21st century learning in 16th century Avila
M-Powered Sisterhood
Greetings from A Spanish Medieval Palace, where 200 technologists, humanists and teachers are gathered from 29 countries for the 2011 International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) Mobile Learning Conference. Keynote presenter Marcus Specht of the Open University of the Netherlands shared research confirming that students with handheld devices showed greater engagement during fieldwork/fieldtrips because of the mobile devices multiple channels for responding (text, image, audio and video) He is particularly interested in the mobile device as a channel for sensory data, creative artifacts, communication, and synchronization (with other technologies). For example, if your mobile device senses that you are watching a soccer game on tv, it could send you inside information on particular players, the history of both teams, invite your friends to watch the game,…. Not sure I find this example enriching, but can imagine incredibly rich educational applications, some of which I hope to learn about during the next 3 days.
