This post is part of the #JuneEdTechChallenge series.
Who remembers the PSP?
Though I didn’t post these posts each day in June (and to be honest I didn’t post it each day on the Twitter either) except the final day, I have decided to retrospectively post blog posts about each of the challenges and back date them accordingly. There is sometimes more I want to say on the challenge then you can fit into 140 characters (well 280 these days).
The challenges of digital poverty are making the news, with demands to ensure students have access to devices and connections. What isn’t making the news so much is demands to rethink the curriculum design and delivery so that it is less reliant on high end devices and good broadband!
Could we deliver content and learning via an USB stick or even on DVD?
This tweet by Donald Clark of a suggestion by Leon Cych to use USB flashdrives, reminded me of a presentation I delivered fifteen years ago.
As suggested by @eyebeams why not load a ton of stuff up on flash drives and send them to people with low or no bandwidth… this has been done for years in some countries
— Donald Clark (no flags, no hashtags) (@DonaldClark) January 11, 2021
Back in 2006 I was looking at how learners could access learning content despite not having a fancy laptop (or desktop) or even internet connectivity.
I was intrigued about how consumer devices used for entertainment, information and gaming could be used to access learning.
I also did a fair amount of work reflecting on how to convert learning content (from the VLE) to work on a range of devices from the PlayStation Portable (PSP), iPods, mp3 players, as well as devices that usually sat under the television, such as DVD players and media streaming devices.
So for an online conference I prepared a presentation on this subject.
Nice piece from ITV West on how Gloucestershire College are using PSPs to support and enhance learning.
Some related posts from this blog about how we have been using PSPs.
Last week saw the Game Based Learning Conference, we didn’t go, but that didn’t stop us from talking about using games for learning and using gaming devices to enhance and enrich the learning process.
With Kev Hickey, Ron Mitchell and James Clay.
This is the forty-first e-Learning Stuff Podcast, We’re playing a game
Download the podcast in mp3 format: We’re playing a game
Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes
Shownotes
is a portable gaming system that uses the GO! Cam
to take photographs and video. The PSP GO!
doesn’t have a camera and can’t use the GO! Cam.
to connect it to a TV or a projector to show images and video.
or the new DSi XL
(the one with the bigger screen).
is one console that seems to have found a place in many classrooms.
Interesting and informative podcast from RSC NW about St Helen’s College use of PSPs.
Gill explains how these devices came out of the MoleNet funding stream and why she finds them better than some other devices for capturing and playing back video evidence. She explains how easy to use these devices to display PowerPoint presentations, screen shots and photographs as well as capture high quality video and sound.
Often when people mention mobile learning they automatically think about mobile technology, notably mobile computers, specifically Windows Mobile PDAs and iPhones.
For me it is a different philosophy, much more about learning when mobile.
It was walking around different colleges which made me realise that when it came to mobile learning, it wasn’t about getting PDAs running learning content (though I am sure there are scenarios which they would enhance and support learning), but was much more about using the devices our students already have.
These could include
One end result of this was a presentation I gave at the 2006 JISC Online Conference, available here, which looked at how to use a range of consumer mobile devices for learning. I also made a video of the presentation which was made available to delegates at the conference for their mobile devices.
Since then, three years later, the market has moved forward quite dramatically, it is now even easier for learners to access audio, video and web content on their mobile devices. Devices such as the PSP, the iPhone, the Nintendo DSi are more widespread and are also much more connected and can play a lot more content.
One of the key factors has to be how easy is it for the learner to access that content?
Another barrier to overcome is to realise that the mobile device is only one tool that a learner may use for learning. So though a learner may listen to audio, or view video on a mobile device, assessing their learning may take place using a traditional computer or a pen and paper. For me mobile learning is not about learning on a mobile, but learning when mobile.
A (paper) notepad can be used when mobile, though mobile devices do allow for a more interactive, collaborative, engaging learning experience.
Certainly this model is how my institution is moving forward in terms of mobile learning.
So here I am down in Cornwall for the Cornwall College ILT Fair. I am down here as a MoLeNET Mentor providing specialist support for Cornwall College. I have been asked to do four workshops on mobile learning with some Web 2.0 thrown in as well.
Rather than do four identical sessions I will be doing four different ones.
I have my bag of stuff so can show lots of things. Also have a case of PSPs with cameras that will be used. Hoping to stream some of the sessions using Qik or Ustream. Will be posting to Twitter as well.
Should be fun.
The iPhone has dominated the thoughts of many, more so with the release of the new iPhone 3GS. I have met many e-learning professionals and lots of them use iPhones and extol the benefits of the iPhone. The same is happening across the country and elsewhere in the world
Reuters reports that
Sony Corp is considering developing a cellphone-game gear hybrid in a bid to better compete with Apple Inc’s highly popular iPod and iPhone.
The PSP is a very popular gaming console, I can’t though see the PSP Phone as an alternative to the iPhone, but more a different beast appealing to a different audience.
Luke Fletcher from Gloucestershire College talks candidly about how he used the PSP with camera with his learners.
Luke was in the office for a chat, when a colleague (off camera) asked him how he found using the PSPs, luckily for I had a camera to hand, so I just picked it up and hit record and caught this wonderful natural narrative from Luke about using the PSP.
So is this the new PSP?
From the BBC
Video and photos of the PSP Go have been leaked online, revealing a smaller, more lightweight console that has dropped the failed UMD disk format.
Engadget has some leaked stats.
3.8-inch display (resolution is undisclosed)
43 percent lighter than the PSP-3000
16GB of Flash storage
Bluetooth built-in; supports handset tethering and BT headsets
No UMD drive
Memory Stick Micro slot
Full PlayStation Network support (movie and TV rentals / purchases)
Integration with PlayStation 3 (works the same as the PSP-3000 does)
From a learning perspective the 16GB of Flash storage is helpful as anyone who uses the PSP knows that the Memory Stick can sometimes go missing… generally to be found in the card reader of a PC. Alas it uses the small Memory Stick Micro format which means getting another adapter or ensuring that your current card reader can read that format.
Disappointed that there is no built in camera.
