I love my smartphone, my iPhone. In addition to this, I love my iPad, but I’m not as enamoured by it as I am with my phone. Since I got my iPad I have found myself using my laptop even less (it’s only 2 years old so not, by any means, old or slow or a cumbersome weighty block of plastic with a tiny screen). But they could both be better.

Considering how I (we) use these new mobile devices I am surprised that there is less integration between apps. Let me explain:

When I click a link in an email it opens up the Safari web browser. Simple and easy to understand. But when I click a link in an email, or on a webpage, to a Facebook update, to a tweet, or to something on LinkedIn or something else that I use an App to manage, the Safari web browser is used. I don’t use the browser on my phone (or iPad) to use those services, use the app I’ve installed and configured for my account(s). I am not logged in to the website version of those services (and many others) but I am logged into the App.

Why can’t the OS be configured to allow it to ‘learn’ from the apps I have installed. Let’s have them learn that a link to something on Twitter (tweet, profile, hashtag, etc) means I want to use the App and not the web browser?

Perhaps this is just ‘limited’ to iOS devices? Perhaps to get what I want I need to think outside the ‘Apple’ box and go Android or Windows … ?

Or have I missed something so fundamental to iOS and it can already do this? Comments below please if you agree with me, have a handy hint to help me sort this out, or just want to gloat because your (smart)phone already does this.

Related posts:

1. ‘Generation Y’ is dead, long live ‘Generation T’
2. Video: History in the making with Social Media and Clay Shirky
3. iPad – more resources on whether it is any good in the classroom

Well, iOS5 is here and there are stories galore doing the rounds on the Internet at the moment about the various successes and failures of the upgrade.

I waited for about a week to upgrade simply as I figured everyone else would try the first day or two after it was made available, for all the various phone and iPad devices it works on.

So, first big hurdle is having to update iTunes (again) to the recent version (10.5), which required a PC re-start – the first of how many tonight I wonder … ?

• 15 minutes so far!

 Exciting weekend entertainment … iOS5 update! #sadlife

Connecting the iPhone is always a scary proposition (an update in the past went spectacularly wrong a year or so back), especially with such a big upgrade about to happen (or not). The usual ‘accept the new T&Cs or doom yourself to always being behind the upgrade cycle’ form pops up after the re-start, then ‘it’ begins. Oh wait, I need to update some apps first, so I have to wait before I can connect the phone to start the process we’re here for …

• going on for 30+ minutes so far …

And then the message to make you quake in your boots …

iOS5 here we go (after restart) … #stillsad

iOS5 progress … #ComeOn #HurryUp

• 62 minutes after starting I’ve at least finished downloading the 774mb upgrade file(s) from Apple, now the long wait while the phone is backed up and new software installed.
• 85 minutes in and the restore begins …

So, what is the iOS5 going to give me, what are these 200+ new features (obviously not Siri, that’s the 4S phone only):

• iOS 5 for iPhone and iPad walkthrough

#restore … please!

Finally, after about 100+ minutes the phone is listed in iTunes again, and then the re-install of all the apps, photos, music, videos, etc begins … I feel a sense of achievement in getting this far without any trouble.

However, all was not well during the restore phase – the phone was not recognised after the update and I had to disconnect and reconnect it several times before it was recognised and the restore of photos, music, etc went ahead. Yes, I did a little dance when it started working again (2 hours now … and counting)!

But wait, what’s this …

Now I have no idea if the upgrade is syncing with PC or the cloud ... to stop or continue, that is the question? #stillgoing

October 22, 2011 9:10 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@hopkinsdavid

David Hopkins

OK, I adjusted the settings on the phone to sync to the PC and it finished about 3 minutes later.

So, all in all, it took 2 hours 15 minutes from start to finish .. and I’ve got to re-order my apps as there are some new ones that have forced my carefully planned apps/pages all over the place … and I’ve some new features to learn too.

Right … now for the iPod Touch and then the iPad … maybe not tonight!

 Just to keep me entertained during the upgrade, I read these posts/stories about the horrors that others had encountered when upgrading … silly me!

