ou vle programme mobile learner support project faculty stakeholder session wed 13 th dec 2006
TRANSCRIPT
Session Aims• Further define project strands• Refine a set of questions for IET to include in a Student
Survey• Establish the next set of requirements input
Project OverviewUse cases:
• Offline and sporadic access• Synchronising to desktops• Connected, on-the-go
Project OverviewProject strands – initial scope• ‘Offline Moodle’• SMS alerts and interactivity• Instant messaging link to MSG• Podcasting• Course news via RSS• m-Assessment• eBooks• ‘Mobile Learning Environment’
Offline Moodle• Parallel activity working with Intel as announced to the
Moodle community at MoodleMoot 2006• To benefit offline users in the OU and worldwide where
connectivity is unreliable or at a premium• Consultation expected, particularly with Students and
ALs, from May 2007
SMS and Alerts• Central announcements• Reminders/prompts from:
– OU ‘Central’– Regions– Tutors
• Enabling peer support via free SMS
SMS and Alerts• Widespread work in HE sector
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning_innovation/eli_melas.aspx
http://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/telecoms/smstextservice/
http://library.curtin.edu.au/contact/sms.html
• Possibility of offering more interactive services (c.f. Banking Services ‘USSD’)
http://www.firstdirect.com/textmessagebanking/text_message_banking.shtml
• Could tie in with Calendar synchronisation to mobile devices
http://stadium.open.ac.uk/berrill/
http://www.gcalsync.com/
SMS and AlertsStudent survey
• How useful would you find:– Notification of start of course– Prompts on deadlines– Prompts during residential schools– Prompts for tutorials & revision workshops– Tips during course– Notification of TMA scoring– Course results
Instant Messaging• Enabling connected mobile learners to chat via MSG
– Mobile phone provider IM– MSN, Yahoo, Jabber
• Exploring future possibilities of converging electronic communications under ‘Messaging’
Instant Messaging• Mobile phone service providers providing linkages to
established chat serviceshttp://mobilecentral.ninemsn.com.au/mcmobilehotmail/demo.aspx
• Instant Messenger platforms sharing information on ‘telepresence’ and federating services
http://www.jabber.com/index.cgi?CONTENT_ID=832
Instant MessagingStudent Survey
• Would you find it helpful to be able to– Chat with fellow students who are online from your
mobile device– Chat with your friends on-the-go, linking with your
existing chat service
Podcasting• Reusing existing chunked material for new blended
learning opportunities• Extending availability of audiovisual content on the web
to include:– Channels Series Episodes
• Ensuring an intuitive web-based solution to assembly and publication
Podcasting• Examples of approach
– Handcrafted - Open2 http://www.open2.net/society/education/talking_languages_podcast/index.html
– Blog - T&L http://conclave.open.ac.uk/TaLGuestLecture/
– Moodle module http://playpen.monte.nsw.edu.au/course/view.php?id=11
• Issues– Creation – Audio Recording Tool– Publication– Access – free/protected/paid-for– Publicity – iTunes iTunesU ‘iTunesOU’?
PodcastingStudent Survey
• Would you like to be able to– Subscribe to a channel of audiovisual content to be
delivered to your mobile player• Should each course/programme series of episodes
available to you be:– In a single OU channel– Separated by subject area/programme– Separated by course title
Course News - RSS• RSS – Really Simple Syndication• Providing another way for students to elect to receive
news updates, prompts – subscribing and viewing on a news feed ‘aggregator’
• Allowing for:– Course level news– Programme level news– Personal news from blogs
Course News - RSS• Examples
– BBC / media http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3223484.stm
– Personal blog syndication http://vledemo.open.ac.uk/blog/index.php?filtertype=user&filterselect=94&edit=0
Course News - RSSStudent Survey
• Would you like to be able to– Subscribe to a feed delivering news updates on your
course• What kind of information would you like to receive by this
method – urgency etc.
m-Assessment• Providing short, formative exercises in the form of
learning objects for students to try on the move• Creating (multimedia/new media) assets that can be
used on a variety of platforms
m-Assessment• Examples
– Flashhttp://www.teachandlearn.open.ac.uk/secondary/ped/tl/1000005058/id_1000005058_1_3_16.cfm?passthrough=1
– Javahttp://www.java.com/en/mobile/crackenglish.jsp
m-AssessmentStudent Survey
• Would you find it helpful to be able to– Complete short exercises and quizzes to aid in your
understanding of course material– Interact with multimedia clips on your device
eBooks• Providing electronic documents with improved
readability, annotation and highlighting options• Addressing the challenge in producing content for a
variety of preferred formats automatically
eBooks• Current OU provision – PDFs – Adobe Reader• ‘Mobile eBooks’:
– DEEP: Microsoft Reader, eBook Reader
eBooksStudent Survey
• Would you find it helpful to be able to– Annotate and personalise electronic documents for
revision purposes– Make use of ‘auto-reader’ and ‘read aloud’ functions
Mobile Learning Environment• Deciding what students can access from their homepage
on various devices• Allowing for user-generated content on devices to be
uploaded to myStuff
Student survey: mobile usageExisting use of mobile tools and methods - please indicate which technologies/features you currently use:
PDAs/Handhelds:Pocket PC (legacy)
Windows Mobile Palm
Linux/other
Mobile phones:‘Standard’ (12.5G)
Video (3G) ‘Smartphone’
Other:iPods/equivalent Gaming devices
Tablet PCs Ultra-mobile PCs
Audiovisual (digital):Voice/audio recording
Photography Video capture
Field work:Expert Systems/Classification
Data logging Surveying
GPS
Internet/mediated:Browsing/researching
Networking/sharing Collaborating
Quiz/voting
Use of Applications - please indicate which tools you currently use:
Word processor Spreadsheets
Presentation Email
Messaging Calendar
Task manager Memos/notes
File/Document storage
Media (AV) player Photo album Audio books
Podcasts News reader
eBook reader Dictionary
GPS Navigation Games
Web Browsing:Pocket Internet Explorer
Opera Mini/Mobile Blazer (Palm)
NetFront Other
Flash Lite
Wider consultation• 31st January 2007 @ 2PM-3:30PM - Podcasting,
Course News and Alerts• 7th February 2007 @ 2PM-3:30PM - Mobile Course
content• 14th February 2007 @ 2PM-3:30PM - Social and User
Generated content
Contact: [email protected] – VLE Mobile Learner Support Project Leader