Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

I setup and tested my first mediascape outside the college campus this afternoon. The mediascape covered a linear route on foot from the college to Tesco Express and back, which is a round trip of 2 miles. The initial decision was whether to setup two separate mediascapes, i.e. one for the outward and one for the return journey. I decided to produce a single generic mediascape combining both sections, to avoid confusing the user. I took photos along the route with particular emphasis on road junctions, as I knew these regions could be easily plotted. I also took extra photos outside the set route to indicate to the user if they were heading in the wrong direction. I then recorded a generic instruction for each region using Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net), which I exported as a WAV file.  I opened mscape maker and created the regions, then imported my audio and images. I then transferred the mediascape to a ‘HP iPAQ hw6915 Mobile Messenger’ PDA. I tested the mediascape with two Entry Level students, who admittedly had previously walked the same route as part of their independent travel training. However, some of the issues raised during this short initial test were:
- High reflectivity of the screen made reading information difficult, coupled with fingerprints.
- Traffic noise made instructions very difficult to hear. An earphone may provide the solution, but there are dangers with being distracted near traffic etc, plus it is not permissible if the PDA is shared. (I’d hoped to add a short music clip to precede each instruction, but discovered that they overlapped each other).
I’ll report back again at a later date.

Incidentally, BBC Click has just featured a report on ‘SAT-NAV FOR PEOPLE’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7440387.stm . A prototype Intel GPS device works in areas with wireless broadband and features contains sensors, an accelerometer, a 3D compass and a gyroscope.

Jonathan

The group were able to use their mediascape earlier this week. The two ‘regions’ placed where a road leading into the college terminated were easily located. The two regions where they’d guessed the likely location due to lack of detail were, as expected, more hit and miss and only one was located. Thus, the mscape software has limited use within the college campus, unless there is method of manually matching it with the GPS latitude/longitude for a particular location. An alternative would be to use software such as that suggested by Neil. However, I intend to keep using mscape in the meantime, as I would like to extend its use beyond the college campus. Colleagues have been providing independent travel training for appropriate adults, such as those with learning difficulties. The aim is to provide sufficient training for the student to independently and confidentially travel from home/college to destinations such as college/work/shop on foot and/or bicycle, bus, train. I plan to use mscape to see whether the technology is useful as an additional aid to help them navigate. Mscape could be used to indicate when a significant location, such as a post box or road junction, has been passed and to indicate when to turn along the route, such as a specific road. It could also be programmed to warn the user, such as when they’ve missed a turn. I also have access to a Garmin Nuvi 310 (www.garmin.com/products/nuvi310) dedicated GPS device with built-in mapping, whose suitability for the role I plan to compare with a PDA running mscape.
Jonathan

Neil. Many thanks for responding to my query. I’ll use the mediascape software for the meantime, but may consider your software programs in the future.

In addition to the ‘HP iPAQ hw6915’ handheld computer I now have access to four ‘HP iPAQ 614c Business Navigator’ (Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional) PDA/smart phone as well, which all have built-in GPS.

I’ve synchronised all five iPAQs to a central laptop, so I can synchronise files. This is achieved by a mini-USB iPAQ cable which links the iPAQ to the laptop, in association with Microsoft ActiveSync software. As a result I have transferred several mediascapes (GPS based activities downloaded from www.mscapers.com) from the laptop onto the iPAQs. I have also downloaded and transferred ‘Macromedia Flash Player 7 for Pocket PC’ (www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer_pocketpc/downloads/player.html) which is required by some of the readymade portable mediascapes.

I read through the excellent ‘mscape Help Pages’ - http://wiki.mscapers.com/bin/view/Main/WebHome - and used their easy-to-follow ‘Using Mscape Toolkit’ instructions - http://wiki.mscapers.com/bin/view/Main/CreatingAMediascapeUsingMscapeMaker - to produce a simple mediascape around the local area where I live for testing purposes.

