Mobile Learning

It seems that Microsoft have discovered the 2D Barcode. Expect to see a proliferation of mobile 2D Barcode products and services in the next two years, now that Microsoft have just released Windows Live Barcode (still in Beta).

The 2D Barcode standard they have chosen is the QR Code – distinguised by the three concentric squares visible in each code. Although it’s proprietary (owned by Denso-Wave corp.), it is the most widely adopted barcode format used in Japan, where over 30 million mobile phones already feature the software required to decode the barcodes. The next most popular format is currently Semacode (aka Datamatrix), which is an open, non-proprietary standard. Most popular readers (such as the Kaywa Reader) support decoding both of these major barcode formats.

Unlike other “proximity” technologies like RFID, “Smart Chips”, GPS, or magnetic strips, the 2D Barcodes can be read by an ordinary camera phone, loaded with the correct software; and can be created without any special hardware, software, or consumables. The barcodes can be printed on paper, read from computer monitors or TV screens, or even created on and read from another mobile phone. Just to prove the capabilities of this technology, I have even created a working barcoded T-Shirt.

A QR Code can store over 4,000 alphanumeric characters within a barcode. The capacity, flexibility, and inexpensiveness of 2D barcodes makes their application to education extremely diverse.

In the future, expect to see educators accopanying printed notes with automatically generated 2D barcodes on each page, linking to electronic versions available via students’ smartphones.

Expect to see 2D barcodes attached to “real life” teaching and learning realia, such as plants in a nursery (for example). A learner could find out more information about any tagged object, just by using their mobile phone to capture the Code, and either directly accessing the data stored in the code, or being directed to a URL (which could contain multiple links to related resources, including images, articles, and video).

(Click image for larger version – excepted from Low & O’Connell 2006, “Learner-Centric Design of Digital Mobile Learning“)

Expect to see learners sharing information with each other using QR Codes to encode, exchange, and store data – saving learners the trouble of manually and laboriously inputting text using mobile phone keypads.

Expect QR Codes to provide an instant context for information, so that a learner’s interactions and learning can be guided by their current situation or context, such as in this example of a tag that might one day be attached to the Sydney Harbour Bridge:

There are already a number of online tools for creating 2D Barcode enabled mobile websites, such as WinkSite… and a lot of online generators for creating your own 2D Barcodes for other sites of your choice.

I’m aware of just a few educators who are trying out 2D barcodes, but the true potential of this technology won’t be accomplished until we can get the attention of telecommunications providers – to have decoding software installed in Australian camera phones by default, as it is in Japan. I have previously tried to telephone and email Optus, Telstra, a number of other providers and industry groups including the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association and the Australian Consumers’ Telecommunication Network, but it’s been a struggle to convey to them the applications of this particular technology.

Still… Now that Microsoft are in on the game, we may see advances made in the deployment of 2D barcode technology software, even without the participation of telecommunications organisations. I’m certainly looking forward to a more connected future of learning!

technorati tags:2dbarcode, barcode, qrcode, qr-code, qr code, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, m-learning, mlearning, education, pedagogy, mobile, carnivalofthemobilists, 2d, 2d barcode, microsoft, live barcode, windows, live, situated, mlearn, mlearn2006, mlearn 2006, 2006

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Create-A-Scape is a free resource for creating location-based learning experiences on Microsoft Mobile Pocket PCs called “MediaScapes,” and was workshopped at this month’s Handheld Learning 2006 conference in the UK.

Mediascapes are maps of areas that have sound and pictures associated with particular areas defined on them on a PC. The mediascape files are then copied to a PDA, and the sounds and pictures can be accessed – either manually, or triggered by GPS as the learner moves around the physical Mediascape.

The program has been designed to be (mostly) simple enough to be used by children, and is accompanied by a wealth of guides and resources to assist students and teachers with learning and using the tool. The tool has teaching and learning applications in a range of educational contexts.  As a tertiary-level learning tool, for example, learners could create their own maps of an ecosystem, accompanied by spoken commentary and images collected from the field. Alternatively, it could be used in an instructional manner, with spoken instruction or sounds being triggered by the learner’s physical situation or context.

The simplicity of the tool makes it a very flexible one. Allowing general “audio” and “images” to be attached to the maps makes the tool suitable for a full spectrum of imaginative learning activities.

technorati tags:audio, photos, pictures, images, sounds, pda, gps, location-based, situated, contextualised, learning, mobile, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning

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Pink Tentacle reports that Aimulet LA, a division of Japan’s Information Technology Research Institute, have developed a cheap, batteryless audio device – that could be used for situated learning.

You hold the small wafer, with an outer shell made from tough, renewable bamboo, to your ear like a cellphone. When you stand over special LED emitters in the ground, the unit receives light signals through special micro solar cells, and converts them into audio messages that are transmitted through a tiny speaker in the device.

The product has already been used at the 2005 World Expo, where Laurie Anderson’s Walk Project installation featured the Aimlet LA to allow visitors to wander through a Japanese-styled garden and listen to poems in four different languages.

The low cost and environmentally-friendly design of the device, which won the 2006 Good Design Award for Ecology Design, means that it could double up an entry ticket, pass or ID card.

technorati tags:aimulet, audio, m-learning, mlearning, mobile-learning, mobilelearning

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The recent addition of geotagging (the ability to add geographic location data to each photo you upload) in Flickr may enable Flickr to be used for situated, location-based, socially connected mobile learning approaches.

The Flickr maps support display of individual accounts, Flickr groups, particular dates, or even custom filters; or alternatively, a learner might choose to zoom in on a particular area to explore the all of the images associated with a particular place.

