New Video & Blog About Mobile Learning
Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 2:43PM 
Two of my favorite educators are Cathie Norris and Elliot Soloway (who have been evangelizing mobile learning for nearly a decade now). This dynamic duo are featured in a new video from the Mobile Learning Institute's video series A 21st Century Education. In the video Cathie and Elliot speak with teachers and students as they travel to some handheld-using schools. While en route, Cathie and Elliot talk about mobile learning. Here are some quotes from the artistic video:
"Mobile computers are the future. Laptops are very 90s. They're your daddy's computer. They're your parents' computers. They're not the kids' computers." - Elliot Soloway
"Just like a business person uses the computer 24/7--they use the computer for everything they do. That's the way we now conceptualize the way we use mobile computers." -Elliot Soloway
"It's going to be amazing to see how many of them [schools] go to cell phone computers rapidly because they're seeing that every child has one, every child knows how to use one, and that's why when we see districts like Keller saying, 'You know what? Rather then fight it, let's see if we can take advantage of it. Let's use the infrastructure that the tel co has. Rather than us spending our money building a wireless infrastructure, let's just use the tel co's structure.'" -Cathie Norris
"Mobile technologies are going to make a bigger change to our lives than the PC and Internet together. I mean, the PC changed everything. The Internet changed everything. But the mobile technologies is every bigger than that." - Elliot Soloway
Cathie and Elliot work tirelessly to deliver their message to anyone who will listen. I'm really pleased that together they have started a blog called Tech Disruptions. Here's how they describe their blog: "We will address topical issues that arise as technology continues in its inexorable way to engender changes in K12. Here is your opportunity to express opinions about the changes that technology has wrought."
I really enjoy the format of the blog--it's written as a transcript of a jovial conversation between Cathie and Elliot. So far Tech Disruptions has tackled topics like eBooks, mobile phone bans, and cloud computing.
mobile phone, palm 
Reader Comments (7)
Do you really think so?
What American education needs is some fresh young blood who actually understands how this stuff works and how kids actually want to use it.
Soloway and Norris' have been repeating the same mantra forever and it's time to move on from this big guy shouting routine.
At least they should understand why the American cellular network can not deliver the capacity to provide 1:1 mobile broadband access to American kids. This is just too embarrassing!
Sure, Cathie and Elliot have been beating the same drum for a long time. But I think that having a wide variety of voices about mobile learning is important--old blood and new blood alike.
Like I said in the post, I think the new video and the new blog are great mediums for them. The video and blog both have the message they've been harping on for years, but what I most appreciate is that they have unique formats for presenting their information. There are still lots of educators who have never heard their message and maybe Cathie and Elliot's new efforts will reach those folks.
I am actually one of Dr. Norris' students at the University of North Texas, and I had no idea that she and Dr. Soloway had started a new blog or had this video out! I will definitely take a look at them.
I appreciate Dr. Norris' energy and enthusiasm regarding mobile computing in the classroom, and have learned a lot about its uses and appeal to kids. In regard to the comment made by "Anonymous," it seems to me that Dr. Norris and Dr. Soloway are knee-deep in research related to how kids want to use cell phones, as well as how to provide access, both here and in foreign countries such as Singapore.
I am up for any means of providing access to kids, so I would be more than happy to embrace mobile devices in my own classroom; however, I have to admit that I sort of prefer the netbook to handhelds. I am having trouble separating in my mind whether this is due to my own preference as someone who is "so very 90's" according to Dr. Soloway, or is it because they are convenient and user-friendly to both teacher and student, bridging a gap between the "Digital Native" and "Digital Immigrant?"
I think the Tweedledum & Tweedledee / Cagney & Lacey style delivery of Norris & Soloway is kinda cute!
Anonymous,
Can you shed some light on your opinion regarding the limitations of cellular companies in delivering the capacity to provide 1:1 computing? While I am pretty savvy with the instructional side of technology, I certainly have limited understanding of the technical side. Having said this, I don't think "cannot" should ever be used in a conversation regarding technology, as it is always changing and evolving. At any given second, there is someone out there creating a new technology that other people thought impossible. Would it have been "embarrassing" at one point to suggest that computers would have wireless access, laptop processor speeds would be measured in GHz, or a phone would be turned into a computing device? Perhaps... but, thankfully, there was someone who didn't think so.
Angie
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I think the new video and the new blog are great mediums for them. The video and blog both have the message they've been harping on for years, but what I most appreciate is that they have unique formats for presenting their information.
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