What, when, where and how are you doing m-learning now? As we are referring to cell phones, I am not using any kind of m-learning. This may be for several reasons… A) I am living in Germany and I am not sure how long I will be here for (getting a smartphone plan is at […]
Continue reading Day 1: My lack of m-learning… Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Who: Grade 3 teacher, MET student, Europe traveler What: Adding grades and planning lessons, reading MET content and completing activities, learning about destinations. Where: On my train commute to work (total 3 hours), traveling around Europe When: WHENEVER I DON’T HAVE AN IPAD OR PRINTED INFORMATION, commuting 1 1/2 in the morning and […]
Continue reading Day 1: Mobile 5Ws & H Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Wow… it sounds like you fit the m-learning profile… at least for a few hours a month! Commuting represents a huge amount of time for many people.
How do you add grades and plan lessons? What software do you use?
Do you ever use your mobile to collect images, sounds or video to share in your Grade 3 classes?
Hi David,
I keep my grades organized with a GoogleDoc spreadsheet, which I can access and edit at work and on my smartphone. I use Google Calendar for my daily planner, which I can also access with my phone.
I have used the phone on my camera to collect images to later share with my class. But, I’ve never thought to collect sounds or video to share with them. I should give that a try, thanks.
I haven’t done any m-learning on my cell phone because I find the device a little too small. This is with the exception of learing to develop an application for display on a cell phone but then I only used it to view the finished product. For mobility overall I do alternate between my Iphone […]
Continue reading Day 1 What When Where.. Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Thanks for your post.
Once again, you fit the stats for smartphone owners… you rarely use it for voice calls. I find that tendency very interesting… are we losing our comfort with talking to people directly? How does that affect our ability to maintain relationships? I think of the “check in” call with my partner… I use it as an excuse to ask questions, listen to her voice tone, etc. I can’t imagine communicating mostly through text (I’ve never sent one).
Do you carry your iPad with you everywhere you go? When you’re on the go, how do you look up performance support information like weather, Google, Wikipedia, reviews, and maps?
Have you ever found yourself in a problem situation needing a relatively small, simple answer or memory refresh? Have you ever used the audio, video or photo recording functions of your device to capture something in the field to share with people either in real time or asynchronously to illustrate a concept?
If someone else paid for your data plan, and you looked at m-learning as an interactive performance support and data capture device in the field… how might you use your iPhone differently?
Hi David,
Actually I am a lot more social these days than I ever was without my mobile devices and believe it or not, I’m less stressed.
I don’t use my phone for voice because I prefer face to face get togethers. I am not replacing voice with text or email. I’m using the technologies quite differently. I’m often using them to organize face to face get togethers.
A good example is coordinating cycling get togethers with groups of friends. I tend to cycle a lot, both on the mountain and road (when not tied to my computer for the MET Program). This summer I was fortunate enough to be able to take August off before coming here to MET full time to finish off my degree. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get the time off so I hadn’t made any plans. However, through email and texting friends throughout the month I was able to string together a set of cycling trips with 5 different groups of friends and family which took me from about August 6th to September 6th as well as from Vancouver, to Whistler, to Pemberton, to Vernon, to Nelson, to Red Deer, AB, to Oakridge, Oregon, and then back home again just in time for the first day of classes.
Because I was travelling (and ad-hoc travelling at that) I think it would have been extremely time consuming and very unlikely that I would have been able to pull this off just by using voice calls. Expense of long distance calls (at the time I didn’t have Skype on my cell) and the extra time it takes – especially when there are multiple people involved.
As far as your questions about the IPAD. Yes, I try to take it everywhere (except on the bike) and guaranteed that if I decide not to take it one day or forget it that I regret it. Even if I have my cell phone it’s not the same. I use the device for all the things you mentioned – Google maps, Wikipedia, reviews, even recipes if I’m at Granville Island and am picking up something fresh for a nice meal. On the cell, while on the bike trails, I use a mapping software built for the trails which tells me where I am on the trail which helps tremendously when we get lost as we sometimes do.
