Too Funny

The Disadvantages of Mobile Learning (Only 5 years too late)

Once again, we are graced with another article touting the problems with Mobile Learning. eHow gives us "The Disadvantages of Mobile Learning". The main problem with this article, is it is at least five years out of date. Not only could this article have been written five years ago, it is pretty much a re-hash, word-for-word, of many of the same misconceptions.

Let's address some of these myths.

1. Cost- While an end-user does need to have a mobile device of some sort to participate in Mobile Learning, so would a user need to have some time of Web enabled device to participate in most types of eLearning in general. Properly set-up, a mobile learning strategy should not have to require all your participants to buy new devices. One of the first considerations it would take is what type of devices do your users already have. Even if new devices were required, the price ranges presented in this article represent the premium end of the spectrum. A good mobile learning strategy can take advantage of even simple devices that cost little to nothing from most wireless carriers.

2. Size of the Device- This is only a challenge if one incorrectly plans mobile learning content to be nothing more than compressed eLearning. If your users are already using their mobile device that you plan to push learning to, your strategy should be what content do they need in the context of using the device. Add to that, the greatly improved displays, such as the OLED display on the DROID Incredible, and size isn't a detriment any more, but an advantage.

3. Battery Life- The article incorrectly states that the battery life for mobile devices is 2-4 hours. This is further evidence that this article is outdated. Your average smart phone these days has at least 2-3 days of stand-by power and the battery will run 8-10 hours of continuous operation. If a learner needs a continuous learning experience that is mobile and lasts more than several hours, you should probably re-evaluate your mobile learning strategy.

4. Technology- Two major failure points in the article. First is the issue of limited storage capacity. Not even taking into account that common memory chips now can store well over 32GB of data- far beyond the needs of most learning curriculum, this fallacy assumes the learning content would be stored directly on the device versus accessed from a remote server versus streaming. The second error in the article is the limitation because of the different operating systems. While yes, there are some limitations that various mobile operating systems have, such as the iPhone's ability to run Flash content, this is only a limitation for poorly designed mobile learning programs. A good mobile learning strategy takes into account what the learners have and need and designs accordingly. This is much the same challenge eLearning developers face when it comes to just conforming to various IT and security standards of the learners' computers.

5. Usability- Simply watch any 12 year old with a mobile device and you can kiss this limitation goodbye. Again, a good mobile learning strategy takes into account these items before a single piece of content is developed. A good strategy accounts for how users already use their mobile devices and conforms course content to that.

Don't let these challenges deter you from considering a mobile learning strategy for your organization. Remember, it is all about how you develop your strategy that revolves around your user's experience. Mobile Learning is NOT just compressing eLearning down to a smaller form factor.

6 Teachers talk about the iPod Touch and learning

This new paper describes how Australian teachers are using the iPhone and iPod Touch to A. assist them as Educators, and B. to enhance learning. As such, it presents a vital survey of apps and ideas to be shared with other teachers also beginning to use this platform. Thanks to the included Teachers for their keen responses.

6 Educators Talk About iPhone Use High Qual

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Internet & Technolog Research learning iphone

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Forget the laptop? Use your iPod/iTouch/iPhone to view slideshows on TVs.

Some iPod models allow you to play a slideshow with music and transitions, either on its own display or on a television. Models that can display to a television currently include:

• Fifth Generation iPod (iPod with video)
  
• iPod with color display (also known as iPod photo)
  
• iPod Touch
• iPhone

If you're not sure what iPod model you have, see "Identifying different iPod models."
To access slideshow settings, select Photos > Slideshow Settings. Although iPod nano has a color display, it won't output a slideshow to a TV.

Choosing the display

• To display slideshows on the iPod display, set TV Out to Ask or Off.


• To display slideshows on a television, set TV Out to Ask or On.

If you set TV Out to Ask, iPod will give you a choice of display every time you start a slideshow. The first time you use a TV, you'll probably need the Tips for TV viewing and Connecting to a TV sections below.

Slideshow settings

• To set how long each slide is displayed, select Next Slide and choose a time.


• To set the music that plays during slideshows, select Music and choose a playlist.
  
  Tip: If you're using iPhoto, you can choose From iPhoto to copy the iPhoto music setting.


• To set slides to repeat, set Repeat to On.



• To set slides to display in random order, set Shuffle Photos to On.


• To set slides to display with wipe transitions, set Transitions to On.

Playing a slideshow

• Select any photo or album and press Play, or select any full-screen photo and press the select button.


• Play/Pause will pause the music and slideshow.



• To skip to the next or last photo, press the Next/Fast-forward or Previous/Rewind button.

Connecting to a TV

iPod models that support displaying video on an external video source can do so in two different ways.

Method 1 (Composite video)

Using the AV cable connected directly to the top of the iPod or to the line out port on the Universal Dock.

Method 2 (S-video)

Using S-video when the iPod is in the Universal Dock.

