20 Eye-Opening Stats You Probably Didn't Know About Mobile Learning ¿Sirven realmente las tablets en el aprendizaje?Think Big Desde hace tiempo se discute el impacto de las nuevas tablets sobre la docencia y el aprendizaje en las aulas. Hoy analizamos cuáles son los resultados más novedosos sobre el uso de este tipo de recursos. Hace solo unos días, se anunciaba que Apple vendería más de 35.000 iPads a colegios de Los Ángeles, gracias a un acuerdo entre ambas partes por el que los de Cupertino percibirían más de 30 millones de dólares. El viejo sueño de Steve Jobs, es decir, revolucionar la educación mediante su transformación digital, poco a poco se iba haciendo realidad. Tim Cook, el CEO de Apple, anunciaba la noticia con la satisfacción de que la adopción de este recurso tecnológico estaba (y está) marcando un antes y un después en la historia del sistema educativo. Está claro que las nuevas tecnologías y recursos con los que contamos actualmente están haciendo cambiar nuestra vida de manera radical. ¿Serán las tabletas los recursos didácticos electrónicos imprescindibles del futuro?
The Time to Mobilize Learning is Now: ASTD Houston Keynote Presentation [Slides My name is RJ Jacquez, Mobile Learning Analyst and Consultant, helping companies understand the potential of Mobile and make a successful transition from eLearning to mLearning in their organizations. Also a Mobile Learning Evangelist, Podcasting and Blogging the Mobile Learning Revolution as it happens. Before that, I worked for Adobe Systems and Macromedia as a Senior Evangelist. I'm honored to be among great company in the following lists and articles: 1) mLearning’s game changers: Who’s on your dream team? ( 2) Top 25 Most Influential Bloggers in Technical Communications ( 3) Top 20 most influential tweeters in eLearning, training and HR ( 4) I was also mentioned in this article on Why Every Company Needs a Robert Scoble (infographic) for my work as an Adobe Evangelist ( Please follow me on Twitter @rjacquez
8 Limitations When Designing For Mobile So you have a website designed for standard desktop computers, but you obviously want to keep up with times and make your site mobile-friendly too. However, it isn’t just a matter of scaling down your design – it’s a new platform with a new set of interaction patterns and limitations. In this article we’ll explore seven eight UI limitations to be aware of when going from desktop to mobile web. 1) No hover state On smartphones there’s no hover state (not yet anyways). Visible – the content or feature is accessible from visual means. The last approach, convention, can help simplify the interface but also runs the risk of obscurity. 2) Slow and error-prone typing Typing on a touch keyboard is a slow and error-prone exercise so make sure to keep your form fields to an absolute minimum and pre-select clever defaults. 3) Less context The smaller screens on touch devices results in reduced context. Consider a long form. 4) Inaccurate clicks 5) Poor connectivity 6) Slow hardware 7) Usage situation
Typography in Mobile Design: Important Aspects and Examples What makes mobile typography special is the restrictive nature of mobile screens; they are small and used in brightly lit areas so that it is difficult to see anything. Therefore, when it comes to typography for mobile devices you have to be very careful about how you go about it. Most people would agree that there are three big components that help making mobile typography great: size, contrast and spacing. Readability Readability is defined as the amount of effort a user has to put in, in order to read and understand text. Size If a user cannot read what you are displaying because the text is too small, it’s a very big problem. Contrast Just like a blue text on a red background is a no-no on a typical website’s design, it too is a no-no on mobile devices. Spacing The last thing that you should always keep in mind is that spacing the letters, words and lines of text from one another is also a crucial part in establishing solid readability of your text. Some great examples Blog Mobile Blog
M-Learning’s dirty little secrets I have a confession to make. At my workplace a little while ago, I created a smartphone-friendly version of our online induction course. Ownership of smartphones is relatively common in this corner of the world, and a large proportion of our new recruits are Gen Y. So conventional wisdom dictated that a mobile version of the course would be a smash hit. It tanked. But my confession is not that it tanked. You see, when you have been in the e-learning game for as long as I have, you learn a few things that a surprising number of my peers in the broader L&D industry don’t know – or perhaps don’t want to know! This insight bubbled to the surface during my little m-course experiment. To explain why it failed, let me share with you m-learning’s dirty little secrets… SECRET #1. Some may say most people won’t train inside business hours, but let’s remain generous. The working day is typically defined as Monday to Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm, or thereabouts. SECRET #2. SECRET #3. Oh the quirks! SECRET #4.
