Here's another post on the theme of nodes on the internet/intranet becoming the 'filling stations' for a more portable/flexible approach to online and blended learning. Notice how I've managed to drop the 'e' word and added the 'blended' word in there:) Auricle readers not familiar with previous articles may find
A 'filling station' model of e-learning? - The Sony mix? (and earlier posts linked from there) of interest.
In my recent Shock of the Old post (8 April 2005) I highlighted how impressed I had been with the creativity and interactivity of the other speakers, but one presentation in particular caught my attention, i.e. The use of PDAs to support learning by David Sugden of Dewsbury College and John Whalley - National Learning Network mentor. David Sugden has also explored accessibility issues and PDAs in his TechDis article Using PDAs with Learners.
To date, I've eschewed involvement with PDAs. I've even mentally rolled my eyes as colleagues pulled out their flashy boxes as I made a lightening entry in my retro pencil and paper-driven pocket diary whilst they were still struggling to start their device up. But David and John's presentation sowed the seeds for what was to come. These guys came armed with a bundle of PDAs which they issued around the audience, so strike one for instant audience participation. Strike two came in the form of a description of their work in environments where there is no internet access but where the 'loaded' or 'refreshed' PDAs provide students with resources they wouldn't get otherwise. They even managed to play a video (sort of) on their bog standard PDAs.
In the weeks following the event I reflected on their presentation and mentally tried to map it to my postings about e-learning filling stations (sorry! … online learning filling stations:). I decided to see if the current generation of PDAs have anything serious to offer personally and professionally. I wanted to try and view the use of the PDA from both a potential teacher and learner perspective.
So for the last couple of weeks I've been living and working with a brand new Dell Axim X50v PDA which has got four outstanding features and one less desirable trait. The outstanding features are it's: small (~12×7 cm); light; got a VGA display(640 x 480), got integral wireless networking (WiFi and Bluetooth). The less desirable trait is the standard battery has got the life of a gnat when the wireless is switched on and the display brightness is set high.
But despite the caveats this device is just so … liberating. It gives you a real sense of what's to come. It's so unobtrusive that I carry it around everywhere. Want to do a bit of web browsing sitting in the garden … no problem. Want to preview a Word or PDF document without carrying a stack of paper? … All perfectly possible … Once you've adjusted to the PDA way of doing things that is.
For example, if you want to read PDF documents then you could download the free Acrobat reader for Pocket PCs from Adobe but, to be honest, the quality of the text wasn't really very good so I had to switch to a third party (paid for) product called RepliGo which proved to be really excellent. I also wanted to test out how this PDA would cope with rich media like video. On the video front it's not bad at all, Microsoft's proprietary media format is supported by default, but I got even better results from encoding in DivX using free utilities and the freebie BetaPlayer. It's even possible to encode a whole movie or TV programme; which might be of interest to passenger commuters … but this might prove a bit fatal for car drivers, cyclists, or pedestrian commuters. Nevertheless, significant audio and video learning resources could be downloaded to the PDA's compact flash or SDCard storage. I haven't succeeded in getting Macromedia (or is that Adobe?) Flash files to run as yet, mainly becase the default Flash player for the Pocket PC operating system is an ActiveX control which will only run within Internet Explorer for Pocket PC; the resultant double hit on the PDA's memory is just too much for it.
But, it's the wireless networking which is the real liberator. The short range Bluetooth wireless I can use with a fold away keyboard, so inputing text will be more efficient. The WiFi is for intranet/internet access.
Want to do a bit of Voice over IP (VoIP) then just install Skype for Pocket PC and off you go … but remember keep in sight of that power socket … and turn that screen off. That assumes of course that the wireless connections work as expected. My home Wireless setup had been fine with my other devices, but the PDA, however, uncovered a problem in my WAP's configuration which required a firmware upgrade, but otherwise it was fine. And it's really intriguing wandering around my neighbourhood and discovering wireless access points I didn't know existed.
So if you see a strange man standing outside your house with a PDA then lock down your access point or it could be me Skyping via your broadband connection 🙂 And if I knock on your door it will be to ask if I can recharge my battery from one of your power outlets 🙂
It was on the work WiFi (802.11b for the pedants) front that things began to get really interesting. My institution is running a pilot wireless network access system and so I took myself off to various hotspots to try and view things from a faculty or student perspective. In summary, what took me minutes with my domestic setup; has taken me a week at work. The explanation is interesting.
Now at home I'm just connecting to my own Wireless Access point, but at work I'm connecting to the institutional network and so the priority is security, particularly with wireless network access. As a result, before using a new device each user has to register their MAC address using an automated system which then grants them access. The difficulty was that the automated registration system mapped one user to one device and I had previously registered a laptop. And here was me coming along with yet another device and so, no, the system wasn't going to let me on board. Anyway, to cut a long story short with the help of our excellent IT support service we managed to diagnose the problem and bypass the automated systems so that I can have more than one device registered on the system. Later in the year the automated registration system will be modified to allow for self-registration of multiple networked devices. Thanks chaps!
But this experience was illuminating. Students and staff in HEIs are increasingly going to turn up with multiple devices such as mine and the systems and policies need to be there to support them. Of course institutions could try and ban such devices, but try banning something you can't even see easily, try banning mobile phones … some of which are becoming more like PDAs … or is that PDAs becoming more like mobile phones?
The lecturer of the near future is just as likely to use his PDA or other ultra portable device as the source of his Powerpoints or other resources as he/she is their laptop. The student of the near future or present is just a likely to produce their wireless capable PDA which can link nearly immediately to resources being referred to, or to check different points of view either from the Web or their colleagues via peer-to-peer.
The caveat to all of the above, of course, is that most Web resources at the moment conveniently ignore the format of ultra portable devices, but, as the user base grows, that's going to become a big issue. For example, I hadn't been aware of how badly Auricle displays on a PDA, so that's something I'm going to have to fix.
To round off this post and just in case you think I'm getting too geek-like then let's consider the recent outpourings of the uber geek.
Bill Gates' (I know, I know … boo, hiss, slow hand clap etc etc) recently introduced a concept model called the Ultra Mobile tablet PC 2007 which looks awfully like a useful device to me. I'm no advocate of the Redmond view of the world but the right combination of hardware, firmware and software (and price) will make such portable devices serious objects of desire, not just because they look good but because they enable things to happen that would otherwise be too difficult or inconvenient.
What makes the Gates Ultra Mobile Tablet interesting is that it appears to be a non-volatile memory only device, i.e. no hard disk, much faster data access, and data retained on switch off. Hence reduced battery drain, reduced heat, and reduced weight. And, if driven by a 64-bit operating system, e.g. Microsoft's forthcoming Longhorn, then an awful lot of memory could be accessed, so there would be plenty of space for those documents and perhaps even the odd movie or two. Now Microsoft's Longhorn operating system (the replacement for XP) is still some way away (latter part of 2006?), so there is still a small chance of some usurper swerving in there to steal this ultra mobile show … know anyone with experience in small mobile devices? 🙂
The other caveat with the Gates' vision is an assumption that non-volatile memory prices will continue to fall and that international events, corporate greed or natural disasters won't disrupt, or artificially constrain, production.
So, in the Dell Axim X50v, I think I've found a genuinely useful tool (ok, gadget if you like) which fits in with the online learning filling station model I've described previously. I'll report back on any ongoing issues and experiences, but at the moment it's looking pretty promising.
Finally, if you've thought ultra mobile devices aren't relevant yet then I seriously urge you to think again. They are going to become the norm … so book early and get some experience under your belt.
