
distribut
ion and
manage
ment
services
. They
offer a
suite of
messagi
ng
services
and
applicat
ions to

help
universi
ties and
business
es get
connect
ed and
leverage
the cost
savings
and
efficien
cies
availabl
e
through
improve
d
commu
nication
.
Service
s
include:
Sending
of
desktop
messag
es
This is
accessi
ble
from
any
interne
t
connec
ted PC,
the
service
provid
es
a
secure
webbased
accoun
t that
can be
access

ed
from
anywh
ere in
the
world.
A
practic
al
interfa
ce
ensure
s
anyone
in the
univers
ity or
busine
ss can
have
ready
access
to
messag
ing
from
the
deskto
p
withou
t
special
ist
knowle
dge or
trainin
g.
User
features
include:

Se
ndi
ng
to
an
y
GS
M

net
wo
rks
(ho
me
an
d
abr
oa
d)
an
d
sen
din
g
to
an
y
pa
gin
g
net
wo
rk

Sen
ding
to email
addr
esse
s

Re
cei
vin
g
im
me
dia
te
con
fir
ma
tio
n
the
me
ssa
ge
has
bee

n
acc
ept
ed

Sent
mes
sage
log

Pr
ede
fin
ed
m
es
sa
ge
fa
cil
ity
fo
r
co
m
m
on
m
es
sa
ge
s
or
te
m
pl
at
es

Add
ress
boo
k
facil
ity
to
sele
ct
reci
pien
ts by
nam

Se
ar
ch
fa
cil
ity
to
co
m
po
se
m
es
sa
ge
s
to
in
di
vi
du
al
s
m
ee
tin
g
a
sp
ec
ifi
c
cri
ter
ia
Deli
very
statu
s
repo
rting
for
SM
S
mes
sage
s
C
r

e
a
t
i
n
g
a
n
d
m
a
n
a
g
i
n
g
g
r
o
u
p
b
r
o
a
d
c
a
s
t
l
i
s
t
s
t
o
c
o
m
b
i

n
a
t
i
o
n
s
o
f
m
o
b
i
l
e
,
p
a
g
e
r
,
e
m
a
i
l

R
e
c
e
i
v
i
n
g
2
w
a
y
S
M
S

r
e
s
p
o
n
s
e
s
d
i
r
e
c
t
t
o
t
h
e
d
e
s
k
t
o
p

This
allows
alerts
and
messag
es to be
quickly
distribut
ed
to
any
combin
ation of
mobiles
, pagers
and email.
The
system
provide
s
the
ability
to
manage
recipien
t lists
through
a secure
webaccount
with
any
changes
being
implem
ented in
realtime.
The
webaccount
also
provide
s
a
messag
e
history

log
includi
ng
deliver
y
confirm
ations.
SMS
gatewa
y
provide
rs offer
a
simple,
yet
powerf
ul and
secure
method
of
generat
ing and
distribu
ting
messag
es
to
mobile
phones.
Most
SMS
gatewa
y
provid
ers use
a
simple
interfa
ce for
staff to
compo
se
messa
ges
similar
to the
follow

ing:

S
M
S

Compo
se
messag
e
To:
(inse
rt
num
ber/s
)
Text:
(inse
rt
text
of
mess
age)

List
Reset
Send
F
i
g
u
r
e
2
.
T
e
m
p
l
a
t
e
f
o
r

m
e
s
s
a
g
i
n
g
This
provide
s:

S
e
c
u
r
e
m
e
s
s
a
g
i
n
g
f
r
o
m
t
h
e
d
e
s
k
t
o
p
w
i
t
h

n
o
n
e
w
s
o
f
t
w
a
r
e
o
r
h
a
r
d
w
a
r
e
r
e
q
u
i
r
e
d
.

A
fea
tur
eric
h
me
ssa
gin
g
ca
pa
bil
ity
fro
m
yo

ur
de
skt
op
PC
.

S
e
n
d
i
n
g
o
f
m
e
s
s
a
g
e
s
t
o
a
n
y
c
o
m
b
i
n
a
t
i
o
n
m
o
b
i
l
e
p
h
o
n
e

s
a
n
d
e
m
a
i
l
a
d
d
r
e
s
s
e
s
.

S
i
m
p
l
e
s
e
n
d
s
c
r
e
e
n
i
n
c
l
u
d
i
n

g
a
d
d
r
e
s
s
b
o
o
k
,
p
r
e
d
e
f
i
n
e
d
m
e
s
s
a
g
e
s
a
n
d
m
e
s
s

a
g
e
c
h
a
r
a
c
t
e
r
c

o
u
n
t
.

