Ubiquitous Thoughts

IJMBL Vol. 4 No. 1 Is Out

Mark van 't Hooft — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:17:09 +0000

The latest issue of the International Journal for Mobile and Blended Learning has just been published. It contains a couple of articles from the mobile research strand at the 2011 Learning Without Frontiers Conference that I chaired. My introduction to those articles can be found here. It’s sort of ironic this issue is being published now, as Learning Without Frontiers 12 is taking place in London this week.

Mobile 2012 Conference

Mark van 't Hooft — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:40:13 +0000

I went to this conference in Phoenix last year, and it was great, so I highly recommend it. Here is some news I just got from the Mobile 2012 organizers:

Greetings!

The Arizona K12 Center is excited to bring you Mobile Learning Experience 2012! If you haven’t already registered and you are interested in attending again this year, good news…we extended Early Bird rates until this Sunday, January 29th! Attached is a flyer with more information, we hope to see you there!

For registration and information visit us at mobile2012.org.

Sincerely,
Arizona K12 Center

ISTE SIGML January 2012 Webinar

Mark van 't Hooft — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:25:41 +0000

ISTE’s SIGML is hosting its first webinar of this year on Tuesday, January 24. Please click on the image below for the flyer with all of the information. You can register here.

Next GeoHistorian QR Marker in Downtown Kent

Mark van 't Hooft — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:24:06 +0000

The QR code marker for the former Thompson Grocery store has now been installed by Sue Nelson at her design store on South Water Street:

Call for Papers: Special Issue of RCETJ on Using Technology in Social Studies Education (Fall 2012)

Mark van 't Hooft — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:01:27 +0000

The Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology (RCETJ) is seeking articles on using technology in social studies education for a special issue, edited by Alicia R. Crowe, to be published in the fall of 2012. Manuscripts to be considered for this special issue should focus on utilization of technology in preK-12 and pre-service social studies education. Articles may address issues of preK-12 and pre-service social studies classroom technology integration from research-based, practical, or theoretical perspectives at any levels of academic and institutional contexts. Priority will be given to manuscripts that are well-grounded in social studies education research literature and/or present novel research into the utilization of technology in social studies education.

Manuscripts should be approximately 15-20 pages double-spaced and should conform to the journal’s specification (http://www.rcetj.org/index.php/rcetj/information/authors). Please submit your manuscript by July 20, 2012 at http://www.rcetj.org.

Notifications of acceptance/rejection will be sent out by August 24, 2012. RCETJ is a refereed journal, and as such, all submitted manuscripts are subject to a comprehensive, double-blind review process.

Final submissions for the online journal articles are expected to include multimedia evidence and sources that might include: images; illustrations; video; sound; animation; simulation; and links to online data and references. For more information please visit http://www.rcetj.org or contact the guest editor Alicia R. Crowe (acrowe@kent.edu).

Important dates:
July 20, 2012: Author deadline for submitting completed manuscript and multimedia files
August 24, 2012: Editor deadline for reviewing papers and returning comments to authors
September 28, 2012: Author deadline for making revisions and submitting final papers and accompanying materials
Mid-November 2012: Expected publication date.

The Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology provides a multimedia forum for the advancement of scholarly work on the effects of technology on teaching and learning. The journal publishes the original, refereed work of researchers and practitioners twice a year in a multimedia electronic format. It is distributed free of charge over the World Wide Web to promote dialogue, research, and grounded practice, Learn more about RCETJ and review the Instructions to Authors at: http://www.rcetj.org.

GeoHistorian Another QR Code Marker Installed

Mark van 't Hooft — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:02:39 +0000

The next QR code marker we installed for the GeoHistorian Project is located at Franklin Township Hall in Kent:

GeoHistorian: Round Two of QR Code Marker Installation Begins

Mark van 't Hooft — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:37:27 +0000

We installed several new QR code markers for the GeoHistorian Project in downtown Kent this morning, including:

Ray’s Place (former Thompson Drug and Central Hotel)

Link Block

Standing Rock Cemetery

Kent Stage

One marker was dropped off at Sue Nelson Design to be installed for us, and I’ll post better pictures of the Franklin Township Hall marker as soon as the glue dries ;)

Using Twitter to Recreate WWII in “Real Time”

Mark van 't Hooft — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:25:55 +0000

Real Time World War II (@RealTimeWWII) is one of the more interesting applications of digital technology for learning about history I’ve run across lately. According to sources such as the BBC, NY Times, Gizmodo and TNW, the idea came from Alwyn Collinson, a 24-year-old Oxford graduate in history. According to the feed itself, RealTime WWII is

Livetweeting the 2nd World War, as it happens on this date & time in 1940, & for 6 years to come. Contact: realtimewwii@gmail.com. See translations via Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Real-Time-World-War-II/323597664320621)

I really like this innovative use of a digital technology to help users more directly “experience” a historical event. I could also see this idea being applied for use in K-12 social studies education with events of a shorter duration or more limited scope. And while others are sceptical, I for one hope that Alwyn will be able to keep posting his WWII tweets for the next five years

GeoHistorian Project in the News Again

Mark van 't Hooft — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:35:42 +0000

As reported by the Kent Patch today: http://kent.patch.com/articles/update-geohistorian-project-adds-videos-on-kent-landmarks#youtube_video-8837705

Happy New Year!

Mark van 't Hooft — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:25:39 +0000

2011 was sort of a non-blogging year for me. I was simply too busy to fit it into my life. This year I hope to start writing on a regular basis again. I also need to make some long-overdue updates to various parts of this site.

One project that has really kept me hopping, but of which I’m very proud, is the GeoHistorian Project, funded by a Digital Start Up Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Office of Digital Humanities. My colleague Thomas McNeal and I worked with 5 teachers and roughly 100 elementary school students from the Kent City Schools to create 29 digital stories of historical sites in and around Kent. In addition, the Kent Historical Society was an invaluable partner in this endeavor, providing us with lots and lots of historical resources, information, and time. Please take a look at the GeoHistorian Project website for continuous updates on the project, conference presentations, publications, and other related project information.

The digital stories are accessible on location by way of QR codes that can be scanned with a smartphone or other wireless mobile device. It’s really a powerful experience to watch the stories in the physical locations in which they actually happened. However, for those of you who can’t do this, we have also made the videos available on YouTube. Hop on over and take a look, these stories are worth watching. Here is one story to whet your appetite: