A Student Centric Approach for Mobile Learning Video Content Development and

Instruction Design

Kumar Mandula*, Srinivasa Rao Medat, Muralidharan.V*, Ramu Parupalli*

* Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, India
tlawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad(lNTUH), India
mkumar@cdac. in, srmeda@gmail. com, muraliv@cdac. in, ramup@cdac. in

Abstract-With the recent advancement in mobile computing players to access educational content. Now a days, due to
technologies, there has been a paradigm shift from electronic increased device features and its capabilities, mobile devices
learning(e-Iearning) to distance learning(d-Iearning) to mobile
are used not only for accessing the content but also used for
learning(m-Iearning). M-Iearning not only provides educational
oppurtunities through handheld devices, but also facilitates just
generating the content. For example, students can capture
in time information required at the right time and right place. real world events(images, audio, videos) when they visit
Though m-Iearning provides mobility and instant access to botanical gardens, museums and share with other students
education, there are some implementation challenges and issues who do not have access to such places.
like limited processing capability and small screen display that
This paper is organised as follows: Section-II deals with
needs researchers attention.
Keeping in view the latest trends in Information, Electronics
m-learning oppurtunities and challenges. Section-III deals
and Communication Technologies(IECT) and the increased with related works in the area of m-learning content.
usage of mobile phones in India, this paper discusses mobile Section-IV discusses guidelines for m-learning video content
learning technologies, opportunities and challenges for success­ development and instructional design. Section-V deals with
full implementation of m-Iearning. It is observed that most
proposed approach including user requirement gathering,
of the students in India use low cost mobile phones that too
with different hardware capabilities and features. Researchers
pilot experiments, feedback analysis and implementation
and developers in education domain should consider these results, followed by conclusions.
mobile capabilities and challenges before developing m-Iearning
video content. Pilot experiment was conducted to study dif­ II. M-LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
ferent mobile video presentation styles, file formats and their
The term m-learning, or "mobile learning", has different
playback capabilities using students mobile phones. Students
meanings for different communities. Although related to e­
from various finishing schools were involved in carrying out
this experiment. Based on pilot results, instructional design learning and distance education, it is distinct in its focus
strategy and mobile video content development guidelines were on learning across different contexts. One definition of
formulated catering to the requirements of student community mobile learning is: any sort of learning that happens when
in India.
the learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or
Keywords-Mobile Learning; Ubiquitous Learning; Mobile learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of
Video; Instruction Design; Video Content learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies[2]. M­
learning brings strong portability by replacing books and
I. INTRODUCTION notes with small memory footprint devices filled with tailor
Today, information is gathered from the internet by most made contents. In addition, it is also simple to utilize mobile
of the people. Usage of smart phones, handheld devices and learning for a more effective and entertaining experience.
mobile gadgets for seeking information as well as for doing Also, content quality can be adapted dynamically according
day-to-day transactions has become increasingly common. to network and device capabilities.
With a teledensity of 74.71% and wide spread usage of Although the latest smartphones have in-built applications
mobile phones[l], these devices has become part of every for viewing documents, PPTs, excel sheets and text files,
day life and are being used not only for making voice calls accessing these files on a low and medium range mobile
but also for other activities like banking, shopping, ticket phone poses a serious challenge because of varying device
booking etc. Therefore, using mobile devices for learning features in terms of hardware and software capabilities. For
is simply an extension of what is widely accepted and example, desktop based video streaming requires a minimum
used. In recent times, a new phase of learning methodology bandwidth of 256Kbps which is quite common in broadband
called mobile learning(m-learning) has evolved where in connections provided to home networks. Compared to wired
students are able to access learning material any where, networks, mobile wireless channels are very dynamic in
anytime using any device. Students can use their personal nature and bandwidth provided by these networks are not
devices like mobile phones, PDA, i-Pods, digital media sufficient for multimedia streaming based m-learning[3].

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Technology challenges include limited connectivity, battery The following guidelines as shown in TableI may be
life, small screen size, low memory, file format support, local followed for developing m-learning video contents and in­
language suport, cost for data transmission etc. Apart from structional design.
technology challenges, there are social, pedagogical and
Table I
educational challenges including access to learning material
GUIDELINES FOR MOBILE VIDEO CONTENT & INSTRUCTION DESIGN
outside classroom, intellectual property rights of content,
instruction design, content development and device support Index Guideline
that are to be considered before developing any m-learning A Understand the Learner
application. B Limit Graphic Content
C Short and Crisp Content
III. OTHER W ORKS
D Multimedia Support

