LTC Announces Mobile Learning Portal Web Site - July 29th, 2010

The Learning Technology Center is proud to announce its new Web site, the Mobile Learning Portal, at mobilelearningportal.org. The site is a clearinghouse for resources and information on the use of mobile technologies in education, and includes research articles, journal listings, and descriptions of projects and initiatives. A collection of institutional, state, and national policies that may impact this emerging field is also available. The Web site is made possible through a special allocation from the Dean of the College of Education.

“Mobile learning is about to become one of the most important educational trends this decade. In the last two years, the LTC has begun to do a lot of work with mobile devices, and we want to provide accurate, useful information on the subject to help others reap the benefits of this pivotal technology,” says Karen French, IDEA Studio Coordinator, who heads up the project. Graduate Research Assistants Michele Read, Royce Kimmons, Gregg Orr, and Divya Chandrasekar worked with her to create the site and add its contents.

“The Mobile Learning Portal Web site is part of the LTC’s efforts to become a national leader in the field of mobile learning,” says LTC Director Paul E. Resta. These efforts include a joint project with the Colleges of Fine Arts and Liberal Arts and the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment (recently renamed the Center for Teaching and Learning), for which the LTC is developing a portal for College of Education Web applications that can be accessed from mobile devices. For another project, the LTC equipped a teacher education cohort with iPod Touches and explored their use in the students’ training and K-12 classrooms. The IDEA Studio has also helped Instructional Technology faculty member George Veletsianos create location-based learning activities using the GPS capability of smart phones.

Extensive research has been done to choose the key studies and best practices that are featured on the Mobile Learning Portal Web site, and the site will continue to grow in the coming months as more information is added. New features are also planned to help users sort and find information more easily. Additional future improvements will allow site visitors to make suggestions for improvement and share their knowledge with others on the site using social media technologies.

—Laurie Caldwell, LTC Communications Coordinator