What the iPhone OS 3.0 could mean for mobile learning
It is clear thathe iPhone is one of the most interesting devices for mobile learning applications. There are hundreds of
educational iApps. This Tuesday, March 17, Apple introduced the new OS 3.0 to the developer community. There are some interesting updates which could help to create even better iApps in the near future. Let’s take a (real) quick look
at some of them in regards to mobile learning.
On Apple’s website the 6 new main features are the ability to make purchases within an app, the Apple push notification service, peer to peer connectivity, embedded maps, remote access or remote control via Bluetooth or the 30-pin dock connector. A big change, which is not explicitly pointed out on that overview is the new possiblity to send MMS via the iPhone. And let us not forget that Cut&Paste is finally possible. All of these changes have lots of potential to create better mobile learning for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
The peer to peer connectivity enables users of iPhones to communicate with each other via Bluetooth. The embedded maps functionality helps developers to customize the iPhones maps with location pins and added information. Combined with the peer to peer connectivity this could create some pretty interesting mobile learning for students or trainees. For instance an outdoors exercise at an historic site, where students have to find certain spots and inform their colleagues.
The remote control function which allows the iPhone to control outside devices opens up an entire new chapter of mobile learning. You will be able to remote-control other devices via Bluetooth or the 30-pin connection. An example would be the students at Abilene Christian University, who are all equipped with iPhones. There could be class presentations with each student pointing out what they like or dislike about a certain movie, website and so forth. Each student could be remote-controlling the same large TV screen. That would create a new level of interactivity in a class room, although it is not mobile learning per se.
The Cut&Paste function was so overdue that it would not need an example. Of course it is much more convenient to write something small or paste information on the iPhones notepad (or any similar apps). It is needless to say that this will improve mobile learning as well.
All in all, one can say that the OS 3.0 certainly is a good thing for the mobile learning community. I sometimes wonder why we had to wait so long for MMS and Cut&Paste, though. However, we all know that the iPhone is not the perfect solution. Even better devices for mobile learning will see the light of day. It is just a question of when.
Links of interest:
Engadget’s blog post about the iPhone OS 3.0
2 Comments
PcolaJack on October 19th, 2009
The iPhone (iPod) is the most capable of the Personal Mobile Learning Devices right now. The real hurdle can be found in the stonewalling and slow-walking being done by people of my generation who cannot see the significance of M-Learning at all, or the impact on education and society itself.
Steve Howard on March 19th, 2009
If it means mLearning efforts are going to concentrate on the tiny minority of users who have iPhones, then that will be a disaster. Looking at examples shown at the recent eLearning Guild Annual Gathering conference in Orlando, you would be forgiven for thinking that iPhone has an 85% share of the current install base, instead of about 1% worldwide.
Don’t get me wrong – the iPhone is great, but content developers need to understand what their market is, and for most of us our audience are not exclusively iPhone users.