mLearning Tools
Leonard Low offers a nice theory and set of activities for mLearning in an EdNA forum, but like Geoff Stead I see the 'mobile' aspect as "flavouring" and not essential to the model. I haven't spend a lot of time on mLearning for just this reason, because I see it not so much as a new form of learning but rather as a transition to something more useful, something I describe as virtual hardware in this short article. But also, mLearning concerns me a bit because of the tendency of vendors to lock down mLearning offerings. In this mLearning portal, for example, clients can only go where they're allowed and all the content is otherwise hidden from view. Walled gardens (with sentries). Or this demo - there's no way out, only in. It's all closed prepackaged content. mLearning offers vendors what computing never did - complete control over the delivery platform. So even though people can moblog and SMS and otherwise escape the restrictions, I am still cautious. More: mLearning presentation by Geoff Stead and Lilian Soon in Flash. Via EdNA. Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, August 10, 2006. [Link] [Tags: Moblogging, Online Learning, Portals, EdNA, Gaming] [Previous][Next]Comments
Re: mLearning Tools
MobilED (http://mobiled.uiah.fi) is designing learning environments that are meaningfully enhanced with mobile. Work is carried out it South Africa and Finland. The MobiLED Audio Wiki server is explained here: http://mobiled.uiah.fi/?page_id=7 Have a good trip to Tshwane. - Teemu [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: mLearning Tools
http://www.moblog.co.uk/blog/mobdeadly [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: mLearning Tools
Hi Stephen Thanks for the post. While I totally agree with your view of m-learning as "flavouring", several of the links you mention point at materials and resources that we have made, and I feel that you have read more into their "locked down" state than is in fact the case. first the specific links: The demo you link to is a snapshot in time, lifted from a selection of PocketPC content made with several different groups. They are really designed for the PDAs - not the web at all. I assembled them into a popup for a presentation I did. Having ways in or out was not really our intent - rather to show some of the types of materials students are already using. You are correct that by its nature, creating mobile resources for a PDA is a slightly "closed" activity, but we have been doing our best to combat that by building authoring tools that embed all the best-practice-feedback from learners, and encouraging tutors to generate their own materials. We have just completed a significant trial of these with a large agency here in the UK, and the tutors made really good stuff! You also linked to our portal, and reached what I feel is an unfair conclusion about being excluded. We are working with many different colleges and employers in the UK, all keen to add mobile learning into their mix. Some of the more powerful modes of m-learning we have seen are those that base themselves on collaboration / group activity / constructing ideas. The thing about these activities, though, is that not all colleges or employers want to share their work with the rest of the world. They want to keep the student's work private. This is what our portal is all about. It is a gateway for these partner organisations to access their own mediaBoards, SMS Quiz generators, mobile content repositories etc. So - yes it is "closed" if closed means private - but that is at the wish of the institutes involved. No, it is not at all "pre-packaged", though. Everything behind that wall is about tutors and learners making their own stuff, and sharing it with their peers. I guess, upon reflection, we set ourselves up for this mis-interpretation by making some of the overview pages more public. There was no intent to mislead. Perhaps we should have hidden them behind the login as well? Either that, or made more effort to explain to visitors what this was all about. then, the fundamental dilemma: How pre-packaged ought m-learning be? We have been working with groups of mobile-learners and tutors for over four years, and the more we move towards open-ended, shared experiences like moblogging, mediaBoard, geoCacheing, podcasting, the more we are also reminded that allowing students these powerful freedoms presents real challenges for their teachers. Time and time again we get reminded that teachers need a launchpad into this brave new world. They are keen, but nervous (and often ill-equipped to deal with it). Into the breech steps pre-made, pre-packaged learning materials. We have been fortunate enough to work with close on 2000 students thus far, and the message keeps coming back. A pool of relevent, rich-media resources is the best launch pad. Once learners and teachers are happy with that, then exploit the mobile devices for the media-creating / collaborating / empowering things they can offer learning. I hope these comments help to move the debate forward. And thanks once again for such an wealth of information on your site. I only recently discovered it. Geoff Stead [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: mLearning Tools
I tried to post the above as myself, but had problems keeping logged in. :) [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
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