Mobile Learning & GenAI for the Less Privileged, Refugees & the Global South

In Episode #239 of Silver Lining for Learning, we will have a conversation with three people who a decade or two ago were at the cutting edge of mobile learning. Fast forward to 2025 and they are all doing just like us--reflecting on how the newest wave of learning technology, notably, generative AI, can have a positive (or negative) impact on lives around the planet. Specifically, during this session, we will chat with John Traxler who is Professor of Digital Learning at the University of Wolverhampton (along with various other titles), Helen Crompton who is Professor of Instructional Technology at Old Dominion University as well as the Executive Director of the Research Institute for Digital Innovation in Learning at ODUGlobal, and Mike Sharples, an Emeritus Professor of Educational Technology in the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University. Their combined time in the field of learning technologies and resulting extensive experiences should prove to be quite engaging and will make the one hour with them seem far too short. We should mention that Mike appeared on Episode #65 of Silver Lining for Learning, "Innovative Learning at Massive Scale: Let’s nQuire about the Future of FutureLearn," exactly four years ago. Note also that Helen, John, and Mike have all authored or edited several books and they are all colleagues; in fact, in 2018, John and Helen co-edited a book on mobile learning in higher education, "Mobile Learning in Higher Education: Challenges in Context," which is a collection of fabulous cases published by Routledge Notably, each was born and raised in the UK and each has traveled extensively to many regions of the world consulting, speaking, thinking, and conducting research. Part of our conversation will be about the state of mobile learning and generative AI for the less privileged, refugees, and those in the Global South. What fun we will have chatting with them whether we discuss mobile learning and teacher professional development in southern Africa, digital learning for the next generation, online learning post pandemic, robotics in K-12 schools, innovations in AI pedagogy, learning at scale, technology-enhanced curriculum development, or something else. What an exciting show to tell your friends, students, colleagues, and relatives about. Come join us. And share this episode with your network. This is an amazing group...!

Dr. Helen Crompton is the Executive Director of the Research Institute for Digital Innovation in Learning at ODUGlobal, and Professor of Instructional Technology at Old Dominion University. Dr. Crompton earned her Ph.D. in educational technology and mathematics education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Recognized for her outstanding contributions, Dr. Crompton is on Stanford's esteemed list of the Top 2% of Scientists in the World. She has published over 200 papers and her work in technology integration has garnered her numerous accolades, including the SCHEV award for the Outstanding Professor of Virginia. Dr. Crompton's expertise extends beyond academia to practice, as she frequently serves as a consultant for various governments, bilateral and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank, leveraging her knowledge and experience to drive meaningful change in the field of educational technology. Her ODU email is crompton@odu.edu. Dr. Crompton’s CV and further information can be found here http://ww2.odu.edu/~crompton/

John Traxler, FRSA, MBCS, AFIMA, MIET, is Professor of Digital Learning at the University of Wolverhampton, Institute of Education in the UK where he is the UNESCO Chair in Innovative Informal Digital Learning in Disadvantaged and Development Contexts. In a unique and unprecedented combination, he also holds a Chair from the Commonwealth of Learning. He is currently Academic Director of the Avallain Lab, leading research on ethical and pedagogic aspects of educational AI. His papers have been cited over 12,000 times and Stanford continues to list him in the top 2% of researchers in his discipline. He has written hundreds of papers (with an impressive h-Index of 40 and i10 Index of 95) and seven books. Dr. Traxler has consulted for a variety of international agencies including UNESCO, ITU, ILO, USAID, DFID, EU, UNRWA, British Council, and UNICEF. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art in London, UK.

Dr. Traxler was a pioneer of mobile learning in the 2000s. For example, he was a Founding Director of the International Association for Mobile Learning. He also was a co-editor of the definitive book on mobile learning, Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Educators and Trainers. Among his other books are: (1) Mobile Learning: The Next Generation, (2) Mobile Learning and Mathematics, (3) Mobile Learning and STEM: Case Studies in Practice, (4) Mobile Learning in Higher Education: Challenges in Context, (5) Critical Mobile Pedagogy, and (6) Digital Learning in Higher Education: COVID-19 and Beyond. In addition, he has contributed to many keynotes, panels, papers, journal articles, and book chapters on all aspects of learning with mobile technology. Over his career, he has worked on myriad digital learning projects and missions. John Traxler has been responsible for large-scale mobile learning implementations, small-scale mobile learning research interventions, capacity building, major evaluations, landscape reviews, and curriculum development. In the 2010’s, Dr. Traxler became increasingly concerned with the impact and consequences of learning technology and pedagogy on societies, cultures, and communities of massive mobility, and connectivity, and on the nature of disadvantage, especially for those far from the national or global mainstream, established, and secure. Currently, he is interested in the impact of AI on global and individual disadvantage and on the decolonisation of the digital technologies of learning and education. John can be contacted at johntraxler@live.co.uk or John.Traxler@wlv.ac.uk. His homepage is at: https://www.johntraxler.net/.

About Mike Sharples: I have a first degree in Computational Science and a PhD from the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh. My research focus is human-centred design of technologies for learning. My main current interest is 'citizen inquiry' - a fusion of citizen science and inquiry-based learning. I lead development of the nQuire platform, in collaboration with the BBC, to support mass participation in social science experiments. As Academic Lead for FutureLearn (www.futurelearn.com), I informed its social learning at massive scale, based on a pedagogy of  'learning as conversation'. I established the Innovating Pedagogy annual report series, to inform teachers and policy makers of new developments in teaching, learning and assessment for a digital world. Other current interests include blockchain for education, and strategies for digital transformation in higher education. My personal website is www.mikesharples.org

Bio: Mike Sharples is Emeritus Professor of Educational Technology in the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University, UK. His research involves human-centred design of new technologies and environments for learning. He inaugurated the mLearn conference series and was Founding President of the International Association for Mobile Learning. He is Associate Editor in Chief of IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies. He established the Innovating Pedagogy report series and is author of over 300 books and papers in the areas of educational technology, science education, human-centred design of personal technologies, artificial intelligence and cognitive science.

Mike Sharples' previous appearance on SLL: Episode 65 | Innovative Learning at Massive Scale: Let’s nQuire about the Future of FutureLearn (Mike Sharples). https://silverliningforlearning.org/episode-65-innovative-learning-at-massive-scale-lets-nquire-about-the-future-of-futurelearn/. Video (104:40): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7XgYcQTSxw

Weblinks to Mike's work:

1. About nQuire: https://nquire.org.uk/about
2. FutureLearn: https://www.futurelearn.com/
3. Innovating Pedagogy reports from the OU: http://www.open.ac.uk/innovating/
4. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-sharples-1633153/
5. Mike Sharples Homepage: https://www.mikesharples.org/
6. Mike Sharples on nQuire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHgczZeKX18
7. nQuire: https://nquire.org.uk/
8. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Sharples
9. Twitter: https://twitter.com/sharplm?lang=en
10. Mike Sharples in Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0KzFF40AAAAJ&hl=en
11. Institute for Educational Technology at the Open University: https://iet.open.ac.uk/people/mike.sharples
12. Practical Pedagogy: 40 New Ways to Teach and Learn: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Pedagogy-Mike-Sharples/dp/1138599816

Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org