Create Mobile Websites with Wirenode May 26, 2008
Posted by Leonard Low in Applications, Interactive, Mobile LOs, Mobile Phone, Products, Social, Web 2.0.add a comment
I’ve previously written about Winksite, a service that allows users to create free mobile websites using a CMS-like interface (simply switching on or off various tools and editing options). Now there’s a new free mobile web site hosting and authoring service called Wirenode, which (instead of a CMS-like, “Web 1.0″ interface) uses a Web 2.0/AJAX interface to create mobile websites and integrate Web 2.0 services including Twitter, LinkedIn, RSS, image galleries, or other “widgets”. The integration also works back into Web 2.0, with a Wirenode widget available for Facebook and Mobile Facebook. Awesome!
Unlike Winksite, which is almost completely textual in both content and presentation, Wirenode incorporates media and interactivity, which may even be uploaded by the user, and there’s even an analytics tool for users who like to see how many visitors/students are checking out their mobile site.
It’s a terrific tool to help teachers or students create and present information in a mobile format, and a must-see for other educators interested in utilising mobile devices for enhancing and supporting teaching and learning.
(via Learning Elearning)
Tags: wirenode, m-learning, mlearning, mobilelearning, mobile learning, mobile-learning, mobile, website, site, web, mobileweb, 2.0, web2.0, mobile2.0
Getting Answers on the go! October 8, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Products, Social, Web 2.0.1 comment so far
Just a few days ago, Yahoo! Search announced that they would be integrating Yahoo! Answers with their mobile search service.
Yahoo! Answers is a website where you can ask *any* question (well, within reason) and have it answered by a community of over 95 million users worldwide. I explored this concept in depth earlier this year, rising to one of the highest ranking members on Yahoo! Answers in Australia (and even being profiled on the Yahoo! Answers Australia blog).
In general, a question posed on Yahoo! Answers will get replies within a matter of a few minutes, from a range of opinions, ranging from genuine experts through to users trying to “game” the system (users get “points” for replying, so there can be a number of junk replies to any given question).
My thoughts at the time were that this “informal learning” paradigm would be well suited to the mobile medium - short questions and brief answers, with an around-the-clock, global answering community. However, at that time, the service was not yet mobile - accessing Yahoo! Answers on a PDA browser was pretty much impossible, let alone a mobile phone.
Yahoo! Search’s latest announcement means that the brief answers submitted to Yahoo! Answers will now be accessible using mobile search… which brings part of the Yahoo! Answers paradigm to mobile devices. It’s only a matter of time now before users should be able to submit questions for answering using the mobile devices too. 
Keep an eye out… in the future, Yahoo! Answers may provide you with a personalised question-and-answer service in the palm of your hand.
technorati tags:yahoo, answers, search, mobile, question, answer, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, informal, education
A Bit of Personal Reflection: Facebook as a Learning Tool? August 30, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Applications, Social, Web 2.0.3 comments
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
Could 3D GPS Enable Game-like Situated Learning? August 27, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Moblogging, Products, Situated, Social.4 comments
GPS (the Global Positioning System) uses satellites to help users to navigate, with accuracy as good as half a metre or so. But while most of us are happy to have a simple 2D or “tilted” fake 3D GPS display to guide us, Asia is developing GPS systems that look more like first-person video games:
If this technology becomes more widely available, it could be terrific for educators. Imagine being able to create virtual “learning checkpoints” which exist in a student’s GPS/cellphone/PDA that they can visit to “collect” learning experiences. These checkpoints could show up as different hovering icons in the 3D display, rather like this screenshot from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where an “enterable doorway” icon is shown behind the character:
A learner could physically walk around locating checkpoints, which could trigger all kinds of activities on their mobile device: for example, a video or animation (e.g. explaining a feature of their physical location), a link to an internet resource, a discussion (perhaps using video or audio), or an assessment. A learner could also simulate walking around physically - it would be just like walking around in a video game - to visit or preview some of these resources without actually being there.
Even more exciting: perhaps GPS units could also upload location data for each student involved in a particular learning stream , so that you could see the avatar of other learners physically or virtually visiting various checkpoints on your GPS simulation. If you were physically at a site with other learners, you could identify them from their avatar, and could have a real-life discussion about the location you’re visiting; if you’re visiting virtually, you could ask questions of real-life people, actually at the scene, who could upload their own images, videos, or comments from the site to help other learners.
And unlike a video game, where you run around collecting fake points and accomplish made-up missions, imagine immersive, real-life games where students collect real and authentic learning towards actual qualifications…
technorati tags:mlearning, m-learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, gps, 3d, games, immersive, situated, learning, education, moblogging, teaching, virtual
Paper Blogging - more ideas! April 30, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Applications, Moblogging, Pedagogy, Record, Relate, Social.6 comments
Sue Rockwood at the “No Matter, There” blog has had a go at the paper blogging activity, adding her own ideas to the activity such as a “blog board” which makes for a colourful and interactive display. Her own insights into why paper-based simulations serve as a useful tool in demonstrating and explaining technology concepts, and her own ideas (e.g. for a paper-based “safe chat” simulation), are worth reading, and it’s great to hear her feedback on how the activity went for her classes.
