May 19, 2010
The folks over at EduCause has published another publication in their 7 Things You Should Know … series. This time it is about mobile apps used for learning and like all the other publications in the series the go through :
April 1, 2010
The iLibrarian posted a list of 10 mobile technologies that we should all keep an eye on this year and the next taken from a report by Gartner Inc.
Some I’ve heard of, but others not and I think it would be a good idea to try to read up on each one, don’t you?
March 10, 2010
Need to know more about Mobile IT? Then read this EduCause report on the 7 Things You Should Know About Mobile IT.
Here are the important bits:
1. What is it?
Mobile IT both reflects and drives the convergence of applications and functionality on smaller and smaller devices. The notion of mobile IT is also tied to issues such as cloud computing and federated identity, which help enable secure access to IT tools and resources from remote locations and multiple devices.
2. How does it work?
Mobile devices use cellular networks, Wi-Fi, or both, and many have touch-screen interfaces. Operating systems vary, and support for software such as Java and Flash is mixed. Just as there isn’t a one-size-fits-all device, so too do current and emerging examples of mobile applications span a wide range.
Mobile applications can be built using device-specific toolkits, often resulting in more functionality, but applications that use browser software work on a wider range of mobile devices.
3. Who is doing it?
College and universities offer many types of information and services online, and many are good candidates for mobile IT. Aside from numerous academic uses, institutions have undertaken initiatives in areas of administration, library services, and campus life. Having a single point of convergence for these several channels of communication presents an opportunity for institutions to integrate messaging services, including emergency notifications.
4. Why is it significant?
Ownership of cell phones is approaching ubiquity, with growing numbers of smartphones and sophisticated mobile devices. Because mobile IT is fast becoming a part of some professional practices, an institutional choice not to pursue mobility is increasingly untenable. Student expectations for mobility are rising, and mobile IT efforts are an important part of keeping an institution’s online services competitive.
5. What are the downsides?
Converting to mobile IT is
not simply a process of miniaturization, and many institutional IT staffs lack expertise in redesigning websites or applications for a mobile context. As a result, although many institutions are dipping their toes into the waters of mobile IT, best practices don’t exist to serve as a guide.
6. Where is it going?
Colleges and universities will continue to convert applications and services to mobile formats, generally at a cautious pace. Vendors will increasingly offer their products and services in mobile formats. Institutions will seek to understand how to integrate mobile IT effectively into campus culture, and development is likely to accelerate around location-based mobile IT services and the capabilities of touch interfaces.
7. What are the implications for Higher Education?
Given that mobile IT is working its way into many professional activities, colleges and universities have a responsibility to develop learning environments that model those kinds of practices. Mobile IT can develop into a specialized field of study, and some institutions already offer courses on development of mobile applications.
February 26, 2010
I love the iLibrarian as she always posts very useful stuff. Like this morning’s post 10 Great Tools to Create a Mobile Web Version of Your Site:
Tom Walker at Spyre Studios reviews 10 Great Tools to Create a Mobile Version of Your Site. Each entry in the list includes a screenshot and features discussion. If you’re considering creating a mobile site for your organization you’ll want to check out this list as well as the suggestions in the comments.
Some of Tom’s suggestions are subscription based, but most are free to use. And the comments section has some great suggestions as well.
February 15, 2010
The database can be searched by tags, including type of learner, learning context, and learning approach.
The database is available at www.motill.eu
Here is a list of some of the articles available:
The European MOTILL Project has produced a searchable database of some 50 papers on Mobile Technologies in Lifelong Learning. Each paper has been given an expert review and the database contains a summary and critique of each paper, as well as comments on its lifelong learning context, technology, and implications for policy makers. (read)posted by Rune Baggetun on 02/14/10 23:08:33
Edited by: Giasemi Vavoula, Norbert Pachler, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Published by Peter Lang (Oxford). Mobile learning is an emerging field with a developing research agenda and many questions surrounding the suitability of traditional research methods to investigate and evaluate the new learning experiences associated with mobility and support for increasingly informal learning. (read
Twenty-three mLearning researchers and practitioners from around Australia attended a 2-day mLearning Research Workshop 25-26 November 2009 held at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)… (read)posted by Rune Baggetun on 01/20/10 23:43:39posted by Rune Baggetun on 08/24/09 10:00:16
February 3, 2010
QR Codes are not new – a few of the South African libraries have used them in their marketing campaigns for a year or two now and although I’ve always thought they have major potential in South Africa (and especially at an ODL institution) I’ve never had the time to really investigate them.
