Tags: [Blackboard, Partial Recall, usability, interaction design, information architecture, ui, ux, ixd, user experience]

I am heartened to read one quote from Christopher Gibbs, a programmer at ACU, when he states:

“There are a number of challenges when it comes to creating applications for the iPhone. I won’t go into all of them but the biggest is usability. Some people say content is king, well I say usability is king. This is true with any program or website but especially true on the iPhone, where you have a very limited interface.”

Some pressure might come from the administration on down in terms of what should be available, but I hope the team gets a lot of bottom up participation (i.e., students, non-tenured faculty, etc.) when they try to work on the how – how to implement features and functionality in both a usable and desirable way.

The United States is playing catch up with Europe in terms of our level of maturity with mobile devices, but this trend will certainly play out nicely in the education arena, particularly given the high rate (45% of teenagers of teenagers in 2005) already using mobile devices for a variety of needs.

Tags: [Abilene Christian University, iPhone, ubiquitous computing, e-learning, educational technology, Partial Recall]

“In the spring of 2007, a group of educators, technologists, and administrators at ACU crystallized these ongoing discussions, producing a case for a new emphasis on mobile learning based on ubiquitous information access through powerful, portable, converged devices. Made possible by the broad capabilities offered by a new generation of these devices, we see the future of the university coalescing around the new opportunities that mLearning is bringing…”

The University is in the process of testing the iPhone to determine if the device helps students gain knowledge and get the most from their collegiate education.

As part of this vision, the University posted “Connected: The Movie”, which portrays the following:

“What might a university look like with a fully deployed program of converged devices like the iPhone? Connected is one possible vision. This fictional day-in-the-life account highlights some of the potential benefits in a higher education setting when every student, faculty, and staff member is “connected.” Though the applications and functions portrayed in the film are purely speculative, they’re based on needs and ideas uncovered by our research – and we’ve already been making strides to transform this vision of mobile learning (mLearning) into reality.”

Frankly, the possibilities put forth by this video make me want to go back to school! This vision also seems more readily achievable than Apple’s famous Knowledge Navigator concept video from 1988.

Tags: [Apple, iPhone, Abilene Christian University, ubiquitous computing, user experience, e-learning, educational technology, Partial Recall]

Mark Wagner of the EdTechLife blog linked this interesting video [Quicktime movie] about how educators can incorporate games to facilitate learning. He created a webcast about video games in education, with interviews of Henry Jenkins, James Paul Gee, Clark Aldrich…

Gaming is getting much more traction in the education arena. There are some fantastic ways that students can learn while also having some fun. Hopefully this video will encourage you to see the possibilities.

[Runtime: 22:12 | Please make sure you have the latest version of Macromedia Flash installed on your computer to watch this video. To download it, please visit: http://www.macromedia.com ]

Tags: [Mark Wagner, EdTechLife, educational technology, video game, game, education]