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

TechSmith, the makers of Camtasia Studio (one of the best screen recording and video editing tools around) are offering the full version of Version 3.1.3 for free download. This is a terrific tool for all educators to create resources as well as for learners to create their own digital stories and videos – so get it while it’s hot.

Click here to download Camtasia Studio 3.1.3.

Click here to request a software key to register Camtasia Studio 3.1.3 as a fully licensed version.

You also get the option to upgrade to Version 5 of Camtasia Studio, which incorporates export capability for various mobile devices. However, if you create your video in Camtasia 3, you can use a separate converter to create videos for mobile devices… but that’s another blog post.

(via The Freebies Blog)

Tags: camtasia, video, studio, techsmith, editor, editing, free, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, media, mobile-learning, mobile learning, education, digitalstories, digital story telling

This video demonstrates what can be achieved by the convergence of mobile and virtual technologies. Created as a promotion for Wellington Zoo (New Zealand), it allows printed codes to “come to life” using a mobile phone. As you move your mobile phone camera around the code, a virtual 3D model rotates, pans and zooms as if it were an invisible spectre standing on the surface, viewable only through the camera lens:

Download (FLV)

While this demonstration uses a proprietary format for the printed tags, it’s quite possible for other optical symbologies (such as QR Code tags) to be used for exactly the same purpose, since they incorporate orientation information in the tags themselves (the three large squares in the corners of each code), as well as data-link information.

This use of mobile devices also points to the use of mobile devices as future platforms for virtual worlds and educational simulations using tools such as SecondLife and the (open-source) Croquet (and its educational variant, EduSim). In my opinion, we should see touchscreen-interactive virtual worlds appearing on mainstream mobile devices within the next two years – with the corresponding ability for all of us to merge a mobile, virtual existence with our mobile, real one.

The potential applications of such a technology in education could be enormous!

(via Mobhappy)

Tags: qrcode, qr code, edusim, secondlife, croquet, virtual worlds, vr, virtual reality, mobile, phone, cellphone, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, interactive

I’ve just done the briefest of brief surveys of the web, and documented the mobile phone models supported by the major QR Code reader developers. Together, these free-to-download readers provide QR Code support for almost 1000 different phone models across all of the major phone manufacturers (and many smaller ones).

Download: Free QR Code Readers (2 Nov 2007)

Now I *really* like *this* presentation from Handheld Learning 2007.  Although it’s advocating a proprietary product, nevertheless, the paradigm of using a mobile phone as a creativity tool – and rewarding students for appropriate use of mobile phones as a means of capturing and sharing creative content – is brilliant, and clearly explained in this visual presentation (unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any accompanying audio).

Original video source here.

(via HHL07 Podcast)

Tags: creativity, mobile devices, mobile, learning, m-learning, mlearning, hhl07, handheld learning, handheldlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, education, innovation, technology, apple, davidbaugh, chrismorley, conference, cellphone, mobile phone

This is an accidental topic – one which I hadn’t planned to blog on at all – but could possibly be one of the most interesting areas for the application of mobile learning approaches.

My colleague Helen Lynch posted a YouTube video on our team blog today, featuring an accomplished Australian jazz pianist and teacher (Doug McKenzie) performing an improvisation of “Some Day My Prince Will Come” – with video of his hands and a captioned explanation of his technique. Here it is for your viewing pleasure;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmcTByrO_ow

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/LmcTByrO_ow" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

This comes just a week after meeting Megan Iemma at mLearn. Megan is a music teacher who has terrific ideas on how to use iPods to support teaching and learning (and, in particular, music education), with many of her ideas and resources available on her blog. At the conference, she had asked me if it was possible to display the musical notation on an iPod while a song was being played. I had no idea at the time, but delving further into Doug’s videos, I found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAoQjoJl8mI

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/KAoQjoJl8mI" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Yes – a musical performance, together with video of the performer’s hands, a digital version of the keyboard (making the fingering a little clearer), the musical notation, chords, and explanation of the performance, all in one. Wow.