It is claimed that “children as young as Year 6 can grasp the basic concepts and build a simple mediascape in an hour” (www.createascape.org.uk/teachers_area/guidelines/key_things.html), so I thought I’d ask some of my Information Technology students, working at Entry 3, to use it to see if they could produce a simple mediascape for use around their college.

They opened the mscape software (downloaded from www.mscapers.com/software), imported the images* and audio, and imported a local map via the ‘mscape Map Service’. Unfortunately when they zoomed in the relatively small size of the college campus meant only ‘Map’ view, featuring town and road names, was available and not ‘Sat’ (satellite) or ‘Hyb’ (Hybrid). This meant the students could only place their ‘regions’ where a road leading into the college terminated or by guessing the likely location.
*Taken whilst producing an audio-visual trail (www.symbolworld.org/learning/life_skills/it/audio_visual_trail/audiovis1.htm) before Easter.

The next stage is to test their mediascape. I’m praying for good weather (www.bbc.co.uk/weather)!

Jonathan

GPS – students with learning difficulties

I’ve recently been using a ‘HP iPAQ hw6915 Mobile Messenger’ PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) handheld computer with built-in camera and GPS (Global Positioning System) features. I’ve used it with a small group of Entry Level (learning difficulties) students, during their Edexcel ‘Introduction to Computers’ unit. The students are all aged 16 years and over and are enrolled on part-time and full-time faculty-based courses.

They initially used the PDA to access the Internet (via WiFi) and played the games built into the Microsoft Windows Mobile (v.5.0) operating system. They also got used to the touch screen/stylus, which wasn’t a major obstacle as many students own a touch screen sensitive mobile phone and/or a Nintendo DS.

I wanted them to use the built-in camera and GPS to take advantage of these functions. Thus, the group have taken turns to take outdoor photographs of buildings/vegetation around the college campus. They learnt to wait whilst the PDA had a ‘lock’ on orbiting satellites, so the latitude/longitude (EXIF) data was saved with the image, thus geotagging it.

They used Bluetooth to send the geotagged images to a laptop. The images were uploaded to my account on the Flickr (www.flickr.com) photo sharing website. (Incidentally, make sure you allow Flickr to ‘Automagically import GPS information as geo data’ - www.flickr.com/account/geo/exif). Once uploaded to Flickr, they clicked on ‘Organize’, then ‘Map’. This process places the photos on a world map, so they could see exactly where they were located when they took the photo. By clicking on ‘Explore this map’ they were able to view other geotagged images around the world.

The next stage is to extend the GPS feature of the PDA using Create-A-Scape (www.createascape.org.uk) to design GPS-based trails within the college campus and beyond. The group have already used a GPS-based outdoor game called ‘Stamp the Mole’. If you have problems downloading the ‘Mscape toolkit’, like I did, here is the direct link: http://www.mscapers.com/tools/mscape-2.1.exe

I would be very grateful for ideas from other people who have used GPS with students with learning difficulties within a Further Education environment.

Many thanks

Jonathan

Incidentally we sourced the soundtrack (mp3) music from a website called Dance-Industries (www.dance-industries.com) , which consists of, “Free mp3 download of copyleft dance music”.
The artist, track title and Dance-Industries website address were credited at the end of the student college experience video.
For the record (no pun intended) ‘Friends 4 Ever’ by DJTranceBass (http://www.dance-industries.com/view_artist.php?ID=2802&track=24758) was used for the main music and ‘Lost in Sunset’ by Dark Matter (http://www.dance-industries.com/view_artist.php?ID=902&track=7641) for the end credits.
Thanks
Jonathan

The extension activity of producing a student college experience video using mobile phones has now finished.

All the photos and video clips on the central laptop were sorted via ‘zone’ by putting them into separate folders and then renaming them. When added to Microsoft Movie Maker 2, they could easily be put into sequence. Tags (Title Overlays) were then added to each sequence of photos. It was decided that a soundtrack (mp3) would be used instead of narration.