• iOS 5-ageddon! Warning: Do Not Upgrade Your Phone
• How to Fix the iOS 5 Update Error 3200 (Updated)
• Apple’s iOS 5 upgrade causes user problems

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Many thanks to Sue Beckingham (@suebecks) for showing me this video this afternoon, very succinct and effective.

Even in 2009 (when this video was produced) it was obvious to many that we were entering a new development phase of technology that will have a dramatic change on education, and how we think about technology in education – and this was before the iPad changed the rules/scene yet again in April 2010, after the iPhone and the emergence of smart phones and ‘always available’ computing!

Coming so soon after the 2011 Future of Technology in Education Conference I can’t help but draw a comparison with the themes of the day that included the ‘bring your own device‘ (panel debate) and ‘students as the agents of change‘ (James Clay). Where the technology is going no one can predict (although many are trying) which means we can’t predict how we will use it. Needless to say, we will use it and, more often than not, find uses the original developers had not thought of and make it our own!

Related posts:

1. Video: History in the making with Social Media and Clay Shirky
2. EdTech trends for 2010 .. it's started!
3. Video: Sir Ken Robinson “Changing Education Paradigms” (RSAnimate)

As some of you will know I am a firm believer of eBooks and their place in future of learning and learning materials, as well as popular fiction. This is why I though I would post the link to this Infographic on eBooks and textbooks of tomorrow:

[Click to enlarge]

Via: OnlineEducation.net

Interesting facts that the graphic contains:

• Digital textbooks are (on average) 53% cheaper than traditionally printed versions
• Don’t invest in whiz-bang highlighter pens, invest in a tablet and use your finger to highlight instead
• Included video and graphics bring the subject to the fore and in an interactive and engaging manner
• New media will complement rather than distract from the original textbook message (depending on the author’s use of the media surely?)

What is your view of eBooks and their place in academia? Please leave a comment below and share your views.

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A recent study by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth found that almost every Higher Education Institution in the US is on Facebook and 84% of them are also on Twitter, and are using them to connect with the students to tell them “about events and meetings and resource centers with Facebook or Twitter. With Foursquare, they can actually get students to go to them.”

• Source: Social Networking Nudge

I signed up to Foursquare just under a year ago and am enjoying it (even if I don’t get out much!). But what I have seen is that friends, colleagues, peers, etc are interested in locations and (when linked in with other geo-location based services like the photo manipulation and sharing app Instagr.am Foursquare can come alive very very quickly.

One of the things I have been trying to work out is how we can utilise the current fashion for this type of geo-caching activity and badge/mayor-hunting passion for the students, to get them outside and engaged in something – like Induction week?

“Foursquare uses the geo-locator technology built into smartphones to turn exploring physical places — like, say, a college campus and the surrounding town — into a virtual game by encouraging users to ‘check in’ virtually at places they visit in real life. They can leave virtual notes, or ‘tips’, about a place for future visitors.”

By checking in to venues you score points, and if you check in more often than others over a time period (2 months I think?) you could become the ‘Mayor’ and ‘own’ the place (until someone checks in more times than you). Some places (mostly restaurants) offer special deals to the current Mayor, which gives an incentive to return and check in again to see if you can steal the mayorship. Foursquare confirms someone’s presence through the phone’s geo-locator – if you are not deemed to be close enough then the check-in doesn’t count.

So what does this report (link above) suggest as ways to encourage students to use Foursquare?

• Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College held a Foursquare scavenger hunt, giving students a sequence of clues for places on campus to check in. The reward? A 30-percent discount at the campus bookstore.
• At Waukesha they have entertained the idea of using Foursquare to encourage student involvement in extracurricular activities, while at the same time strengthening ties with local businesses. “Maybe if a student checks in at the association for student activities office, then they could be eligible for a discount or coupon for a local store/restaurant]. Studies have shown the positive effects of engagement with campus life on student retention and success, she says. “At its core Foursquare allows you to tap in to student engagement.”

The report also highlights the downside of this kind of activity – the time taken to set it up and to monitor it:

“A staff member usually spends three to four hours a week monitoring and updating Foursquare. Other events such as the scavenger hunt, required several full days of effort from the social media team, the business development team, and students.”