This made me think about how I started learning violin (though it’s been over a decade since I last had lessons, and sadly, things are now rather rusty). I started learning with the Suzuki Method, which is basically a method of teaching a musical instrument by teaching technique, but learning songs by just listening to them. I started at the age of four years old, and didn’t even see musical notation for the first three years of my violin classes – everything was done by ear.

What does this mean? Well, for one thing, it means that it’s possible to learn music just by listening to it – as easily for a child as picking up a language. The Suzuki Method has been around for decades now, and has been proven with scores of virtuosos (myself definitely not among them!). Anyway, this would effectively make an iPod a powerful learning tool for picking up musical pieces, even if you *only* had audio. The addition of video – which can allow the annotation of a musical performance with live demonstration, musical notation and commentary makes an iPod even more interesting as a tool for learning music.

I’ve certainly tried out the use of mobile devices for learning performing arts before – for example, as described in this previous post. Learning new dance moves requires me to constantly practice them until my body develops a subconscious “muscle memory” for them; until then, however, it’s easy to completely forget how to replicate any given move, or to introduce errors of timing, movement or technique. This is why I started videoing instructors performing dance moves – so I would have a reference for revising dance moves correctly; and it’s been the most effective method for learning dance (certainly better than my initial attempt to keep a textual database of the moves!)

I also have a teaching qualification in Speech and Drama, and it got me thinking about how my Speech teacher used to do taped recordings on audio cassettes for me to listen to her delivery – for example, changes of pitch, pace, pause, power and timing – that would help me as I memorised each piece of prose or poetry. I would also have to tape myself and listen to my own recordings to pick up ways I could improve my own performances. How easy and effective this would be on today’s mobile, digital devices, compared with the low-quality, clumsy tape deck I had to use as a child! Using Gavin’s voice-based system, which I explored in a previous post, it would even be possible to exchange performances between teacher and learner for guidance and feedback easily and remotely.

There are some really terrific opportunities for the use of mobile devices in teaching and learning performing arts – it will be fantastic to explore this area of application for mobile learning in more depth in the future!

Tags: suzuki, method, music, drama, speech, arts, performing, dance, mlearn2007, mlearn 2007, mlearn07, video, ipod, education, ipods, performance

I attended mLearn last week to present a long paper on some of the outcomes of the Australian Standards for Mobile Learning, but I also had a range of other m-learning issues I was keen on sharing and discussing.

One of these topics was the use of 2D barcodes (or ‘mobile codes‘ as they are sometimes referred to) – specifically, Quick Response or QR Codes. Since I initially proposed the use of QR Codes as a way to link physical objects or locations with electronic and online learning materials, several excellent educators and educational developers have picked up on the potential of this technology – which is free to use and develop, and well-supported by free software, to both create QR Codes and decode them using ordinary camera phones.

I had the opportunity to mention QR Codes in my mLearn presentation, and provided a bit more information during question time; but I also did many demonstrations at other times during the conference, using QR Codes I screen printed onto all of my shirts for the conference, or QR Code stamps I had made to print codes directly onto my business cards. The QR Codes I used provided a link to a mobile-enabled Winksite page with all of my contact details for the conference.

Screen printing QR Codes successfully onto both light and dark t-shirts required both positive and negative versions of the screen print image (to print in either white or black ink). Printing both white and black ink onto the red shirt was a matter of combining both the positive and negative screen prints – the image itself provided its own very accurate registration marks, thanks to the three corner “squares” on each QR code, which made overprinting easy and very precise indeed. [Disclaimer: while I'm familiar with creating complex screen prints, this probably isn't everyone's cup of tea. However, I can create custom QR Code t-shirts for other educators for about A$20 (or even less for multiple items); the other alternative is to send your design to CafePress who will professionally print any design you like onto a t-shirt (or other item) for you].

I also ordered two stamps from Canberra Rubber Stamps and Signs, and they obligingly made self-inking and standard versions of my QR Code on a 28mm blank, within 3 working hours of me placing my order. I was very impressed (and grateful!). The standard stamp cost under A$20; the self-inking version was a little more expensive, but under A$45.

