Free M-Learning Applications April 30, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in Applications, Mobile Phone.4 comments
It’s fantastic for students to have access to powerful software tools that help them develop their skills; and it’s even better if the software is free. A prolific developer of mobile applications, Tea Vui Huang, provides the tools he develops for free via his website; and many of his applications are either very useful for education, or are made-for-education. Here is just one his tools, (which are generally authored for the Symbian mobile phone platform):
The TVH-72g Graphing Calculator
It’s brilliant. The developer “gets” so many of the reasons that mobile phones can be powerful learning tools. Quoting from his site:
“…the use of graphing calculators is being incorporated into the education syllabus of mathematic subjects such as algebra, trigonometry and calculus. Graphing calculators are more expensive than the already costly scientific calculators… (but) to paraphrase One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) association’s message - Students can do a lot of self-learning. A common handheld device found these days is the mobile phone, and most students have one - even if it’s an entry-level model.
Though it maybe unexpected, entry-level mobiles these days do have the processing power and display screen appropriate for emulating a graphing calculator. Take for example a HP 49g+ graphing calculator with a resolution of 131 x 80 pixels, and contrast it with an entry-level Sony Ericsson J300i with a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels. Mid-range cell phones offer even higher resolutions of 176 x 220 pixels (that’s over 3.5 times more pixels than the HP 49g+).
Cost-wise, the commonly recommended graphing calculator for educational purposes is the US$100+ TI-83 Plus, US$130+ TI-84 Plus and the US$150+ HP 49g+. In comparison, an entry-level Sony Ericsson J300i retails for US$75+, or free with a 2-year service agreement.
If anything, CNN reported in January 2006 that Microsoft founder and Chairman Bill Gates believes cell phones are a better way than laptops to bring computing to the masses in developing nations.”
The developer’s view of m-learning is spot on - mobile phones are cheaper and often more powerful than graphing calculators; and most students already own them. And the quality of the graphs created by this free tool are excellent. Here is a comparison of the output from this application on a low-cost handset, compared with graphing output from a real graphing calculator (the HP49g+):
Download this tool using your mobile web browser from http://teavuihuang.com/tvh-72g/download.php, or from the project’s web page. Other applications available to use for educators and students include podcasting, photography, and document-creating tools - even a small application that allows a user to create the basic curves for generating 3D Maya models.
Tags: graphing, calculator, free, tea, vui, huang, mathematics, education, mlearning, m-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, elearning, maths
Mobile Internet: the Tipping Point reaches Oz April 18, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in General.add a comment
According to an annual study conducted by the University of Adelaide and mobile phone company m.Net as part of a larger international study, the number of Australians (aged between 18 and 50) using their mobile phone to access the internet has doubled in the last twelve months to 40%. In addition, 60% of respondents citing improved mobile services and lower mobile internet data costs as being a reason to change mobile carriers.
The researchers believe these figures indicate the tipping point has been reached for Mobile Data Services (MDS) in Australia, with the use of MDS to become commonplace in the next 6 to 12 months.
I imagine that with a critical mass of consumers willing to change mobile carriers for lower mobile data costs, mobile carriers will need to price mobile data more competitively in the near future; which would, of course, entice even more mobile phone owners to start using mobile data services.
This is great news for mobile learning in Australia, and the good news for educators in the United States is that the international study also found that while the US still lags behind Australia in the use of MDS, it’s closing the gap…
(reported in The Australian IT via Mobile Marketing Watch)
Tags: mobile, mds, web, internet, australia, mlearning, m-learning, learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, data, services, cellphone, research
Mobile Wikipedia April 8, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in Applications, Mobile Phone, Products.1 comment so far
Wikipedia is a terrific reference tool if you (or your students) happen to be at an internet-connected computer, but it’s a lot harder to use as a reference tool when you’re out and about.
It’s possible to look up Wikipedia using a mobile internet connection, but for many people, the mobile data charges this incurs can make this expensive (even if you’re using a mobile version like Wapedia). And there are certainly iPod-based, text-only versions of Wikipedia, but it would be far more useful and accessible to have Wikipedia on a mobile phone as it’s the one device most people never leave home without; and iPod books can’t display pictures.
