Handheld Learning Reflections from a Distance: Generic tools, and the idea of "collect, store and share"

My visit to the HHL07 was not entirely accidental, as we look to develop a handheld or mobile learning project within school. As I said previously I am a novice in this area, so please be gentle as I get my head round my thoughts. One of my concerns is how these solutions potentially fit with the infrastructure already in place, but also establishing a firm pedagogical basis and vision for the use of these tools in practice.

Visiting the practitioners village and Solution Provider's exhibition at the conference, I was interested not only in the hardware but also software applications currently being used in the deployment of kit in projects that were underway and development. Many of the projects were using "pocket PCs," but despite running Windows Mobile as an operating system, and its prebundled version of office for mobile, it seemed that there were a number of limitations within the software, that prevented students gaining the functionality required by their teachers. Many of the projects had therefore purchased and installed 3 pieces of generic software to overcome this.

PlanMaker (a spreadsheet)
TextMaker (a word processor)
Pocket Slides (similar to powerpoint)

The Wildkey environment also proved to be exciting, more than just a dichotomous key or the branching data base we might develop in the online classroom, the tool draws upon the affordances of handheld tools to enable students to get out in the field, using the tool first hand for identification of organisms. The use of addins however seem to offer much more in terms of the ability to create keys, support the design of interactive trails and collect additional data, linked to mapping and real places in order to engage students not only in the use of content but adaptation to develop their own, check it out for yourself.

I liked the view that these pieces of software seemed to bring within the context of mobile use, that fit closely with my own view of ICTs as tools. The idea of "collect, store and share," presented by their use in the PDA and smartphone environments particularly appealed to me as underpining a pedagogical perspective on their use. The notion that generic (and some specialist tools) can be used alongside preinstalled and available resources, such as audio and video recording software, the camera and web browser to collect data in various forms, audio, video, photographic, numerical and textual, before exploiting the wireless capabilities in order to bring them together for sharing and use as a group in other contexts I find particularly appealing. They lend themselves to the "read write" world, I am so fond of, a way of preestablishing the semiotic resource collections needed to develop multimodal work, not just in one subject but across the curriculum. Devices with the potential to enable students to develop and create their own material with authorship and control based on their own engagement with the world around them. The mobile platform, when not seen as a standalone tool or solution but part of a wider ICT toolkit, seems to help broaden our view of ICTs as pedagogical resources. It is the social nature of learning using these tools that I find so attractive, the new spatial qualities and dimensions that they bring to teaching and learning contexts, and the mediating role they have potential to play. I have enjoyed seeing how think.com for example supports interaction between students, but combining this with tools that allow access for all from home, device synching and backup, through portals designed specifically to integrate mobile devices for education such as Red Halo. the possibilites seem limited only by our creativity.

This however is the crux of the issue for me. It is easy to get excited by the possibilities while forgetting the realities are often very different, and so getting my feet firmly on the ground, we need to be careful not to oversimplify things or let others do so. Personally I still have have a long way to go, and lots of food for thought, to chew over and digest. As a school still have lots to consider. Infrastructure in school is one issue, but what about external infrastructure and access, how will students access the web from home, is our neighbourhood a wireless zone, or will students be dependent on 3g access? How will we enable this, either faciltate wireless access or the funding of phone access? What about CPD? Putting the C in ICT collaborating to consolidate a shared vision for ICT development seems to be even more necesary than it was before if we are to move on successfuly with this project, and enable conversations about the wider implications of such a project. E safety must be a key and guiding principle underpinning how we approach using and deploying these tools and how we engage with our students in order to ground and link policy and practice. This really is a complex net we still need to unpick. I am sure I will have more to write and think about as we work on this iteratively.

Handheld Learning 07: Reflections from a distance 1

As a complete mobile novice, I attended Handheld Learning 07 on the 11th and 12th October. I am still trying to get my head around much of the terminology that relate specifically to the hardware, but even in my naivity in this area of the market, adapting to the context didn't take that long. The questions we need to ask when it comes to mobile technologies in "the classroom" where ever that may be, it seems on reflection are little different to those we would or rather should ask when thinking about ICT solutions generally for schools.

