Derek E. Baird :: Barking Robot

Microsoft to Fund Video Game Research

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that they would invest $1.5 million dollars in educational video game research. The investment is part of a larger, NYU led initiative to "to find scientific evidence that supports the use of games as a learning tool."

The games that are developed will be prototyped in several NYC schools. And while the games will be developed for use on the Xbox console, Microsoft is taking an open approach and has extended an invitation to other video game console makers to participate in the study.

Microsoft also announced a partnership with PBS to distribute digital content to the 12 million subscribers to Xbox Live. Also worth noting is that game maker Knowledge Adventure is bringing its Math Blaster game to Wii's WiiWare channel and the Xbox 360's Live Arcade. They are also working on designs for an iPhone version of the game. Given the mobile nature of today's kids, this seems like a great idea.

At the University of Michigan, a research team is looking into the potential that digital games have for teaching students concepts and skills. As part of their study, they have designed a web-based board game for teaching undergraduate students about Information Literacy Concepts and Skills. They chose a game for the task for many research-based reasons, but also because:

"Games can be with the student when an information expert cannot be. Games can be in the dorm room, at the coffee house, and anywhere else that the Internet can be accessed. Games are a way to bring information expertise to the users where they are already working."

All of this comes on the heels of a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that found that, when it comes to video games, "playing is universal, with almost all teens playing games and at least half playing games on a given day."

Even more importantly, and defying stereotypes, the Pew Study found that  "game playing is also social, with most teens playing games with others at least some of the time."

Related Resources

• Japanese Schools Embrace Nintendo DS
• International Journal of Computer Game Research
• Stewart Butterfield on Games & Learning
• 2009 Game Developers Conference

Mobile Filmmaker: Mankind is No Island

Mankind is No Island is a short film created by Jason van Genderen using his mobile phone. This 3 minute film cost $57 to make, was shot in New York and Sydney, and won first place at the New York Tropfest Film Festival.

While some schools are busy banning them, others are embracing mobile technology and integrating it into their classroom. For Gen Y, the mobile phone is about more than just personal voice-based communication.

This totally-wired generation views the mobile phone as an extension of their identity, status, social capital and view it as the cornerstone of their social life. Instead of banning mobile phones in the classroom, educators need to find creative and engaging ways for students to use them in project-based activities.

It's time to shift our thinking about millennial's and mobile phones.

Related Resources

• Kiwanja: Mobile Enabled Social Change
• Research on Hispanic Teens & Mobile Phones
• Generation Text: Gen Y & Mobile Phones
• Detrtius > Essentials
• Gen Y: Mobile and Ready to Learn
  

Mashup Edu: Research on K-12 New Media Literacy

I am pleased to announce that the book chapter that I co-authored with Dr. Mercedes Fisher, "Pedagogical Mashup: Gen Y, Social Media, and Digital Learning Styles," has officially been accepted for publication in the Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level: Issues and Challenges, to be published by IGI Global later this year.

Dr. Fisher and I wish to thank the co-editor of the book, Professor Subramaniam at the National Institute of Education at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, for his hard work and direction during the writing and peer-review process.

In addition, we appreciate all the members of the peer-review committee for their feedback, suggestions and collaboration on this chapter. It's been a wonderful experience to work with members of the international education technology/media community.

We've saved the links for all the resources and references cited in the book chapter over on the social bookmarking tool delicious, which you can find here: http://del.icio.us/mashup.edu

Related Publications by Mercedes Fisher & Derek E. Baird

• Making mLearning Work: Gen Y, Learning & Mobile Technologies
• Social Software & Online Learning Design
• Social Media & Digital Learning Styles

Generation Text: New Research on Teens & Mobile Phones

According to a recent Harris Interactive-CTIA study, "Teenagers: A Generation Unplugged, a majority (57%) of teens surveyed reported that they view their cell phone as the key to their social life. For teens, a mobile phone is more than just an accessory or communication device, it also "tells the most about a person’s social status or popularity, outranking jewelry, watches and shoes."

