If you are going to the Plymouth e-Learning Conference then you might want to come to Mark Power and my workshop on mobile web applications.
Recent times have seen the field of mobile technology grow almost exponentially, leading to institutions increasingly recognising the importance of delivery of content and services to users through their mobile devices. In many cases this can simply be delivered using the web, optimising your websites for use on the smaller screens of today’s mobile devices. However, in some cases you may wish to deliver a service that takes advantage of the native capabilities of today’s powerful smartphones, such as GPS for location-based services for example. Or you may simply want to deliver the whole “app experience”, with touch screen interactions and interface animations.
However, with today’s students carrying a vast array of mobile devices that operate across a massively fragmented and shifting market, institutions can find themselves wondering how to deliver content and services specifically designed for mobile use most effectively. Apple’s App Store? Android? Blackberry or Microsoft Phone? Each has created their own app ecosystems.
This workshop will give delegates an overview of the how the web gives us an attractive and viable solution that can overcome the fragmentation in the mobile app ecosystem and deliver cross-platform services and content. The workshop will allow delegates to examine the potential of Mobile Web Applications to support teaching and learning and improve institutional administration. Delegates will work on potential scenarios for using Web Applications in their own institutions. Delegates will gain an understanding of the workflows and tools that are needed to build Mobile Web Apps.
The Plymouth e-Learning Conference runs from the 6th to the 8th April 2011 and our workshop is on the 7th April.