Mobile Learning

So this mobile learning thing (you know, getting learners out of the classroom/computer lab and learning in the *real world*) is all very well… but when it comes to mobile teaching, sometimes it’s a bit inconvenient not having a board to scribble on or to quickly share information.

So for those of you who haven’t heard, I thought I’d share with you this nifty gadget, an LED-based, battery operated SVGA (800×600) light projector, from Toshiba. It fits in the palm of your hand and can operate for two hours without a power source, casting an image from 11″ to 68″ (measured diagonally).

Couple that mobility with the TV-out capability in many current mobile phones (such as my previous Samsung SGH-D600 (shown below, left), or my replacement Samsung SGH-D900), or add a video-out Compact Flash card to your PDA (shown below, right) and you have yourself a portable, multi-user, information-and-data-sharing tool.

Not only can a portable screen like this be used for presentations, or for recreating an electronic “whiteboard” for brainstorming ideas in electronic form… but it could be used to provide a mass-information-sharing platform through the use of QR Codes.  Imagine if the image on the projected screen was a QR Code, containing a URL link to a page of learning resources.  A whole group of learners could then use the QR Code to capture the URL instantaneously, without waiting for each other, and bookmark it for later reference.

Alternatively, a portable presentation screen like this could be used to display an Elluminate (interactive online classroom) session to a group of learners participating mobile-ly or wirelessly.  It could act as a central reference copy of a collaborative resource, continuously updating to display the evolution of that resource as learners contribute to it in real time.

Quite apart from group situations, a projector like this could also liberate an individual user from the frustrations of the tiny PDA or mobile-phone screen to something as large and viewable as a desktop screen – for example, how about a folding Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, interfacing with a PDA, throwing up a nice, big, desktop-screen sized image?

Finally… did I mention that it’s quite cheap compared with other video projectors?  Whereas most video projectors cost thousands, this one is advertised on the Toshiba site with an RRP of US$699 – expect to find this price further discounted elsewhere – and its LED lasts much longer than conventional, expensive projector lightbulbs (an astonishing 10,000 hours).

technorati tags:projector, toshiba, TDP-FF1AU, led, m-learning, mobilelearning, mlearning, mobile-learning, qrcode, qr-code

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Combining elements of game-based learning and mobile learning is this neat, free resource: Escher Mobile. It’s a program that runs on Java-enabled mobile phones, PDAs, and PCs, and enables the user to create Escher-esque symmetrical images, thus enabling the learner to “effortlessly master the main crystallographic concepts: planar groups, asymmetric unit, Hermann-Mauguin symbols, General and special positions, Symmetry operations”.

Incredibly, it’s true. Not only does this application make the fundamentals of crystallography a cinch, but it’s been designed to actually be a lot of fun (e.g. the page above loads up with a web-enabled version of the application, which allows you to make crystalline versions of a cheerful rubber ducky – check out the very cool P6mm rotationally symmetrical (smirk) “Duck Crystal” – no pun intended – on the right) (click it for a larger version).

The web page makes acquiring the software on your phone as easy as possible too – it offers delivery via email, WAP or SMS direct to your phone, or a downloadable version for the user to transfer to their phone themselves.

Finally, it offers users the ability to save images created with the program, email them to anyone, or even submit designs to the Mobile Escher Gallery, on the Escher Mobile website. What a fantastic, fun, m-learning resource!

Thanks to Alex Hayes and Dr Jeffrey Crass of TAFE NSW for sharing this site with me!

technorati tags:game, crystallography, escher, mobile, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, crystal, symmetry, cellphone, gamebasedlearning, j2me, flexiblelearning, clcommunity, networkedlearning, e-learning, elearning

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