Flash coming to iPhone, well not really

One of the things that many people don’t like about the internet experience on the iPhone was the lack of Flash.

So is Flash coming to the iPhone?

Well, no…

There will not be a flash player for the iPhone.

What there will be is the opportunity to create applications for the iPhone using Flash CS5. You create the Flash based activity or application and then export as an iPhone .ipa application.

The new support for iPhone applications in the Flash Platform tooling will not allow iPhone users to browse web content built with Flash technology on iPhone, but it may allow developers to repackage existing web content as applications for iPhone if they choose to do so.

Flash Player uses a just-in-time compiler and virtual machine within a browser plug-in to play back content on websites. Those technologies are not allowed on the iPhone at this time, so a Flash Player for iPhone is not being made available today.

Flash Professional CS5 will enable developers to build applications for iPhone that are installed as native applications. Users will be able to access the apps after downloading them from Apple’s App Store and installing them on iPhone or iPod touch.

So if you can create Flash activities and games, well now you can create iPhone Apps.

Networked handheld devices for learning and teaching

The Association for Learning Technology (ALT) is pleased to announce that with the support of Becta we will be running a good practice workshop for schools, colleges, universities, work-based learning, and community education about the Successful deployment of networked handheld devices for learning and teaching.

The workshop will be facilitated by Professor Gilly Salmon, head of Leicester University’s Beyond Distance Research Alliance, and it will take place between 16.30 on Thursday 12 November to 15.30 on Friday 13 November at the National College for Leadership for Schools and Children’s Services in Nottingham.

There is a full description below and at http://www.alt.ac.uk/workshop_detail.php?e=339.

If you wish to attend this event please express an interest using the form at http://tinyurl.com/y9t6an2 by no later than 12 noon on Friday 23 October.

Kindle coming to the UK

At FOTE 09 I talked about the Future of Learning and spoke about five things which I think will have an impact in the future on learning. One of the five things I mentioned was the e-Book.

At Handheld Learning 2009 during the HHECKL Cool Wall we did have the Kindle and decided it was uncool, one of the reasons was that it was only available in the US.

Well all that has changed with the announcement that the Kindle will be available in the UK shipping from October 19th for £175.

The Kindle as well as an e-Book reader has unlike the Sony e-Book reader has always on connectivity. Unlike laptops and netbooks the Kindle battery is designed to last weeks not hours!

It’s all about the coffee…

How Twitter is all about the coffee….

Using Twitter to form communities of practice.

A presentation from the Handheld Learning Conference 2009.

Do you Twitter?

Some people have “complained” about Twitter as shallow and lightweight, they have missed the point.

Is Twitter just about following people and reading informative links or is it about conversation and community?

I use Twitter in various ways, saying when I am drinking a coffee,to inform about what I am doing, blog articles and as a backchannel at events and conferences. However telling people is only half the story, the real value of Twitter is the conversation.

Of course really Twitter is all about the coffee. It’s the coffee you drink with colleagues during a break, where you discuss work, but also your commute, TV, films, the weather. It’s the coffee you drink whilst browsing the web and posting links of interesting web site to your blog or in an e-mail. It’s the coffee you drink in a coffee shop, reading the paper or a book. It’s the coffee you drink with fellow delegates during a break or at lunch at a conference. Where you discuss the keynotes, the presentations, the workshops, where you are going next, your hotel, the food, the coffee, what you do, where you’re going, what gadgets you have in your bag.

Twitter is about these moments, but without the physical and geographical limitations. Twitter allows people from different institutions, sectors, different, departments to share these moments. This presentation will look at how Twitter can be used to improve and enhance teaching and learning through the use of Twitter as a community of practice.

Handheld Learning 2009 Day 3

Here I am at day three of Handheld Learning 2009.

I am presenting this afternoon in the MoLeNET session.

Yesterday’s Twitter session went well with some good feedback.

So much to talk about from this conference and also so much I want to talk about from outside the conference, Adobe’s Flash for the iPhone announcement, the worldwide release of the Kindle… so much to say and so little time.

Hoping to write a fair few words this evening on the train.

Expect to see a few reflections over the next few days.

It’s Day Two…

It’s day two of Handheld Learning 2009 and we start with the keynotes (preceded by industry announcements). Graham Brown Martin starting the conference with a hard hitting commentary on the state of the learning economy.

Later we have Malcolm McLaren and others…

I am speaking in the Social Media for Learning session on Twitter at 5.30…

Handheld Learning 2009

Today I am going to Handheld Learning 2009, probably the biggest conference on mobile learning.

There is lots on at the conference and for it is quite a busy conference. Today I am at the HHECKL Fringe event with our excellent Gadget Cool Wall. Later I hope to be on the Pecha Kucha with twenty slides and twenty seconds for each slide.

Monday evening is the Awards Evening and that should be fun.

On Tuesday there is a lots on and I have the final slot in the Social Media for Learning session. I am presenting on the Value of Twitter.

Wednesday I am presenting in the MoLeNET session on our Glossy and Shiny projects.

The nice thing about Handheld Learning is that it is about all types of learning and all types of sectors. There is a research strand, there is an exhibition, keynote speakers and lots of different strands and sessions.

Some excellent people are going and some of these are also presenting.

Looking forward to it.

news and views on e-learning, TEL and learning stuff in general…