Handheld Learning 2009

I have been lucky enough to be a Head teacher for 7 years; 18 months ago I moved to Normanby. I might be wrong in how I am working to develop my Schools curriculum, the talents of my Staff and the resources we offer- but we are seeing motivation, attendance and results rise. I am inspired every day I come to work, and am honoured to be nominated.

At both my Schools we invested in ICT (lots of it! – Wii’s, DS’s, netbooks, Wifi, laptops and 3G PDAs), yet I definitely don’t want to lead an organisation that only ‘does’ computers – nor one that only excels in arts or music or even hard sums!

Pupils respect the trust we place in them: in return take care of their various technologies, both in and out of school. I want to match and exceed their experiences at home, providing a safe, challenging and caring framework for them to take control of their own learning through discussion, experimentation and reflection.

Our strength is listening to the pupils, and their families (or carers), building a school that meets their needs and desires. Therefore the pupils help select Staff, complete my Performance Management and attend conferences alongside teachers. We are building a personalised curriculum and what could be better support for learners than a digital repository and research assistant that’s yours, in your pocket for you to use when you want?

www.northerngrid.org/normanby_innovation/

My name is Amanda Burrett and I have been teaching at Wilbury Junior School for 3 years. Whilst in the role of ICT subject leader for the past two years, I have developed an interest in how ICT can be utilised to enhance learning – both in ICT and other curriculum areas. It was because of this interest that the concept of handheld learning appealed to me. During the project that I subsequently led, I endeavoured to exploit features of the devices available to provide the children with opportunities to explore creative ways of learning. These included producing sound recordings and animations as an alternative to ‘traditional’ text input. I sought numerous ways to take advantage of these means to demonstrate their thoughts and ideas – making learning more fun, catering for learning styles that can be more difficult to make provision for, therefore making learning more accessible to all abilities. As a result of the integration of the devices, I cultivated an environment of responsibility and reflection, encouraging the children to think about how to look after their device and also to give consideration as to how they could use them to support their own learning, developing their confidence and independence.

www.thegrid.org.uk/learning/ict/ks1-2/research/projects/handheld_pilot/index.shtml

Jonathan Nalder is an overly-enthusiastic advocate for mobile and ubiquitous learning. His challenge to educators everywhere: How would you maintain a 21st century learning environment if all desktops and laptops suddenly disappeared?
Answer: Stop banning student mobile devices and bring them in from the cold. At my school just north of Brisbane, Australia, more than 85% of students have a mobile device, not including a phone! When they come to school, unless they’re in one of my learning support groups, none of them get to use a mobile device. What a divide…
Something has to change. A recent report claims that there will smartphone sales will exceed those of desktop PC’s by 2011 (Abramsky, RBC). I often wonder what year this development will be reflected in Education purchasing. 2050 anyone?
The benefits I have seen of personalised and anywhere learning that I have seen by incorporating simple devices like voice recorders and step-o-meters right up to PDAs and my own iPhone are amazing. Students love it not because its new to them, but because its familiar. So I’ve kept on using it, and writing about and sharing my discoveries. Thanks for the chance to share with you.

ulearning.edublogs.org - general writings on education and technology, with focus on mobile learning/ iPhone use
www.tullawongss.eq.edu.au/home/jnald2/DigitalPortfolio - Digital portfolio/ overview of my beliefs and work with students

Children are engaging in social networking from a young age, but without the necessary skills to keep themselves safe and protected. With primary school leavers approaching their 12th birthday, many are only a year away from legally accessing Facebook and Bebo. At Anson we decided that if social networking was an inevitability at 13 years of age, it was our duty to help children gain the skills to stay safe when they hit secondary school.

Therefore, securely in our website, we created NW2-b-Friends. Every child in Year 5&6 was given their own profile page. They added photos, information and contact details. They embedded videos and music and they had sole control over who could see their page.

Once this was complete we set about teaching the children the skills to stay safe. We discussed appropriate photography, dangers of sharing personal information, legal issues of copyright and who should be able to see our pages.

The children then edited their pages to make them secure, anonymous and opened them up to only their closest friends. We are proud to say that when children leave Anson they are well equipped and have a solid understanding of how to safely social network.

www.fronter.com/brent enter the username "handheld" and the password "friends" (no quotes).

We were fed up with ICT projects. No, really we were.

We had quickly discovered that they were the best way yet invented to make a huge hole in your school budget. But like most Schools we hadn’t acted on this realisation; we just kept spending!

We did not initially decide to do a ‘PDA’ project. Three months into a review of our curriculum by staff and children we identified that ICT could allow us to personalise the curriculum and enable the children to take control of their learning.