Which is why I was ecstatic today when I found the best mobile version of Wikipedia yet - and it’s free. The Series 60 Weblog has compiled over 2000 full-length Wikipedia articles - including over 8500 colour images - into a version of Wikipedia that can be read on Symbian s60 phones (i.e. most recent-model Nokia phones as well as many Sony-Ericsson and some other phones). Here are a couple of screenshots:
Head over to the Series 60 Weblog to download Wikipedia for your phone and get all the details.
Tags: wikipedia, wapedia, symbian, nokia, phone, cellphone, mobile, learning, mlearning, m-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, reference, education, s60
Andy Ramsden: Are QR Codes the Future of Mobile Learning? March 27, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in 2D Barcodes, Pedagogy.1 comment so far
I posted the following response to Andy Ramsden’s blog post on this topic:
I’ve been researching the use of 2D barcodes (and particularly QR Codes) in education for over two years now. I’ve been very interested in their use in education as I immediately recognised their power for linking situated learning opportunities with instructional and interactive learning opportunities when I first read about them. I’ve since investigated alternatives such as RFID, and I still think that 2D barcodes have some big advantages, especially when it comes to things like cost and ease of (re)production - 2D barcodes can be printed for free, whereas RFID tags cost around $1 each in small quantities.
Where I see QR Codes becoming obsolete is through the rapidly improving processing capabilities of mobile devices, which are on the cusp of becoming capable of reading and interpreting printed text. Once phones become able to recognise a printed URL, for example, the use of a QR Code to “represent” a URL becomes superfluous… an unnecessary (and non-human-readable) duplication of information. Text-recognition will also be far more flexible than QR Codes; potentially, semantic constructs could be used to allow the recognition of an infinite variety of different types of data, the same way that OCR currently works on desktop computers.
In brief, I’m still very interested in QR Codes as being the current best and most cost effective technology for mobile data capture; but I’m already looking towards a future where QR Codes will be obsolete.
I can think of some examples where QR Codes might still be preferable to unencoded text recognition; but in most cases, I believe the impending ability of cellphones to read printed (and hand-written) text will replace QR Codes for situated mobile learning approaches, even before such use becomes popular in education!
I guess my answer to Andy’s question must be “no” - I think QR Codes are a *current* strategy for mobile learning, for those educators interested enough to use them; but I definitely can’t imagine them being the *future*.
Tags: mlearning, m-learning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, education, andyramsden, andy ramsden, qrcode, qr code, 2d barcode, 2dbarcode, qr-code, semacode, datamatrix, learning
Exploring Cellphones as Learning Tools February 6, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in Mobile Phone, Pedagogy.3 comments
Dean Shareski blogged a case study for the use of mobile phones in school teaching, with some good insights into the proportion of grade 8/9 children with cellphones at school, how they used their cellphones, and how learners without cellphones were considered.
Dean documented engagement, responsibility, and innovation/problem solving amongst the students; and also comments about the class teacher as a learner in this situation, and how it challenges educators and institutions to reflect on their own policy and practice when it comes to mobile devices in educational settings.
Tags: school, secondary, high, middle, education, mobile, cellphone, cell, phone, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, teaching, students, policy, professional, development
Edublog$ Magazine: A Matter of Common Cents February 1, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in General.2 comments
James Farmer launched the Edublogs Magazine earlier this week, featuring “news, information, interviews, highlights, and techniques from around the Edublogs Network and the world of education” - to a mixed reception. Several edubloggers thought this was a useful venture, but there were other commentators who saw this as “an obvious commercial move at the expense of egalitarianism in blogging“.
Frankly, like Graham Wegner, I don’t see what the fuss is about. The “magazine” has an unintrusive banner for James’ “Edublogs Campus” service for institutions, but I don’t see any other advertisements anywhere else. There’s no AdSense, there are no external banner ads, there are no flashing Flash advertisements exhorting us all to “Click here for a free iPod”. What in the world are you whinging about? And, frankly, SO WHAT if James wants to make some money from offering related edublogging services? He does it full time - don’t you think he might, perhaps, need money (like you and I)?