The Media Converter (www.mediaconverter.org) website was used to convert the saved Microsoft Movie Maker file into MP4 and 3GP formats, plus others as required. Distribution was via memory card reader and/or by Bluetooth.

A Project Evaluation was given to each student, which included the questions below:
•   I enjoyed...
•   I used...
•   I am pleased with...
•   I am now able to...
•   I feel more confident about...
•   I paid a lot of attention to...
•   When I started I...
•   I have improved...
•   I should have...
•   Next time I will...

Jonathan

This week’s session started with advice on taking better photographs. I copy typed the text below onto a PowerPoint slide and discussed each point in turn:
“Tips for better pictures
1.     Hold the camera still
2.     Focus on the right thing
3.     Think about composition
4.     Zoom in close
5.     But don’t get too close
6.     Make sure there’s enough light
7.     Don’t shoot into the light
8.     Check the background
9.     Beat shutter lag
10.  Shoot more not less”
Text above taken from ‘Digital Photography: Point, Click and Create’ Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd (6 Oct 2005). ISBN: 1405307110.
Photographs taken during the week were transferred via memory card reader and Bluetooth to the central laptop, where all the photos/video are being stored.
The students joined their groups and were given 30 minutes to take their photographs within their zone.
The students used the blog feature within PebblePad to discuss why they had taken a particular photo, such as was it a place they go for relaxation between lessons, or was it a best friend at the college.
After Easter it has been suggested that all the photos could be sorted via zone by putting them into separate folders or renaming them in such as way as to be easily recognisable. This should make importing them into Microsoft Movie Maker a little easier; although they could also be put in order via the Timeline feature.
Jonathan

This week’s session started with a recap of the activity thus far, which covered the five stages of development:
1. Planning – using paper-based mind maps (I would experiment with a freeware mind mapping program, such as FreeMind - http://sourceforge.net/projects/freemind - next time).
2. Recording - camera phones/digital cameras.
3. Editing - Microsoft Movie Maker 2.
4. Conversion - www.mediaconverter.org .
5. Distribution – Bluetooth/Web.
The students used the blog feature within PebblePad again to view their blog from last week, and then send (share) their blog with other members of their group.
A map of the college campus (www.s-cheshire.ac.uk/new_scc/aboutus/find_us/campus.htm) was projected onto a dry wipe board and a member of each group was asked to write the groups initials next to their ‘zone’ of the college, to reaffirm which area they were photographing during the session.
The students were reminded to use their own initiative and take camera phone images during the week, as the fundamental idea of the project is to develop their perspective of the college.
Jonathan

I continued with the activity with the same group this afternoon. The students used the blog feature within PebblePad (www.pebblepad.co.uk), which is password-protected, online, “ePortfolio” software. They were asked to include the information below in their blog:
1.   How did you plan the activity?
2.   Who is in your group?
3.   What make and model of camera phone (or digital camera) did your group use?
4.   What type of memory card does it use?
5.   What format are the photographs?
6.   What format is the video?
7.   Which ‘zone’ of college did you record?
8.   Which zones did the other groups record?
9.   How were the images and video transferred to the laptop?
10.   What software will be used to edit the video?
11.   How will the video be converted into alternative formats, such as 3GP?
Their entry could only be a maximum of 200 characters, so they had to be concise.

One of the groups added their photos to Microsoft Movie Maker 2, rearranged their order and added some transition effects.

Next week all the groups will take further photos within their ‘zone’ at the college.

Extension activities could include:
a)   Use the World Wide Web to research other student college experience videos.
b)   Design a questionnaire to record people’s opinions about your student college experience video.

Incidentally, the college audio trail I mentioned in my original post, which was produced by a different group I teach, who all have learning difficulties is now available for download. It can be downloaded from the ‘Our Space’ part of my college’s website, within the Tour section: www.s-cheshire.ac.uk/new_scc/spotlight/entrylev/home.htm . The next stage is to make the audio trail into an 'audio-visual trail', as they're currently taking photos along the same route. They will add them, along with the above MP3 file, to Microsoft Movie Maker, save the file, then convert it into alternative formats via www.mediaconverter.org , or a similar website, for playback on mobile devices, such as mobile phones, MP4 players and PSPs. Distribution will be via Bluetooth and/or as a download from Our Space.

