Phone friend in exams

Now you will either get outraged at this or says its part of an evolution in assesment. Thanks to Elizabeth Hartnell Young for the link
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/phone-a-friend-in-exams/2008/08/19/1218911717490.html

read the article and reflect on it !! interesting piece of work .  Thanks Elizabeth !

Medium sized roll out of eepc in Austrailian School

A reader of my blog asked about large scale roll out of eepc this isnt a huge scale but maybe worth watching. The roll out of 130 devices.
http://www.crn.com.au/News/71335,asus-sells-eee-pc-to-all-hallows-school.aspx

Two reflections on Mobile Learning from different parts of the world

Two articles looking back at how far mobile learning has progressed since the first MLearn conference in Birmingham in 2002 to Mlearn2007 in Melbourne .

The first by Bob Harrison from the United Kingdom well known and well published Mlearning evangelists his article reflecting on Handheld Learning 2007 held in London and linking to Mlearn2007 in Melbourne the article widely published in this case can be read on futurelab blog flux link here

The second article by Caryl Oliver from Australia who was chair of Mlearn2007 the article can be found at the is link

Knowing both of them interesting to note they have a real passion for Vocational Education and interest in emerging pedagogy around Mobile Learners.

Interestingly in my interpretation both pieces talk of the growth of mobile learning and how its focus is changing but both highlight either outright or in the tone the role of pedagogy. The role that technology with the right pedagogy can enhance the learning experience.

Also don't forget Mlearn2008 http://www.mlearn2008.org Titled the Bridge from text to Context

A bright future for mobiles in schools Yes

Australian Jonathan W. Nalder has got down to writing his own paper on mobile learning on his blog in fact Jonathan your going to make into my side bar of interesting blogs !!!. Now I am not as always expressing opinion but it does add to the debate.

He explains his reason for writing the paper

" Rather than just reporting on what others have been saying about this new frontier in mLearning - that being kids using their own mobile phones for learning - I've written my own paper dealing with policy responses from schools and Education departments. Mostly these have only touched on safety issues - but I also include in the paper plenty of examples of their positive use in education. I even talk about why they should be used and make recommendations that hopefully future policy makers can use to get the balance right. Enjoy!"

The abstract is below

Abstract
Policy before practice: Reactions, Revisions & Recommendations for the educational use of mobile phones.

Although ICT integration is growing across all sectors of Education, the one device

that most symbolises the current stage of the Digital Revolution, the mobile phone,

has not been welcomed into classrooms. Many policies have been written to deal

with the negative social and disruptive consequences of the use of digital mobile

devices in Education; however less effort has been made to balance such policies

against the educational needs of students dealing with the ongoing impact of the

Digital Revolution. This paper aims to examine the reactions of current policy to the

presence of mobile phones in education and then detail emerging examples of their

use to enhance learning. The paper concludes with a summary of recommendations

drawn from these examples that may form the basis for more learner-centered

policy to be developed in the future.

Read the blog posting linked to this and look at the paper in draft http://mlearningworld.blogspot.com/2007/11/bright-future-for-mobiles-in-schools.html

Thanks to Jonathan for an interesting piece of work.

Mlearn melbourne 2007 ;Making the connection

OK I cant go but youve got to follow this sign up for the newsletter updates at least http://www.mlearn2007.org/newsletter.php#mobile_learning

I wish Caryl Oliver conference chair and colleagues a good one !! Caryl has done some great stuff with FE type learners. Great also to see a UK company doing the sms
side of the conference.

I love Five Quick Strategies to ease into using mobiles for learning

• Think of mobiles as mini-computers: call them by a new name!
• Think of mobiles as tools to share, not just for individuals
• Think of learning, as well as social applications
• Focus on creation, rather than consumption
• Develop etiquette for mobiles with students

so go one register for the newsletter better still get there. Sell the Mac, the pet or whatever but get there !

MLearn 2007 early bird deadline for submissions approaching.

Got thank my fellow M learning protagonist Elizabeth.Hartnell-young Of Nottingham University for making me aware of this. I prsented at Mlearn2006 in Banff Alberta and it was great Melbourne should be even better. I cant go unless one of you blog readers fancies giving me a free flight ;-))

We are rapidly approaching the early bird deadline for this year's mLearn conference in Melbourne 16-19 October. www.mlearn2007.org Please pass on to your networks!

M-learning content, practices and emerging standards

Definitely an Antipodean flavour to postings this evening great posting from the online teacher network
http://onlineteachernetwork.edublogs.org/2007/05/11/m-learning-content-practices-and-emerging-standards/

following the link through the supporting website
http://e-standards.flexiblelearning.net.au/background/mlearn_bckgrnd.htm
The standards make an interesting read.
http://e-standards.flexiblelearning.net.au/docs/m-standards-guide-v1-0.pdf

what are we doing in northern hemisphere the m-internet (truly mobile internet) is coming if not all ready here !!