It seems like common sense to me. If James wants to make money from his area of expertise offering a related service to institutions, what’s wrong with that? Teachers make money from teaching, for goodness sake - are educators so egalitarian that they provide their professional services for free? I don’t think so… how many DOZENS of blog posts and media articles have I read now where teachers or union officials have sighed how undervalued and underpaid teachers are? And I’ve consistently agreed - I think teachers do incredible, valuable work that deserves far more recognition.
So I don’t see a difference between teachers deserving that recognition for the education services they provide their local communities, and James providing an education service for the global community. He deserves better treatment than demands he become more “transparent” or “egalitarian”.
Edublogs is a free, world-class, supported blogging platform with tens of thousands of users. Despite the large user base, every request for blog support, maintenance, and improvement that I’ve sent to James over the last two years of edublogging has been attended to with a level of dedication I’ve NEVER experienced from the providers of my essential utilities - electricity, water, gas, or telephone connection. It doesn’t get much more “egalitarian” than that, folks, and surely a measure of gratitude and recognition is in order.
Tags: edublogs, james, farmer, magazine, money, commercial, free
Principals Trying out Cell Phones January 22, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in General, Pedagogy.5 comments
Dean Shareski passes on an email from a local principal:
I’m sure we are not going insane, but some would probably disagree. Carla and I tried something new and, well a little bit rebellious today. We invited the grade 8/9 ELA class/students to bring their cell phones into class (if they didn’t have one we used mysask for text). Our goal, using cell phones for learning. Our objectives, appropriate use of cell phones (manners and ethics), using the calendar/scheduling, using text to discuss literature (lit circles), tracking progress and assignments/projects, and engaging the new learner. Guess what, it worked like a charm and the kids are peeing themselves with enthusiasm. Welcome to Web 2.0!!!! I needed to share.
Awesome stuff. Damien’s remarks in the comments are also worth reading:
I like that this principal is looking into educational applications, but I think the most important takeaway here is that s/he’s having a discussion about mobile phone manners and ethics. Although I think it’s very rude when students text during class, I honestly don’t think many of them think much of it, and probably think we teachers blow the issue out of proportion (to be fair, some do). I applaud this principal for having this dialogue outside of a punitive context and for at least considering the educational and organizational possibilities.
Wow. Educators having a dialogue with students and discussing mobile phone manners and ethics? Might those students might get insights into the acceptable use of mobile technologies (useful for the rest of their lives, no less) that they wouldn’t otherwise get from a blanket ban on mobiles at school? Great work…
Tags: phones, mobiles, cellphones, cellphone, mobile, phone, school, schools, ban, education, principal, cell, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, policy, policies, technology, technologies
ZXing Open Source Barcode Library January 18, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in 2D Barcodes, Applications, Products.add a comment
Most regular readers of this blog will be familiar with my interest in the use of 2D barcodes as a means of providing a link from a physical object or location to an online resource using an ordinary camera phone.
I’ve just found an open-source Google Code project called ZXing, which is an open-source project to build a cross-platform barcode reader library. If it succeeds in its aims, it looks like it could become one of the best, most flexible readers available, and because it’s open source, it should be possible to incorporate it into related educational projects such as integration with augmented reality learning resources.
ZXing’s successful implementation to power the Facebook QR Codes application demonstrates its early potential.
This is one project I’ll be following closely!
Tags: zxing, 2d barcodes, 2d barcode, qr code, qrcode, datamatrix, semacode, reader, 2dbarcode, mobile code, open source, project, opensource, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, google, barcode, barcodes, facebook
Recording first-person videos with "spy” glasses January 15, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in Uncategorized.2 comments
Early last year, Sue Waters of the Mobile Technology in TAFE podcast posted her video about the use of “spy glasses” (glasses or sunglasses with a built-in video camera), and how these can be used for recording first-person video footage for gathering assessment evidence or creating demonstration video clips.
While the cost of one of the units featured in Sue’s demo runs into the hundreds of dollars (and wireless units cost thousands), I’ve just come across a video tutorial on how to make a set of video-recording glasses for just A$50 or so - and they’ll do this kind of work just as well as Sue’s gear.
