Mobile Learning

Oliver at MobileCrunch reports on a very cool move by Google towards supporting mobile learning content. According to the Google Blog, Google Page Creator (a very simple, WYSIWYG web page maker for everyone with a Google account) now automatically creates mobile web pages.

That’s right: create a standard web page in Google Page Creator (whose output looks simple and beautiful on normal PCs, by the way, and is highly customisable), and a mobile web equivalent is automatically generated – without you having to even think about it. In line with W3C’s Best Practices for Mobile Web, the content is optimised for the particular digital device accessing the site.

In the same post, Google announced that Google Pages users can now have up to five different websites attached to their user account. That is a fantastically generous offer from Google, and should open up loads of possibilities for educators to develop mobile web pages. I’m not sure if Google accounts still need an invitation to get one, but if anyone needs a Google account and requires an invitation, email me and I’ll send you one. At this stage, I have 98 invitations I can give out.

technorati tags:google, pages, labs, page, creator, mobile, web, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning

While I’m blogging about new concepts in digital hardware with potential uses in education, check out this wrist-mounted PDA concept.  It serves as the hub of a “Body Area Network” that allows the user to interact with other digital devices, simply by touching them.  For example: print a document from the PDA by touching a printer; sync files with a PC by touching it; perhaps even exchange photos, videos, podcasts or documents with another learner  or teacher by touching their PDA.  Check out the Gizmodo article for more pictures and information.

technorati tags:BAN, body area network, touch, pda, wearable, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning

A bedside clock with a wireless internet connection? Has the world gone mad?

Ah, but it’s so much more than just a clock. I’d like to introduce you to Chumby, “a compact device that can act like a clock radio, but is way more fun”. Chumby can piggyback off your wireless internet connection to interact with the web, with the convenience and ubiquity of an “always on” device.

It’s being designed as an open platform – meaning that developers and users can create or download widgets to display photos from Flickr, news from Google, stock quotes, moon phases, horoscopes… even a daily Shakespearean Insult.

It features a touch screen, but also utilises a brand new kind of mobile interface – a “squeeze sensor” that lets you communicate with it by squeezing or tapping it. It lacks a keyboard, so it’s not intended to become a workhorse; rather, it serves as a conduit of information and functionality – an extension of Web 2.0 into the “real” world. The Chumby could awaken you, not with dodgy FM radio, but rather, with your favourite news, podcast, vodcast, RSS feed, or music. You could even create Flash-based learning interactions and have them delivered to students’ Chumbys each day.

The makers of Chumby are claiming it will hit the market at really low cost – under US$150 retail. If anyone’s interested in developing educational applications for the Chumby, the makers have a limited supply of Chumbys to give away to those most deserving – pitch your idea on the Chumby website.

technorati tags:chumby, m-learning, mlearning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, mobile learning, clock, rss, podcast