I use the camera on my Iphone extensively. I probably take at least a photo a day and send it to one friend or another to share an experience that I’m having. My friends do the same.– this is again where text and email win out over voice.
The good thing about text over phone is that you can be really quick and dispense with the pleasantries… save those for when you are in person – which for me is when it really counts – forget the phone line.
In response to your question about someone else paying for my data plan. It would be nice but wouldn’t change anything. I already have a 6 GB data plan which I have never exceeded and can’t imagine at the moment how I would – having said that companies are always coming up with new ways that make me use even more data!
Sorry for the long winded reply but hopefully this adds a little qualitative data to your quantitative stats.
– Julie
Thanks for that fantastic reply! I love the details.
One of the curious things about traditional learning is how sedentary it can be. How do you think you might use mobile to help students work in a more wide-ranging, rambling and collaborative manner… the way you do organizing cycling trips, checking maps, and sharing images? How might this affect their skills in teamwork, organization, self-regulation within authentic and situated experiences?
Hi David,
In a word geocaching! Being an active person, I think traditional learning is way too sedentary. When my group was working on the gaming module I came across an article, Mobile Game Based Learning: Designing a mobile location based game by Sandra Schadenbauer in Austria. Schadenbauer talks about the issue of kids growing up with cell phones and games and argues that is time for academic institutions to join the game so to speak. She describes a conceptual model complete with illustrations about how to do it and integrate it with Moodle. She refers to the mobile Moodle as ‘MoMo’. The game is centred around a legend where the students engage in fighting ‘the devil’ in this case. In Schadenbauer case the game is centred on a historical location and related legend. I think the possibilities for this type of learning are really endless. As with all technologies though, this essay is already dated because it uses Flash, which as we now know is soon to be an artifact of the past.
Reference:
Schadenbauer, S. (2007). Mobile Game Based Learning: Designing a mobile location based game.
My employers require the managers of all education departments (mine being secondary programming) to have blackberries so that the Superintendents can reach us at all times. So emails and cellphone use are the 2 biggest reasons I use the blackberry. I really dislike using it for internet browsing as anyone who uses a B’bery can […]
Continue reading Day 1: My mobile experiences Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
I’m rather curious to see how tablets and “fortified” e-readers like the Fire and Kobo Vox do this year… will Christmas push a shift? I’ve thought about getting one of the above or the tempting (because it looks good AND inexpensive) Le Pan TC 970.
In a recent conversation with a major multinational, they talked to me about their efforts with BlackBerries… they were something their employees already had to carry. Rather than focusing on web usage, they tailored their m-learning to the device, creating short learning interventions focused on performance support of their professional team for memory refreshers and updates in taxis and in waiting rooms just prior to meeting with a client.
In other words, mobiles don’t replace reading devices… they’re for pill-sized content just in time.
One of the interesting things about MET (and I am coming to this as a complete outsider) is its focus on K12. As an Ed Tech student, I’m coming from the corporate side where increasingly people are expected to work without offices and spend all their time in the field. I find there’s quite a culture clash.
Hi Brenda.
Thanks for your post. You have addressed one of the constraints of using mobile technology for learning- small screen size. However, there are a lot of benefits of the mobile tech that are highlighted in your post. I agree with David that mobiles are not a replacement for their larger screened counterparts but send bite size content or info just when you need it. On a lighter note, hopefully you have been good this year so Santa will have no choice but to grant your wish Christmas wish of a tablet 🙂
Ifeoma
Yes, I find the small screen size a problem, but when I asked my grandson if he would like a netbook for Christmas, he was very firm that I would be wasting my money – he has an iPod Touch, so why would I make him use such a big device as a netbook! I have heard the same comments from some of our secondary students – they prefer the small screen…maybe it is my old eyes???
