Shopping for tablets at BETT

Yesterday will had our semi-regular trip to the BETT Show, this year with a fairly clearer than normal aim in mind – we wanted Android tablets…

The selection being offered was a bit smaller than expected, and of the three stands we mainly looked at (Samsung, Toshiba, and Lenovo) everyone seemed to have wheeled out the big guns for demonstration rather than their entry level offerings.

We were fairly tempted to change tack slightly and admired an exceptionally large smartphone from Samsung, a 5″ Galaxy Note – small enough to use onehanded but big enough for fairly easy reading, web browsing, and form filling. The Galaxy Tab devices at 10″ were lovely but unfortunately they wouldn’t be drawn on price, they work entirely through resellers and I suspect it might be well outside the planned budget unless they do a smaller version.

Toshiba offered a software management tool with the tablets to enable distribution of sets of apps and management and lockdown of access to web, marketplace etc which looked potentially useful as a time saving in getting set up.  The AT100 was around the £290 mark – a little higher than we’d planned but a bigger formed factor than we’d expected in the budget.  Fairly tempting.

Lenovo had a lovely handwriting interface integrated with Docs To Go which had very good recognition and a very slick looking setup but topped out the budget as the most expensive we looked at.

All of them ‘beeped up’ with the barcode badges to send more information, so a bit more browsing over the current week should bring us to a decision.

Apps – The WANTED List

So we’ve worked out a set of apps we’re going to give a go (always subject to update and change!) but there’s a few gaps remaining…

Moodle – a biggy.  We use Moodle a lot, but just at the moment our Moodle isn’t particularly well optimised for mobile use.  This might not be an issue on the actual tablets (it’s fine on a netbook), but if we want to look at the broader mobile picture it needs looking at.  There’s an official Moodle app for iPhone which is coming to Android “any time now” and two work in progress efforts (Mbot and MPage) both of which require Moodle 2.2 upwards (and we’re still on 2.0 pending an upgrade of our PHP version on the webserver!).  Server side the customisation for mobile also requires the update 2.2 for best results, so that’s on my colleague’s to do list!

Mahara – similarly we use the Mahara electronic portfolio which has a very new app to support direct uploading it which needs version 1.4 of Mahara and we’re on 1.3.  I suspect there might also be configuration issues related to the single signon we’ve got set up between Moodle and Mahara since direct log-on to Mahara doesn’t work well (if at all!)

Voice recognition – Possibly asking too much but I’m sure other people have had more success with voice recognition than we’ve had so far.  Any good apps out there for speech to text, that could be used to genuinely replace typing for lower literacy learners?

And in the other direction – text to speech tools.  The engine is installed but doesn’t seem well integrated – we’d ideally want something including reading of webpages, documents and to really put the icing ont he cake, OCR scanning from the camera.

Quizzes and surveys.  This one is just a research issue I think.  I was eyeballing Socrative which appears to be very similar to the eInstruction system we use for quizzes and survey’s in class.  Unfortunately it’s still in private beta.  Anything similar out there?

Choosing apps – The Experiments…

The current Work in Progress list of apps we’re going to put on and try out.  We’ve compiled the list in a collaborative Google doc, as well as tweeting and blogging out requests for suggestions from learners and our various connections.  (Feel free to tell us your favourites too!)

QRDroid – QR code scanner.  I use Google Goggle for this myself, but this one scores very well in the marketplace and seems to have a bit more functionality

Dictionary.com – Reference for learners, and will do voice input so hopefully can be a spelling aid as well.  The voice input works better with some staff and produces the occasional bizarre output like “manhunt this month” for “assessment”!

MindMap Memo and Mindjet for Android – Several of us here at ITeC are hooked on mindmapping, using Bubbl.us and Mind42 mainly, neither of which have an app so I looked for alternatives.  There are hundreds so these choices are a bit pot luck, but on there because I liked the ease of creation of new links with MindMap Memo (just swish your finger from an existing node) and the fact the Mindjet will export in a heirachical text format – something I use a lot.  Would be particularly interested to hear what others have found useful here

DroidScanLite – Integrates with the camera to turn snaps of documents etc into PDFs or images and share them to various services.

Wunderlist – Shared task scheduling.  The plan it to have a list per learners that both they and the assessor can add targets, tasks and comments too. Thing recently marked as completed show up in a special section so can be viewed by the assessor and checked (and marked as not complete after all if needed!).  Has both web and app interface and will integrate with a Facebook account if wanted saving a bit of setup.