Method 1 setup (Composite video)

This method can be used when the iPod is either in or out of the dock. Additionally, you would need a television or other video device that has RCA inputs.

1. Connect the AV cable into the iPod (where the earbuds would normally connect) or to the line out port on the Universal Dock.


2. Connect the red RCA connection into the right audio input of the television.


3. Connect the white RCA connection into the left audio input of the television.



4. Connect the yellow RCA connection into the video input of the television.

Tip: The RCA input connectors on a television are usually color coded to match the colors on the AV cable.

Method 2 setup (S-video)

This method provides slightly better image quality and should be used if possible. This method requires a television or other video device with S video inputs. Additionally, S-video can only be used when the iPod is in the Universal Dock.

1. Place iPod in the Universal Dock.


2. Connect a S-video cable to the S-video out port on the Universal Dock. This connection provides the video signal.


3. Connect the other end of the S-video cable to the S-video input on the television.


4. Connect the AV cable to the line out port on the Universal Dock. This connection provides the audio signal.


5. Connect the red RCA connection into the right audio input of the television.


6. Connect the white RCA connection into the left audio input of the television.

Some televisions may need to be set to channel 3 or 4 or "video" to receive input. Check with the documentation for your television if you're not sure.

Important: You should only use the included cable. Other RCA video cables won't work. Though other cables may look similar, only the Apple iPod AV Cable works with the iPod Headphones and AV port.

Tips for TV viewing

NTSC or PAL?

Compatible iPod models can deliver video out in either NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) or PAL (Phase Alternation Line) video formats. You will have to set the TV Signal setting to either NTSC or PAL when viewing on a television. These are two different broadcast standards, and your TV will only work with one of them. If you don't know which your TV is, simply try both settings to find the one that matches.

NTSC is the standard broadcast signal received by televisions in the United States. PAL is the standard broadcast signal received by televisions in many European countries.

The main difference between NTSC and PAL is that NTSC delivers 525 lines of resolution at 60 half-frames per second, whereas PAL delivers 625 lines at 50 half-frames per second.

iPod will attempt to guess the appropriate video format to use based on the geographical region that it was sold in. If the incorrect video format is used, the image displayed on the television will be poor or garbled. Additionally, if the incorrect video format is selected, it can be changed in the following menu location:

Photos > Slideshow Settings > TV Signal

Video input on TV

You may then need to select the correct video input on your television. If you're not already familiar with the input features of your TV, you'll need to read the manual that came with your TV. If the TV is not set correctly, the slideshow will not appear.

Don't forget the sound

The video cable does not carry sound, so you'll need to use the regular audio connections regardless of which display you choose. Run an audio cable from the Line Out port on your Universal Dock to an input on your TV or receiver, for example.

(...next, loading a PowerPoint on your iPod...)

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iTunes 7.7 Warning

Just a note to everyone. Do not download the iTunes 7.7 upgrade. Wait for the 7.8 patch. There is a major problem with 7.7 where it will not recognize your iPod or iPhone when you plug it in, and that will freeze up iTunes. The solution is to back up your entire library, move your library xml, and have iTunes recreate your library. You will lose all your playlists and spend hours trying to build everything back. This problem is multiplied if you have multiple computers, multiple iPods and iPhones, and an AppleTV. Everyone on Apple's support forums are suggesting waiting for the 7.8 patch before you upgrade.

I just want to know, did Apple hire some Microsoft engineers? (just kidding)

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Three Great iPhone Tips Courtesy of eWeek

Capture iPhone Screenshots

As product reviewers, we at eWEEK Labs find frequent occasion to grab screen shots in order to illustrate the software and services we cover. The PrtScn key is our pal, but not every screen we wish to capture rides on a keyboard-toting device. We've resorted at times to photographing device displays, but those pictures tend to turn out poorly.

In previous iPhone tests, we hacked the device to install a screen shot application, of which there were a handful in the unofficial software channels. When the App Store came online, we disappointed not to find an Apple-blessed screen grabber, but it turns out that the iPhone's new 2.0 firmware includes a built-in screen capture function.

To capture screens on your iPhone or iPod Touch 2.0... Read the rest here ->

Put iTunes on a Diet
With iTunes 7.7, Apple has given Windows administrators a little more flexibility in how the music and device synchronization manager can be installed. Not only can administrators control which elements of iTunes get deployed, they can also push the software out to desktops via Microsoft's Active Directory Group Policy.

Although Apple has made it easier to synchronize certain data (e-mail, calendar and contacts) to the iPhone without requiring a direct connection to an iTunes-enabled PC, administrators will find that iTunes is still necessary is some cases. iTunes will continue to be needed for further iPhone software updates, to unlock iPhones that had an illegal passcode entered too many times or to add homegrown enterprise software to the devices.