Hi,
Just curious, why Galaxy and not the other brands/model? 🙂
ahhh..the big dilemma…what tablet?? Well, my IT department at work has been “playing” with every model made so far…and I have sat with them for many hours listening to the pros and cons of each device and playing with the screens. For sure I eliminated the iPad first – sorry Apple lovers…but not having Flash is a huge problem for us when all of our Ministry-created videos for PD are Flash, so the iPad would not work for us…so that left all of the Androids:
-the Asis Transformer was too heavy – bulky feeling
-the Playbook is intriguing with the small size (fits in my purse!) and I love the resolution – best in the whole group, but seems like the future of it is iffy and I don’t want to buy something that has a unknown future
-the Sony and HP models are pretty good too, but so far I prefer the screen performance better in the galaxy- just a personal preference. I also was told that next summer, the Galaxy will come in a smaller size as well…good news for me, but not in time for Christmas. If Santa brings me a model other than the Galaxy, I won’t be too upset, but I’m writing my letter early.
Brenda
What, when, where and how am I doing m-learning now? I’m not. If we are talking – as outlined in the intro – about cellphones, at least. I still have and use the only mobile device I’ve ever had – a circa-2001 Nokia. I have never felt that I needed or wanted a newer phone […]
Continue reading Day 1 – Sedentary Learning Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
When you say “It’s my work that’s mobile”… what kind of work is that? Do you commute at all? Or have unproductive time?
If someone else was paying for your mobile, would you use it as a performance support for your work? Have you ever found yourself away from your computer and needing a quick answer? What do you usually do?
How do you feel about being “a sedentary learner”?
Like you, I have a simple feature phone and I’ve never sent a text in my life. I spend far too much time in my home office despite having a MacBook Air. In a recent conversation with a multinational professional firm, though, I’ve been told they don’t even have offices and they’re expected to spend all their time with clients. Similarly, another major professional firm I spoke with last year said the same thing even about their legal team… if they want to use an office, they have to schedule it.
What do you think about a mobile future?
Hi, David. To answer your queries:
– I teach in a K-8 school. I drive myself about 20km each way every day. That’s my only forced unproductive time.
– If someone else paid for me to have a mobile at work, I would try to use it – at work only, perhaps. I like not being tied to a phone in some ways.
– If I find myself away from a computer and need a quick answer, I wait until I get to one, and hope that I remember what I needed to do / look for. If I don’t, it probably wasn’t very important anyway.
– I don’t mind being a “sedentary learner”. It’s how I was brought up / taught. I wouldn’t mind being dragged into the current decade… I’d like to have a smallish tablet, but mostly for reading online and email. I don’t think I’d ever want to learn much more than bite-sized things on a phone.
– As for a mobile future… I think there will always be a mix of smaller and larger devices… perhaps they will just get more specific in terms of what people use them for – more specialized (I think they already are in many ways). I believe we will continue to get more and more mobile, though (at least up to a point), as devices get smaller, less obvious, and more built in to what we already may have / use / wear.
Hi mcquaid ,
I understand reason that someone would use of a circa-2001 Nokia instead of a more expensive and updated model. I got myself a Blackberry because of a promotion that one of telecommunication companies in Jamaica had last year October for tertiary institutions. If this was not the case I would not have gotten a phone of this quality.
Currently I use mobile devices for checking my email (answering students doubts, coordinating meetings, planning activities and assessments, etc.), for searching for information through Internet browser, watching videos, reading news, playing games, recording thoughts and songs I compose, and social networking. A few years ago I mainly used cell phones for talking, but now I […]
Continue reading What, when, where and how are you doing m-learning now? Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Thanks for your post.
Your usage patterns seem to fit the statistics I’ve been reading on smartphone use. Actual voice calls are rare. Does it make sense to use cellphones in classrooms when they are a mobile device? What about having students use them outside of class, both to work with each other collaboratively, and to bring back documentation of their work in the field?
Maybe I did not express my self well. If using cell phones with my students, I would prefer using them outside of class, on projects where they would need to record, audio, photos or videos and work collaboratively. I think that it would bring real learning opportunities.
Angela.
