Mobile technologies SIG

The  ADFI mobile learning/mobile devices Special Interest Group,  formed recently, is now inviting wider membership. Current membership comprises academics exploring the use of  mobile devices for learning and teaching (some already doing it, some thinking about it), those developing apps for iPhones in their spare (personal time) or other applications, our ADFI development team who have been working on a mobile output of our course materials, Library staff, etc.

Let us know if you are interested in joining this group.

iPad news…

Well, the iPad is finally official…another interesting development in the world of mobile technologies – was looking at this review at http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=2440 . Also saw in another review – “so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone”. What are the “android” supporters saying, I wonder? I love my iPhone although there are some things I cannot download and some things I cannot do on it which is annoying. I want a device that does everything – and will fit in my handbag!

 Here’s some more on the iPad (see the section I bolded):

“My favorite Web sites looked great on its crisp screen, which is 9.7 inches on the diagonal — while the iPhone is just 3.5 inches. When you hold the iPad with the wider side down, in landscape mode, it’s nearly big enough for touch typing — an improvement over the virtual buttons that can sometimes cause typing errors on the iPhone.

As on the iPhone, the iPad’s screen is extremely responsive to finger swipes and taps, which made it easy to scroll through Web sites like Facebook and select photos and articles I wanted to read on news sites.

It also seems like a great way to read a book, curled up on my couch. The iPad comes with Apple’s new iBook software, which opens up to reveal a realistic-looking wooden bookshelf stocked with all the books in your e-book collection.

Click on a book cover, and the book will open. You can read one page at a time in portrait mode, or, turn the iPad to either side and it will show you two pages of text. The screen is sharp and the pages turn crisply, more like a real book than on electronic ink screens found on devices like the Kindle.

Like Amazon.com Inc. did for its Kindle, Apple is rolling out its own online bookstore, iBookstore, that users will be able to use to download books straight to the iPad.

I had fun checking out videos and photos on the iPad, too. You can watch high-definition clips on YouTube, and they looked great magnified on the iPad’s screen.”

Also read about the iPad’s Five Best Surprises - OK, fellow pedagogues, let’s get working on its potential to enhance learning opportunities.