This morning I received a chat invitation from a Philippe Dewost, a young guy from France, who was reading a popular post from about a year ago: “8 Ways to use Camera Phones in Education.“  Philippe is a the guy behind, or at least a part of a cool program called Qipit that I thought might be of use to some of you out there. 

Functionality

Basically it allows students/teachers to take a pictures of notes/whiteboards/etc. and email them to a service that converts them over to PDF.  It actually works pretty good.  It takes out all the ugly from the picture and makes a pretty good copy of what ever you are seeing (but it does have to be large). 

Cons

• Multiple pages is somewhat hard.  You can do it by attaching multiple pictures to an e-mail, but that is difficult on a phone.  From what I can see there is no way to edit it once it has been sent and combine pictures together.

• UPDATE: Qipit does offer a “merge” feature that allows to reorder your pages and combine them in a single PDF. For multiple uploads we also offer an HTTP uploader (10 pages at a time, including pre scanning page rotate) so you can unload your cell phone using bluetooth and upload at once to Qipit

• UPDATE: The 100 page limit is an online storage limit.  You always receive your qipit copies by e-mail.

Uses

The uses in education are obvious.  Students can scan in hand written notes and share them easily with friends (and save paper!).  Teacher’s can scan in notes from class on a board they want to remember… or even assignments. 

What other uses can you think of?  There is a Facebook group devoted Qipit too…

I also have all of these features on my blackberry and love them.  Most of them are just links to online sources, but they are still awesome. 

As this becomes more prevalent, students are going to be using these tools and maybe we can move beyond the simple text messaging population to a population that actually harnesses the power of the mobile web. 

What do you think?  Will this type of technology ever become part of education, if so, how long?

Check out these awesome specs for this little device:

• $399
• 2 lbs
• 7″ screen
• WiFi
• 3 USB ports
• 4-in-1 card reader. 

I want, I want, I want…

Japanese manufacturer Matsushita (Panasonic) has signed a deal with Google that will see the company launch flat panel television sets that allow users to access YouTube and other Google services such as Picasa Web Albums.

This is the technology that is moving us toward ubiquitous computing…  information everywhere!

Well… I’m sad there is no gPhone… but on the other hand… Wow! I must say I am impressed. Just the design alone is awesome and reminds me a lot of the iPhone with one difference… OPEN SOURCE! I am more and more converted to educators using Open Source… not only for the cost, but the ability to make what ever you want. Imagine having the capabilities of the iPhone, but without the iBrick tendencies. So without further adieu, here is my list of 5 ways Google’s new Android Platform could impact education:

1. Cost – FREE… what more needs to be said?

2. OPEN – With an awesome Software Development Kit that is totally open (you can even change the dialer and home screen). You can pretty much build any application you want!

3. Multiple Platform Capability – This is not one device that everyone has to have… it is a platform that will be able to run on all mobile devices!

4. Virtual/Distance Education/Gaming – Open GL capabilities and AWESOME graphics! Imagine navigating a virtual world using mobile devices and interacting with your hands for those with multi-touch screens! Takes experiential learning to a new level. (Just FYI… Croquet uses Open GL… )

5. Collaboration – Education is more and more about working together in a GLOBAL community. With built in notifications and mapping software, it would be easy to write an application to notify a group of friends where you are all at once for an impromptu meeting.

6. Mobile Learning – It is becoming more important to have access to information where ever we are. Imagine being out in the field studying zoology and looking up a new bug you have never seen before on wikipedia. Nice.

7. High-Speed Capabilities – One of the BIG problems with the iPhone is the slower cellular network. It made video impossible. Now that functionality can be added in as well.

And this is just the beginning. The sky is really the limit with a product like this. Once again… thank you Google for pushing the envelope!

Notes:

• They have what they call “Value in the Hand” Proposition.
• Engaging students more directly… most students have cell phones… text messaging is supported on all devices… This make me think of a post I wrote a couple of months ago about 8 ways to use Camera Phones in Education.
• Data plans are not being used mostly because of the cost, but text messaging is just easier and faster in most cases…

FACT: In 9995 – 13% of US population had cell phones… by 2006 it is 76%

• Looking for ways to develop 2 way communication on mobile devices for educators!
• A company was formed out of this… Mobile Education LLC ((At this point of the presentation Rob goes through a formula for securing approvals for ideas. A lot of what I heard sounded so familiar to me. Lots of ideas, and lots of people saying no. If you are like me it might do you well to download the PowerPoint when it is available and read through those slides. Good stuff. ))
• The concept for this project was collaborative research!

Standard Phone Technologies:

• WAP – Wireless Application Protocol – Little browsers… I have this on my blackberry… but it works pretty good… once you figure it out.

• Easy to use… web based servers can send it out.
• Inexpensive to develop, but expensive for users…

• SUN Java Wireless Toolkit… but you have to try it on all sorts of different phones to make sure it continues to work… lots of compatibility issues…

Applications at UNCW

• Allows students to subscribe to daily campus events
• Emergency broadcast messages
• Interactive shuttle bus information
• Integration with their CMS (Banner) – Request Grade Information and Notification when Seat becomes Available
• Interactive Movie Schedule

Possible Others?

• Mobile Coupons (when there is a sale)
• Mobile Social Networking (find friends on campus)
• Cafeteria Menu
• SMS in the classroom? Response in classes.

Found this powerpoint with a general search… It looks like it is from an earlier conference, but it is good… Look for the one for this session here.