innovating education Front Page My Projects About me Conference notes 2009: A year in review December 9, 2009 · 1 Comment What did I do in 2009 as the fellow for 21st Century Learning at the Shuttleworth Foundation ? ve spoken to 230 principals in Johannesburg, curriculum advisors in Zambia, and pre-service teachers in Cape Town. Together with other researchers, I’ve co-authored a conference paper (mLearn 2009) and a journal article. The focus is on utilising existing assets and providing cheaper access to voice, SMS and data services. MORE >>

new stories, technical advances, market trends) that shaped the "mlearning marketplace" in 2009. Given the constant and oftentimes harsh distractions 2009 dealt us all in terms of budget cuts, canceled/postponed projects, long decision cycles, there was actually a lot of positive news and both technical and market innovations to make 2009 an outstanding year in the maturity of mobile learning. In my opinion, this was the biggest news of 2009 for everyone involved in the enterprise mlearning space. Market Activity/Consolidations. Market Activity/Consolidations #2. MORE >>

In India, the mobile phone has revolutionized communication and India is now one of the fastest growing markets for mobile phone services, with growing usage and increasing penetration. According to TRAI, there are 286 million wireless subscribers in India, June 2008, of which 76 million were capable of accessing data services. SMS — Widely used in India, literally billions of short text messages are sent over the phone networks. SMS can be used to provide just in time information of almost any type, like reminders. Viewed simply; phones are capable of : 1. MORE >>

Many argue that mobile devices are far too distracting as students focus using their devices for sending SMS messages or surfing the internet during lessons rather than pay attention to lessons.  In my case, I often use my mobile device to communicate the ideas that I am learning to others in my online PLN through services such as Twitter but the true underlying cause of such distraction is lack of engagement.  While the above are likely the most common critiques of mobile learning, there are many more critiques and other issues that need to be addressed.  MORE >>

Working with one of our partners, M+R Strategic Services , AARP developed a strategic plan to build their group of mobile activists over the last month.  They were able to get them immediately engaged through Mobile Commons’ SMS-to-Voice application.  While we can’t take all the credit for the bill passing, we are proud to be the choice for so many organizations – including the AARP – to drive their grass roots advocacy for so this historic bill.  The members were automatically connected to their representative after hearing talking points. MORE >>