When is an ipod not an mLearning device?
There has been a debate over this for a while, but today's new ipods
seems to have started debate again! Especially because the new Touch
model (here via engadget) will sport a browser allowing access to all
kinds of extra functionality like the web and online document creation
(such as google docs).
Not everyone is happy though - see this post by fellow Australian
mLearn blogger Leonard Low AND the comments that follow. Why not get
into the debate here or there as well (also features Tony Vincent from
the excellent `Learning in Hand') ?
My take (commented as jnxyz) is that "no one ever said the ipod was
built as a ed device. I'm only aware of one portable digital device
that ever truly has been (OLPC). All the rest we're just adapting and
working with it. We should never be dazzled Leonard, but why not take
whatever advantage we can of the tools that are common. Until all
schools get OLPC's or similar, that's our educator's lot I'm afraid...
Or is there another alternative device out there?"
What's yours?
See also these previous articles here about ipod's and education:
- Let's get the ipod's in schools debate started!
- Schools ditching technology
mlearning m-learning mobile-learning mobile+learning podcasting iphone
apple web+2.0 learing+2.0 eLearning
Labels: debate, iPod, mLearn, mLearning, touch
posted by jnxyz at 8:57 PM
2 Comments:
* No, indeed, no-one ever said that the iPod was built as an ed
device... but there certainly are some handheld devices that have
been, such as the EDA (and there are others I've encountered over
the last couple of years). I'm not saying I'd call the EDA the
"ultimate" mobile learning device either, mind you; but I will say
that it's a great deal more functional that the iPod Touch!
As you say, educators interested in m-learning are adapting and
working with what's available. And using "the tools that are
common" is one of the most compelling reasons to explore
m-learning, with so many of our students carrying their own mobile
phones.
But claiming a closed platform stripped of content creation
facilities (such as audio, photo and video), with limited
connectivity and no ability to expand (in terms of both
applications and memory) as the "ultimate" m-learning tool can't
be allowed to go undebated.
And I certainly don't know if the iPod Touch or the iPhone are
going to become the most common platforms amongst our students.
Both plaforms are expensive, and both are not perfect devices in
their own rights - the Touch has a paltry 16GB on board and no
email, while the iPhone has issues I've previously described.
There are some other up and coming platforms that hold much more
promise for educators. The Neo1973
(http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo1973) is a completely open
platform which could well be customised for educational needs. It
features GPS, Wi-Fi, camera, expandable memory, and the ability to
connect to any telecommunications network (though it still misses
out on 3G). Customised software can be run on it, and customised
hardware can be added to it. It's been designed that way.
That's not a scenario we'll ever see from Apple. Their iPhone was
released as a closed system, restricted to a single network. Apple
have threatened legal action against those who've taken steps to
open this platform. And the Touch is no different.
If there's going to be an "ultimate" platform for sharing,
creating and learning, it won't come from a company whose very
business model is based on closedness, exclusivity, and
restriction of development.
By Anonymous Leonard Low, at 1:28 AM
* It looks like we have a good debate going. I've commented on this
a lot. I believe looking at the iPod as being the savior of
mLearning (or the iPhone, or the PDA, or any other device) is
looking at the situation incorrectly.
A stick can be an mLearning device if it is used in the proper
context for the learner. A lot of the debate is exactly what we
are discussing, the problem with turning eLearning content into
mLearning content. This is completey the wrong approach.
We instead should look at our users and say to ourselves, when are
they mobile, how do they use XX technology when they are mobile,
what information do they need when they are mobile that they don't
have now.
Only when we answer those questions should we start looking at an
mLearning solution. Even then, the solution shouldn't be
repackaged eLearning.
The answer is not the platform, the answer is the information in
the proper context at the proper time.
But that's just my opinion.
By Blogger Matthew Nehrling, at 12:51 PM
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