The study was conducted online in July 2008 among a nationally representative sample of 2,089 teenagers (age 13-19) across the US who have cell phones.

More than 100 questions were asked on mobile phone usage, attitudes, behaviors, and teens’ desires and aspirations for the future of mobile communications, entertainment, and other features.

Other key findings from the Harris Interactive-CTIA study:

• Four out of every five teens (17 million) carrying a wireless device (a 40% increase since 2004),  and 42% of surveyed teens said they can text blindfolded; 

• 57% credit mobility for improving their quality of life, if texting was no longer an option, 47 % of teens say their social life would end or be worsened–especially among females (54% compared to 40% of males);

• 52% agree the cell phone has become a new form of entertainment; one-third of teens currently play games on their phone;

• 80% say their cell phone provides a sense of security while on the go, confirming that the cell phone has become their mobile safety net when needing a ride (79%), getting important information (51%), or just helping out someone in trouble (35%);

• Teens carry cell phones to have access to friends, family and current events;

• Though only one in five (18%) teens care to pinpoint the location of their family and friends via their cell phone, 36% hate the idea of a cell phone feature that allows others to know their exact location.

One of the most interesting findings from this study is how deeply integrated texting has become in teen life. In fact, teens admitted spending nearly an equal amount of time talking as they do texting each month.

"Teens have created a new form of communication. We call it texting, but in essence it is a reflection of how teens want to communicate to match their lifestyles. It is all about multitasking, speed, privacy and control," said Joseph Porus, Vice President & Chief Architect, Technology Group, Harris Interactive. "Teens in this study are crying for personalization and control of exactly what a wireless device or plan can do for them."

Moreover, teens say texting has advantages over talking because it offers more options, including multitasking, speed, the option to avoid verbal communication, and because it is fun - in that order, according to the study.

Looking forward, the survey found that teens "ideal future mobile device would feature five applications – phone, MP3 player, GPS, laptop computer and video player." The mobile boom trend is being driven by teens and their seamless adoption of and expectation to have "on-demand" access to friends, family, information and entertainment.

The education community should also take note that 66% of those surveyed said they hoped that mobile devices would "present opportunities to be educated anywhere in the world." This data should serve as a call to educators to start investigating ways to provide students with mobile virtual learning environments (mVLE) to facilitate self-directed learning opportunities.

Related Resources

• Global Youth: Irish Teens & Mobile Culture
• mobileYOUTH: Research on Gen Y & Mobile Phones
• More Teens Create, Share Online Material as ‘Multichannel Teen’ Emerges

mobileYouth: Research on Gen Y & Mobile Phones

mobileYouth has put together an excellent overview of the key fact and statistics of the youth and mobile market. Whether you're an educator or a marketer, this report provides some valuable insight into how and why Gen Y love their mobile devices.

Related Resources

• Gen Y: Mobile & Ready to Learn
• Mobile Phones & Teens
• Want to Reach Teens? Think Mobile
• Mobile Internet Generation

Nintendo DS & Learning: A "No Brainer"

In a pilot program aimed at increasing English language skills, teachers in Japan are integrating the wildly popular Nintendo DS into the curriculum. According to Motoko Okubo, a teacher at the Tokyo Jr. High, the use of the hand held device is primarily focused "on vocabulary, penmanship and audio comprehension."

The students are enthusiastic about being able to use the device in school and say that it has been a great motivator to work on developing their English language skills. Other schools in Japan are integrating the Nintendo DS in their math and Japanese curriculum.

Related Resources

• Reuters > Japanese Students Schooled With Nintendo DS
• Learning 3.0: Mobile, Mobile, Mobile
• Barking Robot > Mobile

PodCamp Ireland 2008

PodCamp Ireland is the very first stand-alone event to promote the use and provide guidance and tips on the subject of social media in Ireland and will be taking place on September 27th 2008 in Kilkenny, Ireland.

You can learn more and get information on registration by clicking here.