Now it seems I might not have to as David Hopkins from the eLearning Blog: Don’t waste your time is looking into QR Codes and will write posts about it!
In the meantime, here is what QR codes are all about:
October 27, 2009
If you are not already following Jane Hart’s blog, you are missing out on some excellent links and insights. Her most recent post is a link to an article she wrote for e.learning age magazine on the 10 tools we’ll be using next year.
The tools she lists are:
- Prezi
is the highest ranked newcomer on the list. It’s a Flash-based app that lets you build amazing, non-linear presentations where you can zoom in and out of a visual map containing words, links, images, videos, etc. (I blogged about this a while ago)Evernote
lets you capture things (web pages, screenshots, photos, note, etc), which you can tag, store and find again fast . It works across many different (Windows and Mac OS) computers and phones (iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Palm Pre) that are used in daily lifeDimdim
is a web conferencing tool that lets you deliver synchronised presentations, whiteboards and web pages while sharing voice and video. It’s already a winner of a number of awards, and offers remarkable value when compared to other commercial web conferencing systems.Etherpad
is the only web-based word processor that allows people to work together in really real-time. Unlike other online documentation or wiki tools, Etherpad updates each document every half a second, which means that a number of people can work together and see each other’s updates immediately.myUdutu
is course authoring software that lets you build a course very quickly and easily online either on your own or collaboratively with others. You can easily import existing content, e.g. PowerPoint presentations.Screenr
is an online screencasting tool. A number of these have come onto the market recently, but this tool from the Articulate stable has quickly become a favourite. It lets you record on your Mac or PC, and then play on the Web or on an iPhone.Posterous
is a very simple blogging system. If you haven’t yet got into blogging this is by far the simplest way to start. Just post to your Posterous blog using email and attach any type of file – photo, MP3, video, document, etc – if you want to include it. If you already have a blog elsewhere (e.g. Blogger, WordPress or Typepad) you can also auto-post to it, or even auto-post to Facebook, Twitter or Flickr.Yammer
is a private micro-blogging service. If you like the idea of Twitter but are concerned about the updates being public, then Yammer provides the same functionality as Twitter, but for in-company use. Only individuals with the same email domain can join a given network. In addition to microblogging there are discussion boards and users can form/join groups. There are also Yammer iPhone app and Blackberry clients.Wordle
is a small, fun and quite versatile little tool. It is a word cloud generator. Input or copy in some text and generate a visual cloud of the most frequently use words. You can then tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts and colour scheme.Flip Video
Finally, this one is not software but a tiny little camcorder that lets you easily take videos and upload them (using the inbuilt USB) to the PC as well as YouTube, Facebook and other sites.
I’ve used 3 of the 10 tools and am glad for the heads up of the other 7. Thanks Jane!
October 27, 2009
Tony Karrer posted his list of best eLearning links again (Best of eLearningLearning).
So without further ado – here it is (with my comments, for what they are worth, in italics):
Best of eLearning Learning
October 9, 2009 to October 16, 2009
Upcoming Free Online Events
I never really comment on the webinars as I’ve never participated in one. But if it is possible for you, check out Tony’s links below:
- New Possibilities with Mobile Learning 2.0
- Mobile Learning Gains Momentum
- Tips for Teaching Synchronous Virtual Classes
- Online Interviews In Real Time: Webinar And Book Release Party
- Unleashing The Power Of Social Learning
Featured Sources
The following are the top items from featured sources based on social signals.
- Online Games for Teaching Business Concepts and Ideas- Kapp Notes, October 16, 2009 A post by Karl Kapp with a list of online games and the reason gaming is actually a very good tool for teaching business ideas and concepts to kids
- eLearning Portal Integration- eLearning Technology, October 13, 2009
- Mentoring vs. Training — Why Social Networking Isn’t Enough- aLearning, October 13, 2009 I was fortunate enough to be part of both formal and informal mentoring at my previous organisation and experienced it as extremely positive. The point that Ellen makes is very true “mentoring is not the same as training, and shouldn’t be substituted for it Social networking/social media are not the same thing as training, and shouldn’t be substituted for it, either.”
- Open Source E-Learning Development 5: Media Capture- The E-Learning Curve, October 14, 2009
- Live online learning – a free download- Clive on Learning, October 13, 2009 Onlignment has issued a free download e-book, A Facilitator’s Guide to Live Online Learning: covering planning and building and facilitating learning sessions and communicating with voice and live video/text and image. It looks like it could be well worth the download.
- Educational iPhone Apps to Make You Smarter- Kapp Notes, October 8, 2009 The iPhone still haunts me! For those who don’t know, the iPhone is way to expensive for me to afford it on my South African librarian salary. But I live in hope … one day you will be mine!
