Mobile, Moodle and the OU

Anthony Forth

Learning and Teaching Solutions

In 2010…• 6000 iPhone users

• High level recognition of importance of mobile devices

• Mobile interface

• Mobile application for Android and iPhone

• Course page• Resources• Forum• News• Structured content• Wiki• Blog

Mobile Interface

Mobile Application• Shell app for Open University

• Provide access to content packages

• Application content packages used offline or online

Mobile 2011• Over 13000 mobile users• OU migrating to Moodle 2.0• 558 students using the current mobile interface

surveyed at the end of 2010• 60% Apple iPhone or iPod

20% Android7.5% Blackberry4.5% Symbian2.5% Windows

Survey Results• 558 students using the current mobile interface

surveyed at the end of 2010• Survey undertaken online when Moodle is accessed.

How often do you use mobile Moodle?• 50% more than once a week• 25% weekly• 25% less frequently (fortnightly, monthly)

When do you use mobile Moodle?• 65% dead time (queuing / waiting)• 62.5% travelling• 60.6% communal areas at home (not using desk or

study)• 41% coffee shop, restaurant, et c.

What do you use mobile Moodle for?• 76% course news• 72% reading forums• 64% study planner• 49% resources• 48% online course materials• 42% posting to forums• 8% wikis• 6% blogs

Which do you prefer?• 32% switch depending on task• 26% mobile• 25% don’t know / not tried switching• 17% desktop• 9% mobile display to limiting

Rating Mobile  Very Poor Poor OK Good Very Good Total

Ease of use0.7%

31.6%

722.7%

9746.0%

19729.0%

124100%428

Design0.5%

23.8%

1626.7%

11345.4%

19223.6%

100100%423

Navigation0.2%

14.0%

1727.0%

11445.4%

19223.4%

99100%423

Range of functionality0.5%

24.0%

1734.6%

14643.4%

18317.5%

74100%422

Performance0.7%

32.1%

925.1%

10643.7%

18528.4%

120100%423

New Design• Focus on what users say they use (news, forums)• Easier to navigate – new planner screen and tabs• Cleaner• As complete as possible (includes more course material

and Quiz)

Changes to Moodle• Submission to the Moodle community• Device / browser type detection (mobile, tablet, default,

legacy)• Use regular expressions to create your own type• Theme selection – specify a theme for the device type or

use the default• Switch themes

So what happened to the OU Moodle app…?• OU student survey gave support for a combination of of

mobile (4/5) and ebooks (3/5)• OU has a mechanism for eBooks plus iTunesU, etc.• 15% not using apps• 50% do not want multiple apps. OU app overload?

So what happened to the OU Moodle app…?• Maintenance overhead (development for multiple

platforms)• Low usage base for any platform in any given course• HTML5 can replace some functionality given time

(camera, voice recording)• However, there is still some interest in a news and forum

app, so maybe…

Strategic DevelopmentLearning and Teaching SolutionsThe Open UniversityWalton HallMilton KeynesMK7 6AA

a.j.forth@open.ac.uk

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