Access.
This class made me really think back to my beginning in the GSE program. The way I access my classes, submit assignments, interact with other students, and complete work is all congruent with mobile learning. I was able to attend class on the porch of a houseboat floating in the Boston Harbor. I submitted assignments and made contact with my application creation group members through my mobile phone while driving down the eastern US shore. Through QR codes that we discussed in great detail we can instantly access in depth knowledge on a given subject. Augmented reality allows student access to situations and environments that will increase their understanding and knowledge. Cloud computing allows one to access the same information from a home computer and a mobile or school device.
Speed.
Mobile learning is instant. We live in a world of instant gratification and every new technology tries to make one more aspect of our lives 'instant.' The speed at which we can perform tasks through mobile learning is unbelievable. A new textbook or the summer reading options for students can be uploaded instantly through use of an eBook. Global interaction can be instant with the use of mobile photos and videos.
Ease.
Some may consider it laziness, but mobile learning has made many tasks easy. Communication is no longer confined to telephone booths or pen and paper, but through mobile phones, Apps such as Skype mobile, QR codes, formative feedback, Diigo pages, and so on, our students can communicate easily with students across the world, or have meaningful continuous conversation and discussion with students across the room. Mobile Learning creates an easy space for us to learn. Like I read in the Design Principles for Mobile Learning, it starts with a question. How can we make something easier and more meaningful for our students. It is quite possible some avenue of mobile learning is a viable option.
Function.
Mobile learning is function. It is all about function. OLPC offers functionality to students across the world who were previously unable to access mobile learning. With cloud computing students can continue work in multiple subject areas throughout their day in different classrooms, different buildings, and even at home. Augmented reality can create a safe way for students to be actively engaged in learning important but possibly dangerous situations (See my prior post on Augmented Reality in a technology high school).
How can one truly summarize Mobile Learning when it is not finished and will never stop? While Mobile Learning creates alternate avenues for our students to generate knowledge and knowhow, it is a learning process itself that is constantly growing and evolving. Maybe it is heading 'to infinity and beyond?'
