Part of the closing general session for WCET 2011 in Denver.

1. INNOVATION IN PURSUIT OF
EDUCATION EXCELLENCE:
MOBILE OUTLOOK
Joseph Labrecque
WCET Annual Conference | October 29th 2011

2. WHO AM I?
Joseph Labrecque, MA
University of Denver - CTL
Senior Interactive Software Engineer
Adjunct Faculty
Fractured Vision Media, LLC
Proprietor
Twitter: @JosephLabrecque
Web: http://josephlabrecque.com/

3. Mobile and Education

4. MOBILE GROWTH
ANDROID is the best growth indicator
• Q2 2009: Android had a 2.8% share of worldwide
smartphone shipments.
• July 2011: 550,000 Android devices are now activated by
Google each day with growth 4.4% per week.
• August 2011: Android has about 48% of the smartphone
market share.
By 2014, mobile internet consumption
will overtake desktop consumption.

5. MOBILE CHALLENGES
Desktop / Mobile pain points:
• Device resolution and pixel density
• Adopting the touch paradigm
• Non-traditional operating systems
• Limitations in processing power and battery
• Locked down platforms with real limitations
• An immature class of device

6. EDUCATIONAL FACTORS
Guidelines for encouraging mobile in education:
• Do not mandate one specific platform.
• Consider multi-screen approaches to teaching
and learning and application design.
• Encourage exploration and curiosity among
students, faculty, and staff.
• Remember that some experiences are best left to
the traditional desktop.

7. The current shift to mobile is very similar to
the initial movement institutions faced in the
early 1990’s with the adoption of desktop
computing and the world wide web.

8. TAKE-AWAYS
Mobile requires a certain
directed approach that is not
required with desktop
application development.

9. TAKE-AWAYS
Mobile users still expect
everything to work flawlessly
on whatever random device
they may be using.
This perspective is flawed.

10. TAKE-AWAYS
Designing good educational
applications requires collaboration
between educators and technology
professionals.

11. TAKE-AWAYS
This is an absolutely stellar time
to be working and teaching in
these fields.
Let us make the most of this
opportunity!

12. Thank you.
@JosephLabrecque