David W. Middleton's Posterous

McGraw-Hill is building a mobile-phone platform to teach English and college test preparation to people in India, which the publisher hopes will help it tap into rapidly expanding cellphone use in emerging markets.

The platform, mConnect, comes as textbook publishers are jockeying to supply learning materials on digital devices. If the software is successful in India, McGraw-Hill plans to offer it in other developing countries in Asia and Africa.

The service will initially teach subscribers through text messaging and automated voice response, said Bruce D. Marcus, McGraw-Hill’s executive vice president. For instance, automated software will give Indians feedback on their English-speaking abilities, and a text-message service will offer test-preparation questions and grade the responses.

A bit late to posting this or, well, anything lately.

What's smart about this is the simplicity. Since SMS is the lowest common denominator, all students will be able to use the system regardless of device or carrier, and it can be ported to many other educational settings, schools, networks and so forth.

Of course, since it is not an "app," is not called iConnect and doesn't appear to have a little green robot mascot, it hasn't garnered much attention here in the States.

Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick

Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before

Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion

Thou Shalt Tell a Story

Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Skae of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy

Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.

Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desparate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.

Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.

Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.

Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee

Augmented Reality - Explained by Common Craft - Common Craft - Our Product is Explanation

(via @mtaylor654)

Some interesting insights and opinions looking forward.

via @mtrends

The freeform writing style of social networks like Twitter and Facebook is changing the way people communicate, and causing students to fail English. That’s the claim of a piece out this afternoon from the Canadian Press. According to the article “(at) Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, one in 10 new students are not qualified to take the mandatory writing courses required for graduation.”

Research such as this always leads me back to questions about Information Literacy and student preparedness. As technology continues to become more powerful, available and easy to use, the importance of guidance for navigating the digital world becomes elevated.

Since it is unlikely that students will simply decide not to participate in online communities moving forward, are any steps being taken to change the way writing courses are taught?

Click through this fascinating presentation on technology and education by Rodd Lucier. (@thecleversheep) Thanks to @courosa for bringing it to my attention.

With the current structure of education, there are significant hurdles preventing educators and students from capitalizing on the convergence technology is capable of providing. How students learn is evolving to include new media, while teaching methodologies are slow to adjust.

This presentation calls for change, but not for change's sake, rather, because the possibilities of impacting millions of learners around the world are limitless.

Well done, sir!

See http://thecleversheep.com/ for more from Rodd Lucier!

Today, Nokia announced a new version of Ovi Maps with free navigation and location sharing:

" The new Ovi Maps will also support location-aware social networking, such as buddy finder apps and Facebook. It will provide driving and walking directions in 74 countries with support for 46 different languages. It can provide real-time traffic information in 10 countries, and provides maps for 180 total countries around the globe. Nokia claims that its hybrid vector graphics technology provides a ten-fold data and cost savings when compared to Google Maps, making it better for both consumers and network operators. It can work when no network connection is present, as it will always pre-load maps in the background. The new version of the application will work with 10 models immediately (N97 Mini, 5800 XpressMusic, 5800 Navigation, E52, E55, E72, 5230, 6710 Navigator, 6730 Classic and X6). Nokia will make the new Ovi Maps available to most of its GPS-equipped phones by March of this year."

from http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=5404

Updates for Ovi Maps for the N97 will come on January 28, 2010, and hopefully for other devices shortly thereafter.

When it comes to weird and wonderful designs, Daizi Zheng is right up there with the best of them. Her latest design is Nokia cells phones that are powered by Coke; this is done by using a new Bio Battery. It is not just Coca-Cola that can power the phone but any sugary drinks.

According to the designer, the new Nokia phones battery would get its power from enzymes, it is those that will generate the electricity from carbohydrates and will last three to four times as long as conventional lithium batteries. Not just that, but this power source is also biodegradable.

Zheng was asked by Nokia to design an eco power source alternative for its handsets, she knew that current cell phone batteries were not only expensive, but uses valuable resources throughout the manufacturing process. Coming up with a cheaper, greener choice is something worth solving.

As mobile devices continue to look for the next killer app, or the fastest processor, I am always encouraged to see evidence of research that is looking for new ways to continue to improve technology while striving to protect the environment. I'm not sure of the practicality of this, nor the necessary shift in the manufacturing ecosystem that would need to take place in order to help push this along, but it is still nice to see companies investigating alternative power sources.