1. OU VLE Programme Mobile Learner Support Project Input Session Wed 7 th Feb 2007 Mobile Course Content

2. Session Aims Explore current examples of electronic documents and learning objects Discuss options for multiple, flexible formats Refine project strand Define requirements for development

3. ‘mLearn’ Project Overview Project strands ‘Offline Moodle’ Podcasting, Course News and Alerts Mobile Course Content Social and User Generated Content on-the-move Supporting Students and ALs using devices on the move, or working away from their regular environment underpinned by a ‘Mobile Learning Environment’ methodology

4. eBooks Providing electronic documents with improved readability, annotation and highlighting options Structured Authoring, XML and Content Management addressing the challenge in producing content for a variety of preferred formats automatically Current OU provision – eTexts – Adobe Reader PDFs Possible tie-in with DAISY format and synchronised, realistic voice enhancement

5. eBooks - questions Do we cater for ‘simple-print’ and ‘pretty-print’ formats of e-learning material? Would simple HTML be an appropriate multi-platform, accessible approach? Do we provide for mobile devices as another format? Do we mediate resources specifically for mobile devices? Do we want our students to be able to personalise content?

6. Learning Objects Providing short, formative exercises in the form of learning objects for students to try on the move Creating (multimedia/new media) assets that can be used on a variety of platforms –Developments of Flash plugins for mobile browsers and Flash Lite 2.0 –Java prevalent on mobiles, implementations available on PDAs

7. Learning Objects - questions Are there standalone learning objects/interactive assets already available in courses? Are there common templates that can be reused? Should we make greater use of Flash in e-learning? Can we ensure that assets are created flexibly? Do we need to create more objects within our content to scaffold independent learning?

8. Flexible content - more questions ‘m-Assessment’ - can short stand-alone exercises form a useful part in (formative) assessment? Should online quizzes have more frequent opportunities to save answers and review progress? Mobile Gaming - should we develop multimedia and programmable interactives using Flash and Java to deliver simple game-driven exercises?

9. Further consultation 31 st January 2007 @ 2PM-3:30PM - Podcasting, Course News and Alerts 7 th February 2007 @ 2PM-3:30PM - Mobile Course content 14 th February 2007 @ 2PM-3:30PM - Social and User Generated content Contact: Rhodri.Thomas@open.ac.uk – VLE Mobile Learner Support Project LeaderRhodri.Thomas@open.ac.uk