Related Resources

• Podcasting in Ireland
• Jaiku > PodCamp Ireland 2007
• Flickr > PodCamp Ireland 2007
• Ustream.TV > Podcamp Ireland 2007

The Mobile Internet Generation

The BBC New blog, dot. life, Rory Cellan-Jones has written a fascinating post investigating "how children used – and abused  - mobile phones and they were knowledgeable, articulate and very demanding of the technology." 

Among the findings:

• 4 out of 5 students had mobile devices with video, camera and music capabilities;

• Students also said that the Internet, multimedia, music and Bluetooth were all features they expect to have on their mobile device;

• Out of the 480 students who responded to the poll, only 3 didn't own a mobile phone.

I feel that this BBC story is a good representation of how tweens and teens are rapidly moving away from the PC-based Internet and rapidly adopting the mobile web. This trend will have huge implications throughout society and most especially in the education space.

Last summer, as part of my work on the Yahoo! Youth and Education Initiative, I conducted teacher workshops across the country. During the workshops I heard many teachers share both concern and misgivings about students using their mobile phones in the classroom.

Many of the teachers in our workshops where surprised to learn that you could, in fact, access the web via a mobile device. Other teachers shared stories of how students simply by-passed content blocked on school computers, instead opting to use their mobile phones to connect to the web and get the content they wanted on-demand.

The debate on whether students should or shouldn't have mobile phones in the classroom is becoming a moot point. The phones are already in the classroom, and as Cellen-Jones points out: 

"The children of the mobile internet generation are getting used to being connected – to their music, their videos, their social networking sites – wherever they go. And that means we are all going to have to think hard about how we rewrite the rules."

The use of mobile technologies is growing, especially among the younger generations, and represents the next frontier in learning. Increasingly we will continue to see academic and corporate organizations research invest, design and launch new mobile applications, many of which can be used in a learning context.

While educators and parents might be a bit nervous to embrace this trend, the reality is that Gen Y have already embraced the mobile web and now it's up to us to figure out how to use this technology in an educational setting to keep them interested and engaged in the learning process.

Related Resources

• BBC News > dot.life
• Student Cellphone Presentation
• Learning 3.0: Mobile, Mobile, Mobile
• Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab > Mobile
• Project uses Cell Phones to Teach Maths

Second Life Goes Mobile

Today mobile game provider Vollee announced the release of an open beta version of Second Life for WIFI and 3G enabled mobile devices. The mobile version of Second Life  allows users to chat with friends, teleport and fly in the virtual world.

As educational institutions continue to set up outposts in Second Life, and given the near ubiquity of the mobile phone among Gen Y students, this mobile version of Second Life may provide educators with another push towards the adoption of virtual and mobile learning environments.

Related Resources

• Linden Lab
• Second Life > Education Programs
• Vollee > Second Life
• CNET > Second Life Coming to Mobile?

Ecto: Learning Made Social

Ecto is a social, collaborative, global learning community where teachers can organizing class content for students to access online. Ecto also allows you to share content and connect with others globally using the "best of breed" Web 2.0 social networking technologies.

And best of all, access to EctoLearning is free.

Related Resources

• LearnHub
• Technology Encourages Active Learning
• Learning 2.0: Digital, Social and Always-On

Nielsen Mobile Report on Social Networking

Today Nielsen Mobile released a report that finds that social networking has gone mobile in a big way with the UK and US leading the way. Among the findings:

• U.K. leads Europe in mobile social networking.

• In the U.K., 1.7 percent of all mobile subscribers in the country, visited social networking websites on their mobile phones in the first quarter of 2008.

• In the U.S. 1.6 percent of all mobile subscribers (4.1 million in all) accessed social networks via their phones in December 2007.

• In the U.S., MySpace lead the mobile social networking trend with 2.8 million  unique mobile users in December 2007.

• Facebook is the second most popular mobile social network in the U.S. with 1.8 million unique  mobile users.

• MSN’s Windows Live Spaces led in Italy (154,000 unique mobile  users per month) and France (106,000).

The report also notes that “social  networking is already a global phenomenon, and going mobile is the next big  thing.” This is a trend that will have a significant impact in the world of online education and move us more and more towards mobile learning.

