WestOne's Senior Programs Officer (Staff Development) Chris Winter, has this to say:
"I just always try and
think "task" and that's what the app developers have done well with Bb
mobile.
Things that work well on
a phone and in the app include:
Checking the
calendar
Receiving
announcements
Using the
Blogs/Forums
Uploading
photo/video
Taking a mobile test
(steer away from questions with too much typing)
Checking my
grades
Content "can" be viewed
on a device but is pushed out to the browser. But as discussed, how much content
would we expect people to read on a phone?
Tablet yes, but then most
existing content would work with little alteration so long as it isn't flash
based."
I think that at KTI we maybe need to be thinking of models of training that make alot of use of mobile technology - many people in remote communities have smart phones but not such good access to computers.
With the issue of download costs etc, it seems that you have to make sure
you design your course to minimise this. So for example with the Blackboard
environment you base your course around activities like discussions, blogs,
simple quizzes, use the announcements and calendar tools alot to remind people
of tasks and get them to capture evidence of their learning with pictures, video
etc on their phones - these can then either be uploaded to Blackboard, or using
a local pc, put on the pc and accessed by each other and by a teacher, or shared
on a Facebook page, for example. They can journal by recording their thoughts
out loud on their phones, too.
So the mobile device or phone is not the sole source of study in the course
- it may include some face to face meetings, some computer work where computers
areavailable and even hard copy course manuals. The manuals with the phones
plus an occasional face to face meeting would probably be a good formula for
some of these communities.
