Can a mobile learning design be better than this?

I came across this app to help teach the Periodic Table of Elements and was a little disappointed:
http://www.knowproapps.com/periodic-table-elements/

I ran into this problem with iPhone/iPad interface design with another project. It seems that due to programming constraints, it is difficult to break out of the iPhone interface template, so what ends up happening are apps like this one.

On the other side of the argument, it is simple and sleek. However, such an app is nothing more than an electronic flash card and quiz machine.

How can this app be made more graphic, more engaging, and simply more fun?

As an instructional designer interested in creating mobile learning apps, I know there are better ways to create apps. However, I am not a programmer/developer, so I'm not sure of the programming constraints.

Army training using a mobile app

I just found this article on geek.com written by Matthew Humphries, which presents readers with the concept behind several mobile training app designed by the company C2 Technologies. From what I can tell, the objective of these apps is to teach soldiers who work on Patriot Mission how to do their jobs. From the screen shot, it looks like they are using a 3D simulation of the equipment.

Here is the article...

The writer concludes the article by saying, "Although we can see the benefit of training away from the actual missile launching system, we do hope trainees get some extended time with the actual equipment as well before having to use it for real."

I can acknowledge that Matthew Humphries is probably being humorous, but his comments brings up a good point on simulations and capabilities of mobile-based learning. One would expect that the mobile training is an extension of the hands-on training, perhaps as a way to introduce newbies to the system by teaching them some of the basics. Its akin to studying lab work through a virtual lab, then doing a similar experiment in an actual lab.

I am interested in what sort of instructional design process is taking place at C2 Technologies. Are they mostly developers there and do they employee an instructional designer?

Sounds like a fun job!

New directions...

Chalk drawing from 4freephotos.com


This is a copy of a post I made on a discussion board in my Adult Education/Learning course. I think it speaks well in the direction I'd like to pursue regarding mobile learning.

Since this semester began, I have started investigating into how the definition of knowledge has changed over the years. This vein relates to literature I have read on mobile learning, where it is argued that as people have become more mobile, their demand for information has become more modular, just-in-time, on-demand, and anytime/anywhere. Additionally, the literature sees mobile learning within broader terms such as ubiquitous learning, informal learning, and situated/contextual learning. What’s interesting is that these other terms have been argued and defined before the inception of mobile learning, and as I am trying to piece together, derive from literature redefining knowledge from more of a situated perspective and questioning how to teach tacit knowledge.
This literature is from the organizational learning and organizational development perspective. There is a philosophical base, which I’d like to explore, but that will be later for my paper.
I do think, however, that in the conversation on adult learning/adult education that it is important to also examine how our understanding of knowledge is changing due to technologies perhaps making it more situated. Therefore, the intersection of knowledge with learning needs to be made to move forward the discussion.
Of course, the points the adult education scholars make are relevant, but it is also worth considering what the adults are learning.
Here’s my reading list, which may or may not yield something significant:
Cope, B. & Kalantzis (2009). Ubiquitous Learning. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Argyris, C. (1999). On Organizational Learning (2nd Edition). Malden, MA: Blackwell Business.
A classic!
Tsoukas, H. (2005). Complex Knowledge: Studies in Organizational Epistemology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Osman, M. (2010). Controlling Uncertainty: Decision Making and Learning in Complex Worlds. Madlen: MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Iandoli, L. & Zollo, G. (2008). Organizational Cognition and Learning: Building Systems for the Learning Organization. Hersey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

CNY ASTD Presentation

Today 1/20/11 I will be presenting at a local ASTD meeting (CNY ASTD).
Here is a copy of my presentation for those who are interested:

HandOut

Mobile training ideas

This new year has sprouted some excellent beginnings. Quite appropriate I must say for being the new year and all. In one such prospect, our team is tasked with doing a needs analysis of a corporate level training system. One of the organization's leaders is interested in seeing how new technologies, such as mobile-based learning, might be a viable option as part of a new learning/content management system (LMS/CMS).
Being freshly educated in needs analysis research techniques, I looked in some recent writings by Rossett, who reminds readers to think about how front-end analysis data can help define what sorts of data is needed to track later evaluations. This is one of the keys to my current project, where stakeholders are interested in knowing what sorts of training learners are accessing and how this effects their productivity (Rossett, 2010).

The good news here is that such a mobile-based system is already in place in of all places Amway (Bunzel, 2010). The Amway system allows users to access product information, potential client concerns, and track their sales progress. As far as I can tell, their system is one of the first M-LMS.

Bunzel (2010). Live Online Training that Works: Strategies for High Impact Learning and Development.

Rossett (2010). Metrics Matters: Technology changes the face of learning and development. How does it change analysis and evaluation. Found on her website.

Why I study education technology (Part II)

Don Tapscott recently wrote a follow up essay in response to the New York Times article by Richtel, "Growing up Digital: Wired for Distraction", where he criticizes the assumptions made by Richtel that are not based on strong evidence. Tapscott then goes on to write on empirical evidence that shows how this generation is not so much distracted, but are instead not in sync with the traditional education delivery methods.

Unfortunately, Tapscott removed the article from his blog (I had it saved in my Google reader). Out of respect, I will not post it on my blog or scribd it, but if anyone would like a copy, please leave a comment with an email address. You can find a similar train of thought from a series of articles he wrote for Business Week. The links are on his website.

What strikes me about his comments are how this debate is expanding from the Prensky non-evidence based Digital Natives/Digital Immigrants distinction, to one of where neuroscience is proving changes in cognition. The debate is not so much an either/or one, but one that screams that educators should rethink how information is delivered.

In my course writings on mobile learning, I have been trying capture what mobile learning means, and so find this debate and its outputs as verification to what I have been pondering. What this debate says to me is that we need to reconsider how we define learning from the perspective of the learner - someone who is mobile - and how knowledge is not always best packaged in a linear script, but can be attached to context and situations. Think geo-tagging or other AR technologies. Then think of how a clever student can mash this information together to form a knowledge base needed to solve a highly contextual problem.

There is a lot to learn from this research and the debate. Anyone who is involved in education technology should be thinking about it.

http://www.briansolis.com/2009/08/goodbye-virtual-reality-hello-augmented-reality/

Check this out...the future of books. For me, this means mobile based instruction that involves users interacting with some form of a mobile reading device to interact with and contribute to a pool of knowledge or some narrative. How does instructional design change in such a world, or is it more like instructional design contributing to make this world engaging and productive.

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.