U-Blog 6

Mobile Phones For Education

(M-Learning)

One thing you can almost guarantee is that pretty much every student you come across will have a mobile phone. In what follows I’m going to try to outline a few ways in which we can use the technology students already have to make life easier, and enhance learning.

1. Learning slideshows for mobile phones and iPods

In this post I looked at ways in which PowerPoint presentations can be saved as a series of images of a size and format suitable for screens of mobile phones or iPods. This is especially useful for revision purposes as students tend to use our phones when waiting or bored. This gives us something productive to look at.

2. Setting up an Educational Blog

If you’re setting up a blog-based website, you might as well make it mobile device-friendly. Most sites run on Wordpress and has the WP-Mobile plugin installed. This means that mobile phones are automatically detected and suitably-formatted pages displayed. Students can then access a website through the school computers, their home computer and their mobile phone - so they’ve got access anywhere.

3. Using technology students already have for learning

I’ve managed to post to a blog I had on Blogger via my iPhone by sending an email to a specified email address. You can share files with others via Bluetooth and transfer pictures and videos via USB to a PC. Imagine the possibilities: field trips where students post to their blogs/wikis while they’re there; creating mini-documentaries using the camera in their phone; be in different places working on the same project and be talking via instant-messaging; the list goes on.

4. Podcasting/listening to educational MP3 audio

Mobile phones are more and more becoming ‘entertainment devices’. However, this means that they have the software we can use in education to engage even more. Some mobile phones can already subscribe to podcasts and a fair few can listen to streaming MP3s from the Internet. Even if these features are missing, pretty much every mobile phone you can buy now can be hooked up to a computer and have MP3s sent to it to listen to on the go. Why not use this feature, combined with a website, to either publish work, or to extend the course beyond the four walls of the classroom?

5. Sharing files via Bluetooth

Given the amount of time students spend using their mobile phones it’s fair to say most have likely to come pretty adept at using them; just because you don’t know how to use all the features of your phone doesn’t mean that others don’t. For those living in a cave, Bluetooth is a networking protocol, a way of sharing files and information over a short range (a few meters). Most laptops, such as my HP, have Bluetooth built-in. As mobile phones become more and more powerful I can say we have reached a time when students can submit their homework to an instructors device at the start of a lesson, from their phone. We already email homework, so this seems like a natural extension…

U-Blog 5

Apple Does One on One Learning Right

By many accounts, the easiest and most effective way to learn is from instructer to student in a One on One session. You would think this method is usually expensive right? With Apple it is not at all! Apple Computer provides a good example of how to affordably learn by offering up to 52 one hour lessons, at approximately $1.90 per One on One, face-to-face lesson. This is what Apple says on its website regarding the One on One teaching program:

"Sometimes it’s easier to learn with the help of a real person. With over 200 locations worldwide, Apple Retail Stores are your source for personal training, free group workshops, and expert advice."

"Learn more, and learn faster, with One to One personal training sessions."

"trainers are experts in all things Apple - will create a program customized to your interests and skill level. Learn more ... and learn it faster"

Some of the many topics taught include • Getting Started • Mac 101 • iPhone • iPod + iTunes • Digital Photos • Moviemaking • Musicmaking • Websites • Podcasts • Presentations • Productivity • Open ProjectLearn

This is a prime example of most effective teaching in the 21st century, and hopefully an example to be followed not only by industry, but especially educational institutions at all levels.

To Learn more about Apple One on One visit Apple One to One

U-Blog 4

Competing For Part of The Stimulus

Various Educational groups and school administrators, citing state budget shortfalls that are strangling local school districts, are continuing to lobby to ensure enough education funding is part of the 2009 stimulus package announced recently by President Obama .

President Obama stated that his administration would direct a portion of the federal spending bill aimed at getting the economy back on track, to school construction, and to expanding broadband access in schools. The overall legislation could cost as much as $1.2 trillion, according to published reports. But, as more states are making substantial cuts to K-12 spending, some school and state officials are lobbying lawmakers and the Obama transition team to include money for programs such as special education, teacher training, and grants to help districts educate disadvantaged students.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, at least 20 states are cutting K-12 and early education due to budget problems. Florida, Georgia, Maine and South Carolina have each cut aid by at least $95 per student.

Obama has said repeatedly that funding for school infrastructure would be included in the stimulus package, though it is unclear how much and whether any of it would come in the form of direct aid to schools.

To where do you think each portion should go?

Do you think it is the most effective way to bolster education?

U-Blog 3

Nintendo Wii in the Classroom?

One of the more unconventional uses for the Wii that was made popular is for physical rehab in hospitals. Now the gaming system might be gaining popularity in something even more remote for consoles: the classroom. In the Cumberland Elementary School in Indiana, three Wii Systems are the new tools for education.

By incorporating the technology of video games (not to mention the fun factor) the school hopes to engage the students on a more powerful level than traditional methods. The consoles are currently being used to teach Geography, Math and English and the students are getting really into it.

The teachers in the school believe that the potentials for such interaction are unlimited. They even express that the biggest challenge is finding time to incorporate it into already packed lessons. Wii therapy has already spread in hospitals across the U.S. Perhaps the classrooms will follow suit?

