I signed up for this free MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) about mobile learning a few days ago, having seen a link during an #eltchat about the subject on Twitter on Wednesday evening. During the said chat, I felt like I was missing something - like I wasn't really part of the gang. I was ashamed of my own ignorance, so I decided to do something about it and registered for the course.
What on earth is a MOOC? This was my first question, so I turned to the oracle that is YouTube & found several videos including this one which gave me the answer:
Having established what a MOOC was, I now had to get to grips with what mlearning was. I lurked around the mobiMOOC wiki (http://mobimooc.wikispaces.com/a+MobiMOOC+hello%21) and the group discussion pages (http://groups.google.com/group/mobimooc?hl=en). I read all the information provided by the facilitators and the posts from course participants. And then came the revelation! I'm not as ignorant as I thought I was! Unfamiliar with the jargon certainly, but not totally clueless in reality.
You see, I already engage in mlearning every day. I just didn't know I was doing it! I use my mobile phone to talk, to send & receive messages, and to take photos which I sometimes use in class. I use my i-Pod Touch to access the internet via wi-fi, to manage my contacts and my diary, to keep notes, and to listen to podcasts and share them with my students. I use my laptop to do everything else, including to write my blog. All of these things, I now understand, are mlearning!
Forgive me for being a bit late to the party, but I'm here now and I won't be lurking behind the curtains any more! I'm starting to go through the course materials and following up on links provided by my fellow participants. I'm hugely encouraged by what I have seen so far and I'm really looking forward to being more actively involved over the next few weeks.
Andrea, ciao!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your first thoughts. Looking at what you are doing, I am sure you will come up with an interesting mLearning project.
Nice. You are right, I think. We do a lot of the "learning" without thinking about how things have changed or giving a name to it.
ReplyDeleteI am "mobile learning" right now as I read your post on my phone and communicate with you on this blog.
Hi Andrea, learning has a broad meaning I see. Almost anything is learning. I like your books in the background picture of the blog.
ReplyDeleteDo you not allow pingback in your blog? That would make comments easier.
regards Jaap
Thanks for the comments - much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteJaap, - you will have to enlighten me - I did say I wasn't au fait with much of the jargon!! So, what is 'pingback' and how do I get it? See, I'm learning all the time!!
Pingback is a little trick your weblog will do for you.
ReplyDeleteI do not know why your blog does not do the trick, maybe it is not activated?
On Pingback is an explanation on Wikipedia.
In Blogger in the dashboard you could choose preferences / backlinks and choose not hide. In that place you will see a information link on backlinks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this!!
ReplyDelete