Our children are now mobile learners. They learn at school, at home, at Grandma’s, at the childminder’s, often unsupervised and unsupported. Filtered 24/7 connectivity allows them to enter their virtual classroom, accessing resources from their teachers and support from their peers. They have the freedom to explore, create, harvest information, collaborate… essentially independent learners. In control of their learning, the balance of power in the classroom (virtual and real) has changed. And because this change came from a curriculum review, focused on personalising children’s learning, the teachers have embraced it; they actually have greater freedom to target support and challenge where it is needed.

The children and staff are not learning “stuff”, they are developing as discerning 21st Century life long learners.

Fed up with ICT? Us? No way!

www.northerngrid.org/normanby_innovation/

School is part of an IT Federation and has delivered a Family Learning project where parents and children learn together. Families are provided with 24/7 access to Samsung Q1 for the duration of the course. Feedback from each of the schools, parents and children has been very positive and has provided exemplar practice for the LA.

This project highlighted some of the benefits of engaging parents in their child's learning and demonstrated that by providing mobile technology, opportunities to extend learning beyond the school day and traditional learning environments. By the end of the project traditional teaching models of teacher-child were challenged as children increasingly took on the role of mentor/trainer having developed their ICT capability and confidence at a faster rate than their parents. The notion of peer tutoring and children acting as mentors/trainers is something that the schools in the Federation will develop alongside thier work on Learner voice

Mark devised Films for Learning. FFL loans primary and secondary schools video equipment, and provides advice, workshops, training and video hosting.

FFL encourages and supports students and teachers to make learning more interesting and active. You can not make a successful film without understanding the subject. FFL is run and managed by Mark with his colleague Peter Roe from the Thomas Hardye School, Dorset. Mark works with equipment and software which is accessible and affordable i.e. still cameras, camcorders, mobile phones etc.

FFL makes learning mobile and takes students beyond the constraints of learning through ICT at a desktop. It develops communication and collaborative skills. Mark uses resources to support film which do not infringe copyright and encourages film makers to record their own music, create their own graphics or seek appropriate permissions for the content they use.

The FFL website www.filmsforlearning.org was built with the support of Microsoft and is accessible to both PC and Mac users. The website includes full upload, search, viewing and community facilities. This unique resource is free to use, all content is moderated, and there are no adverts or inappropriate links.

If you have made a film for learning why not upload it now?

I have been ILT Co-ordinator at Ashton 6th Form College for five years. During that time we have gone from having very little technology in teaching and learning to now having mobile technology embedded into the curriculum.

In March 2008 we received funding through the Learning for Living and Work scheme and bought PDAs to be used with students with specific learning difficulties and vocational students. These had a big impact on the students, particularly those with learning difficulties because they enabled them to work anywhere, anytime with an unexpected improvement in self esteem because the students felt valued.

We submitted a successful bid for MoLeNET 2 and introduced a range of technologies including Nintendo DS, mobile phones, iPods, iPhones, Flip video cameras and voice recorders. Students on a Public Services course now use XDA Mantles with Wild Knowledge software for orienteering and other outdoor activities. Pod and vodcasting are used to record student activities and demonstrations by teachers so that students can view them at any time. Nintendo DS have been used to raise literacy and numeracy levels for Level 1 students and to improve memory with students with specific learning difficulties. Other students have used iPhones with Apps such as Skype and Tweetie to learn about different forms of communication. Groups using mobile technology have shown improved achievement. We are now preparing another MoLeNET bid with a partner college to explore other methods of mobile learning.

Alan Beecham has been in education for over 38 years, spending over thirty of those years teaching in a variety of schools. Within schools He has held posts from class teacher to head teacher, usually working around the subject areas of ICT, mathematics and design and technology.

In 2003, he started working as a National Strategy Teaching and Learning Consultant (Secondary ICT) for Education Bradford. Within ICT he has have particular interests in mobile learning and control and robotics. In 1995 he gained a Master of Education degree from the University of Leeds and completed his doctorate in 2000. He started working on ‘Handheld’ projects in Bradford in 2005.

He has attended all the Handheld Learning Conferences presenting at the last three (2006-2008). He also presented on the DfES stand at BETT2007, the Mscape (location based media projects) Conference, Belfast 2008 and was a keynote speaker at the NE Yorkshire ‘Classroom of the Future’ Conference.

He is member of the ‘Community of Practice’ group set up by Steljes on his visit to San Diego in 2006 and also of the QCA/DCSF Mobile Learning Focus Group.

www.mymobilelearning.com

With oral language fluency of the utmost importance to secondary language acquisition, Learnosity Voice focusses on verbal abilities, allowing students to use any phone to dial into a voice application, and answer a series of voice-based questions. It also enables students to communicate one-to-one in real time, allowing them to use the target language in role-plays based on real life scenarios.

Learnosity Voice allows students use their own mobiles to access the application. We chose to use mobile phones for the following reasons:

• Phones are built for speaking and listening.
• There is no learning curve, technical support, installation etc. It just works.
• Almost every single student will already have a mobile phone.