U-BLOG 2

What's the Best Way for Senior Citizens To Learn Computers ?

A lot of seniors feel very challenged or even intimidated by computers.

It seems to me that computer classes for seniors (or anyone for that matter) are not always the best way to learn basic computer skills. Aside from often being inconvenient to get to, classes aren't always the best way to learn at all.
People learn best in short lessons (less than 30 minutes is ideal, according to scientific studies) and it's easier to learn if they have lessons that:

1. show them step by step how to use the computer, so they can watch how it's done before they try it themselves
2. have simple, plain English explanations that don't use a lot of technical terms  -- they're not dumb, but they know they want to keep it simple so they can learn easily
3. have an easy, no-pressure, comfortable format that lets them learn at their own pace, on their own time, instead of being forced into a class schedule which might not be the time of day when they're the most sharp and have the most energy
4. Let them go back and review whenever they need, quickly and easily, without derailing the class

Obviously  senior computer classes, or senior citizen computer instruction of any kind in a classroom environment doesn't empower them with computers in the way they really need. So what can they do?

My suggestion is to take a look at video computer lessons on CD and online -- with the right instructor, they may be the easiest way to learn computers. These lessons are time-tested to work with seniors and anyone who is computer challenged, and are available for Windows or  Mac computers.

Chose one of the links below to find out more about these easy lessons:

 Computer basics for Windows PCs
or
Computer basics for Mac

U-Blog 1

There was much to celebrate on January 20, 2009. Many firsts were accomplished. One of those were: the largest crowd to ever show up for a presidential inauguration, not counting the people that got turned away. There were many other records set, but we have no tool for accurately counting them due to their recent emergence. For instance, many reports state that TV viewership was much lower than expected, and that Ronald Regan's inauguration still holds the record for most eyes glued to the screen. But we simply aren't technically equipped to quantify the viewing of this 21st century inauguration (yet) with the 21st century tools we have of accessing it. Firstly, there's no way of knowing how many people watched the event in groups (which in this time of community involvement, may have seen more gatherings than the 1981 inauguration) but more importantly, we have no way of counting each pair of eyes that watched by way of Internet streaming options on computer screens. There were many more online options than there were for any previous inauguration, and it amazed me that I even had the option of watching it on my iPhone.

  Two other tools we didn't have in at a past inauguration are Twitter and Flickr. A simple Internet search would have prepared the "tweeter" or Flickr user to tag their captures/posts with the hashtag"#inaug09". Collectively, we have probably had the largest documentation of any inauguration by "the people" than ever before. You can view Twitter captures about the inauguration easily here and Flickr photos here. Or head over to the "Inauguration Report" site, brought to us by NPR (with Andy Carvin and in conjunction with CBS News and American University) that collected all of this and made it easy for people to document their inaugural experience by supplying them with tools for their phones.

  We live in an exciting time. No longer do we rely just on big media to report on events; we are increasingly looking to "small" media, such as Twitter and other social media tools to tap directly into the pulse of folks who are there, watching it with their own eyes, reporting it with their own tweets, text messages, photos. Is watching this flood of reporting any less significant than watching it on TV? Is the fact that more people watched Regan's inauguration on TV a record that holds any significance now that the media tools have transformed so much?

  If records are important, then we celebrate that this was "The First True Internet Inauguration". Internet bandwith and cell phone networks took a big hit, and yet held in there, so that's cause for celebration too --things worked "okay"-- but the infrastructure is clearly straining. Part of the stimulous plan presented by the Obama team is slated to improve this infrastructure. A lot can happen in the next four years. Perhaps by the next inauguration, we'll have a way to accurately count the true viewership and participation, with more of a balance between "big" and "small" media.

"Workplace Learning"

Why E-learning?

The digital economy places a premium on new business models, customization, and innovation. To guarantee success in this environment, individuals and organizations must remain flexible, acquire new skills continuously, and identify new ways of managing knowledge and information. Although technology is driving much of the change in business and work environments, it also serves as a key tool for keeping pace with rapid change.

The benefits of e-learning -- defined as instructional content or learning experiences delivered or enabled by electronic technology -- rely on the dynamic relationship that links learning, people, and organizational performance. There is a strong economic incentive for business to embrace e-learning. High quality e-learning can improve speed to capability by significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to train workers on new products and processes. According to Fortune Magazine, training that typically would take 6 to 9 months can be compressed to 2 to 3 weeks, thereby guaranteeing faster time-to market for products.

Additionally, e-learning can reduce the costs of workplace training. After the initial infrastructure and development costs are met, the marginal cost of serving additional students is close to zero. For example, Cisco Systems' e-learning manufacturing programs have produced savings of $1 million per quarter, producing an 80 percent increase in speed to competence.

Economic considerations are not the sole reason for embracing e-learning. At a time when public concern persists about the economic disparities among different segments of the population, e-learning holds the potential to diminish the skills and income gaps by expanding just-in-time access to high-quality training opportunities. This in turn can contribute to income growth at all levels.