A couple of weeks ago I was accepted into Rapid Intake’s beta tester program for their new mLearning Studio.  I am just now able to devote some time to the tool and what it can do.  I reviewed the introductory video about the tool at http://www.rapidintake.com/mobilebeta/videos/beta_demo/beta_demo.html. I have to say that I really like the direction that this tool is going in.  Having used MOBL21 in the past and liked it, I am positive about the direction mobile learning is going.

Some features that I am really excited about testing with the mLearning Studio are:

  1. Building a unit for desktop (with Flash) and mobile delivery at the same time. Currently, the studio is only able to deploy text, images, video, and quizzes with HTML5, but the next release is supposed to go further with additional interactions and media.
  2. Deploying inside an LMS. Building on SCORM 2004 (whose future is a little murky), the mobile package is supposed to work inside an LMS.  So, I am interested to learn if this will work inside our Desire2Learn course management system and pass the assessment data as well.  We’ll see.
  3. Previews for different mobile devices. The mLearning Studio allows you to preview for mobile devices with HMTL5 compliant browsers, that is Chrome and Safari.  I am looking forward to seeing the options for iPhone/Android phones and tablets and comparing these with “live” data.
  4. Native or web?In the demos, I was unable to determine whether the mlearning package was going to run native or be a web app instead using HTML5/CSS for display.  MOBL21 actually deploys inside their native apps, and the environment is more controlled.  So, I’ll be interested in how this actually works.
  5. Beyond direct instruction. From the current intro video and even with MOBL21, these tools seems to support a direct instruction model of teaching and learning. I’ll be interested to know whether I can move to a more informal learning, social learning, or even more constructivist learning model inside mLearning Studio, possibly linking up with other social tools.

I plan to add some other posts as I try out a few things. If you’re interested in testing out some things for me, let me know. I’ll try to share some units/courses with you. If you’re another beta tester or having mlearning experiences, I’d love to hear them. Please share. :)

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