Prof.Sridhar Iyer [4] discussed about techniques for video E Interactive Design
adaptation for mobile devices with respect to three video F Mobile Dimensions
formats namely Instructor element, White paper element and
Presentation element. Anastasios Doulamis and Nikolaos
Doulamis [5] discussed about scalability of video con­ A. Understand the Learner
tent adaptation according to user environment. Wen-Huang
An instructional designer needs to know end user require­
Cheng, Chia-Wei Wang and Ja-Ling Wu [6] discussed about
ments and the context in which they use their mobile devices
how to provide small size videos by emphasizing important
for learning. It is only then that they will be able to cater to
aspects of scenes while retaining background context.
the requirements of the learners in the way that is effective.
Most of the researchers discussed about e-learning videos
For example, if learners are sales executives and largely use
related to distance education using desktop based method­
their mobile devices to find about product information or
ology. Emphasis was given to transcoding existing video
sales process information, an instructional designer needs to
lectures to mobile video formats. Also, different video de­
have an idea about the circumstances so that courses can
livery techniques through mobile video streaming protocols
be tailored in a manner that makes it more purposeful and
like HTTP and RTSP have been proposed. Though some of
relevant for learners.
the researchers tried to formulate guidelines for developing
e-learning videos, implementation challenges specific to B. Limit Graphic Content
Indian environment were not addressed. Unlike other Eu­
As the mobile devices have small screen compared to
ropean and American countries, Indian students conununity
desktop computers, rendering graphical contents may in­
uses different mobile phones with different software and
crease processor load and drain battery power. Since most of
hardware capabilities. There is a need to do research in for­
the mobile phones especially in Indian students community
mulating guidelines for mobile video content development
do not support flash content, it is advisable not to develop the
and instructional design customized for Indian environment.
content in flash format to reach wider audience [8]. As most
The proposed approach and pilot experiment discusses about
of the mobile devices have limited input/output capabilities
approach for mobile video content development right from
like touch screen, quarty keypad and T-9 keypad, data entry
scratch instead of adapting existing e-learning videos to
may be limited [9]. Navigation to other mobile pages may
mobile format.
be provided using hyperlinks or auto filling feature instead
of providing entire text.
IV. GUIDELINES FOR M-LEARNING VIDEO CONTENT
DEVELOPMENT AND INSTRUCTION DESIGN C. Short and Crisp Content

Instructional Design (also called Instructional Systems The video lectures used for desktop based learning are de­
Design (ISD» is the practice of creating "instructional expe­ veloped keeping in view desktop learner with an assumption
riences which make the acquisition of knowledge and skill of having larger bandwidth and screen. So, desktop based
more efficient, effective, and appealing" [7]. The instruction learner does not have much problem in viewing normal e­
design used for desktop based e-Learning can not be used for learning video lectures. Whereas in mobile learning, student
m-learning as mobile learners use mobile devices which has would use a handheld mobile phone for accessing video
smaller screen size. Instructional designers need to adopt a lectures. It would not be convenient to view videos meant for
different approach when designing courseware that is going desktop based e-Iearning for mobile environment. In case of
to be deployed and delivered via mobile devices. With m-learning, students can not pay attention for more than lO­
the wide range of mobile phones available with varying IS minutes bacause of smaller screen size. Although some of
device features and capabilities, there is a need to develop the mobile phones support desktop based videos, the videos
instructional design along with the content for small devices. developed using complex video codecs consume significant

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amount of processing power and drain mobile battery. Also, to recall the information that has been shared. Provision may
mobile learner has to pay for data transmission cost for be provided to add simple assessments that evaluate learner's
accessing larger video files through mobile networks. understanding of the subject. Such an application feature
Keeping in view above mentioned limitations, mobile not only provides interactivity but also engages learner in
video content developers have to implement a different education.
content development startegy for reaching maximum number
F. Mobile Dimensions
of mobile learners. As large amount of data is not convenient
to view on mobile devices, large text or data can be chunked An instructional designer needs to keep in mind the
in to smaller bits and rendered on to mobile screens. Also, dimensions of the mobile devices for which courseware is
appropriate font size may be choosen so that the text targeted. For example, iPhones have different dimensions
displayed is readable. For example, a course can be divided when compared to a Blackberry or i-Pad or Tablet PCs.
in to modules and further modules may be chunked in to The design has to be compatible to multiple devices. Also,
sub topics based on instruction design as shown in Fig 1. instructional designer should keep in mind targetted end
users and their devices.

V. PROPOSED ApPROACH & EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Course
In general, m-learning could be used for formal learning,
informal learning or performance support. Although there
Modul e are certain limitations associated with handheld devices in
terms of processing speed, display and memory capabilities,
instructional designers and mobile application developers
Sub-Topicl need to adopt a different approach for successfull imple­
mentation of m-learning project. The following Fig 2 shows
different stages of proposed m-Iearning approach.

Sub-Topic2

Figure l. Course Structure

If the objective of the course is to explain a process or

functioning of a product, it is best to use visuals with audio
explanation as this works better for mobile devices. Mutiple
versions of the contents can be developed at various stages
to meet end user requirements.