I probably misunderstood. How could you incorporate those outside-class experiences into your classes? How would it affect the way you teach and assess your students? Consider how mobile plugs into product-based learning…
Hi Angela,
Thank you for your post. What I take away from your post is that you use mobile technology to extend learning. Is there something that you would wish you could do with your mobile pone that is not currently happening for you as far as education is concerned?
Ifeoma
I wish I could have more time for bringing these devices (that are so familiar for our students) into the learning space. During this year I have been integrating Web 2.0 tools on grades 7 and 9. But I could not integrate more technologies because of curriculum requirements and time. I think that the kind of learning in which we integrate technologies in education fit really well with PBA pedagogy. However, we are in a school evaluation system characterized by other kinds of evaluations (such as tests, and quizzes). I would use mobile devices for projects that include recording audio, video and images. Somewhere I read about a project based on mobile devices about a videogame that fostered collaborative learning and learning about math. I think that we could do very interesting things.
Angela.
Hi Angela,
You seem to be using your phone in an innovative way. More of us need to use our phones in an effective way to reduce time consumption in order to carry out our daily functions. I support your point that “the use of cell phones have changed from communicating through talks and messages to communicating through emails and social networking”. The technology advancements have provided us with a wider range of features on our phones. These have caused a reduction in communication cost such as BB service on the blackberry.
I was fortunate to live in a country consumed with mobile technology, and witness the evolution of keitai a few years before smartphones were on the market. Many people in Japan had a very personal connection to these devices, mostly flip phones, decorating them and dangling the many charms from their pockets – an entire industry […]
Continue reading Back from Keitai-land Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Thanks very much for your post.
Japan is extraordinarily mobile-focused. My partner is Japanese and it never fails to surprise me how her family does not use computers at all but relies on their cellphones for all of their email needs. On the other end of the technological and economic spectrum, India and Africa similarly depend on cellphones for access to the Internet and social media. One chooses it for aesthetic reasons, the other out of necessity.
Perhaps the most surprising thing is despite how sophisticated modern cellphones are, previous generations provide substantial options for m-learning, as you’ll see in the coming days.
I should be asking what it is about the Japanese cellphone experience that you miss so much? How do you feel about m-learning in the Japanese context? In North America? Do you see any differences?
Hi David,
Thanks for your reply, as well as starting off this engaging discussion on cellphones and learning. Now that I know your partner is also Japanese, your comment last week on her critical thinking, adaptation and creativity as a chef make complete sense; not only were the Japanese people I met in Kanazawa experts in mobile technology, but had a fascination of good food that makes celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver, Rachael Ray and Wolfgang Puck seem like amateurs. The most common question anyone got when they returned from a trip somewhere in Japan was “what did you eat?” This enthusiasm for food, travel and finer things translates easily into the love of well-crafted, useful technology, such as their cellphones.
What I miss most about m-learning in the country was how ubiquitous it is, evidence of creativity could be found everywhere, but usually treated as no big deal. North America is still getting to that point where daily use of the latest innovation is as commonplace as it is in Japan. Perhaps it might have something to do with the freedom to network: in Japan, learning how to use a cellphone is very decentralized, each person literally taking learning into their own hands. North Americans are still being sold on the concept, and look to their newspapers, TVs and computer screens for the expert’s advice, or the market, to determine how they will learn. As Prof Vogt reminds us, educational technology is a “get rich slow” market, but it was clear to me in Japan they have already raised the bar for m-learning.
Kyle
I may not be the best person to discuss cellphone m-learning, as when it comes to cellphones, I like to keep it basic. No data, no ‘net access; it’s my rough-photo taking and texting machine. And I like it that way. My mobile learning takes place on other devices: my iPod Touch and my Macbook. […]
Continue reading day 1 m-learning: what, where, when, how Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Thanks for your post.
I too have a simple feature phone, but I recognize that will likely change within a couple of years. I’m not really one to choose one device to do everything. Devices have different affordances.