Evernote – I seem to be behind the game on this one, I know loads of people who swear by it and it gets loads of coverage but I’ve never used it.  It might prove to do some of the things we’ve looked at other apps for.

The First Apps

Identify a set of appropriate apps for assessment and learning with a focus on:

• Free
• Capable of being integrated with common standards within the organisation e.g. Google Docs, Moodle, Mahara
• Literacy support and facility for alternatives to writing for theory elements
• Visual learning – e.g. mindmapping tools
• Time management and progress tracking

Task Two on our plan…

Step one was to have a look at which apps I already find myself using the most on my phone.  In fact, as we haven’t got the tablets yet I’ve set up one of the homescreens to have the collection of apps on it for reference and to quickly try out.

Google formed something of a core with the Search widget, and the GMail interface being essential.  We use Docs heavily so that goes on too, as well as the QR reader Googles.  (I also use Translate a lot in my Welsh learning) and Maps will be useful for assessors – finding the way to new work placements for visits is hugely simpler with it!

My phone arrived with ThinkFree Office Mobile on it which is useful as a quick tool for working with Microsoft Office compatible files which is useful as they always crop up even when trying to work more with cloud and open source resources.  There’s a free viewer, a mobile editor and a tablet specific version which I haven’t investigated yet – the mobile editor is the version on the phone, but about a fiver to buy.

We use WordPress a lot at ITeC (this site for one!) including our trainees Learning Reflections Blog, our main Trainee News site (hosted) and when learners do online projects they often use a WordPress blog and several apprentices are now doing the Collaborative Software unit of the ITQ qualification  Happily the WordPress App has an outstandingly well presented interface which is very well optimised for mobile.

As part of our assessment of what used to be called NVQs and are now called diplomas, we make use of ‘professional discussions’ – learners talking about what they know which is a much faster and easier way of gathering theory evidence. We have an MP3 recorder we use for this and various learners and assessors have already used their phones to do the same job.  Android generally arrives with a built in sound recorder in any case but the one I’ve been using on my phone for both work and Welsh is Rehearsal Assistant which is a little bit slicker, has good quality recording and allows instant sharing of recordings to various services or via email.  It also lets you create ‘projects and sessions’ – a bit like folders for storing recordings, so you could have a ‘project’ for each learner for example.  Sessions also allow you to add comments directly onto the audio at any point – something which we hope will speed up the assessment process as up until now ‘faster and easier’ has mainly meant ‘faster and easier for the learner‘ – assessing sound recordings, writing them up with timestamps and portfolios references and unit standards takes quite a while – it hopefully will be considerably quicker to do them inline – we’ll see!

SoundCloud has similar functionality to Rehearsal assistant with the difference that its online – recordings can be shared publicly or privately, and commented on by others.  It needs and account and some of the privacy and grouping settings are subscription only.  We intend to get an account as part of the grant to try it out in full.  (I use the free version for Welsh – the little pictures of people on the waveform are the comments).  It also will link to a Facebook account if desired saving one layer of setup.  It also embeds nicely in webpages, Moodle, blogs etc.

Also on the assessment front, screenshots and photos tend to feature highly so Skitch (an ultraquick markup tool similar to one of our favourites, Aviary Falcon) and Photoshop Express are also on the intro list.

Rounding out the list is DropBox for file sharing between different sites and Diigo Power Note, a web bookmarking, highlighting and commenting tool we use a lot for project work (as discussed in an RSC Wales newsletter (PDF) a while back)

Next up…  Apps which have been selected with by recommendation or because we were looking for something to do a specific job.

Reswm arall i ddewis Android…

Un dydd bydd e ar gael yn Ngymraeg…

(Wel, mae rhywun wedi dechrau meddwl amdano!)

Thinking about hardware

We’ve come up with a rough spec for kit.

• Capacitive touchscreen (multitouch)
• Android 2.3 or higher (for no better reason that what the two assessor are using on their phones and already know – no sense making more barriers than needed!  It’s an approach which has worked well for us before with things like WordPress)
• 3G (for those occasions we’re out and about without wifi)
• Camera & Video/Audio recording (essential for evidence gathering and more or less standard anyway)

We’re looking mid-range in terms of physical size – don’t want something that’s a big to cart around as a laptop, but do want something that offers enough extra screen real estate to offer a real advantage over  a phone.

A bit of background reading dropped into my inbox my coincidence the same day, about the Kindle Fire we’ve been hearing so much about.  Not entirely a positive review, but highlights some of the issues to be aware of.

As we intend to loan the kit out to learners we’ve also put ‘robust’ as a desirable quantity and we’re not looking to spend more than about £250 per tablet.

