Mobile Learning

TechSmith, who are still giving out copies of Camtasia Studio for free, are now also giving away another of their premium products, SnagIt.

Like Camtasia, SnagIt allows you to capture anything you see on your screen and save it and edit it for creating small instructional resources. However, SnagIt can be configured for “one-clicK” access on your computer, and allows you to capture high-quality still images as well as video. You can add effects and instructional text and graphics, and even make your tutorial interactive with clickable areas and text.

Click here to download SnagIt 7.2.5 (English)
Click here to download SnagIt 7.2.5 (German)
Click here to download SnagIt 7.2.5 (French)

Click here for a key to register SnagIt 7.2.5 demo as a fully licensed version.

Because SnagIt outputs interactive Flash files as well as images and video files, it can be used in a number of ways to create mobile learning content for PDAs, mobile phones and media players. It could also be used by learners to document their mastery of a computer-based process or to create content for sharing with other learners.

(via Freebies Blog)

Tags: snagit, camtasia, techsmith, flash, free, video, screen, capture, image, interactive, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, education, resources, tools

I’m very honoured to have learned that the Mobile Learning Blog is a finalist for the 2007 Edublog Awards.   If you’d like to show your support for the Mobile Learning Blog, come and vote for it here: http://edublogawards.com/2007/best-individual-edublog-2007/

Congratulations to my fellow nominees!  In particular, I’d like to mention some outstanding Australian finalists such as Sue Waters (multiple nominations incl. Best New Blog, yaay!), Graham Wegner (Best Teacher Blog), Judy O’Connell (Best Library/Librarian Blog), and Jo Kay (Best Educational use of a Virtual World).

It’s an honour to be in such inspiring company, and I’m looking forward to continuing the terrific conversations and reflections we’ve exchanged on these terrific blogs!

Tags: edublog, awards, edublogawards, 2007, finalist, nominee, nominees, blogging, blogs, bloggers, mlearning, m-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, educational technology, edutech, teaching, learning, vote

The mainstream media is just starting to get hold of Telstra Australia’s plans for the use of QR Codes to provide links to mobile web content from printed and screen-based media.

According to this article from The Age, the primary driver behind this particular trial is Australian marketing company QMCODES, who hold the exclusive Australian license to the I-nigma reader – the most widely used QR Code reader application used In Japan, where QR Codes are already almost universally used already.

While the write-up focusses on the commercial marketing and advertising potential of QR Codes, it also hints at the social applications of QR Codes to “link” with users’ MySpace or Facebook pages. However, unfortunately, it looks like neither QMCODES nor Telstra have yet realised the enormous potential of QR Codes in education – to link students with mobile-web resources and activities that relate to their physical location or current physical context.

Hmm. I think I’ll try to get in touch with both organisations to see if they’d like to work in partnership with educational technologists to develop solutions for education and training…

UPDATE (14 Dec 2007): I’ve been contacted by Telstra, who’ve clarified that they are aware of the educational potential of QR Codes, but they do not have a partnership with QMCODES. It’s gratifying to know that there are a number of organisations in Australia working on innovating with 2D barcode technology!

Tags: i-nigma, inigma, qmcodes, qrcodes, qr code, qr codes, 2d barcode, 2dbarcode, telstra, nextg, next g, education, technology, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning

Our department needs to replace some of its old equipment, including my laptop which (after months of wheezing) finally keeled on the very first day of this year’s MLearn conference – (talk about bad timing!).

We’re looking towards the future with smaller, more portable laptops, and I’m also investigating the possibility of investing in a UMPC and a tablet PC as part of our ongoing explorations of the potential of portable digital devices for learning. Part of my interest in the latter two platforms is due to our team’s current work investigating the potential of virtual worlds on mobile devices – for example, using EduSim on a tablet or ultra-mobile PC rather than an interactive Smartboard, to get the same “direct interaction” effect but with a portable platform. One possible application of this would be in the development of situated simulations, so that a learner in a particular location could “model” potential choices or actions to simulate outcomes.

[Above: IBM x61 Tablet PC, recommended by Harriet]

However, I’m also somewhat cautious about investigating tablet PCs, as one of the presentations at this year’s Handheld Learning conference suggested that tablet PCs failed to show any advantages over standard laptops in one particular trial. It would be important to determine why this was the case – if it was because the extra capability of the devices was not exploited or was simply not needed, or if aspects of the tablet form-factor were, in fact, counter-productive.

I’d be interested to hear if you’ve tried using a tablet or ultra-mobile PC in your education setting – how have they worked for you? Also, does anyone have a recommendation on a tablet or UMPC that I should evaluate!?

Tags: tablet, umpc, pc, laptop, notebook, computer, mlearning, m-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning