Learning design for mobile devices
Designing and developing learning materials that are suitable for mobile devices may present some difficulties to researchers and educators9. There is a huge variety of mobile devices and platforms; therefore instructional design for mobile content requires specific adjustments10. LO objects must be combined in some package of instructional content. Most widely used standard for content packaging is IMS content Package, which provides aggregation of LO in learning material. Moreover it enables the delivery of learning design packages from one program to another, facilitating easier delivery, reuse and sharing of materials11. Important aspect of learning resources composition is Learning Design specification (LD). IMS Global Learning Consortium12 Learning Design Specification (IMS-LD) is a specification for a metalanguage which provides possibility to model learning processes. LD is defined as: “the description of the teaching-learning process, which follows a specific pedagogical strategy or practice that takes place in a unit of learning towards addressing specific learning objectives, for a specific target group in a specific context or subject domain”13. It allows and enables exchange and reuse of learning design across different platforms and supports a wide range of modern pedagogical approaches such as active learning, collaborative learning, adaptive learning and competency based learning14. Problem is that IMS-LD based authoring tools require non-mobile platforms; it could be related to the limitations of authoring IMS-LD in mobile environments. IMS-LD has no adequate mobility support and there is no mobile theory of learning which is widely accepted. There are some limitations which are connected with physical aspects of mobile technologies as well. Mobile devices have a lot of integrated hardware sensors which must be supported in material for effective interaction between a learner and learning content. Important part of interaction between a learner and material is visual design of the content. Mobile devices have several limitations, which also require some specific adjustments. The biggest difference between a desktop and mobile computing device is its size. At the same time although these devices are smaller, learners expect participatory content experiences. Learners also are very mobile, they are using content on multiple devices, but they still want materials to be trusted and sharable. There are two modes of multiscreening – sequential usage when moving from one device to another at different times to accomplish a task and there is simultaneous usage when learners using more than one device at the same time for either a related or an unrelated activity15. That means that content should be served during material runtime. There is a necessity to use some LMS that could retrieve LO form repository, package them in single material and then wrap that material in a visual form. At the same time it must support cooperation with mobile sensors and provide learner centred experience. But this does not mean that content should be used just in LMS, it is just necessary to use an application that could serve content in appropriate form.