I read an interesting blog post this morning which shifted my thinking totally on mobile learning.  Ive always thought of mobile-learning or m-Learning as learning involving the mobile phone. Until now, when its like the lights were just turned on!

Donald Clark wrote about m-learning being learning that we do while on the move.  I love that definition.

For me at the moment Im doing a lot of learning while moving – podcasts and sermons are usually what I listen to while riding or running or travelling. They’re on an iPod though not on my mobile phone. My teenage kids learn what many of their friends are up to via mobile versions of The Facebook on their mobile phones – for them iPods are just for music!  Whenever I travel I see people using Kindles, iPods, phones (not making phone calls), books, documents….. all sorts of media.  Some of these folks are using that tool to enable them to learn something.

Im glad my mlearning definition was challenged – I think it’ll help me think broader than simply a mobile phone when it comes to developing learning experiences for people on the move.

For people living in isolated areas in some of the remotest locations in the world their learning is not much different to those in cities commuting or learning while we are on the move.

They have to contend with power issues, accessing learning material, require a mobile connection to the internet, have limits on data storage, and the learning material needs to be in a format they can access and interact with on a mobile device.

What’s mLearning for you?  Is it learning access and interactions with a mobile phone?  Something different?

Peter Higham (MAF Learning Technologies Arnhem Land) sent me a link to GCF LearnFree Office tutorials. They have a great site with resources for Office – 2010 back to 2003 AND XP……….but thats not all!

There are topics covering:

• Office – Powerpoint, Word, Excel, Access, Publisher, Outlook
• Computers – setup a computer, Internet, Facebook, Windows
• OpenOffice – a free alternative to Microsoft Office
• Everyday life – banking help, organisation skills
• Maths Help – fractions, money
• Career – planning, applying for jobs, resumes

The lessons they provide have video and some interactive components also.  Easy to use, I really like how they have listed a number of frequently needed lessons which makes learning “just in time” quick and accessible.

Have a look at their introductory video below:

Celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible

Join the 25th Anniversary of the C. S. Lewis Foundation

Write A 2000-word essay on:
Bible, Literature and Transforming Hope

Stories of C. S. Lewis inspire readers to choose good, resist evil and risk suffering. This is generally true of classic English literature. In contrast, Europe’s pagan myths created a fate-and-spirit governed culture of fear that bred corruption. The Bible inspired many English writers to transform their world by inspiring firm hope. Explain and illustrate what elements of the Biblical worldview brought hope into English literature. Please feel free to use Lewis or any other writer of your choice. In order to help aspiring writers, you may post and consult questions, essays, videos, and links on www.RevelationMovement.com

Post your essay by March 1, 2011  On www.RevelationMovement.com

Ten best essayists will win All-Expense-Paid Literary Tour:

• July 20 – 25, 2011 —- Guided Literary Tour of London
• July 26 -August 3,2011—- Oxford and Cambridge for the C. S. Lewis Summer Institute Oxbridge 2011, “Paradigms of Hope:Transcending Chaos & Transforming Culture” (tinyurl.com/oxbridge2011)

The Summer Institute at Oxbridge is renowned for the quality of its speakers and leaders. Speakers for 2011 conference will include:

• Os Guinness
• Charles Colson
• Vishal Mangalwadi
• George Marsden

100 Essayists will win:

• Vishal Mangalwadi’s The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization

500 Essayists will win:

• Guptara Twin’s Novel, Conspiracy of Calaspia
• (Winners will need to pay the shipping costs)

To watch the video of 2008 Oxbridge Conference go to www.tinyurl.com/oxbridge2008

Meet The Promoters:
www.RevelationMovement.com
Sponsored by:
BOM International Inc
1605 E. Elizabeth St.
Pasadena, CA 91104 USA)

C. S. Lewis Foundation
www.cslewis.org

Schuman Centre for European Studies
www.SchumanCentre.eu

The College of Christian Theology Bangladesh (CCTB) located in Savar Dhaka, is training men and women in theology and Christian ministry to serve their home communities.

CCTB Lecture Room

With 700 TEE (Theological Education by Extension) students, the aim is to develop and equip national leaders for the Christian church in Bangladesh.  Students who complete the Diploma of Christian Ministry and Diploma of Theology can then progress to a Bachelor of Theology and Master of Arts in Christian Studies.  Both B.Th and MA are residential courses.  CCTB also offers discipleship courses which can be used to teach and equip new Christians.

CCTB Library

“The greatest need that the church in Bangladesh has right now is for national leaders, for pastors who will lead their people.” says Nikhil Halder from the Mohakhali Baptist Church.  He said that one difficulty for the church in Bangladesh was that people were not aspiring to lead the church – “maybe out of 100 people we will have 1 person who is feeling called to lead – but the church cannot afford to pay them enough and that person needs to feed their family, so what do they do?”.

We need to pray that the Lord will call leaders to lead the church in Bangladesh and that training and discipleship courses will continue to be available to ensure they have solid Biblical foundations and can teach others.

While the courses available from CCTB are not expensive in western terms they are still out of reach for many in the church.  Some scholarships are available but students are still required to fund a portion of their courses even when the church who sends them is contributing towards fees and costs.

CDC, Gazipur, Dhaka

Christian Discipleship Centre in Gazipur is also training church leaders and runs a residential 1 year discipleship course which CCTB accepts as entry to their Diploma courses.

A common need shared by these training organisations is for resources in the Bangla language.  Different groups are translating what they need and while some are willing to share there doesnt appear to be a platform established for the sharing of resources and information.