Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

I'm about to be involved in a workshop investigating the benefits of 3G phones for learning - particularly looking at the benefits of being able to take mobile video and still images.

I'd really love to share the 'collective wisdom' of this group within the workshop (and I'll report back the outcomes too)

Does anyone have any experience of using camera/video phones within a learning context and are there an particular feelings amongst the group about the possibiliities that they offer?

Indirect benefit found by some teachers and trainee teachers on placements was to record pictures of pupils projects and project work, ie models the students had built, pictures they'd drawn etc.

Also some students used the camera to photograph the covers of books or magazines they wanted to try and get from a library or buy at some future date, it was easier than iriting the details down!

Hi

Slightly off topic but it is worth noting legal issues here.  I work for a University research group which does a lot of work with the police and we have seen that they would dearly love to be able to use cameras on phones and PDAs for a wide range of work.  However, at the moment they have to be very cautious and are finding it hard to getdefinitive guidance on taking, storing and using images, especially those recorded without explicit permission.  Whilst education is not exactly the same there are some areas of caution in schools and colleges as well.

Alistair Norman
AIMTech
Leeds University Business School

Working with a variety of students who use handhelds equipped with cameras, I have to say it is one of the features that is used the most. Granted, a lot of shots are taken without any real purpose other than "for the fun of it", BUT cameras are very useful to document learning in varioius environments, such as collection of scientific data at a stream or pond, collecting images of things like patterns in nature, or taking pictures of people and artifacts for oral/family history. We've also had success using digital cameras for claymation, which is time consuming but a lot of fun to do, and it teaches kids quite a bit about skills such as planning, organizing, and problem solving.
As said in this thread, there are issues with using cameras such as privacy, but like any other technology, the key is to not only teach how to use a piece of equipment, but how to use it responsibly, which is in the ISTE technology standards, btw.

Mark