Add
ress
boo
k
with
imp
ort
and
sear
ch

Mobile

learning/SMS (Short
Messaging
System)
Academic
administration
the
Sendin
need
g
of
for
twostuden
way
ts or
SMS
other
Sendi
users
ng
to
twomake
way
return
SMS
teleph
enabl
one
es
calls,
conta
which
cts to
incur
respo
cost
nd to
and
text
tie-up
messa
resour
ges
ces.
via
twoway
SMS
techn
ology
.
By
provid
ing a
simple
,
effecti
ve and
lowcost
twoway
SMS
reply
mecha
nism
one
can
reduce

Simp
le
the
recip
ient
simp
ly
repli
es to
the
mess
age
Acce
ssibl
e
repli
es
are
deliv
ered
back
to
the
deskt
op

acco
unt
from
whic
h it
was
sent
Flexi
ble
syste
ms
usuall
y
provi
de
optio
ns to
redirect
the
replie
s to email,
mobil
e,
pager
s or a
secur
e
webbased
accou
nt.
Logisti
cs
Two
fundin
g
options
There
are
two
ways
in
which
the use
of an
SMS
service

provide
r can
be
accom
plished
:
1. Maj
or
bulk
SM
S
with
dire
ct
billi
ng
per
SM
S
A
very
strai
ght
for
war
d
des
ktop
appl
icati
on
is
use
d to
sen
d
the
SM
Ss
fro
m.
One
nee
ds
to
dev
elop
an

inte
grat
ion
wit
h
the
mai
n
fra
me
to
ens
ure
acc
ess
to
the
stud
ent
data
bas
e
(for
mo
bile
pho
ne
nu
mb
ers
of
stud
ents
acc
ordi
ng
to
mo
dul
es
and
pro
gra
mm
es).

A webbased
portal
with
userfriendl
y
frontend is
made
availab
le to
all
acade
mic
staff
membe
rs and
selecte
d
admini
strative
depart
ments.
The
system
is also
integra
ted
with
the
main
frame.
SMS
can be
sent in
either
of the
sponso
red or
not
sponso
red
categor
ies.
Collect
ing
mobile
phone

numbe
rs from
student
s
If
an
instituti
on
wishes
to use
SMS
messag
ing
with its
student
s it will
need to
collect
the
student
s
mobile
telepho
ne
number
s at the
time of
registra
tion or
reenrolm
ent.
These
number
s will
need to
be held
in the
instituti
ons
databas
e
so
that
mobile
messag
es can
be sent
to the
whole
student

body,
or to all
membe
rs of a
faculty,
or of a
depart
ment,
or to a
class
groupin
g or to
individ
ual
student
s.
Permis
sion in
some
countri
es
In
certai
n
count
ries
it
may
be
neces
sary
to
get
the
stude
nts
perm
issio
n to
send
the
mess
age.
This
perm
issio
n is
best
colle

cted
whe
n the
stude
nts
mobi
le
phon
e
num
bers
are
bein
g
liste
d.

t
h
e

Refere
nces
Bro
w
n
,
T

a
n
d

(
2
0
0
5
)
m
L
e
a
r
n
i
n
g
:
D
o
i
n
g

u
n
t
h
i
n
k
a
b
l
e

r
e
a
c
h
i
n
g
t
h
e
u
n
r
e
a
c
h
a
b
l
e
!
E
r

i
c
s
s
o
n
m
o
b
i
l
e
l
e
a
r
n
i
n
g
c
o
n
f
e
r
e
n
c
e
.
D
u
n
L
a
o
g
h
a
i
r

e
,
9
.
9
.
2
0
0
5
h
t
t
p
:
/
/
l
e
a
r
n
i
n
g
.
e
r
i
c
s
s
o
n
.
n
e
t
/
m
l
e
a
r
n
i

n
g
2
/
t
h
e
_
f
u
t
u
r
e
_
2. Spo
nsor
ed
bulk
SMS
via
SMS
port
al
It is
poss
ible
to
enter
into
an
agre
eme
nt
with
a
priv
ate
prov
ider
for
spon
sors
hip
of
SMS
s.
With
in

o
f
_
m
o
b
i
l
e
.
s
h
t
m
l
this
cont
ract
the
insti
tuti
on
is
entit
led
to
2,00
0,00
0
"fre
e"
(spo
nsor
ed)
SM
Ss
eac
h
year
.
The
se
spo
nsor
ed
SM
Ss
allo

w
the
instit
utio
n to
use
80
of
the
avail
able
160
char
acter
s,
whil
e the
rema
inin
g 80
are
used
by
spon
sors
for
infor
mati
on
purp
oses,
for
exa
mple
(Bro
wn
2005
).

Keegan
,
D
(2006)
The
arrival
of
mobile
learnin
g.
ILT
A
ann
ual
con
fere
nce.
Slig
o,
25.5
.200
6
OShea
, N
(20
05)
Use
of
SM
S
mes
sagi
ng
at
Inst
itut
e of
Tec
hno
log
y,
Tall
agh
t.
Insti
tute
of
Tec
hnol
ogy
Tall
aght

,
Dub

19

lin.

Chapter 2
SMS Quizzes
Mark Riordan and Joachim Pietsch
This chapter aims to address the topic of quizzes in support of the pedagogical aims of
educational courses and in particular those which are implemented by means of SMS
technology. While there may be applications elsewhere in education the main focus is on
university or third-level education. The chapter initially outlines the background to the use of
quizzes in education, it then goes on to look at some examples of quizzes implemented on
various courses. Having set the scene for the use of quizzes, SMS technology is then examined
as a technology for implementation and some examples of SMS based Quizzes are examined.
Hence lecturers have been keen to
validate students work in plagiarismprone activities (such as Computer
Programming) against other activities
where plagiarism is less easy e.g.
interviews on the content of an
assessment and invigilated continuous
assessments. Quizzes can also have a
part to play in combating plagiarism
(Woit and Mason 2000).

