Day 2 – Blackberry Torch
I use a Blackberry Torch and it is set up well for mLearning in most respects. I don’t need to worry as much about exceeding my data plan because the information is compressed. I can watch YouTube videos without much interruption from pretty much anywhere. Surfing the net is pretty easy. It’s flexible touch screen and keyboard interface works well for me. Other than the irritating problems BB had with their network recently, I have not had much interruptions with the service.
As I mentioned previously, I have used my BB when replying to WebCT posts. I have also used it to reply to WordPress posts and it works pretty well. I have also used my BB when working with my Moodle course and I was very impressed by how easy it was to access the information, navigate the lessons, make modifications and create discussion posts. In addition, Word documents and PDFs look great on my device. There have been a few links that just don’t work on my device, but unfortunately I can’t remember which ones. If I do remember or encounter them again, I will post them.
One big criticism for my BB is that there aren’t a lot of apps for it, but I will speak more about this in my Apps post.
If instructors are going to be developing courses for mobile devices, they need to ensure that the information is well laid out and have hyperlinks to further information. I think this can decrease the amount of information that is being displayed on a screen and the hyperlinks will make it easier for people to find more information on a topic. This next thing may be just me, but I don’t really enjoy typing on my BB. I find that when I do type on my BB, I make more grammatical mistakes and I don’t get as in depth as I normally would with my posts. I don’t know if everyone else feels the same. If they do, then there needs to be something developed to allow students to give the feedback that they want without typing a lot. But again, this may just be something to do with me…
Juliana.
Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
David William Price 10:11 pm on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks very much for your post…. great to hear from a smartphone user.
It sounds like your mobile works best for relatively bite-sized information (WebCT/Wordpress posts) but not for a lot of data entry… that makes sense given its affordances. I’m very interested in your Moodle LMS experiences (why do you use Moodle on a mobile…. how does it compare to a desktop experience) and what you see as the real strengths of your device for m-learning…
You don’t talk about your use cases… in what situations do you use your mobile most?
Juliana 12:02 pm on November 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I will be honest in saying that the only reason why I used my BB for Moodle was because it was a class activity where we were to explore mLearning. Otherwise, my learning is done through my laptop because it is easier to type (I’m a touch typer and have difficulty just using my thumbs). Also by using my laptop at home it is quieter and I do have less interruptions.
Currently I use my BB for email mostly. Sometimes I use my browser if I need to get info about something (usually to settle a bet 😉 ) or get info about a restaurant (ie. menu info).
Juliana.