This mobile language learning platform has been deployed projects in the UK, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, USA and Australia. Notably, it has been deployed in a large scale pilot project conducted by the Australian government, in the teaching and learning of the Indonesian language across three Australian states. Students involved in this project showed significant improvements in spoken language abilities. For more information: http://bit.ly/tlf-mall

www.learnosity.com/go/products/voice

Games Atelier is a location based mobile game platform for post-primary education.

Games Atelier gives students the opportunity to learn by using mobile telephones, GPS, and the internet to make, play, share, and review their own games.

To make the game, students have to think of an initial concept and game narrative, before developing rules and filling in the format of the game. In this first creative phase of making the game, in order to come up with a relevant game narrative, students must fully familiarize themselves with the learning content of the subject. At the same time, to develop rules and fill in the game format, they also have to learn about the principles of game design.

The next stage is playing the game. Students use mobile phones with GPS to navigate their way around their surroundings to carry out assignments and search for clues. Sharing the game means getting other students to play the game they have made and exchanging experiences. The final and crucial stage of the Games Atelier learning process is reviewing the games played.

The Games Atelier is supported by a technology platform tailored to location-based projects, called 7Scenes.

www.waag.org/project/gamesatelier
www.7scenes.com

Studywiz Mobile eLocker storage spaces for the iPhone and iPod Touch takes online learning offline!

It provides teachers and students with a safe, secure and convenient storage space to share, house and access media-rich files, including audio and video.

Its unique online and offline functionality supports delivery of rich, interactive learning to continue on a mobile device in all environments – even those with limited or non-existent internet connectivity.

Students on a school excursion can record audio or video of the project in action and upload it into their eLocker or access assignments and fact sheets during a trip to museum to extend their knowledge.

Studywiz Mobile eLocker gives true meaning to anytime, anywhere learning by enabling all students – connected or disconnected – to continue learning outside the classroom and benefit from new eLearning opportunities.

It is currently being used in an initiative to connect remote learners from farming communities in rural regions to their 21st century learning materials.

I’m a 41 year old unashamed lover of tech. who, with eight years experience in Outdoor Ed., a degree in Philosophy, a year and half running a community ICT charity, a masters in Intelligent Systems, and ultimately nine years as a learning technologist in HE, is about to embark on a PhD in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning.
Since I wired myself to the mains as a child, electricity has coursed through my veins. I’ve played with electronics and computers since at least the release of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and feel a deep connection and understanding to how tech works.

Luckily for me I might be a geek if it wasn’t for the fact that I have an equally deep love of the natural world and the philosophical world, which help to keep me grounded.
I believe it is these two aspects of my character that give me an understanding of when technology can help, when it can hinder, when it is needed and when it just gets in the way of learning. I love my job, I love helping bridge the gaps in understanding people come to me with, and I look forward to shining more light on how technology can enhance learning.

www.abdn.ac.uk/clt/staffdetails.php?id=p.marston⊂=6&top=2

James Clay is and has been passionate about the use of learning technologies to enhance and enrich the learning experience since 1991. He has used, developed, managed and inspired others in a range of technologies, from DTP, CD-ROM, mobile devices, the internet, the VLE, the MLE, Web 2.0 and of course mobile learning.

James Clay has been ILT & Learning Resources Manager at Gloucestershire College since November 2006. He is responsible for the VLE, the use of learning technologies, e-learning, mobile learning, the libraries, digital and online resources and the strategic direction of the college in relation to the use of learning technologies.

James has extensive experience of mobile learning and has a vision that goes beyond mobile technologies and focuses on the mobility of the learner, blurring the demarcation between formal and informal learning. His current vision for tertiary education encompasses the use of Web 2.0 technologies embedded into an institutional VLE which can be accessed through mobile technologies. Allowing learners a focal point for their studying, whilst allowing the depth and breadth of Web 2.0 to bring a personalised learning experience to students at a time and space to suit them.

For the future, James hopes that institutions and others will allow for a flexible, personalised, accessible learning experience for all.

elearningstuff.wordpress.com

I’ve always been fascinated by technology and began my early teaching career as an ILT Coordinator in the days of Acorn Archimedes and super market vouchers to buy them (well, every little helps).

Since then technology has become far more sophisticated and I am as keen as ever to find new and different ways of using technology to improve learning and make it as interesting and as enjoyable as it can possibly be.

Over the last two years we have been involved in MoLeNET with 600 apprentices, work based learners full-time students and 14-16 children from local secondary schools. It involved using handheld technologies such as UMPCs, headcams, Nintendos and Classmate Readers.