The report also send s a cautious note to anyone thinking of utilising Foursquare: “If students are not already active on Foursquare, it will be challenging for student affairs staff to generate buy-in for a new social media tool.”

However, Foursquare is aiming itself at the student market with the availability of four specific badges only open to ‘branded pages‘ created by education establishments (US only at this stage I think). “Several campus officials talked about the possibility of allowing students to redeem badges for campus bucks — just like a café might offer free coffee to its virtual mayor.” This sounds good, but in order to make it work there has to be the incentive, whether it is financial or other. I have heard of someone using Foursquare as a virtual register for their classes (you can create your own unique check-in point if it doesn’t already exist like a specific room), but this is heavily dependent on each and every students having a mobile device capable of using the system.

Are you using Foursquare for anything other than the morning coffee fix? Do you think you have a good idea for how we can use Foursquare in and out of the classroom? Please leave your thoughts and ideas below.

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I’ve just taken part in a webinar from the LSG (Learning & Skills Group) on “QR Codes, Mobile Tagging and Learning”, delivered by Paul Simbeck-Hampson (@simbeckhampson). Those of you familiar with my blog and work will know I’m a huge fan of QR Codes and how we can (should) be using them in and around campus, libraries, books, materials, presentations, videos, tours, etc. If you’re not familiar then here are a few links to ‘key’ posts from the last year:

• Resource page on QR Codes
• QR Codes: The nuts and bolts
• QR Codes: In the Classroom
• QR Codes: Learning Technology

The webinar was advertised as a discovery about:

• What QR codes are and how they differ from normal barcodes,
• How QR Codes are being used to support learning & improve performance,
• What design elements you need to consider within a QR code strategy,
• What tools you’ll need for creating, reading, and measuring QR codes,
• How the future of mobile tagging is already part of the present.

It was also followed on Twitter using the #LSGWebinar hashtag.

Now I’ll freely admit that I may not have needed to hear the early par of the webinar and associated chat as I think I already know enough about the codes, what they are and how to use them, but I think it’s always worth being around for it just in case I find out something I did not know.

It is the last element of the webinar that most interested me – “How the future of mobile tagging is already part of the present”. If you read through the links above to previous posts of mine you will see some examples of how I think we could use them, so this element will either affirm my ideas or give em some new ones. I hoped I’d find some new ideas from Paul and the audience.

Here are some notes I made during the webinar. Any images below are the destination Paul sent us to when he showed a QR Code in the presentation – click them to enlarge.

How would you use the codes in your organisation?

• hard copies linking to online copies
• code on book cover linking to eBook edition
• give expanded explanations of objects
• access to training notes
• access to information re training events, times/places etc
• small taster sessions
• provide info for students on local businesses
• attendance monitoring – everyone is tattooed with a QR code, you scan them when they come into training

How are they used to support learning & development?

• Location: maps & directions for meeting, training, etc

• Chunks: video training, etc

• Convenience: memorable, fun, etc

What Design Elements?

“Code is like handshake, if they take your hand you own them something” Eric Weymueller

• Link to mobile ready website
• Code type:
• Content: check content linking to be ensure those on limited data tariffs can view
• Navigation: simplicity wins
• Platforms: touch and non-touch screens alike

Good destination link, mobile-ready

Not so good destination link: 14 minute video (not good if user is on limited data plan)

Bad design (on any platform) and not to be used on mobile(?)

Future of mobile tagging is part of present?

“… trigger to metaphorical loaded gun, bullets being the content” Nick Ford

• QR – printed media, web-to-mobile downloads, triggers, etc
• RFID – radio frequency ID tag (security tags)
• NFC – near-field communication (mPayments, point of purchase, etc) pay with your phone
• AR – Augmented Reality, location, gamification, etc

Thanks to Paul and Don for the webinar, send an email to Paul on paul@simbeckhampson.com with “LSGWebinar” in the subject to receive his 22 page report on QR Codes.

Tweet from QR Code, but I needed to login to web Twitter, not iPhone app (if that can be done?)

If you missed the webinar you can watch the recording through the Learning and Skills Group on Ning, when it is uploaded.

