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Tag Archives: mobile learning applications
Technology Learning Curve of M-Learning
One of the main concerns facing newcomers to mobile learning revolve around the technology that needs to be absorbed and used. For those new to mobile phone technologies and web browsing itself, it could present some learning time, but otherwise mobile learning is easy to understand and fast to implement.
Internet browsing and basic formatting skills are important, but they are not critical to be able to offer mobile learning to students. If you are already browsing the net, emailing and creating documents and presentations with ease, you will have no trouble adapting to mobile learning applications.
Using Mobile Devices
Mobile phones are not new technology. Most of us have switched phones and service providers and have experienced a few days of steady paced usage before our fingers started to fly. Of course the pleasure of owning a new phone made the learning fun instead of tedious. Picking up usage on your new mobile learning tool will be something like that. Most mobile learning programs today incorporate smartphones, which are designed to be intuitive and usually touch based, and do not require special training to use.
Exploring Mobile Apps
Smartphone apps are almost everywhere now, and if you’ve used a smartphone device you’ve probably already downloaded and used new mobile apps. Like software programs, devices apps are programs designed to work on mobile devices and are usually very intuitive and easy to learn.
Software for Content Creation
What may require some getting used to, is the software that will enable your teachers to deliver customized content to student mobile devices. While these are designed to be easy to use, as with any new software there will be a small learning period which educators will need to become more familiar with the software features.
Mobl21 is an m-learning service that offers three ways (DIY, purchase, or purchase & modify) to get your content mobile ready. The Mobl21 is an easy-to-use platform which is designed to create content in just a few steps. You can even add video, audio, images and animations to lessons and create entire courses without any hassle.
Bandwidth & Connectivity
Multiple devices trying to access the internet from your school at the same time can lead to some bandwidth issues. Especially if your mobile learning plan requires multimedia applications, the transmission of voice and video over your school’s wifi could cause a bottleneck if your bandwidth is not geared to meet it. However thanks to the recent FCC’s E-Rate Order schools and libraries can now have access higher broadband speeds for lower prices by increasing their options for broadband providers and streamlining the application process. The FCC’s upgrades to E-Rate include ultra-fast fiber, school spots, learning on-the-go, and the 21st Century E-Rate Program.
Frog Dissection: AEP 2011 Distinguished Achievement Award Finalist
Emantras’ Frog Dissection iPad App has been named a finalist in the 2011 AEP Awards, the highest standard for quality, professional educational resources and excellence in education marketing. The Association of Educational Publishers’ annual awards program and its seal of excellence are widely recognized by educators, administrators, and parents as a mark of outstanding educational value.
The Frog Dissection App is a finalist in the Distinguished Achievement Awards for Technology category and Mobile Device Application subcategory. The Distinguished Achievement Awards (DAAs) are judged according to category (Curriculum, Periodicals, Professional Development, and Technology), subject area, and grade level. Entries are evaluated on traits such as efficacy, usability, and overall educational value.
The full list of finalists for this year’s DAAs is posted online at www.AEPweb.org/awards/finalists.htm.
About Emantras Virtual Frog Dissection
An ethical alternative to live animal dissections, the Frog Dissection app helps students learn all about frogs and their biological functions, without messy lab work or harm to living creatures.
Recognized by animal rights advocacy groups and awarded the Mark Twain Ethical Science Award by PETA, the Frog Dissection App will enable more students to learn animal anatomy without needless animal culling.
Emantras releases Mobl21 HD for iPad
Award-winning Mobl21 m-learning app now available on the iPad
An innovative learning app, Mobl21 enables educators and learners to create content for any subject, which can be accessed from mobile devices. Leveraging its existing educational features, Mobl21 brings the best of mobile learning capabilities to the iPad, making it ideally suited for on-the-go learning. Using HTML5 and CSS3 technologies, the Mobl21 iPad application provides a rich set of user interactions for an enhanced learning experience.