As evidenced by the tutors interviewed for LSN’s ‘Harnessing Technology’ video the outcomes have been very impressive as teachers report improvements in the quality of coursework by hairdressing apprentices, speedier completion rates and improved attendance and behaviour of young people at risk of becoming NEET. Students are supporting each other, downloading and listening to e-books and working with greater independence than ever before.

Contributing in a small way to the future shape of teaching and learning is hugely satisfying and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with such willing and enthusiastic teachers and learners.

www.moletv.org.uk/Watch.aspx?v=M2ELG

The Mobile Learning Network (MoLeNET) is a unique, innovative collaborative approach to encouraging, implementing, expanding and promoting mobile learning via supported shared cost projects which has rapidly grown into one of the world’s largest mobile learning initiatives.

In the past year the number of learners involved has more than doubled to over 20,000. The focus is on helping English post 14 education and training providers to exploit the potential of handheld and pocket-sized technologies to improve, personalise and extend the reach of learning and teaching.

MoLeNET, devised and led by LSN, involves collaboration at national level between participating institutions and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), who share the cost of mobile learning projects with LSC contributing the capital funding, and LSN who provide a support and evaluation programme. The support and evaluation programme includes technical and pedagogic advice and support, materials development, continuing professional development, mentoring, research and facilitation of peer-to-peer support, networking and resource sharing.

Locally project managers, teachers, ICT/e-learning staff and practitioner researchers collaborate to introduce m-learning and to collect evidence of its impact and effectiveness.

For evidence of the impact of MoLeNET see “The impact of mobile learning” (pdf available at http://tinyurl.com/lsn-molenet-impact)

www.molenet.org.uk
www.lsneducation.org.uk/research/TEL

Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS)is an ambitious, collaborative programme involving five universities, 16 health and social care professions, the NHS, the Strategic Health Authority and commercial partners (ecommnet, MyKnowledgeMap and T-Mobile).

ALPS’ has provided over 900 students with secure access to IT systems and network coverage via a mobile device for work-based learning. These students can create and securely store work whilst away from the university, as well as keeping in touch with academic tutors and peers.

Through the ALPS Assessment Suite tutors send assessments to students’ mobile devices. The completed assessments automatically synchronise with the ALPS e-portfolio where tutors respond with timely feedback and support helping to identify struggling students earlier.

Tutors have also provided mobilised learning material such as instructional videos, PowerPoint presentations, guides and quizzes for immediate, pocket-sized support in high pressure learning scenarios. Alongside the ALPS provided tools the students can access email, the internet and create videos, photos and audio recordings.

Going mobile allowed us to support students on placement where there is often no access to PCs or the internet, allowing them to feel connected in what can be a lonely and challenging environment. The portability of mobiles also gets students recording immediate observations and reflecting on their work experience as and when they are going through processes or assessments, strengthening the quality of placement learning.

www.alps-cetl.ac.uk

ACU’s “Connected” initiative leverages mobility to create a more flexible, communal, and multivocal space for learning in the 21st century. A 1-to-1 program using iPhones and iPod touches, Connected seeks to break down the restrictions of many classroom models. With access to online information whenever and wherever they need it, a robust set of communication technologies, and rich media creation and playback tools, students in Connected classes become content creators and resources rather than merely serving as consumers of pre-developed information, and teachers move from content delivery to roles as guides, assessors, and moderators. Connected yields not merely a new form of active learning, but also a new form of active teaching.

With Connected, teachers and students have access to a robust set of academic, informational and social tools, all interlinked in a mobile portal. MyACU Mobile uses Web 2.0 technologies to provide single-sign-on access to campus information (maps, news and events, campus directories), city information (guides to restaurants, businesses, and services), and a robust set of teaching tools—including class blogs, rapid-deployment student-response tools, mobile file and dropbox access, podcasting, course calendaring, and class-management tools, all integrated with student- and course-information systems to increase engagement and community across campus.

www.acu.edu/connected
m.acu.edu

Currently I work full time in a class of 26 nine and ten year old children at a small inner-city school in Salford, UK. Our school is situated in an area of great social deprivation, but with the support of an inspirational Head Teacher and an amazing staff, we believe that we are able to make a significant difference to the lives of the young children that we work with. Our children are faced with massive challenge and disadvantage and we believe that empowering them with ICT is an advantage that we can give them. All our children have 1 - 1 access to ultramoblie PCs in the Junior department.

Over the last eleven years I have used ICT to engage with children and drive their learning forward in exciting new ways. It makes my learning and theirs much more enjoyable. At present I am developing a new pedagogy within a transformational learning space in partnership with our local CLC, organising a Teachmeet in the North West to share good practice, setting up an educational software development company and acting as Vice-Chair for the NAHT ICT Committee - other than that life's pretty quiet at the moment!

www.mrkp.edublogs.org
www.charlestownprimary.wordpress.com

Karen, known as KC to colleagues and students, is a dynamic special needs practitioner in the area of information technology. Her can-do approach to learning, enables students with a wide range of learning disabilities to access the curriculum according to their needs and ensures that they are fully included in learning.