Using these stamps I was able to print QR Codes on all my business cards and
do over 20 live demonstrations of the creating and decoding QR Codes to other conference attendees. I had a green stamp pad to show how different colours could be used to create QR Codes (a bit more interesting than black-and-white), and I also brought self-laminating plastic pouches to demonstrate how to waterproof the cards.

Anyway, all this was a lot of fun, and apart from allowing me to share one of my particular interests in mobile learning, it was another conduit enabling me to meet many other terrific conference attendees. No doubt I’ll do something similar for future conference attendances!

If you’re attending an m-learning conference in the future, consider having a QR Code for your own contact information added to your business card; getting a QR Code stamp made; adding a QR Code for your contact details or website to your presentation; or even having it printed on a t-shirt so other attendees can “snap” your details in seconds!

Tags: mlearn2007, mlearn07, mlearn, 2007, mlearning, m-learning, mobile learning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, qrcode, qr code, quick response code, 2d barcode, education, handheld, learning

In this video, recorded at mLearn 2007, Gavin Cooney, CEO of Learnosity.com, provides a personal demonstration of an application that allows a learner to call in, authenticate themselves, and then verbally respond to various questions. The responses are stored for marking and can be retrieved and even podcast.

YouTube link:  http://youtube.com/watch?v=F3PkIdF1R04

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/F3PkIdF1R04" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

It’s a simple and terrific idea. Learners can call in using any kind of phone – no need to use a top-end mobile phone like Gavin’s iPhone seen in this demo, even a landline or Skype phone can be used – and using an application like this can make the process of assessing students more flexible and efficient: students can be assessed whenever is convenient, and the work can be marked later whenever convenient for the teacher.

Gavin’s company is already using this technology to support Irish language learners, and in this video he also discusses the wider applications of this simple, effective and accessible mobile learning approach.

Here’s my introductory presentation for today’s National Networks Elluminate session on Moblogs (12:00 noon AEST).  If you’re not sure what a moblog is, or how they can be used to support and enhance learning, you can come and join the session here when I present it… otherwise, check out the slide show below.

[slideshare id=102029&doc=an-introduction-to-moblogs-in-education2742&w=425]

technorati tags:m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, moblogs, moblog, moblogging, education, teaching, mobile, learning, australian, flexible, framework, aflf

Sue’s comment to this blog post about Mobile Facebook, asking for ideas on how Facebook could be used as a learning tool, prompted me to experiment with the possibilities in Facebook and Facebook Mobile.

But while both Facebook and blogs owe their original pedigree primarily to social (as distinct to working or studying) motivations, I’ve grappled with some initial reservations, thinking about opening my existing Facebook profile to my colleagues across the Australian (and International) Flexible Learning Community.

It’s not that I don’t trust y’all with all of the details I have posted in my private profile. Okay, actually, maybe I don’t.

The solution, of course, is simple – create a whole seperate profile to log into during work hours – a professional Facebook presence, devoid of (too) personal revelations and socialising temptations. Just as a savvy blogger will have a separate personal blog and a professional blog (and never the twain shall meet), so too is it a good idea to create a seperate account on Facebook that is designed to enable communications and professional networks, without the colourful clamour of Facebook friends.

I guess I will have to do a similar kind of thing with most of these social web tools, despite the inconvenience of having to have seperate passwords and administration for each one. Indeed, it’s looking as if I’m actually creating two completely different worlds online: a network of professional social sites, and a network of personal social sites… two very different mes, with the occasional convergence (e.g. my Flickr account).

Right. Hopefully, that was the hard part. Now to figure out the best ways to use my (Serious) Facebook – and (Serious) Facebook Mobile – accounts, to support and enhance learning… hmmm. Featuring news, RSS feeds, and surveys, Jacinta Gascoigne‘s Facebook page appears to be a good place to start…

technorati tags:facebook, mobile, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning, education, social, web2.0, web 2.0, professional