Proposal

The first Board of Management meeting added development of a didactic scenario for the smartphone R380 and the development of courses for running on it to the development of the WAP phone R520, to demonstrate the differences between development for the smartphone and the WAP phone.

Illustration

Here is an illustration of the smarthone R380:

The functionality of the smartphone is described by Ericsson thus:

Unique functionality offers you an all-in-one mobile communications and organizational tool. (Mobile Phone + PDA + Mobile Internet Browser)

Email with your phone. Use your own ISP and securely send/receive corporate and personal emails (Supports Secure ID and Safeword).

WAP-browser. Browse your favorite WAP website for useful information including maps, forecasts and travel reports. Conduct m-commerce and on-line banking transactions. Supports WAP-profiles and WTLS (Wireless Transport Layer Security).

Fully-integrated PDA. Take your phonebook and calendar with you. Take notes and voice memos on the go.

Large, Graphics-rich Display. Easily view more information including graphic images, pull-down menus and charts.

Touch Screen. Stylus-based, Touch Sensitive Screen with Handwriting Recognition (JOT® by CIC) makes inputting text easy and natural. Even supports handwritten accents.

Voice Control Dialing and Answering. It responds to your voice.

Vibrating Alert. Discreetly notifies you of incoming calls.

Built-in Modem with Infrared (IrDA) Port. Get the information you need on the move, without wires, anywhere.

Infrared connection. Beam contacts to your colleague and exchange Virtual Business Cards.

PC Synchronization for office applications. Always have your most-recent information (Email, Calendar, Contacts, Notes and Tasklist) with you - no matter where you are.

Data Protection. The non-volatile memory makes it possible to keep data even if you lose power.

Melody Composer. Make your own tunes or choose among the 18 different tunes included. Melodies can also be sent by email, WAP or/and SMS.

Synchronization compatibility: MS Outlook 97/98/2000 MS Schedule+7.0 Lotus Organizer 4.1/5.0 Lotus Notes 4.5/4.6/5.0 (Lotus Organizer 5.0 is included in the kit)

Extras:

• Alarm

• Calculator
• Game

• PC Back-up/Restore

• Stylus-Based Virtual Keyboard

• World Clock displays home and local time

• Key lock

• Choice of 22 display languages

Network Supported Features Include: Automatic Time Zone (NITZ) Automatic Remote Configuration for Messaging and WAP Internet Services Call Wait / Call Hold / Call Forwarding / Call Transfer Conference Call

Caller Number Identification and Restriction, Combined list of successful, unsuccessful, received and rejected calls. International Roaming (World version covers larger areas) Short Message Service (SMS), send and receive. Voicemail USSD, SMS CB 50, RSMT Advice of Charge.

Ericsson presents the specifications of the R380 thus:

R380e brings together the functions of a mobile phone, calendar, address book and mobile Internet device with e-mail and WAP.

At first glance, it has the look, feel and performance of a regular high-spec mobile phone. But open the flip and you transform R380e into an advanced personal organizer with a large landscape display, an easy-to-use touchscreen keyboard and intuitive handwriting recognition for fast and easy input.

Send and receive e-mail and concatenated SMS1 wherever you are

and send faxes over SMS2. Get WAP the way it should be with a large, scrollable display and WAP 1.2.1 with WTLS class 2 enhanced security. That makes it safe to send confidential information such as credit card numbers and bank account details over the air.

R380’s calendar and contact features are powerful and simple to use. The calendar has day, week and month views, and a handy task list. The contact feature allows you to store names, addresses, e-mail addresses, several phone numbers and more. Everything is quickly and easily synchronizable with your PC, making sure both devices carry exactly the same information. Plus there’s a notepad, ink note feature, world clock, calculator, games and a useful voice memo feature

Here are the R380 specifications:

Dual band forGSM 900/1800 and e-GSM

Battery (Li-Ion 1200 mAh) with stylus. Travel Charger. 3 extra styluses. Desk Stand. RS 232 Cable. Classic Belt Case. Portable Handsfree with answering button. CD-ROM with PC synchronization software

Size: 130 x 50 x 26 mm

Weight: 164 g

R380e connects to: Windows®95/98/ME/2000/NT4.0 SP5 with minimum Pentium® 166MHz, CD player and 100MB free disk space

R380e synchronizes with: Most leading PIM applications (Microsoft® Outlook, Exchange and Schedule+ and Lotus® organizer and Notes)

Talk time* Up to 6 hrs

Standby time* Up to 130 hrs

Limitations

The R380 has a landscape display which greatly increases the screen space in comparison with normal mobile phones. Many will feel that it is still inadequate for successful study.