In schools over the past 7 years enormous changes have occured in the ICT provision available for students and teachers to use. In our school we have gone through several incarnations, moving from the need to borrow and timetable the solitary BBC B when I began teaching in 1989, to the implementation of a 31 PC network with full Internet access within a National Superhigways initiative in 1995, and the need to rationalise, reorganise ,restructure, expand and develop this with the arrival of the NGFL in 2000. Implemention of infrastructure are not the end of a project but usually the beginning of the next phase, as technology moves and changes constantly. Since 2000 we have rolled out the laptops for teachers project, installed IWBs in every classroom, begun thinking about Learning Platform solutions, and to involve students in web 2.0 projects. As well as these we have gone through another cycle of Platform replacements, meaning we now have multiple platforms on our network and despite being PCs all running the same operating system and with identical software builds, we have a variation in technical specifications for hardware, each platform type requiring its own driver build. In the past as new software has been purchased and new tools have been bought, these were simply added to the original build. Prior to last September, due to inexperience our software management and maintenance regime, was built around a single platform build that was "applied" on every machine regardless of specification. This lead to frequent problems with stability and the robustness of the network. Driver conflicts or the absence of same leading to slow machine starts or failure. It is not essential to be a technical whizz to manage ICT in the primary school, but it does help I think if we have a little knowledge and experience of how the systems we are trying to maintain work, and taking a common sensical and methodical approach to how we design and implement solutions we want to posess and make available to our clients and users will help this. I have benefitted incredibly by having theBecta Primary FITS Framework scaffold my thinking. As a tool, it has helped me gain a much clearer picture of the Infrastructure and Technologies we have available in school,where they are and to use this to help make decisions about how we will use and direct our technical support, while supporting conversations about approaches we will take when discussing system changes with our SMT.

On Thursday RM shared the price tag of their ultra portable solution showing how important this still is to the school market, but experiences over the past 12 months, where I have worked with my technician to map, reorganise and restructure our network, leading to improved stability and robustness through establishment of individual builds for each platform, have shown that one of our main considerations before making decisions or discussing the purchase of platforms will be to consider the purposes the tools will serve, who will we use them, how, where, when and why? Perhaps even more fundemental to the planning process than this but intrinsically linked is what we will need to do inorder to make our existing infrastructure compliant and compatable with them. Software and Hardware providers are obviously keen to be in the forefront in order to exploit the new mobile/ultra portable market they consider to be just around the corner. In order to avoid some of past mistakes, I am keen that we explore widely the possible solutions available in relation to established pedagogical aims. Without doing so we could find ourself in the midst of another pilot or school based trial, rather than looking to the future and a potentially sustainable and developmental outcome.

From recent discussions and excitement about the $100 laptop, government drives for the implementation and development of learning platforms and an increasing use of the terms "anywhere, anytime learning" and "1:1 learning platform," it seems to be quite right that we and the suppliers should be excited about the potential affordances of the mobile, and the potential emergence of "mobigogy," Indeed if I was a supplier to "niche market education," I too would be firing up my sales and design team to get a slice of the action. However despite all my ravings about ICT as a tool box, there still comes a time when the technologies behind the creative potential need to be made transparent, and as a teacher and ICT subject leader, I am one of those people who will potentially need to engage with this kit. in being busy making progress, we should not see ourselves as "building aeroplanes in the sky," sometimes in order to move forward we need to step back, evaluate where we are now before jumping in. As an experienced ICT subject leader, I know how easily we can be attracted to particular products, either because of a national initiatives, or because we want to be ahead of the game, maybe even because we have seen the tool used in one situation, and because it looks so effortless there we assume can transfer the solution to integrate into our own setting. Decisions about purchasing hardware and software obviously have financial implications, cheap does not usually equate with best, though suitability to purpose may mean tools like the device designed by RM does equate with this. We need, like everyone else who is considering use of mobiles as part of a 1:1 or anytime anywhere solution to ensure that we are clear about what purpose we want the tools to serve, how and where we intend the tools to be used and that the final solution we provide meets the needs of our clients and users at the point of implementation.

My main interest in attending the conference was to ask questions, and help clarify ideas before as a school engaging with developing our own mobile project. The main message I took away from the conference was that felt I was following the right path in taking this methodical and cautious approach. Hopefully by BETT I will be looking at software and hardware more carefully in preparation for a project roll out. In the meantime, here are some of the tools on show. Each was really exciting in its own way.

The RM Asus MiniBook

Running Linux as its operating system, the RM Asus Minibook, is available in the price range of £169 and £199. This compact platform is described by RM as:

"... the perfect choice for pupils; a genuine "anywhere, anytime access" device... Smaller than an A5 pad and weighing less than 1kg, it combines the portability and quick-start of a PDA with the capabilities of a notebook. ... RM Asus miniBook is an exciting new category of device, set to fundamentally change ICT provision for pupils....