KC’s insatiable appetite for her own learning and development is willing shared with colleagues so that the whole college develops as an inclusive learning community. Recent research and application has included, developing communication with students on the Autistic spectrum by using accessories and avatars, webcams and range of hand-held digital technology. This innovative work, recognised in 2009 Becta Next Generation award for Furthering My Learning has raised great interest across sector as well as further a field within the international arena. ICT has facilitated learning across the curriculum; enabling individual students differentiated access to learning where little progress was made previously.

KC’s determination and skill has resulted in her work being chosen as an Inclusion and Accessibility Showcase Project by LSIS eCPD programme.

Her vision is that Information Technology is a major key to in individualising learning for students and enabling them to further their journey to a full and integrated life.

www.youtube.com/oakwoodcourtcollege

I have been Professional Stream Leader for Technologies for Learning within Libraries and Learning Innovation at Leeds Metropolitan University since 2008.

I have spent over 30 years working in Librarianship being constantly challenged in adapting new technologies to student support and experience. Working on this HEAT 3 project is another step on that long and fascinating journey. Working closely with Mitesh Patel, Learning Technologist for Libraries and Learning Innovation at Leeds Metropolitan University since 2008, and others in the project team we have been intrigued by the new accessibility provided by emergent m-technologies. Mitesh has previously worked on accessibility issues in VLEs, identifying and developing solutions for those with visual disabilities and dyslexia. I am concerned with ensuring joined up and strategic thinking and solutions to accessibility issues on our learning technology platforms.

A major driving force behind this project was to strengthen the connections between University teams including Libraries and Learning Innovation and Disability Support with the achievement of such integration across teams enhancing the student experience. The project provides a model for cross service understanding, integration and communication which will allow us to introduce additional supportive technologies across the University in a controlled way achieving maximum impact through more efficient collaboration.

Games for Life are a non-for-profit Community Interest Company presenting the NASA-inspired Play Attention Edufeedback System to schools and parents as a non-medical alternative FUN brain-training computer educational games for attention-related learning difficulties (including Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder).

Go to the following weblink to see video demonstrations http://www.gamesforlife.co.uk/handheld-learning-award-finalist

Using their mind alone the high-tech helmet monitors the electrical activity of their brain and can distinguish between when a student is focussing with their attention or if they are distracted or start daydreaming. A students mind becomes like the mouse or joystick during FUN interactive educational tasks. Attention thus becomes concrete and something that the students realise they can have control over, rather than attention being an abstract concept (“pay attention BOY/GIRL”!) This is real brain training and has been described as like muscle memory. A recent study just completed in Hertfordshire Schools by the University of Hertfordshire has initial results showing improved cognitive functioning with reduced impulsivity using Play Attention during a 10-week intervention.

Teachers are utilising Play Attention on a master consol what students are actually paying attention in a Homework i-Lab while performing homework (reading or math questions). When the student is focussed i.e. reading from the book (or completing their math questions), there brainwaves feedback to the ‘game’ e.g., to build a Library. Note, when a student is distracted or loses focus the interactive ‘game’ i.e. building of the library stops! Providing a teachable moment.
If you would like Play Attention to be considered by your schools please vote for Games for Life in the Handheld Learning Special Needs awards Final.

www.gamesforlife.co.uk

CapturaTalkis the UK's first mobile phone software to convert text-to-speech from a digital photograph. Designed with dyslexia and literacy problems in mind, CapturaTalk v2offers a discrete, portable solution to recognise and speak text photographed on a Windows Mobile phone. CapturaTalk v2 delivers high-quality text-to-speech and dictionary support for Pocket Word, Notes and Tasks, SMS, e-mail and Pocket Internet Explorer applications, aiding understanding and learning ‘anytime anywhere’. Perfect for accessing information on the move, the software scans a photograph, recognises text and reads the information aloud (or discreetly via a Bluetooth earpiece). Completely redesigned, the software is available as a stand-alone download compatible with a range of Windows Mobile 5 & 6 touch-screen devices. Created by Mobispeech Ltd (a joint venture between iansyst Ltd and Raspberry Software Ltd), the software is fully integrated with the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

CapturaTalk supports students in accessing all areas of the curriculum; designed specifically to support literacy and language skills, especially useful for students with dyslexia, other learning difficulties or for non-native English speakers..

CapturaTalk is being used across a wide age range, in an education environment, from Year Seven (age 11) up to students in further/higher education and even by adults in the workplace as part of lifelong learning.

www.capturatalk.com

The knfbReading Technology, Inc. (KNFBRTI) Mobile Reader features a new generation of software for image processing and text detection for mobile devices. Developed under the direction of Ray Kurzweil, a thirty-year innovator and pioneer in assistive technologies and the inventor of the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, this software has been specifically designed to provide outstanding, real-time performance with low-quality mobile-phone images.