To streamline the operation of iTunes just a little to fit the new role Apple hopes it will find on the enterprise desktop.. Read the rest here ->

Control Your Desktop from Your iPhone

One of the App Store's most popular pieces of software is Remote, an application that allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to control iTunes or Apple TV from their beloved devices.

If you wish to extend your iPhone-based control beyond those applications to your desktop as a whole, you'll be pleased to know that a client for the popular VNC (Virtual Network Computing) server. The client, called Mocha VNC Lite, is freely available from the App Store and is fairly easy to use.

The Remote Desktop features of Apple OS X and of the GNOME and KDE open-source desktop environments are based on VNC, so viewing and controlling these desktops from Mocha VNC requires only...Read the rest here ->

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480 x 320 is the new 1024 x 768 (From Clark Quinn's Learnlets Blog)

Clark Quinn has an interesting thought I would like to challenge:

How do we achieve a balanced solution for mobile content and applications? The iPhone has really raised the bar for mobile web browsing, and most mobile devices will soon have high quality browsing even if the screen remains small. Similarly, the growth area in handhelds are so-called �converged� devices: smartphones or wireless-enabled PDAs. Consequently, I propose it will be a plausible approach to start thinking of web apps as a delivery vehicle for mLearning.

Web standards for screen size started at 640 x 480, and have ranged through 800 x 600, to 1024 x 768. The iPhone has established a significant enough market presence to drive a variety of sites to create a version that accommodates the iPhone�s resolution of 480 x 320. Phones can go down to as low as 160 x 160, so that might be your lowest common denominator, but I believe a safe bet could be 320 x 240 which is fairly common on a variety of devices. The new 800 x 600?

The point being, that thinking about small web apps may be the cost-effective and logical approach to provide mobile access, content. 160 x 160 is the new 640 x 480, etc. Already there are blogging tools for phones/mobile devices, and wikis are just web pages, etc. Web 1.0 is likely to be a viable solution, and the convergence of Web 2.0 and mobile is a promising place to play. Anyone game?

I would like to challenge Clark on one more thought. Maybe no standard size is the new standard? We have years of instructional design methods and standards regarding when to put what content in training. With mLearning, it seems many folks are trying to smash existing content standards into preset screen sizes. Instead of thinking lowest common denominator, why not consider mailable content to the end-user's situation? By this, I mean that content isn't written with one single screen size in mind, but instead, we take the approach of creating content that, by design, will modify itself to the user versus simply the screen size.

Think about it this way, if a user is accessing training on a 160x160 handset, he obviously is looking for something, at a time or in a location, that prevents him from accessing this content from a different venue. Does he need a quick answer? If he needs a quick answer or quick training, is a truncated eLearning course the best solution?

Over and over, it has been said that one of the factors in mLearning not taking off is screen size. Maybe we as developers are partially to blame as we've been focusing on fitting old eLearning models into new formats? Maybe we need to start changing our models to fit our user's full experience, not just his screen size?

Just something to chew on for a while........

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iTunes' Big mLearning Leap

With the newest release of the iTunes store, Apple has made a big mLearning leap.

This content which is available through the iTunes store itself has been provided by top US colleges and universities such as Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University and MIT.

According to Eddy Cue, Apple�s vice president of iTunes, �iTunes U makes it easy for anyone to access amazing educational material from many of the country�s most respected colleges and universities. Education is a lifelong pursuit and we�re pleased to give everyone the ability to download lectures, speeches and other academic content for free.�

So if you�re planning on going to college or even university, then you must check out iTunes U via the iTunes Store. Here you will receive free and informative content that can be loaded onto any iPod with just one click, after which you can view it via your iPod anywhere, anytime.

�From its earliest days, Stanford has sought to serve the public by sharing the knowledge generated by our faculty and students,� said Stanford Provost John Etchemendy. �Our partnership with Apple and iTunes U provides a creative and innovative way to engage millions of people with our teaching, learning and research and share the experience of intellectual exploration and discovery that defines our university.�

Remember, you don't need an iPod or other MP3 player to use iTunes. Simply download iTunes from Apple.com and in the store, browse to iTunes U.

The improvements, however doesn't stop with iTunes U. Apple has also released the Learning Interchange, giving educators and students the opportunity to share courses and resources.

Kudos Apple!

I'm downloading several courses today and will report on the quality and overall experience. If you haven't purchased an iPod yet, see the links below for some iPods and accessories on sale.

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Win a free iPhone and learn something new!

From Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development: eLearning DevCon 2007 - Chance for a FREE iPhone#links

The eLearning DevCon 2007 is coming this summer. I know many of you need to plan your conference schedules early, and you also want to take advantage of the early registration discounts ($749 through April 9th).

Good news! Register with the code iPhone and you will be entered into an exclusive drawing for an iPhone.What? You've never heard of the elearndevcon? Check out what people have said from previous years. For the eLearning Developer that's in the trenches every day designing, developing, and delivering eLearning, this is the best show...at the BEST price....

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