8. Mobile Learning

Students

Podcasting is an excellent tool for developing transferrable skills in the form of audio and video formation. With the infrustructor of iTune as the main repository, students have the ability to learn on the go. There are few restrictions for students to access content. Many of the educational resources are free to the public for viewing. The restriction for the student is liniear communication and does not afford much in the way of commenting or feedback systems.

• ·Are transferrable skills being developed?
• ·Does the technology allow for an appropriate degree of openness to the community beyond registered course participants?
• ·Can students show their work via web link (url)?

Ease of Use

Podcasting is managed throught the Apple iTunes store. This system is commonly used by students for downloading music and videos.  The ease of use to search and download content is relatively straight forward.  Students will not have to make a large investment of time to learn how the infrustrature works. This is an easy system to access content.

• ·Will students need to make a major investment in time to learn how to use the technology?
• ·Will I need to make a major investment in time to learn this technology?
• ·Am I comfortable enough with the technology to guide students?

Costs

This cost of the device is the major part of being able to access Podcasts.  Most students today have the existing technology to access podcasts.  The software of iTune if free and many of the educational resources are free. No licensing fees are applicable for just personal view.

• ·Are the time costs relatively low to design a learning environment using this technology?
• ·Will students incur additional costs as a result of incorporating this new technology/approach?
• ·Are there licensing costs associated with the hosting/archiving of materials beyond the life of the course?

Teaching and learning

There are thousands of podcasts available on iTunes. From around the world. This ceates a rich learning environment for student to learn and experience new ideas. The use of podcasting has an addictive component for those always seeks new knowledge. Podcastng accommodates those who learning in audioy and visual formats

• ·Does this technology support the learning goals that I have identified?
• ·Will students be engaged in authentic, real-world learning as aresult of implementing this technology?
• ·Does this technology support peer/self assessment as well asinstructor assessment?

Interactivity

Podcasting is primarily a linear learning delivery system.  Student can listen or watch a podcast at their leisure, but have little in the way of interactivities between the podcast.  The student has basic controls over the playing, by stopping, rewinding, and fast forwarding. This technology does allow the sharing of links to others in your community.  ITunes allows the student to download a complete set of lessons to the device for future playing.

• ·Does this technology support interactions with peers, instructors and others associated learningtasks?
• ·Does this technology allow for sharing with learning communities beyond registered course participants?
• ·Can people easily interact with the products/resources developed in the course?

Organizational issues

ITunes has a fantastic organizational structure for new versions and to keep their inventory up to date. They have video lesson to help the student at each step along the way, guiding them through the variety of options in the system. There is no backup system in iTunes for student to archive their library. Itunes has iTunesU which is an organizational directory of podcasts for individual educational institutions. This system is self directed and requires little to no involvement on the part of the organization for student to access resources.

• ·Are the support structures in place to maintain and update thistechnology?
• ·Is there help available for me or my students if we need it?•
• ·Is there a way for me to retrieve my material if this technology fails or is replaced?
• ·Does this technology work with the SIS?
• ·Will students need to manage their own accounts?
• ·Will I need to add students manually into the online env

Novelty

Podcasting has a large novelty for students.  An individual can be over welmed at the beginning at the resources that have access to.  I found myself  spending hours surfing through hundreds of podcast titles download everything that looked interesting. I think for most students, podcasting is still a novel educational experience.

• ·Will this represent a new approach to teaching for me?
• ·Will this provide a new and (novel) learning experience for students?
• ·Are there examples of use in an educational context?

Speed

The speed at which you can access knowledge is incredibly fast using itunes.  It takes time to select and download your desired materials, but after that you can watch them at your leisure without restrictions. iTunes has been around several years and the technology is improving after each iteration.