Reflection
The webinar was good and well attended and presented, the engagement with the audience (code scanning) was very useful and highlighted the difficulty with using this technology – even though the webinar advertised that we would be scanning codes there were a number of individuals in the audience who did not have the technology to do so. While the codes were displayed with shortened URLs these were not explained for some time until someone highlighted them in the ‘chat’ area.

The explanation of the codes, how they are used, and how they might be used was good and reaffirmed my understanding that how I have thought of using them is along the same lines as others. the real value was the Q&A section at the end when the more detailed information surfaced; e.g. scanning and readability of the codes, the ‘optimum’ size for a code, code readers for different devices (Google Goggles sounds good), and the fact that you can modify the codes and input some design (see this for an example – “Make your Code Beautiful“).

Were you on the webinar? Did you like it? Did you learn anything from it? Please drop a comment about how you use QR Codes, or how you are going to start using them.

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I found this Infographic this morning and it kind of resonated with me and some thoughts I’ve been having recently about using alternative systems for student interaction (not replacing the VLE, but ‘enhancing’ the student experience).

While I like this and what it is trying to say, surely Facebook and indeed any system is going to make the student ‘better’ based only on how it is used, not what it can do? Therefore it is ‘our’ responsibility to introduce and set up the system (Facebook, Twitter, etc) in a way that will engage and enhance the learning experience? Please leave a comment below if you agree or disagree, or just what to comment on the general implication of social media on student lives.

Click image to enlarge.
More from OnlineEducation.net

Related posts:

1. Adding Facebook and Twitter to student participation
2. Facebook tips for Educators
3. Twitter & Facebook use by Russell Group Universities

If, like me, you are a user and fan of Dropbox then you’ll be looking for ways to enhance how you use it. There have been some excellent guides on how to use and abuse it (links below) but here is another great way … Dropbox Forms!

Here, watch this:

Jotform Dropbox Video from Interlogy Internet Technologies on Vimeo.

As the promotional blurb says:

“Create a dropbox form and we will create a folder named Jotform in your Dropbox. When you get a new upload, it will be there instantly. No mess, no BS.”

So, how can I use it? Well, I’m not advocating using it instead of a VLE, but those who don’t have or use their VLE you could set up the form for students / peers / etc to upload files? I’m sure there are other uses beyond this, and some might even be better than Google Docs (?) … if you think of anything, please share using the comments below.

Further Dropbox resources:

• Jonathan MacDonald: A step-by-step guide to using Dropbox
• Make Use Of: 5 cool apps that make Dropbox even more useful
• AppStorm: The Ultimate Dropbox Toolkit and Guide
• Dropbox: User Guide
• LifeHacker: Use Dropbox to locate your lost or stolen computer

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There have been a few instances in the news recently where employers are asking for access to an employees social media account, specifically the password for a Facebook account.

The conversation started recently when the Baltimore Sun, among others, reported that a “corrections officer [prison warden] from Baltimore says he was required to provide his Facebook password when he reapplied for his former job, and had to watch as his personal page and its postings were perused by an investigator.”

Not exactly the usual request any one us would think of having made of us when we’re reapplying for our post but, as Rhonda Callow questions in her blog post Should your employer be able to ask for your Facebook password?;

“The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services claimed that the practice was simply intended to help identify applicants with criminal affiliations or connections.”

Indeed, many would agree this is an honest request made with honest intentions … especially in light of the story I found last year, when preparing my safety in Social Media, of the prison warden who was fired because he was found to have ‘inappropriate” friendships on Facebook, “associating with serving and former prisoners, outside the course of his employment and without authority”.

Rhonda comments on the latest story by saying that the problem is that …

“… in most countries, Canada included, legislation has failed to keep pace with technology. We have rules that prevent potential employers from asking questions that would enable them to discriminate on grounds of race, religion, etc., etc., but there is absolutely nothing to prevent them from asking to peek at our social media accounts. And, in my opinion, it’s very clearly something that employers should not be able to do. Sure, you could refuse to comply with the request. The risk, however, is that it could result in you being perceived as uncooperative or – worse – as having something to hide.”