D. Multimedia Support
Figure 2. M-Learning Approach
As most of the mobile devices have varying device capa­
bilities and hardware features, it may be difficult to support
all media formats. Though some of the Original Equipment A. User Requirements

Manufacturers(OEM) provide support for playing videos Before starting any project, it is important to understand
using proprietary codecs, there is no universal policy or the details like for whom we are developing m-learning
implementation support for all audio/video codecs. As most application, targetted content, what kind of devices would be
of the OEMs support 3GP strandard, video contents were used for m-learning, what would be the network connection,
developed using H.263 video and AMR audio codecs. in what situations m-learning would be used, what are the
pedagogical issues that may arise etc. Interactions took place
E. Interactive Design with finishing school students from different geographical
Graphical User Interface (GUI) should be engaging and locations like C-DAC Hyderabad and TCE Madurai, who
thus enabling learner interaction. E-learning and flash based have completed their graduation and preparing for their
interactivities such as roll over, buttons and so on which are job interviews. Students were informed about the purpose
not possible in m-learning may be avoided. However, one of m-learning pilot experiment and expected deliverables.
could include some interactivities that could help the learner Students were asked several questions for capturing and

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understanding user requirements. As shown in Fig 3, 58% students feedback for analysis and improvements. Students
of the students preferred to have mobile video lectures, 17% used their own mobile phones for viewing and later provided
preferred to have presentation slides, 14% preferred to have their feedback using online feedback form hosted on google
audio lectures and 12% preferred lecture notes. docs.

Vidoo IGcture [45]-------.

Lecluro notes 19]

Audio IGcture [t 1]
'----- Lecluro prosentalic

Figure 3. M-Learning Content

Green Board Presentation Slides

B. Pilot Experiment

After capturing user requirements, a pilot experiment was

carried out using the sample mobile video content developed
as part of our research activity in m-Iearning. Objectives of
the pilot experiment was to 1. Identify suitable video en­
coding parameters for developing mobile video content and
2. Identify suitable video presentation style for m-Iearning.
For experimentation purpose, C-Programing video contents
were developed and packaged along with mobile client
applications for Android and 12ME platforms. Students were
asked to download and install these mobile applications
appropriate to their mobile phones and participate in the White Board Animated Video

pilot.
1) Identification of Suitable Video Format: First objective
Figure 4. Different Presentation Styles
of the pilot experiment was to study, analyse and identify
mobile video format suitable for m-Iearning. 60 finishing
school students from C-DAC Hyderabad and TCE Madurai
C. Feedback Analysis
were involved for carrying out this pilot experiment using
their own mobile phones. Students mobile phones were It was observed that unlike students of European and
analysed with different combinations of audio and video American countries, most of the Indian students use basic
encoders as shown in Table II. and medium range mobile phones for their day to day
activities which were not supporting required file format as
Table II
shown in the Fig 5.
MOBILE VIDEO CONTENT FORMATS A ND CODECS

SI No Audio Codec Video Codec File Container

1 AAC H.264 MP4
2 AAC MPEG-4 SP MP4
3 AMR H.263 3GP

2) Identify Suitable Video Presentation Style: Second

objective of the pilot experiment was to identify suitable
video presentation style for m-Iearning. For that, "functions"
concept under C-Prograrmning was choosen and sample Figure 5. Nokia Asha 200, Micromax M2, Onida G720, Samsung Champ
content in four identified styles namely I.Green board Duos C3312 not Supporting H.264 Video Formats
2.Presentation slides 3.White board and 4.Animated video
as shown in Fig 4 were developed and tested. The four video As device manufacturers support different audio, video
presentation styles for the same concept were subjected to codecs most of the students mobile phones did not support

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H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec. Whereas H.263 Soft Skills and Enterpreneurship would be carried out to
video and AMR audio codecs were widely supported on help finishing school students who have completed their
students mobiles. Based on pilot experiment results and graduation to learn using these contents and prepare for their
students feedback, it was decided to consider H.263 and job interviews. Also, there is a need to develop m-Iearning
AMR codecs for mobile video content development. Also, video content with local language support.
the feedback provided by end users helped us to identify
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
suitable presentation style for m-Iearning. It was observed
that most of the students favoured for Green board based This work is being carried out as part of our research
video lectures for course delivery through mobile phones. work on "Mobile Learning" and is supported by e-learning
Division of Department of Electronics and Infonnation
D. Implementation Results Technology(DeitY ) [ 10], Ministry of Communication and
Although mobile video content development guidelines Information Technology, Government of India. We are grate­
were formulated, guidelines followed for developing content full to Prof.Mercy Shalinie of Thiagarajar College of En­
for one subject may not be useful for other subjects. For gineering(TCE), Madurai, Tamilnadu for her guidance and
example, the content development approach used for C­ support for carrying out this pilot experiment. Also, authors
Progranuning need not be same for Soft Skills. For C­ would like to thank Shri.G.Y.Raghunathan, Retired Senior
Progranuning, focus should be on explaining fundamental Director, DeitY, Govt of India who has been guiding us in
concepts with illustrative examples. Similarly for Soft Skills doing this research work.
focus may be on grammer, pronounciation, spelling, usage
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42 rated mobile video content as good, 16 rated as satisfac­

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wikiIMLearning
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Figure 6. Audio Video Quality
Systems(SIPS), 2005

[6] Wen-Huang Cheng, Chia-Wei Wang, Ja-Ling Wu, "Video

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[10] http://deity.gov.in/
future, the proposed approach would be widely implemented
and a full fledged mobile content development activity for

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