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From MOE news digest: Republic Poly offers 3 -year diploma in mobile software development (Ng Jng Yng, Today, 4/11, p26)Diploma in Mobile Software Development is among the new courses to be rolled out by RP next year (Ong Jue Qi, ZB, 4/11, p14) Republic Polytechnic to offer 3 new diplomas (CNA Online, 4/11) Reports noted that Republic Polytechnic (RP) was looking to tap into the fast-growing mobile application market by offering a new diploma from next year. The three-year Diploma in Mobile Software would enable students to learn about the design and development of mobile applications used in smartphones. Reports highlighted that the students would be taught marketing strategies to sell the applications they had developed. The course would take in 40 students. Reports added that RP hoped to increase its academic intake in the next academic year. RP would be launching two other new diplomas, the Diploma in Consumer Behaviour and Research and the Diploma in Sports Coaching. RP would also be giving out 200 scholarships for the first time in the next academic year and each scholarship was worth $2,500 per academic year. ZB carried comments from P/RP that with more new courses and the new scholarships, RP was confident that it would attract outstanding Singaporean students to study at the polytechnic. CNA Online noted that RP said the new diplomas targeted students with an interest in the growing sports, marketing and mobile industries.

Very interesting. This articles talks about pacing in activity by using example of gaming. I have always believed in progressive advancement in difficulty or challenge, reward or difficulties ( be it anything) then this article differed this view. Example if you eat good restaurant food everyday, your taste bud will soon fail to distinguish good or bad food and just learn to accept. this could be applied to things we do in life - challenges, job satisfactions or even learning to get better engagement. It enlighten me on how true this is- in game series when they do or do not uses this approach, the successful one in the series are those used this such as MGS1 and MGS3 in the series and why not 2 because this factor - pacing.

Vet published content

New social media tools now enable social learning to happen on a much larger scale. But this doesn't mean that social learning is something we suddenly need to "do," as if it hadn't existed before or that we need to attempt to "implement." Rather, those involved in eLearning should work to ensure our designs home in on and support areas where social learning is already naturally occurring in the learner's workflow and leverage new tools where that makes sense. (Workflow questions: Where and when are workers asking for help from one another? Where do they need performance support?)

Tan, Hu, Wong, Wettasinghe (2003) on Information Technology and Singapore Education, Instructional Framework, Instructional Strategies (Direct Instruction, SDL, Group Work, Computer-Mediated Communication, Constructivist Learning, Learning through Experience) Computer As an Administrative Tool - Blackboard ! Computer As a Presentation Tool - from PPT to Prezi? Computer As a Tutor - engage the learners in higher order thinking Computer As a Cognitive Tool - mindtools Conclusion: To successfully integrate IT into teaching and learning in schools is a challenging task that hinges on a lot of factors, including effective teacher training. Darling-Hammond (1994) describes the new paradigm of teacher learning as a place in which opportunities are provided for "learning by teaching, learning by doing and learning by collaborating." In our attempt to avoid reducing such training into teaching of discrete IT skills, or merely talking about it through lectures, we presented an approach that modeled various pedagogies, including direct instruction, self-directed learning, group work, computer-mediated communication, and constructivist learning. We also provided a holistic technology-enhanced environment, for the trainees to experience the use of the computer as an administrative tool, as a presentation tool, as a tutor, and as a cognitive tool. These strategies are built upon theories and studies of learning, as well as the use of IT in education. The results of the trainees' evaluation of the module indicated a generally positive reaction to the module and the perception that the instructional objectives have been achieved. These are encouraging indicators of the effectiveness of our instructional strategies, which we will build upon for further improvement in the subsequent delivery of the module.

this article mentioned the roles of implementing social media in their business. In the last few paragraphs, it was mentioned that there was so many community on different social media tools and these users do not know what is going on in other channels. This happened to the case in our scenario in CeL where we have so many portals and channels. How can users of these community actually see their responses, interactions across. This was very much inline with what we going for in our marketing plan. - to stage CeL website as a main hub to these channels.

A research paper on how low-tech SMS can be highly effective for certain learning tasks such as teaching social English. And now, there's Whatsapp and other social-messaging platforms that can be an intermediate level between simple text messages that work on any basic phone, to sophisticated native apps that must be programmed for a specific operating system. "As SMS is technologically and functionally very simple, it can be considered to be a relatively primitive  technology. However, viewing it from another angle, we see that SMS ranks very highly in terms of user  convenience. Successful uptake of mobile learning strategy is more likely in the situation when "learning activities can integrate into our lives in an unobtrusive fashion". SMS can deliver information in this unobtrusive fashion more readily than other strategies. SMS, thus, can be regarded as a practical and realistic mLearning technology for use in natural settings at present."