The Use of Quizzes in Third Level

Education
Quiz based approaches have become
popular
in
education
(particularly
university level education) in recent years.
This has been part of a general increase in
the use of technology in education but has
been motivated for a number of very
sound reasons:

increasing student engagement

traditional talk and chalk approaches
to university teaching often illustrated
with the example of the lecturer talking
down to students and the students
obediently absorbing the masters words
are far from the best practice advocated
for university teaching. Instead a greater
level of student engagement in their
learning is to the fore. This has led to
many techniques such as quizzes being
used so as to engage students more in
their learning (Catley 2005, Koman
2005, Lian 2003).

tackling plagiarism - time and money

pressures on students along with
developments such as the internet have
led to an increasing incidence of
plagiarism being detected at third-level.

monitoring
student
progress

universities now take more seriously

their broader responsibility for student
welfare. In the past university life was
often considered laissez-faire with a
students decision to attend lectures or
not entirely a matter for

themselves. Increasingly, colleges look

to aid students, particularly, in first year,
by providing supports and intervening if
students performance is slipping.
Sometimes measures such as attendance
are used to trigger interventions but
quizzes provide an outputs-focused
approach whereby intervention is related
to what the student knows, as opposed to
the crude measure of attendance. In
addition, because they can be frequent
and can be used even in the early weeks
of the module, quizzes allow students
with difficulty to be spotted more
quickly than with less frequent larger
assessments (Koman 2005, Lian 2003).

23

maintaining
student
contact

particularly with first year groups,

students may have difficulty in making
the transition from the structured world
of second-level education into the

university environment where more

freedom is allowed. This can result in
the drop-out phenomena. While this
has been a feature of university
education for many years, it has become
a greater focus for policy makers in
recent years. This has come about for
various reasons from concern over the
emotional damage to students, who may
feel a sense of failure even though they
left a course for which they were illsuited, to concerns over the fact that
universities receive funding to educate
large numbers of students who in reality
do not proceed with the course. Students
often respond well to contact from the
university, for instance a call from a year
tutor is often very well received by
students who like the idea that they have
contact with the institution. The
requirement to respond to a quiz may
also help in this regard (Traxler and
Riordan 2003).

Mobile Learning: A
Practical Guide
need
skill
gau
s
ging
and
the
tech
appr
niqu
opri
es to
ate
gaug
pac
e to
e of
appr
pres
opri
enta
ate
tion
pace

of
class
mate
coho
rial.
rts
Seve
diffe
ral
r
have
from
used
year
quiz
to
zes
year
(Ko
and
man
what
200
is
5,
the
Lian
right
200
pace
3) in
for
orde
one
r to
grou
get a
p
sens
may
e of
be
whet
too
her
slow
a
or
topi
too
c
fast
has
for
been
anot
gras
her.
ped
Teac
appr
hers
opri

ately
by a
maj
ority
of a
class
. In
parti
cular
,
give
n
that
realtime
acce
ss to
such
resul
ts is
now
poss
ible
this
can
be a
high
ly
effe
ctive
use
of
quiz
zes
in
educ
atio
n.

copi
ng
with
mas
sific
atio
n
and

redu
ced
reso
urce
s the
parti
cipat
ion
rates
of
stud
ents
at
third
level
have
risen
in
man
y
coun
tries
in
rece
nt
deca
des.
This
has
led
to
incr
ease
d
class
sizes
, in
man
y
case
s at
the

sam
e
time
as
reso
urce
s
have
ofte
n
falle
n
quit
e
mar
kedl
y.
This
lead
s to
diffi
culti
es
for
tutor
s in
deali
ng
with
a
larg
e
volu
me
of
asse
ssm
ents
in a
time
ly
fashi
on.
This

is
parti
cula
rly
cruc
ial
as
feed
back
on
their
wor
k is
a
vital
lear
ning
tool
for
stud
ents.
This
has
led
som
e
educ
ators
to
depl
oy
tech
niqu
es
such
as
peer
asse
ssm
ent
whic
h
uses
fello

w
stud
ents
to
mar
k
each
othe
rs
asse
ssm
ents.
This
relie
s on
the
prin
ciple
that
late
but
high
qual
ity
asse
ssm
ent
is of
less
form
ative
valu
e
than
pro
mpt
if
imp
erfe
ct
feed
back
.
Othe

rs
have
tried
quiz
zes
in
orde
r to
achi
eve
the
sam
e
goal
with
pro
misi
ng
resul
ts
(Cat
ley
200
5,
Ko
man
200
5).
Exampl
es
of
Quizzes
in
Educati
on
In
additio
n to the
value
of
quizzes
being
acknow
ledged
there
are now

much
greater
support
s
for
creating
and
assessin
g quiz
results.
Virtual
Learnin
g
Environ
ments
such as
WebCT
now
have
sophisti
cated
support
for
designi
ng,
implem
enting
and
assessin
g
quizzes
.
In
some
cases
such
tools
have
sophisti
cated
support
for
analyzi
ng the
results
of
quizzes
also.
These

