Dial M for Learning: mLearning ideas

Apologies for my absence for a couple of weeks. We’ve been organising and then attending the Global Summit: Technology Connected Futures.

It was a frenetic event with lots of idea exchange between Provocateurs, Thought Leaders & Delegates. I’ll pick up some of the themes over the coming weeks.

In the meantime I’ll direct you to some good thoughts from bloggers who were doing their stuff live from the Summit:

• Jude Connell’s blog
• Leigh Blackall’s blog

You can access the podcasts and other resources.

Enjoy.

I’m not sure how I stumbled across this site, but it has a long list of web links that you might find useful. Everything from Academic Integrity to Writing Learning Objectives. I haven’t checked them all out so I can’t vouch for everything listed – a few were a little dated, but most I looked at were useful and, of course, led me to other interesting places.

See Faculty Development Associates.

You can view the following presentations online:

• Charles Jennings, Reuters: The Business Imperative to Take Learning to the Workforce
• Gordon Bull, Vodafone: Gordon highlights some of the ways mobile technology will be used in the future as part of our daily lives and explore the implications for learning
• Wolfram Spoenlein, Motorola: Intelligent Learning: Matching Technology with Real Customer Needs
• Donald Clark, Epic Co-Founder and Former CEO: Simulation Environments for Learning
• Fabrizio Cardinali, Giunti Labs: The Future is Here, It’s Just Not Equally Distributed…
• Stephen Clee, Datmedia: Technology Showcase: Datpresenter for Streaming Video to Mobile
• Jonathan Shaw, 7 City Learning: Technology Showcase: Interactive ’smart’ Email to Mobiles for Performance Support
• Jonathon Levy: The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be: Why The Next Generation of Online Learning Resets Everything to Zero!
• Dick Davies, Ambient Performance: Technology Showcase: Forterra Systems Immersive 3D Virtual World for Performance Rehearsal
• Nigel Paine, BBC: Developing for Readiness: BBC success with Wikis, Blogs & Podcasting
• Dr. Gilly Salmon, University of Leicester: Technology Showcase: Profcasting – Podcasting Research – what are students find of value?
• Expert Panel: Implementation, Implementation advice from expert practitioners
• Ron Edwards, Ambient Performance: Realizing the Performance Potential

Dates & information for Moving Learning 2007 are available.

The HDUL project funded by Harvard’s Provost and under the guidance of Professor Chris Dede, sought to determine how wireless handheld devices (WHDs) – which include, but are not limited to, cellphones, personal digital assistants, and mobile gaming devices – could enhance learning and teaching in university settings. During the 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 academic years, HDUL successfully integrated WHDs into eight diverse courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the Harvard Extension School (HES).

Their website documents the support materials and publications developed from the project.

You might also enjoy a streamed presentation by Chris Dede. (Be patient & sit through the first few minutes of introduction – or grab a cuppa.)

Here’s a great article with a long list of Blog search engines. Blog search engines have become more and more sophisticated, and nowadays you can do a blog search on a variety of topics. These should keep you busy for a few days – enjoy.

This publication from JISC is a good practice guide to embedding mobile and wireless technologies into everyday practice. It’s aimed at practitioners and managers in further and higher education and adult and community learning.

‘Innovative Practice with e-Learning’ identifies challenges and benefits relating to the use of six commonly found mobile devices and reflects the findings of reports commissioned through the e-Learning and Innovation strand. Ten new case studies are also included to illustrate the use and the impact of these new technologies from three perspectives: those of the learner, the practitioner and the institution.

You can download the publication free of charge.

A fabulous series of articles from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). Read an abstract and then downlaod a PDF which provides concise information on emerging learning technologies and related practices. Each brief focuses on a single technology or practice and describes:

• What it is
• How it works
• Where it is going
• Why it matters to teaching and learning

Covered so far:

1. Virtual Worlds
2. Google Jockeying
3. Remote Instrumentation
4. Screencasting
5. Virtual Meetings
6. Grid Computing
7. Collaborative Editing
8. Instant Messaging
9. Augmented Reality
10. Blogs
11. Video Blogging
12. Wikis
13. Podcasting
14. Clickers
15. Social Bookmarking

Now that should keep you busy for a while.

Members of LTUG, USDLA, UKDLA & JeLA joined in cyberspace today to hear Dr. Kecia Ray, Policy and Strategic Planning at Nashville Public Schools and well-known industry author, speak on the topic of The “Virtual” School. Dr Ray reviewed some statistics related to virtual schools as well as defined different types of schools, instructional strategies and tools of VS.

She posed several questions at the end of her presentation & we’re addressing these through a discussion forum:

• Where do we go from here?
• How do university distance programs influence K-12 program models?
• Are teachers prepared to teach via distance?
• Will social skills be affected by online classroom design?
• How does US compare with others in adoption of distance technologies?

If you’d like to participate (or just lurk) please click here to join the discussion forum.

I suggest you ’subscribe’ yourself (top left-hand corner) so that you receive an email when something is posted. This saves you having to remember to come back & check for postings.

I’ve just discovered Pod Pedagogy – educational uses for the iPod. A blog covering news, tutorials, tips, and techniques.

It’s put together by Rodney McPhail from the Dept. of Biological Science at Purdue University, Indiana.

There’s a lot of good information and tips in non-technical talk that is easy to understand. Particularly check out the Tips & Tutorials section.

Further extending its curricular reach to the iPod generation, the University of California, Berkeley, recently announced “Berkeley on iTunes U“, a free service that makes video and audio recordings of a growing number of course lectures available both on and off campus through Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store.

“Berkeley on iTunes U” is now available and is open to the public as well as to all UC Berkeley students. Read more.