While we may not have anything to hide, why should we feel bad or even guilty at refusing this request? There are many commentaries being made on the subject, on blogs and in the national/international media, here are few of the ‘choice’ quotes more directed at the morality/legality of the request, and whether we should hand over the ‘key’ to our accounts:

“Should employers Google the names of prospective employees and perhaps check out their public Facebook and Twitter profiles? For many white collar jobs, I think that’s reasonable. But accessing private information seems out of bounds.”
Want A Job: Give Us Your Facebook Password – Outside the Beltaway

“No matter what job someone is applying for, you don’t need the potential or actual employee’s social network log in details in order to do background checks that would satisfy such investigation. I can see no right for any organization to require login access to someone’s Facebook account a prerequisite for employment.”
Should your employer have access to your Facebook account? – Neville Hobson

Back in 2009 this question was already raising it’s ugly head, as the CNN SciTechBlog post Want a job? Hand over your Facebook password reveals:

“That’s what’s happened to applicants for jobs with the city of Bozeman, Montana, who were surprised to discover they needed more than a work history and references. Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.,” reads a background-check waiver form that applicants had to sign. (There’s no mention of Twitter.) The form then contains three lines where applicants are to list their logins and passwords.”

In the above example the public backlash “led city officials to reconsider. After a closed-door meeting Friday, Bozeman officials suspended the practice, according to several Montana media outlets – who first announced the news on Twitter.”

So, another question, and this one is for all you lawyers out there … what do you do if your employer asks for these details? Are you duty bound to hand them over, or can you politely say “I would be happy to assist you but I need to clarify/quantify / check the legality of  the request before I let you have them?” Anyone, please?

While we’re on the subject … what about parents who want to look after their children online? is it ‘right’ for them to snoop or even steal passwords in order to monitor their Facebook or other social network websites? According to the New Jersey Police Chief (as reported on Gizmodo website) we should be using “keystroke-recording software on their computers so you can figure out their Facebook password. Then you can presumably snoop and poke around as much as you want. He claims that the software is very easy to install and that “your children don’t know it’s there”".”

I think that this will come back an bite a few parents in the end, right about when the teenager starts to rebel against anything they can find .. and you’ve just given them a really really good excuse for them to not trust you.

Do you have any stories about being asked for your login details by an employer or potential employer? If so, please reply below (anonymously if you like?).

Image Source

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I’ve been pondering whether or not to get a Kindle since I heard about the latest wifi or 3G version … so long in fact that both my parents have now passed me and got one each! I may not have such a device, but I have shown them how to connect them to their home wireless broadband and download books.

I am still unsure as to if, not when, I will get a Kindle. My reason is that I have installed the Kindle app for my iPhone and can download and read Kindle books like that, as well as link it the the Whispersync system and read them on my laptop (should I wish). I am toying with an iPad, which will also use the Kindle for iPhone app, therefore continue my reading in this medium … which is where a tablet eReader will outperform an eInk one. Let me explain.

This thought first came to me from my work and reading around the use of QR Codes in education, where a QR Code is displayed in the paper-version of the academic textbook so the student can find online video or web links of the content / theory / etc the chapter or page is currently explaining. What if this is ported to non-fiction and fiction books as well? You could have an interactive version of Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” where you could:

• link to maps of the city where the characters have just arrived (ancient as well as current maps, Google maps anyone?),
• images and video of the different areas where they find themselves,
• video clips of film version of the book (1956 & 2004, as well as Michael Palin’s BBC adventure in 1989),
• link to explanations of language and dialects that may be difficult to understand their meaning

Well, why not?

Here’s a few suggestions for the kind of content I see in something like ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ :

[View as Slideshow]

For new books it would be harder to be written without a back-up team generating and finding the copyright to the various different digital elements you wanted to use, and for the publication of older books (like the Around the World in 80 Days’ I downloaded for free) would be costly for not much return … but just think what it could do for the younger readers, it could really bring a story alive, in the original text (not cut-down film version), in a more modern & multi-media way.

If the above is already being done then please elt me know as I have not found anything like it … if it isn’t being done yet then you know where you heard from first (here and in an answer on Quora I made earlier this week!).

Update: May 6th, 2011

This is the kind of thing I was talking about in the original post here – a ‘new’ eBook standard demonstrated by PushPopPress;

Al Gore’s Our Choice Guided Tour from Push Pop Press on Vimeo.

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