systems
support
the
wellknown
multipl
e
choice
(MCQ)
type
quizzes
but also
other
formats
such as
Multipl
e
Respon
se
(MR)
and
Matchi
ng
Type
(MT).
Chapm
an
(2004)
prefers
the
latter
two
forms
to
MCQs.
In
particul
ar he
cites
the
conside
rable
effort
associat
ed with
develop
ing

distract
or
answers
and the
wrong
respons
es for
MCQs.
More
fundam
entally
he also
feels
that it is
better
that the
student
s spend
their
time
engage
d with
the
(correct
) course
materia
ls
rather
than
dwellin
g
on
(incorre
ct)
distract
ors.
Chapm
an
gives
an
exampl
e
of
implem
enting
quizzes
in
WebCT

.
He
claims
that the
main
benefit
of
quizzes
is
to
motivat
e
student
s
engage
ment
with
learnin
g
resourc
es

without
the
stress
often
associa
ted
with
cram
ming
before
traditio
nal
exams.
In
additio
n, he
values
the
possibil
ities
provide
d
by
instant
feedbac
k.
Using
WebCT
functio
nality,
Chapm
an
implem
ented a
quiz as
part of
a
course
on
Constr
uction
Manag
ement
in less
than
three
weeks
as
a
comple

te
beginn
er. He
has,
since
this
first
attempt
,
implem
ented
quizzes
on all
the
module
s
he
teaches
.
Chapm
ans
approac
h is to
require
student
s
to
take
four
quizzes
per
module
. These
can be
taken
up to
three
times
each in
order to
improv
e ones
score.
Student
s have
full
access
to
learnin
g

materia
ls while
complet
ing the
quizzes
.
He
uses a
facility
whereb
y
the
questio
ns can
be
varied a
little
across
the
three
attempt
s,
so
that
student
s learn
method
rather
than
learn
off
a
particul
ar
exampl
e.
Catley
(2005)
provide
s results
of
implem
enting
quizzes
in
a
course
on
Legal
Method
s. This
was a
course

where a
large
majorit
y (90%)
of
students
passed
the
subject
either
on first
or
second
sitting
but the
number
taking
two
sittings
to
achieve
a pass
was
quite
high.
He felt
this
indicate
d
the
fact that
the
students
could
(ultimat
ely)
cope
with
and
learn
the
material
but that
their
engage
ment
the first
time
around
was not

what it
could
be.
Catleys
approac
h was
to use
quizzes
so that
student
s could
assess
how
well
they
were
keeping
up with
the
course
as
it
progres
sed.
These
quizzes
were
designe
d
so
that
students
got
feedbac
k
in
addition
to
an
indicati
on as to
whether
their
answer
was
correct
or not.
This
helped
students

to stay
engage
d with
the
course
and
avoided
the
situatio
n where
inexperi
enced
students
may
feel
they are
further
behind
than is
actually
the case
and
then
lose
heart
and
possibl
y stop
workin
g.
Catley
reporte
d good
results
in
reducin
g
the
number
of
failures
at the
first
sitting
and
also
improvi
ng

results
overall.
In
addition
,
he
notes
that in
his
studies
which
include
d quiztakers
and non
quiztakers
(the
quizzes
were
not
compul
sory),
the
quiztakers
were
better
attender
s.
He
also
points
out that
this
approac
h
is
particul
arly
benefici
al
in
subjects
where
the
knowle
dge
builds
increme
ntally.

This is
probabl
y
because
such
subjects
are
particul
arly
prone
to
a
student
s results
being
damage
d
by
poor
attenda
nce and
lack of
engage
ment.
Anoth
er
exam
ple is
that
of
Mazu
r in
1995
as
report
ed by
Koma
n
(2005
).
Mazu
r,
a
profes
sor of
Physi
cs,

used
autom
ated
inclass
quizz
24

es
every
15
minut
es as
he

S
M
S
Q
u
i
z
e
s
p
A
T
E
S
2
5

a
G
T
T
T
L

Mobile Learning: A
Practical Guide
of
its
ubiquity
adaptiv
),
e
stability
feedbac
of
k
of
service
material
(it
is
to class
provide
sizes.
d by the
Lian
establis
points
hed
out that
network
while
provide
quizzes
rs), user
may be
accepta
implem
nce (in
ented
fact
using a
users
number
more
of
than
technol
accept
ogies
this
e.g.
technol
dedicate
ogy, it
d voting
seems
equipm
to
ent,
delight
wireless
them
network
accordi
s etc.,
ng
to
SMS
Lian)
has the
and
clear
finally
advanta
there is
ges of
little
ease of
capital
deploy
or
ment (it
mainten
is
ance
already
cost.
there in
Lians
your
paper
classroo
also
m
by
illustrat
virtue
es that

comple
x
problem
s can be
presente
d
inclass so
as to get
over the
limited
screen
realestate
issues
of SMS.
SMS is
mainly
then
used as
a back
channel

to
collect
the
students
answers
. Should
the
choice
be
made to
use
SMS
for both
forward
and
back
channel
s, there
are
a
number
of
technol
ogies
and
provide
rs who