The key aspect to consider is the notion of planning. For many people, carrying a mobile is something they do out of habit. For that reason, it’s become a central part of their lives– they always have it anyway, so why shouldn’t they use it for everything they can in those moments when they are separated from their more substantial hardware?
At this point, my feature phone is another bulky thing in my pocket. And if I want to take decent pictures, I put a camera in my pocket. And if I want to be able to check for restaurants or maps downtown, I take an iPad and hope to find WIFI access. Although I am still behind the curve in mobile, I recognize that I’m really just waiting for sensible data plans.
It’s true that mobile can extend to all kinds of devices… iPods, Nintendo DS (which apparently McDonald’s used in Japan), and all kind of other gadgets. But increasingly, the cellphone is taking over. Consider how Nintendo has discovered that mobile phones are a threat to it’s portable gaming industry! If you’ve got your mobile… do you want to remember to carry other stuff?
This was my first cellphone http://cellphones.about.com/library/bl-pi-hp_ipaq_6325.htm
I had it for about 7 years.. until my son accidentally dropped it. I guess it wasn’t kid-proof 🙂
Best Buy Phone Store at Richmond Center is offering $0 on Iphone 4 w/ 3 year plan.
It was tempting. But, I decided not to get it. I have poor vision. I know I would never surf or read articles using a mobile phone. Therefore, having a data plan would just be wasting money.
In my class, I noticed that most of my students have 2 mobile devices.
Out of curiosity, I interviewed some of them.
Student 1: “One is Blackberry to check my emails and the other is an iPhone for everything else”
Student 2: “One is mine. The other one is temporary.”
Student 3: “This one (showing me the phone) is for call. This one (an iPhone) is for research.”
Student 4: “This one (a Blackberry) is my phone. This one (iPod touch) is for games.”
I was intrigued by the student #2’s answer. So, I asked him to explain what he meant by “temporary”.
Student 2: “Sir, you are in Canada.”
Me: ” I think I know that.”
Student 2: “You know … just go to Futureshop or BestBuy and pick any phone you like.”
Me: “I can’t afford to do that with my income.”
Student 2: “You are in Canada. Just pick a phone and return it after few days. ”
Later on, he explained to me that he really likes mobile phones and could not decide which one to purchase.
I can relate what David said about “carrying a mobile is something they do out of habit”.
Several days ago, I challenged my students not to bring their phones in my class. I would give them bonus points if I don’t see them use their phones in my class.
I was surprised … Nobody wanted the challenge.
Hi SChiong
Interesting discussion with your students. They all carry mobiles albeit Iphone and “other” brand. I am curious as to why they seem to prefer the Iphone and its kin, could this be the “cool factor” or is their perception of any other smart phone different from their impression of the Iphone in terms of what it enables them to do? Is this really about what each phone can do? Have they tried any other smart phone for research or gaming? In other words, they do not see that for example the B’berry they have could also be used to do research and listen to music. I would be interested in knowing how student 3 uses Iphone for research, is it research for school work?
If they had to do a school activity on their mobile devices would brand be an impediment or an inspiration? Building on the idea of student 2, if there were a rental for “cool” smart /feature phones for the purposes of learning, would it be something they would be interested in?
Hi Allie,
Thanks for your post. Like you I do not have a data plan on my cell phone but really for financial reasons. I would like a smart phone, infact, I want an iphone4S but still feel it is expensive. The idea of being “on top of things” at work and with my studies while I move around appeals to me a lot but I am limited by costs. I am curious though, if you had a data plan on an Iphone would that have made a difference in what you use for your mlearning? or perhaps one of the constraints of mobile phone- small screen size is a factor?
I’m quite comfortable with the screen size and the iPhone/Android interface – I adore my iPod Touch, though I don’t use it much for m-learning (it just doesn’t really suit what I’m learning). *However* I’m planning on learning Javascript, the primary language for Android apps, so convinced am I as a result of this class that apps for e- and m-learning are *on* the *rise*. (I also plan on learning the language to be used on Kindle Fire apps, if it isn’t Javascript – so convinced am I that that inexpensive e-reader/app device is well and truly where it will be at in the education market. Apple’s never made a real go of it in education. Witness the e-mac.)