The knfbReader mobile is a major advancement in portability and functionality of print access for people who are blind or visually impaired. The software runs on a multifunction cell phone and allows users to snap a picture of virtually any printed material. The knfbReader mobile can be activated and ready to use with the touch of a single button. The user snaps a photo of the print to be read and our proprietary document analysis and character recognition software in conjunction with high quality text-to-speech reads the contents of the document aloud. At the same time, it displays the print on the phone’s built-in screen and highlights each word as it is spoken. Reading in a variety of languages is available, along with translation between languages.

www.knfbReading.com

Kantoo English is a revolutionary new way to learn and practice Conversational English on a mobile handset. Appealing to the mass market, it uniquely provides learners with a fully integrated course, taking them from the beginning of language learning up to intermediate level. People learn at their own pace, anywhere, anytime, with immediate feedback, while their performance is centrally tracked. The course is made up of a seamless flow of bite-size activities, each filled with rich interactive multimedia, and calibrated to advance the learner gradually through the Common European Framework. In all, there are thousands of words, phrases, pictures and audio files, as well as games, to enrich learning. Activities take just a few minutes to complete – perfect for when waiting for the bus, or during a short tea break.

The course is complemented by a forum on users' handsets, where a vibrant community share questions, make friends and practice what they've learned.

Kantoo English allows EVERYONE to learn and practice English. Over 70,000 users downloaded the course in the first 6 months after launch in Latin America, and its user base and geographic area are continuously expanding.

The innovative platform that Kantoo English offers has succeeded in bringing together diverse groups of people united in one purpose – learning English.

kantoo.com/KantooEnglish/index.html

Open a new learning channel to your mobile workforce with Intuition Mobile Learning. This award-winning platform enables you to securely deliver, track and report on courses, surveys, assessments, podcasts, and videos. It can be deployed as standalone or fully integrated with your LMS/HR system, is designed to open standards and is available on- or offline. Benefits include, decreased training costs, increased ROI and learner performance.

Why choose our platform?
• Learning Focused – Global knowledge services company with 25 years experience in enterprise learning solutions
• Open Standards – courses, assessments, surveys, audio, video
• Standalone or Fully Integrated – Platform can run in standalone mode or fully integrated into enterprise LMS/HR/ERP systems
• Cross Platform Support – BlackBerry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile
• Secure, Short, Easy Deployments – Enterprise deployments to thousands of devices.
• Flexible Connectivity – WIFI, EDGE, GPRS, 3G
• Intuitive – Manage users, groups and learning items via a simple web-based administration interface
• Push or Pull – Application and content can be “pushed” or manually “downloaded” by users
• On- or Offline – Application and content resides on-device for maximum performance
• Storage Management – Control storage capacity on device
• 360° Tracking & Reporting – View and report progress and tracking for users/ groups

www.intuition.com/mobile

Goal Training and Development is an accredited training company that delivers national qualifications to staff in the Hospitality and Retail sectors in Australia. Our I.T. company "i-learn Australia" has developed its own proprietary authoring tool called the "mcs" - mobile content shell. This provides a platform to develop and deliver SITE SPECIFIC multimedia based training solutions that are delivered on Windows based PDA's and Smartphones.

The content includes: text, audio, images, videos, assessments, captioning and sign language. All of this content is provided on a device and can be updated at any time. Users do not need to have any I.T. knowledge to produce content. There is no need to use expensive production houses to develop multimedia content or to have continuous internet access. Content can be used in ANY location and at ANY time - particularly in remote locations.

Our participants range from 15 year old students to over 60’s employed in Licensed Clubs.

Our clients include: Casinos, Hotels, Restaurants, Licensed Clubs, Industry Associations, Other Training Providers, Schools

Our mobile learning projects have included: Certificate 3 Hospitality and Retail Qualifiactions, Certificate 2 Kitchen Operations, Compliance training – Responsible Service of Alcohol, Food Handlers and OH&S, Staff inductions, Espresso coffee service, Wines, Alcoholic beverages, Restaurant service, Hand held tour guiding, Sign Language and Captioned versions for hearing impaired staff

gtd.com.au/mobile-learning.aspx

Problem Statement: Feedback forms a critical component of a learning system, however evaluating on continual basis has been a hindrance, due to various reason like
- Time consumed to conduct & evaluate tests.
- For computer-based tests, computer per trainee is not always feasible.
- Incase of paper based test, analysis is limited to human analysis.

Solution:
Drona is designed to solve the above problem for learning and training industry.
It provides a complete platform for creation, distribution and analysis of tests. The tests created will be distributed to all participants in the same class on their mobile handsets.

