Hi Sharon
With regards to alternatives to the Iphone that you have listed. With the exception of Wifi connectivity pretty much any recent mobile phone E.g The LG Viewty range up, Sony Ericsson Walkman range, the new Samsungs, Windows mobile range, the Nokia N series etc. etc..
With Wifi - Nokia high-end range the high spec Sony Ericsson, HTC range etc.. I could go on. It's a long list but I will give the Iphone the credit of having the best marketing.
I am not anti-Iphone (Mac aficionado generally) but I fundamentally do not believe you can have personalisation and device harmonisation. It's contradictory position. Also, I have deep concerns about British education being trapped with one supplier. The Iphone is particularly dangerous because of it being tied to one connectivity supplier.
My baseline model mentioned in my last post works. I achieved that in my work on the Molenet projects I was involved in. So you can have flexibility in device choice.
Sharon, I respect your views but I doubt we are going to reach a consensus. The same devices do not offer the same opportunities. A device does not a successful learner make and for some learners digital technology maybe exactly the barrier they do not need.
I will end reiterating one of my earlier points - no one knows where this is going to end-up. The use of mobile digital devices for learning in formal education is only just beginning, it would be dangerous to say this is the model we must use and discussions such as ours are useful for progressing the theory and just as with all learning there will probably never be a 'single view'. With us, I can see a disagreement in philosophy which affects our advice for pragmatic adoption.
Its a discussion I've enjoyed and maybe we can pick up with a pint at HHL later this year?
and see where we've both got to by then.
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