Looking at the components available on eBay, it would also appear to be possible to make a wireless version for a little extra, for situations where unsecured wires could pose a workplace hazard. If you have a particular need for capturing portable, mobile, first-person video for an educational activity or resource, this tutorial could save you thousands of dollars and/or allow many more of your students to participate than would otherwise be possible.
Original page: http://www.instructables.com/id/Covert-Spy-Sunglasses/
Create a free SMS auto-reply learning tool January 10, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in Applications, Mobile Phone, Products, SMS.6 comments
I’ve previously blogged about StudyTXT, a system deployed at a number of New Zealand educational institutions (to whom it is available for free), which allows students to send an SMS and receive on-demand learning and support information on their mobile phones.
It’s a terrific innovation which has plenty of potential in academic settings. Some educators have used StudyTXT to provide brief revision “flash cards” or notes for their students on-demand; but I can also see the possibility for this kind of system to be used to play educational games or mobile quizzes.
But what about the rest of us outside of New Zealand? It’s possible for us to set up customised SMS-response systems by working with a telecommunications services provider, but this can be a pricey or time-consuming exercise.
Which is why I’m delighted to be able to share this tool with you: BaselsReply (v2.0). It’s a small application that runs on an ordinary Windows Mobile smartphone and basically turns it into a message server, with the advantage of being, itself, mobile - you can just take your message server with you and modify it whenever (or wherever) you want to!
You configure your messages by running it in “server” mode, and specifying “commands” and corresponding “replies” in the software. An incoming message prefixed with “br command” (where command is a recognised command will automatically be replied to with the appropriate response.
Use Case Studies
- Jane’s teacher uses an SMS reply system to provide a weekly summary of ten key terms or concepts learned during that week. Each week, Jane sends an SMS with the message “br vocab” to her teacher’s mobile. She immediately gets her weekly list of terms and concepts to aid her revision and vocabulary uptake.
Because Jane is able to get this important information on her mobile, she can take it with her anywhere and can even reference it when she meets her classmates around the campus or if she meets her class friends off-campus for study or social time. Although each message is quite short, the cumulative effect over time is to build up a much longer list of vocabulary and concepts that Jane can both revise and reference, anywhere and any time, and she can even forward the messages to any classmates who missed a previous summary.
Jane’s teacher Mary doesn’t need to send each individual request for the weekly list. Once she sets up the automated message on her smartphone, she can forget about it for the rest of the week while the 80 students taking her subject request the summary or forward it to each other - which ever they prefer. Mary also enjoys the convenience of being able to update the weekly summary anywhere and any time that’s convenient to her - all she has to do is pull out her smartphone and she has all the tools she needs.
- Ethan is an science teacher who has set up an SMS game for his students. He begins the game by asking them a question, for example: “In scientific classification, to what Family does the cat belong?” The answer is one word, “Felidae”.
Dylan is studying Ethan’s science course. He doesn’t know the answer right away, but looks it up online and finds the correct answer. He SMSes “br Felidae” to Ethan’s mobile phone, and gets the message “Correct! Where on a cat are the carpal whiskers located?” Dylan wants to find out right away, because his teacher Ethan has offered a cool prize to the first student to complete all of the quiz questions - an autographed copy of Ethan’s memoirs! (Or, y’know, maybe something cooler)…Ethan can set up a series of questions such that each correct answer provides the next question in the quiz. The same idea could be used to generate treasure hunts or physical and mobile learning games.
Download your very own free copy of BaselsReply v2.0 and try out your own SMS auto-reply learning activities with your students! Here are the details:
BaselsReply v2.0 (152kB, Freeware)
Size: 152 KB
Date: January 7, 2008 (Updated)
Type: Freeware
Requirements:
• Windows Mobile 5.0
• .NET CF v2.0 (install this first!)
Author: baselsw
Home: http://monkeyupdates.blogg.se
Email: monkeyupdates@gmail.com
Directions: First install the .NET CF v.2.0 on your Windows Mobile 5 (or better) device; then download and install the BaselsReply .CAB file, available here.
(via Pocket Picks)
