This year both the live broadcast and the delayed video from the Apple WWDC (WorldWide Developers Conference) were much improved and now readily available. Nearly every blog and publication has covered the news on the iPhone 3G. Most of the rumors we had heard were true and indeed there are some impressive improvements, plus a reduction in price.

With the enterprise improvements and the fact that many leading colleges and universities and 35% of the fortune 500 participated in testing, it will be surprising if the rate iPhones appear in education, corporate and government organizations doesn't increase. Apple has definitely raised the bar, which is good for the industry.

But what about education and training? Location-based services, language support, additional document support and even a scientific calculator could be useful, but it was a medical learning example that showed how excellent paper-based materials can be improved. Modality demonstrated their medical anatomy materials which are "more portable and more powerful than paper." Study materials and quizzes are available to medical students on their iPhones. A student of Dr. S. Mark Williams claimed to have learned five new brain terms while waiting for his latte.

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To coinside with the launch of the iPhone, Ken Carroll announced their own mobile initiative in his blog . Premium users can now access a variety of learning tools at m.spanishsense.com, and m.chinesepod.com.

The mobile sites provide…
a) Discussion, Dialogue, Key Vocabulary and Expansion Sentences for all scheduled lessons
b) The ability to save new words to your vocabulary list
c) Vocabulary list review, and flashcards
d) The ability to access and participate in all your conversations

See Learning a Language on a Mobile Device for the 2 June 2007 post.

Much of the recent activity in mobile learning has been in language training. Just this week Nokia announced a large initiative in China to tap into English lessons, test-prep training, and other courses from New Oriental Education & Technology Group, a leading Chinese educational company. "The idea of mobile learning is that it will allow students of all ages to access course materials through a mobile phone, maximizing time by providing learning on the go," said Michael Yu, New Oriental's chief executive. "Would-be mobile learners can buy one of the newer Nokia models with educational programs already installed, and they can also download courses from Mobiledu and New Oriental's online-learning site, Koolearn.com. The project is not the first time that courses have been offered via cellphone, but it's part of what is sure to be a growing trend."

In Sweden Learning-by-SMS.com announced that "you can learn a new language just by using your mobile phone, we'll send you daily themed phrases via text messages so you can keep on learning wherever you are." "

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