Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

If you've got 5 minutes to spare while drinking your tea, then reviewing and reflecting on the following web site is really worth it … http://www.chinesepod.com

I've just been looking at http://www.chinesePod.com – Learn Mandarin Anytime, Anywhere with Daily Podcasts (to be honest they emailed me … I have enough problems mastering very basic French).

After reviewing the site, one thing which did strike me, was it is an excellent practical example of how the learning objectives can be achieved through integrating a number of different tools. In this case podcast integrate with a number of other collaborative learning tools (blogs & wikis), as well as some didactic delivery tools such as glossaries and flashcards. It is a commercial model, so some parts are password protected. However, you still get a really good flavour of the way they are matching appropriate tools to tasks. Where you’ll be using each tool in accordance to its strengths, and the art is how we, the educators, integrate these together to make a more positive online learning experience. The other thing that struck me was these tools are available within most VLEs, and accessible via our handheld devices. So, we could all follow the chinesePod model !

Out of interest, is anyone following a similar approach to the chinesePod model?  Alternatively, if you've come across other examples of similar approaches then it would be good to share - plus a bit of blurb on why your pushing it. It will help us make the connection on how we develop appropriate activities.