Something it's not about how rich or engaging the contents are but how the ease of being able to reach for it is. ( infrastructure) Afterall would you bother buying a magazine from your local newsagent if you had to stand there and wait in a queue for 30 minutes or more.

FYI. In case you are wondering why the term Retina Display on IPhone 4! Preparation of 2 set of images doesnt work here for the different devices?

Teaching with Facebook is a way for me to engage my students, since many of them will be on the site before, after, and during any lecture. More than engagement, using Facebook allows me to build a bridge between my classroom curricula and what my students are doing outside the lecture hall. I must admit that student expertise with digital media often exceeds my own, and my attempts at using Facebook function as a common language that sets up my classroom as an experimental space allowing students to take risks, make connections, and participate with an alternative teaching style. As much as there are a number of other Facebook educators-there is even a Facebook groups for educators-I am certain that on my university campus I am the only instructor using this social network. My university administration has accused me of subverting our institutional course management system. They are correct. Facebook may be a commercial enterprise, but I argue that students can maintain a Facebook identity after they leave university. The work done in our lecture as represented in our Facebook group is something that lasts beyond a typical university course management system. In other words, access to the information, discussion, links, and learning is not cut off once the course is over.

In 2007, videotaped lectures from 10 courses were added to the Stanford iTunes site. The content on the site consisted solely of audio and video files until January 2012, when Apple launched the iTunes U app. This app allowed professors to upload additional materials such as homework assignments and class handouts, giving remote students more of a comprehensive course experience. While remote students can now participate in a course by completing homework assignments and even taking exams, they are still not able to ask questions in class, receive feedback on homework and exams or collaborate with classmates. Several iTunes U courses have attempted to bridge this gap through Piazza, an online forum that allows students from around the world to ask and answer questions and discuss the course. Remote students are able to register on Piazza to discuss the lectures and assignments with other students, although Hegarty says that iTunes U students often reach out to him for help instead. https://piazza.com/ The (Free) Efficient Way to Manage Class Q&A How is this better than email, newsgroups, and discussion forums? Students actually use Piazza, they love it. This difference stems from how we built Piazza. We've personally met with and spoken to thousands of students and instructors. The result is a beautifully intuitive and simple product that students love and use.

Hi Ashley, would this article reference suffice as 'research reference' per our meeting with Director? Thanks for your input on the Emailer. I'm working on it now.

'How to use Twitter for Social Learning' is a great site to bookmark and explore. This site contains over 200 + articles and resources about using Twitter for Learning and is a great resource. 

Creating real time app might pose to be an issue on web app.

Foursquare can also be used in education, though, for online students, lower education teachers, and in campus communities. Read on for great ways to use Foursquare in education.

According to this article, the most significant factor is not the scaling of online instruction (which isn't a new thing already) _but_ the ability for educators to study how people learn in various environments. Timely and accurate feedback is an essential component, not only for students, but also for educators, in improving the quality and relevancy of education for smaller groups. Personally, I think that the rise of massively open online courses (MOOCs) will ironically lead to a huge increase in the number of customized and localized courses tailored for niche sub-groups. Instead of seeing a huge dissemination of one-size-fits-all education, we will see an increasing diversity of different educational strategies, similiar to how the diversity of an ecosystem increases when its geographic size increases. It's a very exciting time for educators out there indeed...

mobile application design that developers should keep in mind: Users will not tolerate mobile apps that are perceived as slow to open or operate. Speed is even more important for apps than it is for websites on a computer. Users are often accessing these apps when they have only a few minutes of downtime, and so speed is paramount. Apps do not allow multi-tasking the way that browsers on a computer do, so users require instant gratification. Simplicity of functionality and organization are key to good mobile app design. Mobile apps should be linear in design-this is distinct from a typical website approach that offers multiple paths and options. Apps present you with menus, you do what you need to do, and you move out. Mobile app users do not want to be overwhelmed by too many choices and distractions when they are trying to access a feature. People want fewer choices in mobile, because if you put too many choices in mobile, users will give up.

Nice read on mobile userability on the whole page. Advises and consideration into the UX experience before even jumping into development. one of the key to quality experience for our app users.

According to steve the no. 1 reason Apple not supporting Flash is that it does not support multiple touch screen when most modern device is supporting.

Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true.