Everything a pupil requires for mobile computing

• 7" screen and weighing less than 1Kg, it's smaller and lighter than many textbooks.
• Robust solid-state hard drive provides fast boot-up / shut-down and preserves pupils' files.
• Integrated webcam, microphone and speakers for easy web video-conferencing.
• Integrated 802.11b/g wireless and optional 3G module provide great connectivity.
• Integrated card-reader and three USB 2.0 ports provide a simple way to add additional storage and easy connection for peripherals.
• Full-size VGA-out for connection to projectors or monitors.
• Intel Mobile Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) technology.
  

The Asus was also featured and discussed in an article in the Guardian's Technology column. and Blog

The Samsung Q1

This is Samsung's new Ultra Portable PC the Q1, so new the bubble wrap was hardly off when the team exhibited, the handful they had received in time for the event.







Described as a

" Revolutionary mobile device that combines the capabilities of a PDA, MP3 / PMP, and tablet PC" The Q1 Samsung say, "offers a powerful, versatile solution for all Students and Lecturers alike. Whether you are a student or a lecturer working from the classroom or library, the Samsung Q1’s is so light and thin, you'll find storing and transporting it as easy as ABC. Whichever side of the desk you're on, you'll find Samsungs Q1 passes every test."

The Q1's specifications were something I felt a tad more at home with, sounding a lot closer to home than many of the other systems and tools. Running Windows XP for Tablet PC, with RAM a 7 inch TFT screen, a 40 gig hard drive and USB ports to add peripherals, while still being posessed of a wireless lan, bluetooth connectivity. At a price tag of around £540, I wouldn't mind one of these to play with myself.



The Nova5000 is a really interesting machine described as an appliance by its manufacturers. To see what this multipurpose toolbox has to offer it is probably easier to direct you to the online demo on their website.







Fujitsi Siemens EDA

I was lucky enough to win one of these babies in the prize draw at the end of the conference. It is a Fujitsu Siemens EDA, currently charging in its cradle it will be a little something to play with and help explore the software environments available and some of the things we can do or I saw demonstrated over the course of the conference. I am sure as time goes on it may lead to a few posts around me and my mobile.

Podcasts of Sessions from Handheld learning 07

Just subscribed to and downloaded the podcasts available from Handheld Learning 07. Looking forward to listening again to Marc Prensky's presentation, but also reviewing Stephen Crowne's presentation again. Some of the Slideshows from the conference are also available on Slideshare.

Mobagogy, Mobigogy How would you spell IT?

Over the summer the term Podagogy caught my eye. But for the last two days I have been listening to, engaging with and reflecting on the thoughts presented by a number of inspirational colleagues, who are using mobile technologies to develop innovative and creative approaches to the teaching and learning process. Might this now conjure up a new portmanteau, and the concept of mobagogy, mobigogy or mobogogy, how would you spell IT?

The view I took of mobile learning to the conference originated from locally developed projects and experiences shared through the occasional discussion with colleagues at the Graduate School of Education in Bristol. These projects had involved the use of PDAs and Ultra Mobile PCs, to explore and engage with the concept of "anywhere, anytime learning," But as the sessions unfolded I became enthralled by project outcomes that seemed to be looking beyond the hardware and technologies themselves and engaging with how pedagogy is changed, learning landscapes respatialised and potentially transformed by the use of these as tools for learning.

Interestingly, although initially focussed on the technology most of the projects presented had evolved over time, as the affordances of software and hardware environments became more transparent to the users to explore how they could be used to enhance Communication. The concepts of "capture, store and share" seemed to be the most exciting affordances identified where the tools had been successfully deployed. Rather than seeing them solely as 1:1 learning platforms, many of the tools used and available, seemed to have been used as a way of collecting and storing resources that could be used for other purposes later.

Here are a few blogs and sites I have visited stemming from project presentations at hhlo7 where colleagues are engaging with tresearching or reflecting and sharing ideas about what it means to be involved in mobigogy or mobagogy (how would you spell it?).


The Learning Everywhere Project and mlearning.mobi
Mudlarking in Deptford and Create-a-scape Futurelab
Mark van 't Hooft Ubiquitous Thoughts
Ian Stuart of Islay High School
Kaleidoscope Mobile Learning