Jonathan

Thank you so much for kindly responding to my query. I started the activity with the group this afternoon. I showed the students an example of a promotional video produced by my college, along with www.reaseheath.ac.uk/video/options.html and www.thomas-hardye.dorset.sch.uk for comparison. If you type college experience video into Google (http://tinyurl.com/2syy6y), there are several examples, which can be downloaded or are embedded for playback online. I recommend VLC media player (www.videolan.org/vlc), if your downloaded video will not work.
The group consists of fourteen students, so were split into two groups of five and a group of four. Each group was given a different ‘zone’ of the college to record, to avoid replication and allow each group to edit their section.
Equipment-wise two of the groups had one camera phone per group, but the memory card on the camera phone of the third group was full, so they borrowed one of the backup digital cameras I’d brought along.
The groups were encouraged to take digital stills. I’d discovered that camera phones use 3GP format for video so although not discouraged, I’m hoping that the digital camera will be used for video as the models we have record in AVI format, which can be imported directly into Microsoft Movie Maker 2 without conversion.
I gave them twenty minutes to start to record their zone. The footage has been transferred, via Bluetooth and memory card reader, to a folder on the laptop. The results were variable in terms of both resolution and quality. Next week I will check their camera phone settings for picture size (e.g. VGA, 1 megapixels, 2 megapixels, 3 megapixels) and picture quality (e.g. Normal, Fine) before they leave the room. A few tips on taking better pictures would also be advantageous! Unfortunately, none of the camera phones possessed a screwfitting, so a tripod cannot be used.
When the footage is gathered and edited there will be a discussion about whether to have narration, titles etc and/or a (copyright free) soundtrack.
I may use a graphics tablet with freeware screen capture software (AviScreen Classic, www.bobyte.com) to ‘record’ their signatures or add alternative titles.
The students involved have already said they would like the resultant video to be converted into mobile phone format (e.g. 3GP), so they can distribute it to friends, family etc via Bluetooth. I am considering getting them to produce a questionnaire to record the feedback.
I hope to use the two GPS-enabled PDAs to follow-up the ideas suggested, along with other ideas such as mediascapes (www.createascape.org.uk) and geotagging. I also hope to glean information from Futurelab (www.futurelab.org.uk) as well.
Any further advice would be gratefully received
Many thanks
Jonathan

I am looking for some advice relating to an aspect of mobile phone use in Further Education. I am setting one of my computing groups the extension activity of producing a video of their experiences at their college, for use by new students in the next academic year. Hopefully, the videos will include what facilities and features they like/dislike about the college environment to provide a student perspective. The plan is for the students to use their cameraphones to take photographs, and perhaps even video clips, which will be ‘stitched’ together with titles, music and narration via Microsoft Movie Maker. The resultant movie file will be converted into alternative formats via www.mediaconverter.org , or a similar website, for playback on mobile devices, such as mobile phones, MP4 players and PSPs. Distribution will be via Bluetooth or as a download from the college website.
I have the use of a laptop (RM One, Microsoft Windows XP Professional). I have already setup a Bluetooth dongle and various card readers, to allow transfer of files onto the laptop.
I would be very grateful for any website links to videos produced by students completing the above task. I would also be very grateful for ideas on extending the above task, or activities linked to it.
I have the use of two GPS-enabled PDAs (HP iPAQ hw6915 Mobile Messenger and Mio P550) as well, but would prefer to concentrate on mobile phone use initially.
Any advice would be gratefully received
Many thanks
Jonathan
Incidentally, a different group I teach, who all have learning difficulties, have recently produced an audio trail around the college (  www.symbolworld.org/learning/life_skills/it/audio_trail/audio1.htm ), amongst other computer related activities: www.symbolworld.org/learning/life_skills/index.htm  .