Great stuff, Sue! If anyone else is interested in having a go at a paper based simulation of social software, you might like to read Sue’s posts for some great ideas.
(Image: 
Sue Rockwood, some rights reserved)
technorati tags:paper blogging, simulation, education, blog, moblog, moblogging, blogging, m-learning, mlearning, mobile-learning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, social, web 2.0, social web
Happy Birthday to the Mobile Learning Blog! April 23, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Audio, Events, Social.4 comments
The Mobile Learning blog has just turned one year old! According to Craig Harper, who compiles the Australian Blog rankings, the Mobile Learning blog is currently ranked at #108 in Australia, attracting some 3000 hits a day.
With our first birthday celebrations, it’s a good time to announce the winners of the Mobile Learning Blog’s First Birthday competition. Entrants had to “get social,” and create a link from a piece of social software to their favourite post in the Mobile Learning Blog.
I received some fantastic entries, and I’ve been going through them over the last couple of weeks. The authors of the following entries will be getting portable MP3 players with audio recording capability.
- “Good” and “Evil” Sue at the “Mobile Technology in TAFE” blog created a podcast about the competition for their entry, which, as always, is fantastic!!! The result is a podcast called “What we learnt while preparing for a podcast for… the Mobile Learning Gadget Giveaway!” The Two Sues look at how you can put notes on your iPod, (even a website), and also talk about their experiences of taking the Mobile Learning blog into various mobile formats. Thank you ladies, for such a wonderful exploration of the blog… which is brilliant: I even learned quite a few things myself… WOW. And thanks for the Happy Birthday shoutout!
- Jym Brittain at the Technology 4 Teachers blog also entered a terrific entry, which also included a link to Jym’s own presentation on m-learning, which he delivered to the Oklahoma Governeor’s International Education Conference.
- Bruce Schalau also shared some of his directions in exploring mobile learning in his entry, which include his projects one mobile phones in the classroom, for questions and responses, and transcoding his university’s website materials for use on mobile phones.
- Finally, Frances McLean decided to use a wiki to link to the site, from her “yourpda” wikispace. That’s fantastic, Frances, and I hope you enjoyed trying out wikispaces! Frances: I can’t find your contact details on your website, but if you’d like to email me with your postal address at leonard.low@gmail.com, I will be sending you out your prize this week.
Congratulations, giveaway winners! I will be contacting you all to arrange delivery of your shiny new MP3 players this week!
technorati tags:mlearning, m-learning, mobile learning, MobileLearning, Mobile-Learning, competition, mp3, player, mp3 player, prize, giveaway, birthday, education
A $100 One-PDA-A-Learner (OPAL?) March 20, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Applications, General, Mobile Phone, PDA, Pedagogy, Products, Social, Web 2.0.5 comments
Dr. Paul Trafford of Oxford University has got me thinking with his idea for a $100 PDA for education. He’s already put together the figures to show that it’s already possible - yes, right now - to put together a $100 PDA package for students (even his older figures from last year put the package price under US$150, the current cost of manufacturing an OLPC laptop), which could include a local version of Wikipedia, packaged up for complete searching and reference using Tomeraider software.
Seeing as he’s managed to put together a $100 learner PDA without the global consortium the OLPC project has entailed, he now has me thinking what one could put together in a custom $100 PDA, built and designed from scratch, and based on an open platform architecture. After all, it’s already possible to build a complete, though basic, mobile phone handset for $25… and an open-platform, Linux-based handheld device was recently launched by electronics company Grundig, featuring a 2-megapixel camera, sleek clamshell design, mp3 player, microSD expandable memory, FM radio, and wireless connectivity - all achieved with a single chip (minimising production costs). The feasibility of a Linux-based handheld device is further supported by the fact that most Motorola phones have been running Linux as their OS since 2003, not to mention many Samsung models. Even GPS can (and has been) be integrated with a Linux-based handheld device, and according to some analysts, Linux is expected to be one of the dominant OSes in the handheld market by 2010
Dr. Trafford has his own wishlists for what might be included in such a tool - veering away from a telephone-like device towards more of a PDA-like device, and I agree that a PDA-type interface could provide a good deal more flexiblity in terms of learning activities and interfaces.
Whatever the form factor, I personally would like to see an informationally connected - or at least, Internet connected - low cost device, which leads me to the latest internet buzz over the development of a “Google phone“. Among Google’s 20-odd research projects, they’ve confirmed they are working on an informationally-connected handheld device:
Isabel Aguilera, head of Google’s Iberian operations, was quoted last week in Spanish news site Noticias.com as acknowledging the existence of a part-time project by some Google engineers to develop a mobile phone.