Students are already totally (un)wired, and so it's natural that they will expect to use their mobile phones, iPod Touch, or other mobile devices as a tool to facilitate learning and meet their "always on" learning styles.

Related Resources

• Nielsen Mobile > Social Networking Goes Mobile
• Learning 3.0: Mobile, Mobile, Mobile
• Gen Y: Mobile and Ready to Learn
• Wikipedia > MoSoSo

Tweeting about Twitter

Over the last couple weeks Twitter, the popular micro-blogging application, has been popping up all over the web.

In addition to a slew of news coverage, there has also been an explosion of new Twitter apps created by the developer community. Here's a round-up:

Twitter/news

• Chronicle of Higher Education: Twittering During a Campus Lock Down
• SlideShare: Introduction to Twitter for Marketers
• Rocketboom: Twitter Madness (video)
• Emodo: Microblogging for Education
• Twitter Explained for Librarians
• Chronicle of Higher Education: Professor's Tips for Using Twitter in the Classroom

Twitter/apps

• TwitterFone
• TwitterSnooze
• PollDaddy > Twitter Polls
• GroupTweet
• TweetLocal
• TwitPic
• TwittyTunes
• Twixtr

Mobile Learning Participation Overview

The Kauffman Foundation is conducting a pilot study to determine if mobile learning (via cell/smart phones and PDAs) is an effective way to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content while attending/watching sporting events.

Specifically, the Kauffman Foundation has teamed up with the 2008 Beijing Olympics to discover if mobile learning is a viable way to teach math through sports.

You can contribute by following the instructions below. Your participation will greatly help the advancement of mobile learning in this global outreach initiative.

1. Go to http://www.hdwap.com/sport7 via your internet capable cell phone.

2. Click on “Register.”

3. Create a username and password (this can be anything you want).

4. Select the tutorial of your choice.

5. Take a quiz and see how well you do!

Related Resources

• Making mLearning Work
• Learning 3.0: Mobile, Mobile, Mobile
• Mobile Persuasion
• Didactics World > Reaching Out Through Mobile Technology

More on Mobile Phones and Teens

Recently, I've been collecting lots of research and news on teens, tweens, and mobile devices. I thought it was time to highlight a couple key bits of this info here on my blog.

Teens Wired to Cellphones: My favorite quote from this article: "Texting is with friends. I'm usually on the phone with family." This is another confirmation that email, and now apparently phones, is for old people.

Textonyms Give Cell Phone Addicts a New Language: Move over leet speak, now it's all about textonyms. "A new language is being developed by cell phone-addicted kids based on the predictive text of their treasured handsets."

Don't Hang Up on Student's Future: " 'Yes,' I tell teachers, 'phones can cause problems." I hold up my hand, still scarred from where a friend stabbed me with a pencil in fifth-grade. The school did not ban pencils because of my injury. Nor did it ban paper when students used it to write notes to friends, to cheat, or to graffiti the walls.' "

MobiMissions: "MobiMissions is a location-based, social, mobile phone experience for young people aged 16-18. MobiMissions enables players to engage with their environment and community in new ways."

Get Connected: Handheld Learning

Handheld Learning is an UK-based organization whose mission is to promote the use of mobile technologies to support learning. In October they held their annual conference in London and now the highlights of the conference are online and available for the education community. Here's some links to some of the media from the conference now online:

• Handheld Learning TV
• Podcasts
• Presentation slides
• Handheld Learning 2007 > Flickr
• Tony Vincent > Handheld Learning '07 Review
• Bob Harrison > Handheld Learning '07 Review

Those of you who are avid members of the Facebook may be interested to join the Handheld Learning Facebook group. There are lots of ways to learn more about the mLearning movement, so what are you waiting for? Join the Handheld Learning community and get connected!

Related Resources

• Learning 3.0: Mobile, Mobile, Mobile
• Mobile Learning and Pervasive Computing
• Gen Y: Mobile and Ready to Learn
• Blog > Mobile Learning
• Mobile Persuasion @ Stanford University