The lack of bandwidth available and the lack of memory are further difficulties in setting up a successful didactic system for the smartphone.

Almeida in her The advantages and disadvantages of using WAP in developoing an mLearning course writes:

Transporting data in the mobile networks of today, for example GSM, has been compared to ‘Carrying an ice cube in a plastic bag in the desert heat of 40C’. The conditions of the mobile network are harsh. Hence, given these harsh conditions, it is essential to select an appropriate application environment and design the application for the mobile user and the challenges provided by the mobile network.

The mobile network is different, the bandwidth is narrow, and delays are greater than in the PC /Wired network which supports 2 Mbits per second. The mobile network in comparison provides resources of 9.6kbps for a user.

The challenges for developing an application for the mobile environment are mainly these obvious differences between the Mobile network and the Wired environment.

A mobile handheld device e.gMobile Phone or Smart phone is different to a PC/ Laptop. The screen size is small, the number of keys a user has access to is limited to 16 keys or less. The device also is limiting is memory storage, processing power and battery power.

Decision

The project Board of Management decided to develop the full functionality for mLearning for both the smartphone R380 and the WAP phone R520.

Development of system for R380

Almeida in her The advantages and disadvantages of using WAP in developoing an mLearning course gives these guidelines for the development of a learning environment for the R380:

The application developer needs to consider the user when designing the mlearning course content and structure.

The following simple principles are recommended:

1. Keep it Simple
2. Avoid large amounts of data
3. Avoid underlined text as this will be mistaken for Links
4. Use Selection Lists for data entry
5. Consistency – place links in same place throughout application
6. Always provide link to Start page or Index
7. Use Titles on Cards to ease navigation
8. Use Tabloid format – headlines and summaries
9. Use short words

The only confirmation of usability is to test the application on sample users for ease of use, before the application is launched.

Pedagogical Issues

The main pedagogical issue to consider is the suitability of a course to the mLearning environment. Not all courses are suited to the mLearning environment. Purely technical and very practical courses are not suitable.

However, short courses and mainly theory and information type courses are suited to the mobile learning environment. The learning environment can be enhanced by the use of quizzes to test knowledge, summary of main learning points, and interaction with other students and the tutor via telephony integration.

Development of courseware for the R380

The courseware for the R380 was developed using WML and WML script. Here is a selection of the code used in the developement:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<!DOCTYPE wml PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD WML 1.1//EN"

"http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/wml_1.1.xml">

<wml>

<!-- put template code for go back for all cards -->

<card title='Table of contents' id='c1'>

<p>Choose a Module:

<br/><a href='wap-past.wml#c1'>WAP Past</a>

<br/><a href='wap-future.wml#c1'>WAP Future</a>

<br/><a href='bus-values.wml#c1'>Business Values</a>

<br/><a href='applics.wml#c1'>Applications</a>

<br/><a href='techno.wml#c1'>Architecture</a><br/>

<br/><a href='#help'>HELP</a>

<br/><a href='links.wml#c1'>LINKS</a>

<br/><a href='faq.wml#c1'>FAQ</a>

<br/><a href='wap-snapshots.wml#c1'>WAP NEWS</a>

<br/><a href='glossary.wml#c1'>TERMINOLOGY</a>

<br/><a href='quiz-new.wml#c1'>TEST YOURSELF</a>

<br/><a href='callme.wml#c1'>CALL ME</a>

<br/><a href='usage-scenario.wml#c1'>WAP Scenario</a>

<br/><a href='#end'>EXIT</a>

</p>

</card>

<card title='HELP' id='help'>

<p><br/><a href='help.wml#c1'>NEW USER</a>

<br/><a href='help.wml#how'>HOW to USE</a>

<br/><a href='help.wml#tips'>TIPs &#38; TRICKs</a>

<br/><br/><anchor>Go back<prev/></anchor>

<br/><a href='#c1'>COURSE CONTENTS</a>

</p>

</card>

<card title='Confirm EXIT' id='end'>

<p> Are you sure you want to EXIT the WAP Overview?

<br/><a href='#exit'>YES</a>

<br/><anchor>NO<prev/></anchor>

</p>

</card>

<card id="exit" title="EXIT">

<p>Thank You for using Ericsson's WAP mLearning program

<!-- need no op to prevent back acces to application-->

</p>

</card>

</wml>

This code gives an introduction to the wml and wml script used in the development.