If you’d like to try it out, why not join and contribute to our “mlearning” Flickr group, then add geotags to your images and view them on the mlearning Flickr map!

technorati tags:flickr, map, maps, geotag, geotagging, mlearning, mobilelearning, m-learning, mobile-learning, clcommunity, networkedlearning

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Mobile learning has existed as long as learning itself: a book is a mobile learning resource, and so is a cassette walkman. Both of these tools enable a learner to take information resources with them to learn mobile-ly. And a cassette walkman is just as valid a source of audio learning as an iPod. Sure, it’s not as sexy, maybe; but by the time the sound reaches my ears from either device, it’s essentially the same thing.

What differentiates the current crop of mobile tools (such as mobile phones, PDAs, and iPods) is that they support a digital, connected learning environment, providing a compactness and convenience of information, a remote and instant access to a range of people and resources, and an ability to process data, that was never previously possible.

This translates to education opportunities that have previously never been possible – rather than pre-made resources, which must be collected and carried by a learner prior to “going mobile,” mobile learners can now get information remotely on demand; record information from wherever they are in a number of formats; communicate with other people such as other learners or teachers; and use the processing power in their pockets to achieve tasks they could not otherwise accomplish unassisted.

These new opportunities provide the basis of my learner-centric “Four R’s model” of mobile learning activities. When viewed through this activity model, it’s clear that these learner interactions will always be useful adjuncts to teaching and learning practices; indeed, Stephen Downes has previously commented on how simply “teaching and learning” these activity classifications seem. It’s because of the inherent usefulness of these activities that I don’t see them as a fad; rather, as standards become further established, and DIY content tools are made available, I believe mobile digital devices will become increasingly affordable, accessible, and predictable platforms for facilitating learning.

My ultimate vision for m-learning is a personal, connected mobile device that provides a full range of connected information and communications services, providing a learner with contextualised, situated learning opportunities through a real-world interface (whether this is achieved through a symbology such as 2D Barcodes, or through image recognition as hypothesised by Stephen Downes).

The Age reported in 2005 that 8 million phones were sold in Australia in 2004, and that the vast majority of mobile phones sold are equipped with built-in cameras. That’s close to one new mobile phone sold in 2004 for every two people in Australia. It adds that 13.7 million MMS messages were sent in the 12 months leading up to July 2004 – the figure two years later would be considerably higher, as analysis of the Net Gen demographic points to instant messaging (such as SMS and MMS) becoming their preferred option for communication, validating IDC Market research cited in this paper on mobile learning in higher education (citing Chaisatien, W. (2004). Australian cellular 2004–2008 forecast and analysis: Upwardly mobile. IDC Market Analysis, #AU202116L, Vol. 1.).

All of these indicators point to camera phones, and MMS, being readily available for the majority of adult learners within a relatively short period of time – particularly among younger attendees. I believe that there is far better penetration of mobile technologies amongst students than among teachers – if educators want to capitalise on the tools available to students, we’ll need to savvy up quickly!

In a world where sources of information are as plentiful as versions of “the truth”, I envisage the ability to communicate with trusted peers and mentors as vital. In a world where the amount of new technical information currently doubles every two years, and by 2010 will double every 72 hours, I see a future where imagination will be the new intelligence: where the ability to quickly adapt to change, and to connect with the most up-to-date information will be more important than what we can memorise and repeat, and the ability to do this anywhere will be essential. Even now, resisting change is like holding your breath: if you succeed, you die.

I see a future of learning that is mobile, personal and connected; and in which the real world and real people provide the context and validation of new learning experiences and rapidly evolving opportunities.

(Abridged repost of this post in EdNa forums).

technorati tags:fourrs, m-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mlearning, future, vision, socialweb, mlearning2.0, m-learning2.0, mobility, mobile, carnivalofmobilists, mobilists, carnivalofthemobilists

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Mobilecrunch, a blog on “Mobile 2.0″ connective technologies, reports a new product that promises to connect the global community of 1.1 billion Internet users with 2.2 billion mobile communication device users, in real time (synchronously), for “free”:

I’ve had the good fortune to have been given access to Nimbuzz for
the last few weeks. My testing has convinced me that once widely
deployed, this application has the potential to shake mobile
communication service providers to their very core…

The application supports voice, presence and messaging and it does
so between mobile devices, PC’s, and mobile to PC or PC to mobile.
What’s more, these features are available to both individuals and to
groups and there’s multimedia support so that in addition to voice and
text, photographs can also be shared.

Using Nimbuzz you can participate in group and/or individual chats,
send SMS messages anywhere in the world for 10 cents, leave or retreive
a message, or call a friend anywhere in the world while only paying for
a local call (with INCREDIBLE SOUND QUALITY, I might add). The Nimbuzz
client supports access to many major instant messaging communities like
MSN and has the ability to let you send a “Buzz” which allows you to
alert offline buddies to go online.

Group messaging and conference calling are all supported and again, the cost is only that of a local call…

This is very exciting news indeed, and brings my vision for a connected web and mobile learning environment a step closer to reality. I’ve downloaded a copy of Nimbuzz to my mobile phone – installation was very easy – but at present I lack people to try it out with (though the automated helpbot account that comes with the installation is both helpful and witty).

I’ve tried connecting with my Google Talk account (above) and it works beautifully, so I’m very optimistic… but if you’d like to try out Nimbuzz with me, download the software (for Windows or most Mobiles) and contact me with your Nimbuzz account name! Or feel free to call or message me – my Nimbuzz account name is (very imaginatively, I know) “leonardlow”.

technorati tags:nimbuzz, mobilelearning, m-learning, mlearning, social, instantmessaging, googletalk, gtalk, mobile2.0, convergence, networking, socialnetworking, connectivism, socialconstructivism

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