On completion of test, results are posted back to Drona to provide analysis of score, time-taken, relative performance, etc.

Benefits:
• Enables trainers to conduct conceptual test at end of every session.
• Provides trainers with more information on performance to make better decisions.
• Same test can work on variety of handsets like Blackberry, Windows and Java enabled phones.
• Provides a capability to create tests and collate results in time effective manner with minimum infrastructure.
• Requires no technical know-how.

Features:
• Simple UI
• Easy to use.
• Supports audio-video, images.
• Analysis for trainees, trainers & management

www.deltecs.com/mobileAuthoring.html

I am a Year 6 Teacher, ICT coordinator at Oakdale Junior School. Ten months ago, we purchased a class set of DS consoles, after previously trialling a set that were on loan from the borough. We use the 30 consoles across 350 children, aged 7-11, with every class having a timetabled session daily. Using Brain Training, the children use the consoles to improve and consolidate their mental maths skills. We have extended the use of the consoles to include pictochat to write collaboratively, we use them as a way to promote positive behaviour and for cross-curricular projects using Professor Layton. This year we are part of a small network in the borough using the Wii to enhance writing in the curriculum, and within the school we are exploring the benefit of using the Wii fit to improve control, co-ordination and balance for children with dyspraxia.

For me the last year has been an amazing experience, I had not used hand held devices either at home or in school, now I can’t imagine not using them! The benefits that they bring to the classroom are huge and the use of hand held consoles extends and enhances the curriculum and I have been lucky enough to share our work with colleagues at last year’s HHL and GBL conference as well as conferences held in Luton, Oxford and Cardiff.

www.teachers.tv/video/37337 link to Teacher s TV programme to be shown September 16th
oakdalejuniorschool.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html school blog

John’s approach to learning is low-threat but high challenge - calls to action that combine creativity and constraint. This is illustrated in his new open source Learning Event Generator (LEG) http://bit.ly/AGQwn. Teachers around the world are now using it as part of their daily classroom practice.

In his keynotes & training sessions John champions a realistic view of the new technology revolution. His approach is one that fuses intermediate and advanced technology approaches / where we keep the best of past practice and augment it with the benefits that the new tools have to offer / where the slate lays down with the iPhone. The simple design of outdoor learning adventures with mobile layering is John’s current project as pioneered in Boston Summer 2009.

The Random Activity Generator (RAG) is an iPhone app John has just developed to build on the idea of using challenge and mobile tools to get beyond the inertia of daily practice http://is.gd/qlvJ

Finally John’s latest invention “The Learning Score” aims to turns lesson planning into a creative graphical event and allows teachers and learners to plan and make a lesson in the same creative way they might edit a movie. “GarageBand for a learning event.” www.learningscore.org

www.newtools.org

It's a shock and real privilege to be nominated and short-listed amongst so much talent and enthusiasm, at a time when we are finally starting to have an impact and to see results. Recently I became Professor of Mobile Learning, possibly the world's first. This however isn't really an achievement as such, more a form of recognition, having been working in mobile learning since it's earliest days. We are now seeing a wider recognition amongst our community of the possibilities, approaches and challenges involved in developing and deploying mobile learning ethically and equitably, in making educational opportunities accessible to people, communities and perhaps countries that would otherwise have been too remote geographically, economically or socially and also a wider recognition of the significance of evidence, sustainability and scale if we are to maximise our contribution to learning. I hope I've made some contribution. Some specific landmarks were bringing mLearn, the world's learning mobile learning research conference back to the UK and aligning it closely with Handheld Learning 2008 along with helping to establish the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning and consolidate the International Association for Mobile Learning!

When I took the Chief Executive role of the new e-Learning Foundation in 2001 the mission seemed quite simple - to ensure that every child in the UK got access to the learning technology they needed, whenever and wherever they wanted to learn.

I set three key principles for schools who wanted to engage. First, the kit had to go home. I also focused on sustainability so parents had to contribute where they were able to, even if it wasn’t much.

And I insisted on the equity principle so every child could take part.

Since then I have won support from Government, the private sector, charities and trusts and been able to give back over £12m of grants to schools to allow them to be able to offer an equity scheme in the knowledge that while everyone might not be able to contribute, every child can take part.

I have spoken at dozens of conferences, taken a stand at BETT every year since 2001, participated in Working Parties, Steering Groups, Evaluation Committees, Judging Panels and Task Forces. I have written articles for websites, newspapers and magazines and I have been interviewed for radio and TV broadcasts. And we have run an “Access Denied” and an “Equity campaign” to heighten awareness of the digital divide.