can aid
the
server
side of
the
process
so that
the
adminis
trative
overhea
d
of
sending
bulk
SMS
mailing
s can be
handled
easily.
The
CRITE
centre at
Trinity
College,
Dublin
(Market
t et al
2004)
used
SMS
message
s
to
allow
another
way of
interacti
ng
between
studentstudent
and
studentlecturer.
This
pilot did
not use

a quiz
based
approac
h
but
invited
the
students
to
contribu
te
question
s
via
SMS
during a
lecture.
These
were
received
in realtime
and
provide
d
a
feedbac
k-loop
for the
lecturer
s. The
lecturer
could
then
elaborat
e
on
areas
where
students
struggle
d.
Student
s
felt
more at
ease
posing
these
question
s
anonym

ously.
Other
SMS
message
s were
sent out
concern
ing
classroom
manage
ment
such as
requests
for the
lecturer
to
speak
up.
Postquestion
naires
revealed
that
students
felt
more
actively
engaged
in the
learning
process.
50% of
respond
ents felt
that the
use of
SMS
messagi
ng had
been
affected
by the
technol
ogy in
that
they had

asked
more
question
s. The
sending
of
question
s
via
SMS
was also
used to
interrog
ate
peers
during
their
presenta
tions, as
it was
seen as
less
disrupti
ve (and
anonym
ous)
than
speakin
g
up.
Therefo
re,
it
provide
d more
opportu
nities
for the
students
to
engage
amongst
themsel
ves.

In
an
extensio
n to the
pilot the

SMS
messagi
ng was
integrat
ed with
a webbased
applicat
ion that
stored
SMS
message
s
and
allowed
students
to
discuss
each
others
respons
es
during
and
after the
class.
This
type of
applicat
ion has
great
potentia
l
for
peerassisted
learning
.
On
the
negat
ive
side,
the
use
of
openende

d
conv
ersati
onal
quest
ions
in
SMS
mess
aging
impo
ses a
high
cogni
tive
load
on
the
user
and
divert
s
attent
ion

from the
lecture
that the
student
is
attendin
g.
Secondl
y
the
often
mention
ed
disrupt
ive
aspect
of
mobile
phones
also
arises.
While
mobile
phone
technol
ogy can
be used
effectiv
ely to
achieve
learning
, by its
very
nature it
also
allows
students
to use it
for
diversio
n and
personal
commu
nication
. From
an
educatio
nal
perspect

ive such
outside
interfere
nce is
difficult
to
control,
yet
it
diverts
the
student
s
attentio
n from
the act
of
learning
.
Technol
ogy of
SMS
quizzes.
The
distribut
ion of
SMS
quizzes
to
students
requires
the use
of
an
SMS
gateway
. These
allow
the oneto-many
broadca
st
of
bulk
SMS
message
s
to
mobile
phone
users.

Such
message
s
can
originat
e from a
number
of
sources
includin
g
Email
and
Webbased
interfac
es.
2way
messagi
ng
is
needed
when
respons
es are to
be
collecte
d
as
would
be the
case in
most
quizzes,
unless
the
question
s are for
selftesting
or
revision
. In this
interacti
on SMS
message
s
are
collecte
d for the
custome

r
and
retrieve
d via a
web
interfac
e, email
or
harveste
d
for
databas
e
integrati
on.
Popular
services
based in
the UK
are
Xpress
ms.com
(2006)
and
intelliso
ftware.c
o.uk
(2006).
These
provider
s make
accessib
le their
API
which
allows
an
eLearni
ng
develop
er
to
integrat
e
the
quiz
into the
inhouse
Learnin
g

Manage
ment
System
(LMS).
Standalone
commer
cial
softwar
e
solution
s, such
as SMS
studio
(Code
Segmen
t 2006)
enables
users to
easily
generate
,
adminis
ter and
distribut
e
quizzes
via
SMS.
The
mLearni
ng
project
as
reported
by
Attewel
l (2005)
has
develop
ed
a
teacher
s toolkit
for the
implem
entation
of SMS

based
quizzes.
Conclu
sions
While
quizzes
have
limitati
ons,
their
value is
often
underap
preciate
d, for
instance
they are
often
associat
ed with
a rather
glib
form of
assessm
ent
based
on
ill
thought
-out
multiple
choice
quizzes.
In fact,
they
can be
quite
sophisti
cated,
for
instance
, with
the
student
being
required
to carry

out
comple
x
calculat
ions
offline
or
to
follow
through
a
comple
x
method
ology
before
entering
an
answer
in a text
box. Of
course,
in most
cases
they
should
be
comple
mented
by other
forms
of
assessm
ent but
they do
seem to
have a
place in
the
toolkit
of the
college
lecturer.
There
are
many
exampl

es
of
quizzes
implem
ented
using a
variety
of
technol
ogies
availabl
e. Use
of SMS
in
particul
ar
seems
to
be
less
frequent
. This is
26

probabl
y due to
the fact
that
most
develop
ments
to date
have
been in
the
context
of
desktop
based
eLearni
ng.
Given
the

