27 Feb, 2007
Burgers Paid for by Mobile Phone - Mobility Matters!
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There was an article in the BBC News Today entitled “Burgers Paid for by Mobile Phone.” It basically outlines a system that is going into place in Japan that allows people to pay for their orders at McDonalds with a cell phone. This doesn’t have much to do with instructional technology, I just think it is cool!
The article points out the benefits of a program like that for marketing and tracking consumer’s. While I don’t believe McDonald’s isn’t already tracking what is most popular, I do think that there is a lot of potential there.
I attended a Educause Webinar last week given by Ellen Wagner entitled “Mobility Matters: Why Learning Professionals Should Care.“ The seminar itself was great, packed with all sorts of great data and information. But what stood out to me was two points she made during the seminar.
1. Productivity and Immediacy
The point was made that a lot of times mobile learning is about immediacy. We want to get to the information anytime, anywhere. This in turn has the potential to turn many of those less productive times immediately into learning opportunities.
As I think about our burger scenario I see all sorts of potential for productivity. If customers can use their cell phones to pay for dinner, why not order it in the car on the way there, pay for it and pick it up all through an easy to use/easy to navigate web portal. The technology is certainly there. It would save the company money on production and certainly make us happier… I get my food faster! Win/Win! I imagine this won’t be too far off.
2. Killer Applications
At one point in the presentation Ellen said something to the effect of “What is it that we can’t do now that mobile [devices] will allow us to do better.” She goes on to say that killer applications are the ones that are derived out of practice. The ones that chance our entire pedagogical approach because it just works better.
I think that we spend too much time making applications to do something we can already do in real life. I have reached a cross-roads of sorts in my digital life in which I realize a lot of what I am doing with technology is counterproductive because it takes longer. The point is to save time and increase learning, not spend hours making something that takes even more time for students to understand.
There are those applications out there that are going to revolutionize both education and the world, but we have to sort through dozens and dozens of apps that are just mimicking what we are already doing in real life.