- Convert ILT to eLearning – Estimating- eLearning Technology, October 14, 2009 a great post from Tony for anyone who has ever wondered what the criteria should be when guestimating eLearning duration as a classroom course
- Rhizomatic Learning: What is it?- Dont Waste Your Time, October 12, 2009 David talks about Steve Wheeler’s presentation on Personal Learning Networks as well as Rhizomatic Learning which spontaneously shapes, constructs and reconstructs depending on external environmental factors
- Whose learning are you responsible for?- Internet Time, October 12, 2009 I like this quote from Jay Cross “Any organization that is committed to working smarter needs to assess the impact of helping employees learn at every step in their career cycle” smart words from a smart man!
- Leadership Development – First break all the rules- Free as in Freedom, October 11, 2009 Sumeet Moghe asks some great questions about developing leaders in organisations (such as ow about a Leadership Development program that targets the regular players in your organisation?) and advocates breaking some rules (such as Try to fill your future positions) in his post on where organisations can find leaders
- Helpful — Free — Resources for Finding LMS and LCMS Vendors- aLearning, October 11, 2009
- CCK09: does Connectivism want to change the world?- Ignatia Webs, October 9, 2009
- Reading: “College technology ‘catching up’ with students”- Dont Waste Your Time, October 9, 2009
- How a piece of 166 year old graffiti was (partly) responsible for e-learning- The E-Learning Curve, October 16, 2009 - a mathematician went out walking with his wife and had a breakthrough, but nothing to write on but a tree trunk – the first example of mobile learning perhaps?
- 3 Steps to a Driving Question for Project Based Learning- Blender – Training Solutions, October 16, 2009 -Tom Preskett makes the case that personal learning environments (PLEs) should be unique to each user, and should change according to the user’s needs and experiences
- Personal Learning Environments – Concept not Tool- Learning Technology Learning, October 16, 2009
- Game-Based Learning Impacts Youth Behavior/Attitudes- Web Courseworks, October 15, 2009
- Why You Should Have User Centric Tutorials for Software Products- The Writers Gateway, October 13, 2009
- Using Screenr to Create a Video Post- MinuteBio, October 12, 2009 – I’ve used Screenr quite a few times – its easy, fast and hasslefree and within minutes you can tweet your video or upload it to YouTube
- Rules for Social Media? Just say no.- Electronic Papyrus, October 12, 2009 - Hinoj talks about 4 misconceptions of social media (SM needs to be carefully monitored for accuracy; SM needs to be controlled; SM can waste valuable work time and best practices are the same for all)
- Guest post: “What’s New in Human Trafficking”- Business Casual, October 12, 2009 - talks about human trafficking are gaining popularity here in South Africa as we are the hosts for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, and while it’s not something I consciously think about each day it really is a very important issue
- If the world is changing, why am I studying about the guys that sent us down the wrong path?- Adventures in Corporate Education, October 10, 2009
- Interview with Brent Schlenker- Learning Visions, October 10, 2009
- Computer-based Games in Classrooms: Leveraging the Instructor- Vikas Joshi on Interactive Learning , October 9, 2009
- The danger of a simple story- Simply Speaking, October 9, 2009
- Your learner journey can start here…- ThirdForce Blog, October 9, 2009
Other Sources
The following are the top items based on social signals.