In her interview at http://tinyurl.com/2feypv/, translated from Spanish, the Google executive said her company “has been investigating” developing a mobile phone that works both as an internet access device and as a way to extend internet use to emerging markets customers.
A handheld internet access device? From the world’s current leader in information access and connectivity? Designed for emerging market cutomers (i.e. low cost)? From an educator’s perspective, this sounds like an exciting prospect, and should investigation lead Google to actual design and implementation, I’ll certainly be following any news keenly. Google have been making it abundantly clear that mobile technology is their current priority for continued growth, and have proven it through their creation of mobile widgets for mail, maps, news, and searching; their recent purchase of Neven Vision also hints at their interest in creating new tools that will enable the use of image recognition to perform “visual searches” and discover information about objects using a camera phone.
It’s all very interesting to think about. I’m mulling Dr. Trafford’s ideas around in my head, and I’ll certainly blog some ideas of my own as they synthesise more substantially.
technorati tags:OPAL, OLPC, google phone, iphone, google, education, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, wikiPDA, PDA, cellphone, mobile phone, linux, os, mobile linux, one laptop per child, handheld learning, handheldlearning, handheld, learning, edutech, edtech, educational technology, edu
The "Mobile Learning” Gadget Giveaway! March 17, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Audio, Events, Podcasting, Products, Social, USB Key, Web 2.0.6 comments
In a fortnight, the Mobile Learning blog (right here!) will be turning one year old! To celebrate, I’m giving away some free m-learning gear, and entry is open to anyone in the world (prizes include postage).
Up for grabs are five portable digital MP3/WMA player/recorders, each of which also includes FM radio and file storage (USB memory stick) capability. Using a built-in microphone, they record audio with noise reduction to compressed format, enabling them to hold up to 36 hours of recorded audio, and have a small LCD screen which can display embedded ID3 information (such as artist and track title) and even song lyrics (or the text of podcasts). Battery life is rated at approx. 10 hours of usage on a single AAA battery, and I’m including two batteries with each prize pack to get you started. iPod-style earbuds are also included in the prize pack, as well as a CD of drivers and software to use with your player.
Using a digital audio player exactly like this, you could create and deliver m-learning strategies such as these (jut for starters):
- record an audio podcast, and make it available via your blog or iTunes
- record a class or lecture, and make it available to your students via your organisation’s Online Learning System or web site
- download and listen to a podcast
- download an audio e-book or convert a CD e-book to mp3 and listen to it while you’re jogging, cooking, or just about anywere
- tune in to an informatiove FM radio program; you could even record it for later review or for sharing with others who may be interested in the material
- plug your player into a friend’s computer to give them a copy of any of your audio learning resources
- copy other files to your player to transport between desktop PCs or to share with other learners
- capture learner assessment, such as a client interview or an oral quiz, for later review by yourself or the learner
But hey, I won’t get offended or anything if you just want to use it to enjoy your music on the move. Entry is open to anyone around the world. But to win one of these players, you’ll have to Get Social:
- You’ll need an account in a “social web” (Web 2.0) site such as a blog, wiki, Flickr account, or MySpace page (to mention but a few of the thousands of options!). Only entries created and hosted using a social web site will be considered for a prize
- Create an entry or a piece of content that links to your favourite post here in the Mobile Learning Blog, and say why it’s your favourite. There are now over 200 posts here to choose from! I will give extra credit to creative or innovative entries; and to mobile-capable entries (such as podcasts or mobile web pages).
- When you’ve finished your entry, add a comment to this competition page with a link or URL to your entry (so I can find it!).
That’s it! Entries close 6th April 2007, and I will choose and announce the winners the following week. Good luck, and have fun getting social! If this competition gets a good response, I’ll post more competitions like this in future.
technorati tags:competition, giveaway, prize, freebie, free, stuff, mp3, player, audio, portable, digital, birthday, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, education, teaching, learning, music, clcommunity, gadgets, cool, training, teachers, students, university, universitites, social, web, web 2.0, web2.0, social web
Workshop Activity: Paper Blogs March 16, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Moblogging, Pedagogy, Resources, Social, Web 2.0.23 comments
I came up with this activity to demonstrate to teachers what (mo)blogs are, how they work, and why they can be such a powerful strategy for empowering and engaging learners. I’ve used it on a number of occasions - first for a Social Web Professional Development Day in July 2006, and most recently, last Friday, at a Professional Development workshop on M-Learning, for the University of Canberra. I’m pleased to see it has also been used by others I’ve taught it to, as a fun and accurate way to explain blogging - and it doesn’t even need a computer!
Objective:
To provide a hands-on, interactive explanation of (mo)blogging, and the way that blogs can be used in education as powerful learning tools.
