This is an aspect to consider for personalizing learning reminders.

Links to relevant publications can be found here at MIT media lab.

Yesterday I found an interesting article about Place-Its, which might be described as mobile post-it notes that are activated on your cell phone when entering/exiting certain locations. The user can add notes and the criteria for activating the notes, such as “when arriving at work”. The positioning is based on GSM location (MCC, MNC, LAC and Cell-ID). This could be very interesting for mLearning, and relates to the concept Context Awareness, and applications such as IYOUIT and the papers written about that.

I will try to get a student to write some application about that, with the addition of a web based interface as well, and with the addition of adding links to reminders. This could be used for getting reminders of what to study in mLearning situations such as when entering the subway station. Python Series 60 is probably the best choice for developing such an application.

The new nano has a screen with a 320×240 pixel resolution, with a price slightly lower than the previous nanos and with more memory. This is very important for mobile learning since the new low-end iPods has a resolution which makes enhanced podcasts created from lecture powerpoints readable.

However, the technically more interesting new iPod is the iPod Touch, basically an iPhone without a phone. The user interface and the screen (480×320px) are similar to iPhones, the ipod has wifi and it also has a Safari web browser. Given the high resolution of the screen and the relatively low price, podcast for education are probably very appealing on this iPod.

Now, let’s just hope that the stupid limitation of not allowing rectangular enhanced podcasts is now removed, and  we have an excellent learning tool!

MobileHCI 07  - Workshop
—————————————————————
MobiMundi: Exploring the Impact
of Current and Emerging Mobile Technologies and Services on Society
—————————————————————
Held at the 9th International Conference on
Human Computer Interaction
with Mobile Devices and Services

www.mobilehci2007.org
www.mobimundi.net
participate@mobimundi.net

**************************
IMPORTANT DATES:
**************************
·    Position Paper Submission: June 30, 2007
·    Results Notification: July 6, 2007
·    Final Submission: TBA (Mid August)
·    Workshop date: September 11, 2007
·    Main Conference: September 11-14, 2007

——————-
RATIONALE:
——————-
Mobile information and communication technologies are increasingly
impacting the lives of individuals and are a major factor in helping
re-shape our cultures and societies. Ubiquitous computing and mixed-
reality computing scenarios are becoming commonplace and have a huge
influence in the way in which individuals relate with others and their
surroundings. This workshop will provide the environment for
researchers and developers to explore the impact of existing and
emerging mobile information and communications technologies and
services on society.

————————————
TOPICS OF INTEREST:
————————————
Position papers are currently being accepted for review for select
participation in this unique workshop. Topics considered (but not
limited to) are the following:

·    Interdisciplinary perspectives towards mobile interaction (e.g.
Social aspects)
·    Exploring theories which help us understand how mobile technologies
impact our cultures and societies;
·    Exploring the the social-shaping of mobile technologies and
services;
·    Determining how human behavior in mobile contexts and mixed-
realities is measured and evaluated;
·    Examine the possibility/potential of safety issues (e.g., health
effects, security issues);
·    Exploring the impact of mobile gaming and the emergence of a global
youth gaming culture;
·    Exploring the the impact of mobile technologies and services on
youth and children;
·    Discussing the impact of mobile technologies and services on
cultures and communities;
·    Examining ubiquitous gaming and social computing scenarios and its
impact on society;
·    Determining ways in which mobile technologies can amplify and
enhance human cooperation,
·    Investigate the emergence of smart-mobs and mobile ad-hoc social
networks;
·    Explore the concept of social presence within virtual and mixed
realities;
·    Examine the impact of mobile blogging and citizen journalism;
·    Examine the unintended and imaginative uses of mobile technologies
and services;
·    Examining the negative aspects of mobile technologies and services;
·    Explore the impact of wearable computers on culture and fashion;
·    Discuss the acceptance of wearable computers within social contexts.
·    Explore best practices for Web sites for mobile devices and examine
how this can enhance society;
·    Discuss results from ethnographical and related field studies with
mobile technologies and services;
·    Explore how mobile technologies can enhance group interaction and
mobility;
·    The future of location-aware interaction;
·    Explore the concept of mobility, work environments and other mobile
phenomena.

———————————–
WORKSHOP FORMAT:
———————————–
The MobiMundi Workshop (Mobile World) will be held on the 11th of
September 2007.  To encourage interaction, our workshop will be
limited to 30 participants and will be highly interactive and will
allow for ample time for general discussion.

The format of the workshop will be a full-day event in which the
presentation and discussion of thoughtfully written positions papers
will be conducted.  The workshop agenda will be determined by the
organizing committee and will include a panel discussion with invited
speakers who are active researchers in the field of mobile
computing.  The Agenda will be published on the workshop website:
www.mobimundi.net

The primary aim of this workshop is to provide the environment for
researchers and developers to explore the impact of existing and
emerging mobile information and communications technologies and
services on society. The goal of this workshop is to assist the
workshop participants to gain a broader understanding on how their
research and development impacts society in order to help improve
current and emerging mobile human computer interaction scenarios and
methodologies.

————————
SUBMISSIONS:
————————
Authors are invited to submit position statements (max. 2 pages).
All submitted position statements will be peer-reviewed by members of
the
workshop committee for originality, significance, clarity and quality.

Papers will be published online as MobileHCI07 workshop proceedings.
Authors of papers presented in the Workshop will also be invited to
submit
enhanced versions of their papers for potential publication in a
planned
special issue of a relevant journal.

IMPORTANT: All questions and submissions should be directed to:
participate@mobimundi.net
Authors should use the ACM format.  http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html

——————————————
WORKSHOP ORGANISERS:
——————————————
The MobiMundi workshop is conceptualized and organized by:

·    Dr. Yutaka Ishibashi:
Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the
Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan;

·    Dr. Adrian David Cheok:
Director of the Mixed Reality Lab at the
National University of Singapore;

·    Dr. Owen Noel Newton Fernando:
Research Fellow at the Mixed Reality Lab. at the
National University of Singapore; and,

·    Mark A.M. Kramer:
Research Fellow and Doctoral Candidate at the
ICT&S Center of the University of Salzburg.

For more information please visit our Workshop Portal: www.mobimundi.net
Or feel free to contact mark@mobimundi.net

The new google service allows you to see (all) your google calendars through the mobile’s web browser. Just point your mobile web browser to http://calendar.google.com/ and log in using your regular google account.

In my own reserach, I have found that one of the highers prioritized mobile services for students is mobile access to schedules for their courses, and using this service makes that easy.

Special Issue on: “Emerging Mobile Learning Environments for Industries and Pedagogies” (external link: http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=650)

Special Issue on: “Mobile Learning and Knowledge Management: Issues in Intellectual Proximity” (external link: http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=651)

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=179