A pragmatic look at creating an accessible and inclusive mobile experience.
A pragmatic look at creating an accessible and inclusive mobile experience.
Mobile Trends 2020 - http://www.slideshare.net/rudydw/mobile-trends-2020
In my experience the more successful mobile learning projects have typically invested as much, if not more, in infrastructure as they have in mobile devices. Even if this wasn’t part of the original plan e.g. not everything has to be in place at the beginning, it has often led to the conclusion and strategy that a robust infrastructure matched to the planned/required level of usage is essential for the effectiveness and sustainability of mobile learning beyond the scope of any initial project. Whether open wireless or more restricted the key requirement has been for reliable internet access and online communications.
– Ron Mitchell, interview as part of JISC Mobile and Wireless Technologies Review
SCVNGR
From the website:
SCVNGR is a game.
And playing is easy. Go places. Do challenges. Earn points! That’s the core of it, but there’s a whole lot more. Discover cool new places. Do exciting new things. Share what you’re up to with your friends. Unlock badges (and even real world rewards) by doing quick, fun challenges at your favorite places as you go about your daily life.
SCVNGR is a game platform.
SCVNGR is as much a game as it is a massive experiment in building a mobile game together. We want to build the game layer on top of the world. And that’s only possible if you’ll build it with us.
To make this happen, we’ve designed an incredibly powerful (and easy to use) platform that means that whether you’re an individual player, a local store, a museum, a historic monument, a restaurant or anything in between, you can participate in building SCVNGR with us.
SCVNGR is the game layer on top of the world.
And we want you to build it with us. To date, over 650+ institutions and tons more individuals are building on SCVNGR by adding fun, creative challenges to their favorite locations.
The more people that play (and build) SCVNGR with us, the better it gets. And we’re pretty excited to see where that takes us all.
Smartphones give you wings: Pedagogical affordances of mobile Web 2.0
(direct link to PDF)
From the abstract:
Built on the foundation of four years of research and implementation of mobile learning projects (m-learning), this paper provides an overview of the potential of the integration of mobile Web 2.0 tools (based around smartphones) to facilitate social constructivist pedagogies and engage students in tertiary education. Pedagogical affordances of mobile Web 2.0 tools are evaluated, and student usage and feedback is outlined via an interactive multimedia timeline (using YouTube videos) illustrating how these mobile Web 2.0 pedagogical affordances have transformed pedagogy and facilitated student engagement in a variety of course contexts. A rubric for evaluating appropriate smartphone choices is provided, and a model for implementing mobile Web 2.0 pedagogical integration is presented.
ARIS games
From the website:
“ARIS is a tool for you to make mobile games, tours and interactive stories. Using the GPS and QR Codes, ARIS players will experience a virtual world of interactive characters, items and media placed in physical space.”
“The ARIS platform is comprised of two components. The client, or engine, that is available on the App Store lets you into the games and tours that are already created. The editor, or authoring tool, lets you build those experiences for yourself and others. Both are free, working, and continually in development.”
The ‘Galaxy Tab’ from Samsung looks like it’s going to be the first decent Android tablet from a big-name manufacturer.
For education, the potential of Android is that it’s a lot more open - and therefore more configurable to individual contexts.
Exciting times! :-)
from JISC (2007) In Their Own Words: exploring the learner’s perspective on e-learning, p.35
iPad, iPhone, iPod touch Issues for Schools
Tony Vincent on the problems educational institutions should know about and have to deal with when implementing Apple products (such as the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad)
Wired networking still offers superior performance to wireless infrastructure, especially where computers are fixed and in high densities. Wireless networking is developing fast, but so is wired networking and so are the data needs of learners. So the ‘rule of thumb’ that seems to be developing is that where there are fixed computers they should be wired, where mobile computers are in use wireless access should be provided.
– JISC (2009) Study: How Innovative Technologies are Influencing the Design of Physical Learning Spaces in the Post-16 Sector, p.68