Getting learners involved from the get go we’ve set up a shared Google doc and set them off looking for quotes based on that spec!

Thought and experiences welcome…

What we do at the moment

We’re already pretty confident users of technology at ITeC –  we use Moodle a lot (have a look at our guest course Starting Your Learning at ITeC for a flavour) and we also use the free portfolio system Mahara for the assessment of the Essential Skills Wales (formerly Key Skills) and Wider Key Skills qualifications.  (Screenshot)

We make a lot of use of Google Docs, LinoIt, Mindmapping (using Mind42 at the moment after Bubbl.us went paid-for!) and blogging with our learners to get them to reflect and generate evidence for the portfolio based qualifications.

All of this we’re hoping to incorporate and draw on with the mobile project.

It starts!

Alongside the project the assessors involved will keep a blog of the process to record progress, successes and lessons learned (both positive and negative).

Thus read one of the last lines of our grant applications to the RSC Technologies for Learning Small Grants programme.  So this is that…

We’d applied with the intention of trialling the use of tablet PCs with our Modern Apprenticeship learners as an assessment, evidence gathering and learning tool.

The aims we outlined as follows:

Desired Outcome	Method	Measurement
Improved quality of Observation records/Assessment Methods	Increased use of media through mobile devices – on the spot collection of photos and audio. Increased detail in observation recording documents due to electronic completion in place of handwritten work.	Positive feedback from Internal/External Verifiers Fewer action points relating to Observation standards.
Reduced time to complete NVQ units (improve outcomes – completion of frameworks)	More evidence collected on any given visit due to improved ease of gathering multiple types of evidence. Increased speed of completion of theory elements of NVQ due to prepared questions being carried out on mobile devices rather than having to wait until off-the-job. Increased use of automated marking from Moodle quizzes.	Reports from Maytas database objective progress recording. Feedback from tutors during survey. Learner development plan and review action plan dates.
Improve Learner ‘ownership’ of portfolios and enrich learning experience	Modeling of mobile evidence collection by assessors using tablets. Increased use of learner’s own devices for collecting evidence outside of formal visits.	Types of evidence recording form from portfolio shows more Work Product evidence. Learner survey feedback.

We also produced a plan which I’ll also reproduce here to give an overview of what we aim to do over the next few months.

Activity	Target date
Stage 1
Identify required specification for tablets.  Research and purchase 4 low cost 3G Android tablet devices for use by assessors and apprentices for gathering diploma (NVQ) evidence.	16/12/11
Identify a set of appropriate apps for assessment and learning with a focus on Free Capable of being integrated with common standards within the organisation e.g. Google Docs, Moodle, Mahara Literacy support and facility for alternatives to writing for theory elements Visual learning – e.g. mindmapping tools Time management and progress tracking	16/12/11
Identify learners to be sample group.  To include several using tablets and several using own devices as well as control group. Demonstrate use to learners and familiarise.	16/12/11
Prepare resources for learners to replicate app collection on their own devices, to include list of broadly equivalent apps on other platforms. Also to include advice on gathering evidence independently using mobile devices.	27/1/12
Adapt NVQ forms (and other suitable forms – e.g. Health and Safety monitoring) for easier input on mobile devices. Liase with External verifier.	27/1/12
Carry out at least first 6 assessments using devices.	24/2/12
Milestone: Carry out learner survey & staff meeting on progress barriers/enablers of the process so far once tablets have been in use.  Identify changes and improvements to be made.	24/2/12
Stage 2
Evaluate the use of Moodle’s mobile features, identify weakness and strengths and develop content for use on mobile devices (which will also be usable via traditional IT).  Anticipate this will include pre-prepared theory questions for NVQ units	30/3/11
Purchase PremiumSolo Soundcloud account to use private upload and commenting feature to annotate in-line for Professional Discussion assessment. Update forms etc, liase with External verifier.	30/3/11
Carry out evidence gathering for at least 2 examples each of professional discussions using Soundcloud and Theory using Moodle quizzes	27/4/11
Milestone:obtain feedback from Internal Verification of QCF qualifications using new system.	27/4/11
Stage 3
Prepare guidance on best practice for assessors on mobile assessment using the new devices to be added to future assessor induction and for staff training.	25/5/11
Carry out learner survey & staff meeting on project in order to produce analysis of success. Produce project closure report	25/5/11

The selection of hardware we’ve already decided to postpone slightly to wait for the BETT show where we’ll be able to get some hands on time and perhaps a good deal or two!  Meanwhile we’ll be cracking on with the selection of apps (so if you’ve any favourites please do post them in the comments!