Comments on: 8 Observations about Mobile Learning

By: Popular Science

Popular Science — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:19:15 +0000

Popular Science…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

By: New and Used Book Reviews

New and Used Book Reviews — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:29:23 +0000

New and Used Book Reviews…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

By: goulnik (郭力毅)

goulnik (郭力毅) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:27:48 +0000

Erika Lee, yes they used to have tag clouds but they’ve long been gone. This is replaced by drop down lists of either topics of function tags under Advanced Lesson Search. I guess the tag prevalence is reflected in the ordering of the drop down lists, but I find the result most confusing. Tag clouds do have visual appeal and all tags are presented at once, but to me the only intuitive / effective way to organize such lists is alphabetical since in effect you can’t search it, just scroll.

By: Erika Lee

Erika Lee — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:58:20 +0000

goulnik,

C-Pod used to have a list of topics and the ones that had more lessons associated with them were larger text and the ones with less were smaller text. I used that quite a bit.. it helped me when I decided to study by topic.

I was sick for a few months and was out for the count and when I came back it was this version and that list was gone, so I’m afraid I don’t know what was said/done about that list in the community and on Ken’s blog.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:51:03 +0000

I would love to be able to record me speaking sentences that I think make sense and then get some feedback from a Chinese native on my tones, sentence structure etc. This would work for me in a M-Learning setting as I don’t have the ability to commit to a regular practice call but desparately want speaking rather than just listening practice. I think this would work well if the topic, key vocab or dialogues had been agreed upfront. For example, I might be want to concentrate on buying train or plane tickets to travel around China. Learning how to speak key sentences correctly and then understanding all likley permutations of answers would be invaluable. Audio feedback on my pronunciation etc would be invaluable.

By: Hape

Hape — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:32:15 +0000

I second Marc’s and CleverDick’s statements.
M-Learning is not an option for me in the moment. Normally I have access to all web ressources all day long. That’s enough. I enjoy being “offline”, enjoy nature, and other things - without mobile, without http://WWW. Reading a Chinese grammar book may be an option Sometimes, being abroad during vacation or during business trips, I may have some free time to study but have no direct access to the http://WWW. But then high connection prices and/or technical problems (no GPRS/UMTS) stop be from accessing the Internet and doing M-learning. That may change in the future.
But I see a trend to less Internet usage than even more (mobile) usage (”Simplify your life” trend).

By: Clever Dick

Clever Dick — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 03:34:44 +0000

M-learning has all the advantages that Ken referred to in his observations…but what about the downside ? For example:

1. M-learning involves co-learning of new technical skills which detract from the main task…learning Chinese. If you are a techno-geek, obviously this doesn’t apply to you. But how many of us are Bill Gates ?

2. The benefits of M-learning assume that a person doesn’t have a career or family commitments. Can you really expect your boss to be sympathetic when you explain that the project deadline cannot be met since you spent the entire day using your Plecodick to study Chinese ?

3. M-learning assumes multi-tasking skills that are difficult, if not downright dangerous. The other day, I was adjusting my Ipod and writing notes while driving to work when I lost control and plowed into a busy bus stop. Fortunately there was no damage to my Ipod.

4. We are inundated with information overload. M-learning may not simplify things…but it has the potential of introducing more complexity and more stress to an already crowded environment. Now, not only do we have to listen to people’s cell phone conversations in public, we have to listen to them rant in Chinese.

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:53:34 +0000

With a laptop and a desktop at work, the same laptop and 2 other desktops at home, one of which is running Opensuse linux, one Palm TX and a couple of mp3 players but NO ipod, I feel like I am constantly juggling around files and mp3’s learning on the website, being frustrated not to have loaded the right files on whatever device I have with me while on the move, frustrated not to have the exercises and expansion on my mobile devices, etc. Also between my PC’s and my Palm and between Windows and Linux, there are also several encoding and font problems that I am constantly soving. I can see that there has been a lot of improvement since I chose CP as my main learning tool, so I am not complaining. I wish we were 5 years or so further down the road with competitively priced real mobile internet, network storage of my files, UTF-8 on every device, real portable PDF’s, etc. I feel there is still a long way to go.

Marc in Belgium

By: goulnik (郭力毅)

goulnik (郭力毅) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:59:25 +0000

chapka, you may want to check PlecoDict, amazing tool though admittedly won’t run on BB until they have a network version. I don’t know what paper flash cards can offer that this doesn’t, but then I could never get used to flashcards, and it’s not for lack of trying. Learning whole sentences by rote carries at least *some* context, flash cards just don’t.

By: chapka

chapka — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:30:16 +0000

Chinese language learning has been using M-learning to make downtime productive for decades, through the cutting-edge technology of “flash cards.” I often carry around a stack of character flash cards in my shirt pocket and flip through a few while standing in line, waiting for the train, and so on. So do a lot of other Chinese students I know. Frequent, short sessions are a good way to learn this kind of information, and you can flip through a few with no long-term time committment.

If there was a flash card program on my Blackberry that was better than paper, I would probably use that, instead. But right now, the paper cards seem to be my best option.

So the question is: what can M-learning technology offer that paper flash cards can’t? I think that’s where the technologists need to focus. Build on what we already do on the road. We already know it works. New technology should complement or enhance it rather than trying to start from scratch.