Finally got to meet with Rob Newberry last night. Rob and I have been exchanging notes via Twitter (@RobinThailand and @john_larkin) and also email for some time. Rob had been teaching in Thailand and he recently transferred to work here in Singapore with an international school as a director of IT. Very nice role indeed. We had a jolly good night. It always excellent to met members of your network face to face!

We met at Bugis MRT station and then headed off to Bukit Batok on the MRT to have dinner and few ales at the “coffee shop” where Shao Ping and I used to regularly eat back in the late 1990s and earlier this decade when we lived across the road in Block 254 and later up the road in Regent Heights.

We then cruised into the city and took up a posse in an outside bar to watch the world go by in a seedy part of town. Shao Ping and I often had a Mexican meal at the same place and engaged in some people watching. Rob and I must have looked out of place last night as I brought along the iPad and we were exchanging notes regarding apps and its use in the classroom. We talked about our journeys, music, teaching and working with tech in the classroom.

We hit the turps a little. We are kindred souls in many respects. Rob is a nice bloke and if you ever have the chance to work with him go for it! I am sure going to try and collaborate with Rob during my next trip to Singapore in October. Bring it on!

Mobile technologies in the classroom. Well, that is a bit of a misnomer. Mobile technologies should take one out of the classroom of course. I am conducting a presentation on this topic

This year the school at which I teach took delivery of about 120 iPod Touches. They are maintained in these secure cases not unlike a camera bag within foam that was cut to hold 20 of the devices. Teachers can collect the case and then distribute the iPods to the students. They can access the Internet wirelessly. I have observed students using literacy apps. The students sit on stairs, the floor, at desks, anywhere. Inside. Outside. Walls have no meaning. After all, the students are portable.

The school has also obtained two iPads and I have been working with two of our disabled students. Each student has found the iPad to be a worthwhile tool. It is still early days. They have worked with WritePad and Brushes and found the tools accessible. WritePad incorporates hand writing recognition software which I find is quite useful. The iPad is proving to be a remarkable device.

Personally I think the school should sell all the iPod Touches to the students and purchase iPads with the proceeds.

There is much to consider when deploying mobile technologies in teaching and learning. All of the usual suspects apply of course: curriculum integration, suitability, accessibility, staff training, privacy, cost. Then there are the pedagogical considerations… constructivist, situated, collaborative, informal and so on. Read this and this for more ideas.

I have been building a mindmap with some of the ideas that have crossed my mind. I began this mindmap on the MRT between Tiong Bahru and Boon Lay here in Singapore. I used Mindnode on the iPhone. After lunch on Sunday. It was quite easy actually. I emailed to myself and completed it on the Mac. Have a look. I should make it shareable so others can add and subtract. Let me look into that. What do you think?

This is a work in progress. If you wish to explore more on this topic you may like to consult the excellent references linked to below.

Educause ~ Mobile and Handheld Computing
Educause ~ Cloud Computing
Educause ~ Mobile Learning
New Media Consortium ~ Horizon Reports: 2009 and 2010
Futurelab ~ Mobile technologies and learning
Educause ~ Seven Things You Should Know About…

Cloud Computing
Mobile Apps for Learning
E-Readers
Microblogging
QR Codes
Geolocation
Multi-touch Interfaces
Skype
E-books
Augmented Reality

Yesterday I created a Netvibes site embedded with a range of RSS feeds, links, media and photographic galleries all dedicated to the archaeology of Pompeii and Herculaneum. I shared the site via Twitter with Peter Clements, creator of the excellent AD79 Destruction and Re-discovery and asked if he could recommend any additional sites for the Netvibes site. Peter suggested three valuable sites.

The first is Herculaneum Panoramas, which features over 100 Quicktime VR movies of sites across Herculaneum including the Villa dei Papiri, the Theatre and countless others. It is brilliant. Students of Herculaneum can explore the site as virtual researchers and gain a feel of life in Herculaneum before the devastating Vesuvian eruption of AD79.

