Tuesday, June 15: What Marvels Can We Achieve

On this first day of mLearnCon, the mLearning Future Zone will host a variety of sessions focused on how we can learn with the tools and technologies we have today.

10:15a - 11:00a

FA101 - What You Can Do With Phones That Aren't "Smart" with Kris Rockwell and B.J. Schone
In this session, we'll focus on what learning looks like when the medium is a regular cellphone (like the traditional “candybar” or flip phone).

11:15a - 12:00p

FA102 - A Web without the Internet with Kris Rockwell and Mohamed Ally
This session will explore the kinds of networked learning we can achieve with phones or other devices that connect with each other even in the absence of an Internet connection.

12:15p - 1:00p

FA103 - The Universal Remote: Rich Ways the World Can Talk to Our Devices with Chad Udell and Michelle Lentz
Mobile devices can access and control so many things near and far. What are examples of this that can happen today, and what kind of learning emerges when this power is available to learners – individually and collectively?

1:15p - 2:00p

FA104 - Implications of mLearning: K-12 Education Discussion facilitated by Aaron Silvers
Kids today have never lived without mobile phones. Texting, social media, and user generated content are part of their lives. How will this younger generation impact the future directions of mLearning?

2:15p - 3:00p

FA105 - Learning on the Move: From Distributed Learning to Proximity Learning with Michelle Lentz and Clark Quinn
After ten years of "distributed learning," we finally have devices that allow us to move beyond "content" and engage us in "learning experiences" situated where the learners are. What does that mean? What does it look like? What learning models support such activities? How is it learning?

3:15p - 4:00p

FA106 - Games-based Learning: Are Handheld Consoles Suitable for Mobile Learning Content? with Kris Rockwell and Judy Brown
Handheld gaming devices are prevalent across the globe and in the hands of millions of users. Can we leverage these devices for learning content, not only in primary schools but in other environments as well? Is it possible to use Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) games as a training tool? Our discussion centers on actual implementations and the use of handheld games as training tools.

4:15p - 5:00p

FA107 - "Jacking In": The Augmented Learner Discussion facilitated by Aaron Silvers
Ten years ago, we visualized how one could learn Kung Fu just by downloading it — before there were smartphones as we know them today. How can/will we use these devices to accelerate learning new skills?

Wednesday, June 16: Such Grand Designs

On the second day of mLearnCon, the mLearning Future Zone will focus our collective wisdom on the design challenges and opportunities resulting from connecting without being physically tethered.

10:15a - 11:00a

FA201 - “When” You Are: The Neglected Context of Time with Mohamed Ally
Mobility has made it easier to be location-aware, but shared activities – especially learning activities – are complicated by time. Our discussion of the challenges will ready us to think about new opportunities and solutions.

11:15a - 12:00p

FA202 - Augmented Reality: The Next Simulation Engine is YOU with Kris Rockwell and B.J. Schone
Moving beyond system simulations to systemic thinking simulations, the ability to add virtual elements and layers onto your physical surroundings provides opportunities and new challenges to how we think about simulations and how we design them.

12:15p - 1:00p

FA203 - Accessibility: New Challenges, New Opportunities with Chad Udell and Michelle Lentz
The use of mLearning increases the requirements on learners to use a wide range of senses and abilities that, when absent, change the learning experience (or lock the learner out of it). We’ll discuss accessibility and the challenges to our design thinking that will push us forward as educators and facilitators.

1:15p - 2:00p

FA204 - Implications of mLearning: Enterprise  Discussion facilitated by Aaron Silvers
When every worker has a mobile device that connects to multiple sources of information, companies have an augmented workforce: pervasive information and connectivity in a pocket. How will mLearning impact the enterprise as we’ve known it?

2:15p - 3:00p

FA205 - From Content to Experience: mLearning Beyond Videos with Kris Rockwell, Judy Brown, and Ellen Wagner
There is plenty of need for “just-in-time” and “just-in-case” content, where video is a great solution. There are also other approaches to content that are broadly effective and that, potentially, engage learners beyond consuming the media streamed to a device.

3:15p - 4:00p

FA206 - Ubiquity and Convergence: What the Future Looks Like? With Mohamed Ally, Clark Quinn, Kris Rockwell, Ellen Wagner
You have “accounts” all over the Internet, but the day is coming where you won’t need to manage this information – you can just be “you” without having to manage so much of your own activities. We will explore what happens when work, play, and learning converge.

Thursday, June 17: Our Next Endeavors

Our last day of mLearning Future Zone will prepare us to make the future we’ve discussed this week into something real that we can begin doing in 2010.

8:30a - 9:15a

FA301 - What Is Future Learning? With Clark Quinn and Kris Rockwell
We will take this time to sum up everything we’ve learned together over the two rich days of sharing with each other, and make some collective decisions about what learning is, and what we need to do as we work with a broad and increasing range of tools and devices.

9:30a -10:15a

FA302 - How Do We Design the Future? With Judy Brown, Michelle Lentz, and Clark Quinn
Considering the rate of innovation in technology and how innovation’s evolution simultaneously evolves how learning and communication take form, we’ll discuss the next steps we can take, individually and collectively, to take these ideas and help them find form.