Make way for the iPad-based LMS
Image source: ipattt.com
Joshua Kim wrote a thought-provoking piece in Inside Higher Ed yesterday, entitled The iPad and the LMS. He puts forward some pretty compelling arguments as to why the days of the browser based learning management system (LMS) might be numbered. Sentences that jumped out and bit me on the nose include:
Somewhat ironically, one of the emerging limitations of the browser application is a loss of certainty that the LMS can reliably deliver its content. As the browser world has split between IE, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, we are seeing different behaviors in each browser. Four browsers and numerous versions are just too many to test all features, or to make sure that rich media content always plays as it should
… this my own experience on a regular basis!
The danger is that our models for delivering education will fail to keep up with changes in how consumer and entertainment content is delivered. Books, movies, TV shows, magazine articles, newspapers – they will all move to the app.
… pre-iPhone, I would have been very skeptical, but App-powered m-learning is now a serious reality, and the advent of the iPad can only hasten this trend.
Is the iPad (or any other model) friendly enough for a rich m-learning experience ? Typing will apparently be a nightmare so you will still need a computer for example to write your essays/assignments…