Then there is The Friends of Herculaneum Society, emanating from the University of Oxford. This rich web site allows you to view the Bodleian Library facsimiles of the Herculaneum Papyri and you can also read their newsletter, Herculaneum Archaeology. The aim of the society is to advance the education of the public concerning the World Heritage Site of Herculaneum and to create an archive of materials relating to Herculaneum and the work of the society.

Thirdly, Peter suggested the Fasti home page, FastiOnline. This site is a database of archaeological excavations in the Mediterranean region since the year 2000. Users can access the database via a map based graphical user interface. You can zoom into specific areas, Pompeii and Herculaneum for example, and gain information regarding specific excavations and the researchers involved. Once “inside” there is a variety of navigation methods that one can use to explore the data. The search engine is very useful and can allow students to quickly access specific sites.

And of course, there is Peter’s web site itself. AD79 Destruction and Re-discovery is such an incredible web site. There are descriptions of the streets, houses, businesses and public buildings of the various ancient sites surrounding Mount Vesuvius. The descriptions are supported with photographs of the sites. Rich hyperlinking within the web site allow users to explore the site and follow areas of particular interest. There are also pages dedicated to graffiti and significant personalities of the period. One of the most useful sections in Peter’s site is a page dedicated to specific Google Street View walks of the streets of Pompeii.

This afternoon I set up a Netvibes site embedded with a range of RSS feeds, links, media and photographic galleries all dedicated to the archaeology of Pompeii and Herculaneum. I feel that teachers of the core unit in the NSW HSC Ancient History course, Cities of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum, will find the feeds and media useful.

There are a number of different feeds drawn from Flickr [RSS Feed], Google News [RSS Feed] and Google Blog Search [RSS Feed]. As well I embedded RSS feeds for a couple of Twitter lists focused on Pompeii and archaeology. I used Twitter Lists 2 RSS to create the RSS feeds for the Netvibes page. I think some of the highlights include a link to the brilliant AD79 Destruction and Re-discovery site created by Peter Clements and a set of guided Google Street View tours of Pompeii. As well I have linked to the excellent Blogging Pompeii site authored by archaeologists in Pompeii and the surrounding area as well as their Twitter feed.

PS. Kevin Lim over at theory.isthereasson has written an informative post on the advantages of Netvibes. I would no longer recommend Pageflakes as a visual RSS feed aggregator. The advertising is rather painful and in your face.

The Apple iTunes Store disappoints. In particular the app store. As many are aware the quality of many of the apps leaves a lot to be desired. For a company that prides itself on design and the application of sound human computer interface design principles one wonders how some of the apps pass the approval test in the first place.

Click on image to view larger image.

Yet, the thing that gets my gripe today is the current crop of top free apps. As of today the top free app in the Australian iTunes Store is Knife Dancing. I will not provide a link to their site. Given the frequent occurrence of knife related crime in our country, including our schools, I find the approval of this app disturbing. It is rated 9+ for violence in the app store. It is suitable for users over the age of 9. That is reassuring (sarcasm).

Sitting at #9 is a sex positions app. Sitting at #7 is a Lie Detector Test for “sexy fun dating”. Sitting at #4 is an Imbecile Test. Further along at #16 is another sex positions app. This is all so pathetic. Lowest common denominator entertainment/infotainment. Call it what you will. Is the general public that ignorant or stupid? What hope can one have for the human race?

Given that students are increasingly being issued with or receiving iPod Touches and iPhones for educational use is this what society really wants them to see when they initially explore the app store?

I feel that the proliferation of girlie apps, fart apps and the like in the iTunes app store is rather puerile. Lift your game Apple.

Of course education and sensible parenting has a role to play here. The Internet and now the app store on iTunes are like a “newsagency” store that sells all types of publications, newspapers and magazines. Once in the store we head for the stands with the magazines and publications that interest us and steer clear of those that either do not interest us or perhaps even offend. A similar approach can be applied to the Internet and app store. Ignore the content that is of no use to you. This is learnt through the application of practical common sense and wisdom.

I hope Apple gains some common sense and looks harder at the quality and the integrity of the apps that are approved for release.