Participants:
For a group of 6 or more workshop participants. The bigger the group, the better and more fun.
Materials:
- A5 sheets of Paper - one per participant, and preferably in many colours
- Writing implements - lots of colours of ballpoint pens and/or colourful textas
- Post-It Notes - I use 47.6 x 73mm ones. If you can find some colourful ones around this size, so much the better.
Procedure:
- Place the Materials (listed above) in the middle of the activity space. Explain that this represents a Blogging Site: a place that provides you with all of the tools you need to set up and publish a blog.
- Invite participants to choose a sheet of Paper for themselves in any colour, as well as a pad of Post-It Notes and some Writing Implements. Explain that this represents how blogging sites allow users to customise the appearance of their own blogs, and personalise them.
- Tell the participants that they are about to write their very first blog post. (I like to get participants to blog about “Food and Drink” for this activity, because everyone has their own favourites, and it makes this exercise more fun; but you might have your own topic in mind). Ask them to write a paragraph or so about their favourite food or drink, and to draw a picture of it.
- Ask participants to also “tag” their post, by adding some summary information at the bottom: for example, whether this item is served hot or cold; whether it is a food or a drink; or whether it is served as an entree, main course, or dessert.
- Now everyone puts their posts back in the middle, and you invite participants to each take someone else’s post. Ask them to comment on the content, by writing their comments on Post-It Notes and sticking them onto the original post: for example, do they agree or disagree with the original poster’s favourite food? Do they like the picture that the original poster drew? Tell them that blogs allow this kind of commenting” by readers, which can help learners to consider new ideas and reflect on their own in new ways.
- Get participants to keep putting their commented posts back into the Blogging Site for others to read and comment. They are allowed to review their own blogs at any stage and remove comments they don’t think are useful, or comment on each others’ comments, too. When this has gone on for a little while, and all of the blogs have at least a couple of comments on them, get everyone to put all the blogs back in the middle and to find their own. The multicoloured paper helps to make this much simpler. They should have lots of fun reading their comments!
- Explain that this is what social software, such as blogs, is all about: sharing and exchanging ideas to build new ideas and new knowledge.
- Get everyone on their feet, and ask anyone whose food or drink is (or could be) served hot to stand on your left, and everyone else to stand on your right. Explain that this demonstrates how “tags” or “categories” are used to organise information in blogs, which are usually also searchable, to make it easy to discover new information in other people’s blogs.
- As a final (optional) activity, ask everyone to write another (brief) blog post on another favourite food or beverage, and to come and stand in front of you when they finish. Explain that most blogs allow readers to subscribe to them in various ways - with RSS being the most popular - which allows readers to be immediately informed if a blogger updates their blog, without having to visit each site.
You can certainly expand on and vary this activity to suit your participants, but this sequence communicates most of the important principles of blogging, without a computer in sight, and uses visual, auditory and kinaesthetic aspects to engage learners with all learning styles, which makes this a very fun activity for all.
technorati tags:workshop, activity, paper blog, exercise, moblog, moblogging, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning, blog, blogs, bloggin, moblogs, education, teaching, learning, teachers, learners, students, university, training, tertiary, professional development, clcommunity, networkedlearning
2007 Horizon Report: Impacts on M-Learning February 28, 2007
Posted by Leonard Low in Mobile Phone, Pedagogy, Social, Web 2.0.add a comment
The 2007 Horizon Report has just been published, detailing the latest trends in educational technology, and how far they are to mainstream adoption. This year, technologies have been classified under the following headings:
- User-created content
- Social Networking
- Mobile Phones
- Virtual Worlds
- The News Scholarship and Emerging Forms of Publication
- Massively Multiplayer Educational Gaming
The first three items (closest on the horizon, according to the report, with a “horizon” of three years or less) have strong links into mobile learning:
- Mobile devices are often used to create content. Cellphones, PDAs, and audio recorders are convenient, portable, and often quality devices for capturing photographs, video, or audio recordings, which can be used for learning and assessment. Content can be stored and edited on mobile devices, or, increasingly uploaded to the web - to (mo)blogs, image-sharing services like Flickr, email accounts or discussion boards.
- Mobile devices are also becoming increasingly social, with considerable integration with “web 2.0″ tools such as blogs or image-sharing sites, and the ability to read RSS feeds, instant-message peers, and interact with maps.
- Mobile phones provide a personal device on which educational resources including video, podcasts, lecture recordings, and photographs can be both created and stored for later review. The Horizon report provides a number of examples of the use of mobile phones in educational contexts.
All of this points to the increasing relevance of mobile learning, as mobile devices become increasingly integrated into the very fabric of our everyday educational technologies.
(via Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day)
technorati tags:horizon report, education, ed tech, edu tech, learning, teaching, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning, mobilelearning, mobile-learning