- How to Create Screencasts You Can Be Proud Of, October 13, 2009 - 17 tips on making screencasts better for your viewers and easier for you
- 5 great resources to find out about Google Wave, October 14, 2009 - Jane Hart posts links to get you up to speed with Google Wave
- All things Twitter, October 14, 2009 - Jane again, this time with the ultimate guide to all things Twitter
- Learning to teach through video | In the Library with the Lead Pipe, October 14, 2009 – if videos become too technical they lose me (I don’t have a tech background) and Kim Leeder not only agrees, but posts about the ways you SHOULD be doing technical videos
- How to steer your client away from an information dump, October 13, 2009 – using branch scenario’s to make your training simple and effective
- Twitter Research – Best of eLearning Learning, October 12, 2009 - if you know someone who talks gets that glazed over look when hearing the words twitter or tweets send them this presentation
- Mobile Services Taxonomy, October 12, 2009 – gives a nice taxonomy of mobile services with emergencies at the top and an engaged community at the bottom
- How CarTalk can save your e-Learning, October 14, 2009
- Defining the ‘e’ in e-learning, October 15, 2009 – Elliott Masie goes through the evolution of elearning and the early methods of going e
- The keynote and the harshtag, October 9, 2009 – almost sounds like that song from Oklahoma “oh the farmer and the cowman should be friends“! But it’s actually about the keynotes at the Higher Ed Web Association’s conference
- PKM: our part of the social learning contract, October 15, 2009
- Mobile Momentum, October 10, 2009 – includes some useful pointers to various industry reports and posts
- What I’ve Been Up To: Some Social Media Training Resources, October 16, 2009 -
- Online Degrees Viewed More Favorably, October 15, 2009
- Positive Learning through Online Games, October 13, 2009
- My iPod Learning Mix, October 15, 2009 – Donald Clark shares his killer iPod learning mixes
- Warmth and Competence. How our Learners Perceive…, October 16, 2009
- A few web 2.0 resources, October 16, 2009 – links to IBM and Microsoft web 2.0 resources
- Cost Comparison: Instructor-Led Vs. E-Learning, October 14, 2009 – Paul T. Walliker gives a very good post about comparing costs with regards to cost per development and hour; factors influencing costs; constructs a model and gives you his key findings (I won’t spoil the ending and tell you which is cheaper, the instructor or e-learning)
- Knowledge Notebook, October 15, 2009 - Knowledge Notebook is designed for high school and college students to us for note taking, free association of notes, activity scheduling and smart views
Hot Topics
Google Wave (6)
- 5 great resources to find out about Google Wave, October 14, 2009
- Google Wave Invitations Available, October 13, 2009
- Opus Meets Google Wave, October 15, 2009
Learning Environment (16)
- A first look at Sakai 3, October 16, 2009
- Personal Learning Environments – Concept not Tool, October 16, 2009
- Open Source E-Learning Development 5: Media Capture, October 14, 2009
- How a piece of 166 year old graffiti was (partly) responsible for e-learning, October 16, 2009
Pedagogy (12)
- Creating games with Caspian Thinking Worlds software, October 16, 2009
- Learning to teach through video | In the Library with the Lead Pipe, October 14, 2009
- Twitter Research – Best of eLearning Learning, October 12, 2009
- Blackboard reinforcing the Status Quo, October 12, 2009
Toolkit (6)
- Open Source E-Learning Development 3: Open Office.org, October 9, 2009
- Open Source E-Learning 4: KompoZer Web Editor, October 12, 2009
- Twitter Research – Best of eLearning Learning, October 12, 2009
- My Top 10 e-Learning Tools, October 11, 2009
Twitter (43)
- All things Twitter, October 14, 2009
- Twitter; for your Business, October 9, 2009
- Twitter Research – Best of eLearning Learning, October 12, 2009
- Reading: “College technology ‘catching up’ with students”, October 9, 2009
LinkedIn (17)
- eLearning Portal Integration, October 13, 2009
- Social Network = Social Class?, October 13, 2009
- What’s an Online MBA Worth?, October 15, 2009
My education-based entries into EMC’s Innovation Conference, October 9, 2009
October 21, 2009
Learning with ‘e’s posted about an inspiring young Mobile Technology Evangelist called Jessica Colaco (she’s also a Researcher, TED Global 2009 Fellow and one of the top 40 women in Kenya under 40) and the projects she’s been apart of in Kenya:
M-PESA (Pensa is Swahili for money) which enables users to exchange money without the need to either go to a bank or hold an account. Tangaza is a voice based transmission service – you can update your Facebook or Twitter status through voice recordings on your mobile phone. Several other recently created apps were also demonstrated, including fish tracking devices and other tools designed to help people gain information on the move about education, health and agriculture. M-Kulima for example, can enable farmers to store and retrieve information about milk sales prices and purchase dates, where previously they would have had to try to remember each transaction.
There is also M-Guide for tourists. Take a photo of an unfamiliar bird or animal in the game reserve and your mobile phone sends the picture to a server. The server sends back via SMS a description of the animal – there are some obvious educational applications to that one.
because Africans have been largely passed over by the first few waves of technology, they are now only just beginning to be creative with their first computing device – their mobile phones – and therefore seeing opportunities to innovate which the Western industrialised nations cannot see.
I think Africans use mobile phones in the most creative ways because we don’t have readily available and cheap internet connections.
October 19, 2009
Ellyssa Kroski over at the Library Journal wrote an interesting article on using SMS’es as a reference tool for libraries.
I especially liked this part:
Offering this type of mobile service makes sense for libraries at this stage—it seems the next step in the evolution of library services.
In South Africa, internet connectivity is very limited (and mostly very expensive as well) and an SMS reference system would be very practical indeed.
