Hi everyone,
I attended (and presented at) Handheld Learning 2005 (HL05). I was so overwhelmed by the 'stuff' that is going on in mobile learning that it made me go away and wonder why more teachers are not using it. There were such a lot of exciting developments that could and often do make learning more effective and fun.
Shortly after my return from HL05 I was asked by Alistair McNaught of
TechDis to present a session at the Post 16 e-Learning Conference (Manchester 2nd/3rd Nov.) on accessibility issues of mobile learning. We decided to use the title
The use of mobile technologies to 'include' (and how they can 'exclude').
Having already been perplexed by the vast array of mobile technologies I decided to put together a session which asked the delegates to stop and think about why they might use m-Learning. I wanted to ask 'why' we are so excited by podcasting and mp3 players - when we never really used the earlier technologies like cassette tapes and mini disks (which were just as small) in any really sound pedagogical way. I wanted to ask how PDAs changed the classroom interactions which were first developed in Victorian times - slate and chalk. Think about it - what difference is there between the slate and chalk and a PDA and stylus? UNLESS the practitioner actually thinks about it first.
Because I was booked into the graveyard slot (last workshop of a two day conference) I didn't expect many to turn up - but I got double figures. The session went really well - I even got those attending to agree with me, that when needed a yellow sticky pad could become a basic m-Learing tool.
Anyone interested in seeing the
session plan and
presentation - please click the links and have a look. (Just cancel out of any box that says you have to login - it's lying!)
I'd welcome an exchange of views about the accessibility of m-Learning 'stuff', not just for specific disabilities but for excluded groups too (like the Asian women
we used PDAs with).
David
Community 
FORUM 