S
M
S
Q
u
i
z
e
s
c
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p e
d
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S
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s
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v
o
l
u
t
i
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b
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t
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Voice message to students who dial a certain number

Renaud Ferly
Mobile users carry their device continually and it is now obvious to everyone that this tool
can provide immediate access to other people. Progressively, the mobile user is broadening
his or her use of the device to access information or services with the same benefits: no
delay, immediate answer.
Mainstream education institutions can now provide information services accessible by
mobile users and thus meet the expectations of their students of immediate access to
information or services.
This chapter focuses on voice only applications and helps in the setting up such
solutions by giving an overview of the key concepts underlying modern voice services.
DTMF
Dual Tone Multifrequency (Touch tones)
Setting up a simple voice enabled solution
provides an input protocol based on tones
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
generated by the telephone key pad. It is
IVR designates the first generation of
generally used on older IVR systems (e.g.
systems that allow telephone input (either
if you want topress 1).
touch tones or voice input) and automatic
delivery of pre-recorded voice message.

Figure 1. Interactive Voice Response

Setting up an advanced voice solution
Advanced Voice solutions are based on
speech recognition technologies. They

benefit from both emerging standards and

the growing quality of voice solutions.

Voice Portal
The Voice portal (or voice gateway) is the
user interface of the Interactive Voice
Response system. It is responsible for

handling the input and delivering the output

to the caller. It works in interaction with a
back end application that can process
operations, connect to

Voice
message
to
students who
dial a certain
number
voi
dat
ce
aba
ena
ses,
ble
and
d
deli
sys
ver
tem
inf
s.
or
mat
Ba
cke
ion
nd
to
app
the
lica
call
tio
er.
n
The
Th
two
e
co
bac
mp
ken
one
d
nts
app
Vo
lica
ice
tio
por
n is
tal
res
and
pon
ba
sibl
cke
e
nd
for
app
exe
lica
cuti
tion
ng

the
for
pro
ma
ces
ne
sin
w
g;
gen
it
erat
gen
ion
eral
of
ly

retr
iev
es
and
stor
es
inf
or
mat
ion
in a
dat
aba
se.
Bac
ken
d
app
lica
tion
s
are
ofte
n
leg
acy
we
b
bas
ed
one
s
that
are
enh
anc
ed
wit
h a
voi
ce
inte
rfac
e.
Spe
ech

Rec
ogn
itio
n
Spe
ech
Rec
ogn
itio
n
soft
war
e
can
ana
lyz
e
an
aud
io
sig
nal
giv
en
to it
(the
call
er
spe
ech
),
co
mp
are
it to
a
spe
ech

ite
ms
dat
aba
se
an
d
tra
nsl
ate
int
o
tex
t
ite
ms
tha
t
can
be
pro
ces
sed
by
an
ap
pli
cat
ion
.
Voi
ce
XM
L
Vo
ice
X
M
L
an
ext
en
sio
n
of
X
M
L,
sta

nd
ar
di
ze
d
by
th
e
W
3C
. It
is
an
X
M
L
ba
se
d
scr
ipt
in
g
la
ng
ua
ge
all
o
wi
ng
int
er
act
io
n
be
tw
ee
na
vo
ice
po
rta
l
an
d
th
e

ba
ck
en
d
ap
pli
cat
io
n.
Tex
t to
Spe
ech
Tex
t to
spe
ech
soft
war
e
gen
erat
es
voi
ce

con
tent
fro
m
text
inp
ut.
Co
mp
are
d to
spe
ech
rec
ogn
itio
n, it
exe
cut
es
the
inv
erse
ope
rati
on.

Figure
Text
speech
software
B
e
n
e

2.
to
f
i
t
s

o
f
u
s
i
n
g
a
v
o
i
c
e
p
o
r
t
a
l
i
n
a
n
e
d
u
c
a
t
i
o
n
i
n
s
t
i
t
u
t
i
o
n

O
p
e
ns
th
e
in
st
it
ut
io
n
th
ro
u
g
h
a
2
4/
7
ac
ce
ss
w
hi
c
h
ca
n
b
e
pr
of
it
a
bl
e
to
di
ff
er
e
nt
ki
n

ds
of
st
u
de
nt
s

G
i
v
e
s
a
c
c
e
s
s
t
o
o
n
l
i
n
e

i
n
g
a
c
o
m
p
u
t
e
r
,
t
h
e
r
e
f
o
r
e
v
e
r
y

s
e
r
v
i
c
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v
a
l
u
a
b
l
e

w
i
t
h
o
u
t

f
o
r

u
s

m
o
b
i
l
e

/
w
i
r
e
l
e
s
s
s
t
u
d
e
n
t
s
.

A
l
l
o
w
s
t
h
e
a
u
t
o
m
a
t
i
o
n
o
f
b
a
s
i

c
a
n
d
r
e
p
e
t
i
t
i
v
e
a
s
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e
t
a
s
k
s
,
i
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
p
r

o
v
i
d
i
n
g
a
n
d
,

o
c
u
s
t
h
e

t
h
e
r
e
f
o
r
e
,

a
d
m
i
n
i
s
t
r
a
t
i
v
e

i
s

o
r

e
d
u
c
a
t
i
o
n

g
o
o
d
w
a
y
t
o
h
e
l
p
r
e
f

s
t
a
f
f
t
o
h
i
g

h
e
r

c
o
m
p
a
n
i
e
s
,

v
a
l
u
e
t
a
s
k
s
.