6 Time-Saving Writing Apps For Students For anyone who has ever had to write a paper, you know that getting the ideas down when they come to you is important. And for those of us who are (ahem) procrastinators (*looks away innocently*) getting the ideas down and the writing done when you’re inspired is key. For those of us who were educated in the dark ages before smartphones and tablets, if you wanted to write on the go you were pretty much out of luck. Chronicle and Chapters Chronicle is basically a simple journal that you can use to either jot down ideas, make lists, or full-on write. My Writing Spot My Writing Spot is an app that offers the useful feature of syncing with an associated desktop writing app, so that you don’t have to work out of multiple files, or go through the annoyance of transferring plain text files into whatever format you want to work with on your desktop or laptop computer. ($2.99) Writers App Pages Pages is probably the most robust writing tool that we’re featuring in this post. Write Boom Daedalus Touch
6 Higher Education Institutions Leading the way with Mobile Learning Apps As the high-tech world evolves from dial-up access to lightning-fast smartphones, students benefit from a more mobile classroom. But as anyone with a smartphone or tablet already knows, no two apps are alike. Some universities offer fully functional online classrooms in their mobile apps, while others only offer a directory and map. A mobile-friendly classroom means more access for students who are used to already getting things done on the go with their handheld devices (If you’re someone who enjoys creating apps, you may want to learn how to become a mobile app developer). Students see big incentives for mobile learning Incoming students at Seton Hall University received free smartphones in 2012, according to U.S. University of Phoenix Students at the University of Phoenix study in over 200 institutions and online. Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, AndroidAverage Rating: 4+ (iPhone), 4.3 (Android)User Review: “I love this app. Ashford University Everest University Strayer University
Advanced Distributed Learning The ADL Initiative produces research-based reports, technical specifications, how-to guides, software prototypes, and policy guidance. In most cases, these resources are provided to DoD and Federal government organizations under permissive government licenses. In many cases, these resources are also available to the general public under open-source licenses. Technical Reports As a DoD research organization, the ADL Initiative publishes all technical reports to the Defense Technical Information Center. Technical Specifications and Resources How-to Guides How-to guides are included on our project pages, or click the links below for some of our most popular guides: Software Prototypes The ADL Initiative posts available software prototypes on our GitHub page. Terms Glossary The glossary of distributed learning terminology is a supplement to DoD Instruction 1322.26. Distributed Learning Glossary
Ideas para un proyecto con tabletas El reciente auge de las tabletas en nuestra sociedad sugiere plantearse el aprovechamiento de sus prestaciones en el ámbito educativo. Al afrontar la incorporación de estos dispositivos al aula es necesario reflexionar sobre múltiples aspectos de lo que puede suponer poner en marcha esta iniciativa. No sólo porque ello condiciona su éxito o fracaso sino porque permite evitar el currículum oculto haciendo explícitos y por tanto discutibles todos y cada uno de los criterios de decisión. Es una buena forma de reducir la excesiva influencia de modas, tecnofilias docentes o intereses comerciales ajenos al ámbito educativo. En este artículo se pretenden aportar algunas claves para el profesorado que decida embarcarse en la aventura de utilizar tabletas con sus alumnos/as en clase. Índice [Índice] 1. Entre las prestaciones más interesantes de las tabletas se pueden destacar: Uso personal. Todas estas características justifican con creces su integración en el contexto educativo. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3.
Additional resource links for mobile learning. by dkherning Feb 3