Mobile e-book for BITEC MOOC

Abstract

This paper describes an implementation of mobile e-Book initiative in the Bioinformatics Training & Education Center (BITEC) MOOC project supported by the South Korean Ministry of Welfare and Public Health. This project was initiated by Dept. of Bioinformatics & Statistics KNOU and Dept. of Medical Informatics of SNU Medical College for training medical doctors. High penetration rates of mobile phone subscriptions and rapid growth of handheld users show that mobile devices are a viable alternative learning mode. The mobile e-Book initiative is aimed to encourage learning and interactions in distance learning communities, aiming to bridge trans- actional distances faced by learners and adopt mobility as the key tool in Bioinformatics courses delivery. The BITEC m-Learning initiative focuses on introducing Bioinformatics using easily accessible handheld and mobile devices, since the learners are very busy medical doctors in an ubiquitous learning environment. The m-Learning approach is considered as a learning alternative to support distance learners, mainly working doctors and medical researchers in Korea. This research paper discusses the implementation of the mobile e-Book approach which has better affordable, accessible and flexible educational media.