M
o
s
t
b
i
g
o
r
g
a
n
i
s
a
t
i
o
n
s
(
b
a
n
k
i
n
g

t
e
l
e
p
h
o
n
e
o
p
e
r
a
t
o
r
s
,
t
e
l
e
v
i
s
i
o
n
c
o
m
p
a
n

i
e
s
,
j
o
b

e
r
s
;

s
e
r
v
i
c
e
s
)

i
s

o
f
f
e
r
v
o
i
c
e
p
o
r
t
a
l
s
t
o
t
h
e
i
r
u
s

i
t

t
h
e
n
i
m
p
o
r
t
a
n
t
t
h
a
t
t
h
e
e
d
u
c
a
t
i
o
n
i
n
s
t

i
t
u
t
i
o
n
c
a
n
p
r
o
v
i
d
e
t
h
e
s
a
m
e
l
e
v
e
l
o
f
s
e
r
v
i
c
e
t
o

s
t
u
d
e
n
t
s
.

Tar
get
use
rs
Stu
den
ts
are
the
mai
n
targ
et
and
it is
inte
rest
ing
to
not
e
that
allo
win
g
acc
ess
to
voi
ce
serv
ices
via
mo
bile
s
will
be
of
ben
efit
not
onl
y to
stud
ents
that
are

on
the
ca
mp
us
but
to
tho
se
wh
o
spe
nd
littl
e or
no
tim
e
on
the
ca
mp
us
(dis
tan
ce
lear
nin
g
stu
den
ts,
part
tim
e
stu
den
ts,
eve
nin
g
stu
den
ts).
Th
e
or
ga

nis
ati
on
sta
ff
(te
ach
ers
an
d
em
plo
yee
s)
are
als
o
use
rs
of
the
sys
te
m
sin
ce
so
me
ser
vic
es
are
de
dic
ate
d
to
pro
vid
e
int
era
cti
on
bet
we
en
stu
de

nts
an
d
tea
ch
ers
or
ad
mi
nis
trat
ion
.
Po
ten
tial
stu
de
nts
are
als
o
an
im
por
tan
t
tar
get
:
so
me
ser
vic
es
can
be
tar
get
ed
to
pe
opl
e
loo
kin
g
for

a
uni
ver
sity
and
that
nee
d
to
hav
e
im
me
diat
e
and
alw
ays
ava
ilab
le
inf
or
mat

29

ion
ser
vic
es
on
reg
istr
ati
on
fee
s,
ori
ent
ati
on
inf
or
ma
tio
n
an
d
so
on.

Mobile Learning: A
Practical Guide
the
impa
What is
ct of
the link
mob
with
ile
mobile
tech
learnin
nolo
g?
gies
Enhanc
on
ed
main
possibil
strea
ities for
m
mobile
educ
student
ation
The
, we
voice
alrea
portal
dy
is
ment
indep
ione
enden
d the
t of
fact
the
that
phone
stud
netwo
ents
rk
are
used;
mor
it can
e
be a
and
cellul
mor
ar
e
netwo
conn
ecte
rk, a
d
switc
thro
hed
ugh
phone
their
netwo
mob
rk, or
ile
even
phon
voice
es
over
and
IP
devi
teleph
ces.
ony.
Ther
By
stud
ying

efor
e,
prov

idin
g
them
with
voic
e
enab
led
servi
ces
will
meet
their
expe
ctati
ons
by
allo
wing
them
to
inter
act
mor
e
clos
ely
and
effic
ientl
y
with
the
instit
utio
n
from
any
locat
ion.
Using a
mobile
phone
to get
access
to
content
Retrievi
ng
a

database
content:
the FAQ
example
.
A
voic
e
port
al
can
be
set
up
to
give
acce
ss to
cont
ent
whi
ch is
anot
her
link
to
mob
ile
lear
ning
.
A good
exampl
e to use
here is
the
FAQ
databas
e
because
it
is
typicall
y
the
type of
content
that
would
benefit

from
being
accesse
d
by
voice:

So
me
qu
est
ion
s
are
fre
qu
ent
ly
ask
ed,
for
ex
am
ple
inq
uir
ies
by
ph
on
e
to
ad
mi
nis
trat
ive
sta
ff
ca
n
rep
res
ent
an
im
por
tan
t
wo
rkl

oa
d
es
pe
cia
lly
in
cer
tai
n
ti
me
per
iod
s
(re
gis
tra
tio
ns,
ex
am
s).

Eve
n if
FA
Qs
can
be
hug
e,
the
y
are
gen
eral
ly
org
ani
sed
as
me
diu
m
size
d
con
tent
ite

ms
and
thu
s
deli
veri
ng
the
m
voc
ally
will
not
dec
reas
e
thei
r
val
ue
or
pre
ven
t
the
stu
den
t
fro
m
me
mor
izin
g
part
s of
the
m.