“The iPad itself is a natural learning device,” says Sesh Kumar, CEO Emantras, “It offers students the ability to explore content in a non-linear fashion, which is how the learning process works. Mobl21 also follows this dynamic learning method, making it an ideal fit to work with the iPad. And unlike other educational products, Mobl21 is not limited to a specific grade or subject but can be flexibly adapted to any learning requirement.”
Mobl21 HD lets learners access study material, easily look up new words and terms, watch videos, animation and listen to audio files or podcasts related to any subject. Mobl21 is ideal for studying important lessons and revising items like dates, nomenclature, formulae, equations or even for exam prep.
Winner of the 2010 SIIA “Most Innovative Education Product” & Named MobileBeat 2010 Top 20 Finalist.
Posted in Mobile Learning, Mobl21
Tagged ipad, m-learning on iPad, mobile learning applications
2 Comments
Challenges in Mobile Learning – Part 2
In this post we will continue to discuss the challenges of Mobile Learning. (Click here to read the first post on Challenges in Mobile Learning)
Isn’t this just a high-tech package for the same old dull and boring content?
With evolving learning tools, pedagogies must evolve too. From drawing on chalkboards to using OHPs (Overhead Screen Projectors), playing alphabet songs to computer learning, our methods of instruction change with changing technologies.
While current learning pedagogies are still trying to incorporate mobile learning methods, it is definite that today’s students lean more towards active discovery as opposed to age-old passive absorption. And mobile learning is all about providing interactivity in learning.
If the goal is education, content cannot be “dull and boring”. Learning and learning material must be dynamic for it to be assimilated by the information-overloaded students of today.
Flashcards, quizzes, podcasts, videos, historical speeches, graphic timelines, real-time global collaboration, satellite maps… a whole interactive encyclopedia of information is available in a few clicks. Using it effectively just requires some creative application.
What about the digital divide? Not every student is tech savvy.
While it is valid that some students still have no access to technology, what is also true is that mobile technology is now globally available and pervading every aspect of our lives.
In the 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, 75% of 12-17-year-olds now own cell phones (up from 45% in 2004).
Implementation of m-learning methods early in schools is also an effective way to overcome this digital gap. Classrooms provide the ideal equal learning ground, with students able to mimic peers and quickly learn from each other. Mobile learning will also enable students to exchange data, find information and collaborate, all vital skills for today’s wired world.
How will I measure learning effectiveness?
The same way you do today. Ask questions on lessons that have been revised, have students write papers and assign projects which require subject understanding to be completed.
Additionally choose mobile learning applications that enable you to create content which you know will be of value to your students. Some applications, like Mobl21 provide you with the flexibility to create notes and flashcards and even monitor which learning material your students are working on.
While new technologies are always exciting, creating the habit of using the mobile phone for learning, requires effort and persistence on the part of both the teacher and the student.
6 ways to use mobile learning in your class today
1. Record your lecture and upload it as a podcast. Share the link with your students to use while studying or for reference.
2. Share your number with your students and ask them to message any questions that they have while reviewing the lesson. You can answer the salient questions in the next class or direct them as to where they can find the answers. Additionally two or more questions on the same point will give you valuable feedback on which areas of your lecture were harder to follow.
3. Ask a new question related to your subject and let your students use their phones to see how quickly they can find the answer. (students without browsing capacity can share phones with those who have them) This will enable you to see how well they understood the context of the question, along with recognition of important keywords of your lecture.
4. Create short lists of salient points, like history dates, exam hints, short summaries, etc., which can be shared with students through messaging.
5. Allow students to take 5 minutes to study continental geography using Google maps before asking them to put away their phones and quizzing them.
6. Build vocabulary by sending them flashcards with a new word and its definition, everyday.
Short quizzes, important equations, and definitions can be easily emphasised by creating simple content and pushing this material to student phones using mobile learning applications like MOBL21.
For more ideas on how to incorporate mobile learning in your classroom click here.
Image Credit: JeanbaptisteM
Posted in General
Tagged Mobile Eduation, Mobile Learning, mobile learning applications, Podcasts
23 Comments