It is, as y’all mention, the obscene data plans in canada that completely turn me off of smartphones. But it’s other things too. The planned obsolescence that is, imho, rampant in cellphone design really irks me. (For the record, my sewing machine – a portable/mobile as it were!* – is 60 years old, and i’m quite certain that it sews as beautifully now as it did the day it was made. If it sewed any more beautifully, it would have been fit for coco chanel’s studio!). The not-exactly-cheap nokia I bought 2.5 years ago is now throwing fits for no apparent reason (I’m hardly a “power user”), and I’m planning on troubleshooting and macgyvering that thing until completely conks out, if only out of spite.
I’m also annoyed (really, it’s the best word) with the total fetishism (in the anthropological sense, though perhaps the more colloquial understanding of the word is apt too) of cellphones, as is *AMPLY* demonstrated by the students depicted in Stephen’s response. I was shopping for a smartphone with and for my bf about a year ago. As we were stood in Rogers, testing out a bunch of phones, the saleswoman looks at us and says quietly, with absolute sincerity, that at the end of the day, “you *have* to *love* your phone.”
rant over!
but also, i’m intrigued, but also a bit saddened, by how the *service* of telecommunications provision has so rapidly become trumped by the phone-as-commodity. I’m a higher-than-average tech user, but nevertheless, I’m never so interested in the “what does it look like!?” factor as the what does it *do*. And with something as expensive as cellphones – compared to their landline and… partyline!!… antecedents – I’m always thinking of the return on investment.
*I’m not a quilter, but the particular machine I have (a singer featherweight for the other sewers in class) is *beloved* by quilters for its mobility – it’s lightweight and easy to take to quilting and sewing classes. I believe it was one of the first machines to be designed for mobile learning (in sewing)!
forgot to add… in a world where the income gap (within developed countries, never mind between developed and developing) is ever increasing, and we are witnessing the erosion of the middle class, it does bother me that a hitherto $25/month service (what I was paying for a landline until… 2.5 years ago*) has ballooned into $50+/month for what is, in many ways, a much more limited service (unless one has unlimited minutes). And all for (necessary?) mobility. I don’t fault telecomm companies for exploiting this; I just find the whole situation a bit sad.
forgot also to add… I do forms of m-learning and m-educating, but not on a phone… rather, using my *beloved* mobile broadband stick. It’s replaced my home internet service provider – and at less than 2/3 the cost.
*I switched for a bare-bones plan & cheap VOIP** over my wireless internet. It suited my needs then. Texting on the run was a plus.
**voice over internet protocol. calling using my IP address rather than the cellphone companies’ network.
Thanks for your thoughtful follow-up!
You mentioned that m-learning “just doesn’t really suit what I’m learning”. From my research for this week’s topic, I’ve started to think m-learning isn’t so much about “what” we learn as “how” we learn. It’s not about replacing other devices, but leveraging the affordances of mobile to assist us while we’re out exploring in the world. For myself, I think I should spend more time out in the field interacting with people and less time in my office. I wonder how I could leverage mobile as a performance support… and as a way to collect field data and collaborate… as an Ed Tech’er, I see plenty of examples of good and bad human performance technology… how could I use mobile to help me and my friends and colleagues consider and interpret those real-world experiences?
You also mention “planned obsolescence”. My discussions with a multinational also highlighted the extremely fast pace of change both in hardware and software and the difficulty keeping up. The designer I spoke with basically said they have to choose a form of “lowest common denominator” and target that for their project. Instead of chasing the bleeding edge, we can make strategic decisions… and perhaps HTML5 and web apps will help reduce this kind of churn!