It
is
ra
th
er
ea
sy
fo
r
a
sp

ee
c
h
re
c
o
g
ni
ti
o
n
sy
st
e
m
to
ta
k
e
th
e
q
u
es
ti
o
n
in
p
ut
a
n
d
li
n
k
it
to
th
e
a
p
pr
o
pr
ia
te
a
ns
w

er
.
The
design
of the
syste
m will
be
exactl
y the
same;
the
differe
nce
will
be on
the
back
end
applic
ation
that
will
be a
FAQ
reposi
tory
instea
d of
an
admin
istrati
ve
applic
ation.
It
is
importa
nt
to
note
that the
FAQ
can deal
with
administ
rative
matters
as well

as
learning
material
s. Thus
deployi
ng
a
voice
enabled
system
in
an
educatio
n
instituti
on can
cover
both
adminis
trative
interacti
on and
educatio
n
purpose
s of the
instituti
on with
the
same
platfor
m.

Using
voice
browser
s
Voice
browse
rs are
general
ly
conside
red as
solutio
ns that
help
disable
d
people
to
browse
internet
web
sites.
It
is
interesti
ng
to
note
that
these
technol
ogies
can also
benefit
a
broader
set of
students
since a
voice
browser
could be
connect
ed to a
voice
portal
and thus

allow a
mobile
student
to
navigate
some
items of
a web
site
without
having
to
watch a
screen
or use a
keyboar
d. An
immedi
ate
applicat
ion is to
give
access
through
a phone
number
to
informa
tion
delivere
d on the
intranet
web
sites of
the
instituti
on.
Clearly,
to
be
voice
browsed
,
the
web
content
must
follow
accessib

ility
rules
which
should
be the
case, at
least for
disabled
users.
Voice
systems
best
practic
es
The
design
of the
voice
user
interfac
e
The
user
interf
ace is
the
key
elem
ent
that
will
help
or
hinde
r the
inter
actio
n of
the
stude
nt
with
the
syste
m.
Build
ing a
good
user

interf
ace
will
there
fore
have
a
positi
ve
impa
ct
on :

Ti
me
:
the
de
sig
n
foc
us
es
on
red
uci
ng
ti
me
ne
ed
ed
to
per
for
m
the
mo
re
fre
qu
ent
op
era
tio
ns

Satis
facti
on

Cost

s:
redu
ces
telec
om
mun
icati
ons
costs
,
a
n
d
e
n
c
o
u
r
a
g
e
s
t
h
e
s
t
u
d
e
n
t
t
o
u
s
e
a
n
a
u
t
o
m
a

t
e
d
v
o
i
c
e
s
e
r
v
i
c
e
r
a
t
h
e
r
t
h
a
n
c
a
l
l
t
h
e
a
d
m
i
n
i
s
t
r
a
t
i
v

e
s
t
a
f
f
.
Best
practice
s
are
widely
availabl
e
and
deal
with

O
r
g
a
n
i
s
a
t
i
o
n
o
f
m
e
n
u
s
(
l
e
n
g
t
h
a
n
d

o
r
d
e
r
o
f
i
t
e
m
s
)

Acc
ess
to
help
syst
em

Acc
ess
to
hum
an
oper
ator

Sim
plici
ty of
voca
bula
ry

Len
gth
of
spee
ch
item
s

Me
mori
zatio
n
cons
ider
atio
ns

Erro
r
hand
ling

How
to
avoi
d
unne
cess
ary
item
s or
cont
ent

C
h
o
o
s
i
n
g

i
c
s
(
a
c
c
e
n
t
,
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
s
,

t
h
e

m
a
l
e

v
o
i
c
e

v
s
.

c
h
a
r
a
c
t
e
r
i
s
t

f
e
m
a
l
e
)
Use
accessib
ility
rules for
web
sites

Voice
message
to
students who
dial a certain
number
val
Co
uab
ncl
le
usi
for
on
a
Am
mo
ong
bile
the
use
diff
r
ere
bec
nt
aus
typ
e
es
the
of
y
user
nee
inte
d
ract
limi
ion
ted
that
use
can
r
be
inte
se
ract
up
ion
on
and
mo
ther
bile
efor
and
e
wir
thei
eles
r
s
use
tech
is
nol
ver
ogi
y
es,
stra
voi
ight
ce
for
app
war
lica
d:
tion
T
s
he
are
y
esp
do
ecia
no
lly

t
ne
ed
fu
ll
te
xt
in
pu
t
lik
e
e
m
ail
or
S
M
S
m
es
sa
gi
ng

u
t
s
c
r
e
e
n
r
e
a
d
i
n
g
.

T
h
e
o
u
t
p
u
t
i
s
d
e
l
i
v
e
r
e
d
w
i
t
h
o

Alt
hou
gh
this
is
not
ded
icat
ed
to
mo
bile
usa
ge,
it is
ver
y
val
uab
le
for
mo
bile
stud
ents
bec
aus
e
the
limi
ted
nee
d
for
user
inte

ract
ion
allo
ws
an
eve
ryw
her
e
and
han
ds
free
usa
ge
(wh
ile
driv
ing,
in
pub
lic
tran
spo
rtati
on,
whi
le
stu
dyi
ng
in a
libr
ary)
.