Prepared for Quickbase
Background: This was the first mLearnCon conference and expo organized by the eLearning Guild also known for Dev Con and Learning Solutions conferences.
Main URL: http://www.elearningguild.com/mLearnCon/content/1603/mlearncon—home
Location: San Diego, CA
Goals:
(1) get a feel for the scope of mLeaning in Higher Education
(2) develop a strategy to implement mLearning at the WC
(3) attempt to answer some questions related to identifying, budgeting, and implementing mLearning projects
Audience (based on anecdotal data): Primarily corporate, followed by military (civilian and military trainers), very small higher education representation (U of W and ACU).
Conference Overview:
Pre-Conference Session: “How to Create mLearning Content for the iPhone” http://bit.ly/b8CLfA
Keynote: “” http://bit.ly/9XuvOU
Session 104: “Using Mobile Technology as Part of an Integrated Learning Strategy” http://bit.ly/dl2Ue3
Session 201: “Context, Content, and Collaboration: Keys to Successful mLearning” http://bit.ly/c7AReE
Session 404: “Easily Creating Cross-device Online and Offline Content without Programming” http://bit.ly/a7pcoj
Session 502: “MLearning on Multiple Devices: A Practical Guide” http://bit.ly/aipyqo
Session 607: “Development Techniques for User Interface Text and Web-based Content in Smartphone Applications” http://bit.ly/cFdM0L
Session 703: “Pretotyping: Design, Iterate, and Test Apps Before You Write a Line of Code” http://bit.ly/c75FhI
Session 802: “Mobile Moodle” http://bit.ly/cY0hrk
My specific notes for each of the sessions: http://www.personal.psu.edu/kkm11/blogs/kent_matsueda/2010/06/
Major Take-aways:
– Context is king, content is queen/core, and learning is everywhere – this really seems to hold up in the research and activity found in the mLearning field; I keep thinking about the humorous analogy to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”: “the man maybe the head of the household, but the woman is the neck…” or something like that; if content is still seen as “the head” then surely context is “the neck.”
– know and respect your learners – there are 3.9 billion unique cellular subscribers and some believe that the cellphone is the first real personal computer; we have private relationships with our mobile devices and if mLearning doesn’t respect those relationships, it jeopardizes it’s effectiveness; it’s best to optimize apps for the specific platforms they will be used on
– SMS vs. native apps development – there was surprisingly little that was said explicitly about this topic; the debate was visible everywhere, however it seems that the focus on the learner more-or-less addresses which form of mLearning a program would invest in; SMS is ideal for performance support where as native apps are worth the expense to deliver incredible functionality while taking advantage that releasing apps are a form of marketing in of themselves; the five main development approaches are SMS, “local access” (ePubs and PDF’s), native apps, web apps, and hybrid apps
– is the iPad a mobile device – yes, because it is highly mobile and functional, especially with 3G service; no, because you cannot put it in your front pocket and have it with you at all times
– Pretotyping – to get good ideas you need a lot of ideas, reduce the failure cycle to increase innovation and accelerate conversations
– the devil is in the details – little changes to app UI’s can have a huge impact
– the mLearning environment challenged by a highly distracting environment
– mLearning is not eLearning light! skills development isn’t linear
– games and social networks [in mLearning] are the future
– if mobile doesn’t fit, we shouldn’t force it on our students
– EventPilot multi-platform, mobile apps for the conference – an excellent implementation of hybrid mobile apps to a conference http://www.ativsoftware.com/clients/eLearningGuild/mLearnCon2010/ provided schedules and the ability to create custom schedules, session descriptions, speaker bio’s, download handouts, provided note taking for attended sessions, twitter integration, maps, expo information, and the ability to generate an archive of all your work once the conference was completed
– GoodReader – a paid iOS app that allows you to manage, download, share, access, and view files on your mobile device
– QuickOffice – a paid iOS app that allows you to download, access, open, create, upload, share MS Office files on your mobile device
– iWebKit – an opensource framework for developing web apps for iOS devices, difficult documentation and development
– MockApp – a Keynote or PowerPoint template that allows you to create functional mock-ups of iOS apps
Other notable sessions that I was not able to attend:
Session 401: “The First 10 Questions Your Company Needs to Ask Before You Adopt mLearning” http://bit.ly/9s0Pw4 Nicole Fougere’s summary: http://twurl.nl/csv662
Would I recommend future attendance: Yes, if there appears to be more involvement by higher education institutions; there is a huge opportunity for Penn State to make a significant impact at this conference
Summary of the conference from Learning Solutions Magazine: “mLearnCon 2010: Mobile Gets Real,” By Bill Brandon http://bit.ly/bKm1KE
Other notable news:
– we “survived” a minor 5.7 magnitude earthquake Monday night
– wireless networking problems were being called “Steve Job’s Moments” in reference to the problems Steve experienced during the announcement of the iPhone 4
– San Diego’s “June Gloom” is laughable – those people need to see what the 7 month winter is like in Burlington, VT
– the Gaslight District is very cool to walk around as it has some interesting eateries