And as a result nearly 400 schools have set up programmes that follow these principles and over 100,000 pupils now have access. The £300m Government Home Access programme that I was heavily involved in from the start will see yet more families taken out of the Digital Divide, but there remains a long way to go before we get where I want to be – universal access for the young people of this country.

www.e-learningfoundation.com

Jill Attewell is one of the pioneers of mobile learning having initiated and led the first EU funded research and development project “m-learning” (2001-2004) which the European Commission’s review panel described as “ground breaking”.
The experience of “m-learning” informed the development of Jill’s most influential brainchild the Mobile Learning Network, better known as MoLeNET. MoLeNET has very successfully and emphatically taken mobile learning out of the lab and into the real world of Further Education colleges and schools.
Jill’s MoLeNET achievements in the past year have included:

• encouraging the Learning and Skiils Council to invest even more in mobile technology for MoLeNET projects, taking their total investment in MoLeNET to £12.5m
• increasing the number of learners benefiting from the programme to over 20,000
• publishing (Attewell J, Savill-Smith C and Douch R, 2009, “The Impact of Mobile Learning”) the findings of large scale research, carried out in partnership with college based practitioner researchers, which provides evidence of the positive effect of mobile learning on many learners’ engagement, behaviour, attendance, retention, achievement and enjoyment of learning.

Jill is Vice President of the International Association for Mobile Learning (IAMlearn) and leads LSN’s Technology Enhanced Learning Research Centre.

www.molenet.org.uk
www.lsneducation.org.uk/research/TEL

For more than two decades, George Saltsman, Executive Director of the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning at ACU, has helped bring new technologies to the classroom. Overseeing a staff of professionals who support classroom teaching and educational innovation, Saltsman has helped build a premier facility, with more than 96% of faculty voluntarily attending enrichment and training sessions this past year.

As a chief architect of ACU’s Connected initiative, Saltsman helped develop a vision for how hyper-mobile connected devices can serve academic, social, and administrative needs. Since 2008, Saltsman has presented this vision at more than 36 international venues, and in February, 2009, he served as host for the ConnectEd Summit, a conference attended by 425 educators and educational technologists from 119 institutions in 31 US states and 8 countries. Saltsman and his team have been recognised with numerous awards, and in June, the New Media Consortium named ACU a Center of Excellence.

Saltsman is currently working with a consortium of six K-12 districts in Texas to deploy iPhone- and iPod touch-based learning and has been instrumental in forming an international research consortium (involving more than a dozen UK and US universities) to conduct joint mLearning research and share results.

www.acu.edu/academics/adamscenter/index.html
www.acu.edu/connected
www.acu.edu/technology/mobilelearning/conferences/
www.georgesaltsman.com

James Clay is and has been passionate about the use of learning technologies to enhance and enrich the learning experience since 1991. He has used, developed, managed and inspired others in a range of technologies, from DTP, CD-ROM, mobile devices, the internet, the VLE, the MLE, Web 2.0 and of course mobile learning.

James Clay has been ILT & Learning Resources Manager at Gloucestershire College since November 2006. He is responsible for the VLE, the use of learning technologies, e-learning, mobile learning, the libraries, digital and online resources and the strategic direction of the college in relation to the use of learning technologies.

James has extensive experience of mobile learning and has a vision that goes beyond mobile technologies and focuses on the mobility of the learner, blurring the demarcation between formal and informal learning. His current vision for tertiary education encompasses the use of Web 2.0 technologies embedded into an institutional VLE which can be accessed through mobile technologies. Allowing learners a focal point for their studying, whilst allowing the depth and breadth of Web 2.0 to bring a personalised learning experience to students at a time and space to suit them.

For the future, James hopes that institutions and others will allow for a flexible, personalised, accessible learning experience for all.

elearningstuff.wordpress.com

What a year! Steve is relatively new to handheld learning and this last year has seen great developments in his collaborative use of mobile technology. He’s always had an interest in innovative ICT, but he was greatly inspired by last year’s conference.

As an Educational consultant in Northumberland, supporting schools using ICT, Steve has a passion for using games in learning, seeing the obvious enthusiasm from the pupils. Last year he was just embarking on a Becta Harnessing Technology research project into mobile phones, Nintendo DS consoles and enquiry skills. This focus led to him creating a guide and video for HHL08 delegates on how to use ‘Pictochat’ – the chat tool on the DS. The mobile phones research into enquiry and collaboration has been shared at Becta and Cambridge University conferences.

Using the Nintendo DS consoles, he themed activities in primary schools around ‘Professor Layton and the Curious Village’ – a problem solving game. This game-based learning inspired children to learn about creating their own video games and develop digital storytelling. Further use of the DS consoles in Secondary schools using ‘Maths training’ led to an appearance on local BBC news.

Currently, Steve is developing an iPod apps scheme of work for schools to get them started with the software development kit. He’s starting a new European project, with artist, Derrick Welsh, to create artwork on mobile phones focused on cultural diversity.

What a life-changing year and he’s looking forward to the next.