Ethics of researching and managing mobile learning
This workshop followed a slightly different format than usual; we invited three key people working in the field of mobile learning to share and lead discussion on the ethical issues that concern them from their particular perspective. Each gave a 10-15 min introductory presentation.They were:
- John Traxler, Director of the Learning Lab and Reader in Mobile Technology for e-Learning at the University of Wolverhampton and co-author of "A Handbook of Mobile Learning for Educators and Trainers"; See John's presentation
- Dawn Woodgate, Research Fellow at Bath University Dept of Psychology who has worked with young people and teenagers on several projects e.g. Participate involving mobile technologies; See Dawn's presentation.
- Lucinda Searle, Primary E-Learning Consultant at the City Learning Centre in Brislington who manages the Hand-e-Learning PDA project in Bristol primary schools. See notes from Lucinda's presentation.
Please note that the nature of the workshop required somewhat provocative input, designed to stimulate thought and discussion, and the presentations were designed with this in mind. All information on these web pages is copyright to its author(s) who jointly request that, if cited in any way, the context of stimulating workshop discussion on ethical issues should be made clear.
There were then three separate discussion groups:
1. Ethical considerations in research into mobile learning
2. Ethical issues arising in students and young people's use of mobile technologies
3. Ethical concerns occurring with children's use of mobile technologies
The final plenary discussion summarised the participants' views aired in each of the groups and the agreed conclusion that ethical concerns could best be addressed by working from principles rather than from formal codes such as BERA and BPS which will have to be updated now and regularly for the foreseeable future to take into account issues such as those discussed today.
We agreed to collect case studies here to promote discussion / gain support from knowledgeable colleagues - send your material to Jocelyn for display please.
Outcomes from this workshop were presented at MLearn08 and written up for the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning.
For more on Research Methods and the challenges of researching Mobile Learning see the Work Based Learning Centre's seminar at the Institute of Education.