When introducing ideas on mobile
learning can be frustrating to some educators; especially when
they know what the future of classroom learning should look like and have
limited resources to provide a working classroom model. Realizing now that it
is not the idea of mobile learning that they are trying to replicate. It is the
ideas on how to provide those tools or resources to make it equitable for all
students to have the same opportunities.
Over the past year, I have
conducted several workshops on mobile learning in the 21st Century. On every
occasion during these sessions teachers have expressed an equitable frustration
about students who do not have internet at home. Usually these ideas of reality
awareness are expressed within the last ten minutes of my presentations on mobile
learning opportunities, those knowledge opportunities that are extended beyond
the classroom walls. Inevitably during these closing moments one educator will
state openly, usually with emotion, "What about those students who do not
have internet access at home?"
It is at this point that the
reality for my knowledge of equitable opportunities for technology resources needs
to expand. To help teachers find solutions for extended learning opportunities
that are derived through technology but are unavailable at home for some
families. One solution that is currently on the horizon is to give every
student an iPad, or a mobile learning device as a substitute for a textbook.
To take it a step further
research on the idea of creating teacher generated text materials through a new
conversion format called ePub has come to the forefront of equability. The idea
is to help teachers with the process of creating and generating their own text
material in ePub format and push the teacher generated assignments out to
student mobile devices. In my workshops I have called this idea the "New Alexandrian
Libraries." To expand this thought further, on both fronts of
equitable access within the mobile learning environment, and the conversion of teacher/student
generated text to ePub format, a new open source solution has arrived, dotEpub.
"dotEPUB is free software that allows any webpage
to be converted into an e-book. This works on any epub-compatible device
including e-readers, tablets, smartphones, netbooks, and desktop computers.
This applet gives you the ability to save a webpage now and read later when you
don’t have Internet access or to just save those long articles you didn’t have
time to read while browsing."
Now students and teachers can
convert a webpage into an ebook on an iPad, store the generated eBook in their
reader and have the materials needed, to take home for extended learning
opportunities. To learn more about how to convert a webpage using dotEpub into an eBook or how to create eBooks
select any of the resource post listed below:
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