I agree fully with our point about the ‘how’ we learn and I think that I was moving towards that in my 2nd paragraph in my original post when discussing my felt need to move – particularly when learning – and the creative juxtapositions that can take place can be unsettling, confirming, or eye-opening. As an eg., I live across the street from the BC supreme court… I imagine that using an m-learning object within the context of that space… or one of the places around here lawyers like to hang out at… could produce a far different educ exp than the same object in a law school).
One of the affordances of m-learning that I find quite intriguing is that it untethers learners from a given learning environment or context; by the same token, the learning environment – now unpredictable – can (not will!) become more significant to the lesson than ever.
As for planned obsolescence, I’m not surprised to learn (haha!) that the lowest-hanging fruit is core to many design decisions. That being said, I feel quite certain in the argument that for non-techies, Apple’s relative lack of PO in their designs — both cosmetically and technologically — has helped them win many fans/customers. (crikey… my folks are still using an almost-8 year old ibook!)
Welcome to Week 11 – m-learning! This week we’ll look at mobile learning. What’s “mobile learning”? Is it any kind of learning with a small device? Or a lifestyle of learning with the assistance of small devices while roaming in the world? Consider these broader questions while you’re participating this week. Although many devices qualify […]
Continue reading Week 11 – Welcome to Mobile Learning! Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Hi David,
Great site and I really enjoyed your team’s pitch presentation. I just did the poll and thought I’d give the team some quick feedback. I noticed that there is no category for texting or email. I don’t know about others but this is where I spend a lot of my time on my cell phone. I’ve had to group this under other which puts quite a high percentage under other. Not sure if this is what you were intending or if this is going to be common for others but I suspect it might be, especially for users of smart phones like the Iphone.
I’m just getting started on the site but it really does look great so far.
Thx.
Julie
HI Julie,
Good point about the poll, as I wished to add a note in “other” about texting, but could only enter a number. Also, I found it a bit confusing with web browsing and performance support being two separate choices, as many of the references that I check (Wikipedia, Google etc.) I consider part of browsing.
Kyle
Hi Julie,
I used to text a lot back in the Philippines. Unlimited text only costs P250/month or CAD 6.25. What makes it more “appealing” is that the receiver does NOT get charged. In Canada, it is different … I noticed that both parties are charged. I often tell my wife to remind her friends to call instead of sending a text. 🙂 hahaha.. that’s just me (allergic to additional charges)
cheers,
Stephen
Great site week 11! I have really enjoyed learning about all the ways we can use and learn from mobile learning!
Jenaca
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
David William Price 6:07 am on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Data plans are a huge issue with m-learning. They are the entire reason I still have a feature phone (and it’s a handset I find highly frustrating). Speaking with a multinational about their m-learning strategy, data plans came up as a major issue… a small video could cost $20 on one person’s data plan… multiplying that by the thousands of employees could quickly add up to huge costs for a single video!
The limitations of web-browsing for mobiles have likely led to the explosion of specialized apps for phones. Apps allow you to store most of the content on your phone instead of having to browse & download every time you want to learn something.
Do you use your mobile for checking news, weather, Google, Wikipedia or maps? (performance support). How do you think your m-learning might change if you had an unlimited data plan?
Allie 10:38 am on November 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I *completely* get what you’re saying about being, beautifully ironically, too mobile for for a smart-phone plan (always contract-based). I was also mobile until quite recently, and I’m still not sure how settled in Vancouver I really am. I’m not keen on committing to a contract that is punitive should one be.. too mobile.
In Canada, the company Wind is addressing this through their “windzone”‘ concept*; you can take your plan with you to other major cities in the country with ‘windzones’. It’s useful for people going betwixt and between places like vancouver, calgary, toronto, though less so if you’re posted to a rural area, small city, or anywhere east of Ottawa.
*they’re also one of the newer wave of contractless providers in Canada; however, unless one wants to pay dearly upfront for a phone, one is on a “tab” (which I find possibly worse… it de facto locks you into the company, and if you leave before paying off the cost of the phone, you’re stuck paying the balance for a phone that is in all likelihood obsolete).