Mobile Media Devices
Jayme Johnson
High Tech Center Training Unit
for the California Community Colleges
Presentation online at:
http://www.htctu.net/publications/conferences/main.
htm
Dear Colleagues...
• OCR letter to administrators of higher
ed institutions
(http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oc
r/letters/colleague-20100629.html)
Adoption of Mobile Devices
•95% of college-age students own cell
phone
•Almost 75% have iPod or MP3 player
•Ebook readers slow growth - (<5%)
•Tablets account for approx 3%
• Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project
(pewinternet.org)
Device Limitations &
Capabilities
Device Classifications
• Dedicated reading machines
• “Smart” phones
• Tablets
• Netbooks & Laptops
Variability
• Beware of multiplicity - many
differences between devices, even
within a classification
• Data acquisition issues: on-demand vs.
tethered
• Differences between devices, OS
versions, & service providers
• 3rd Party Applications
Mobile Devices as
Accessories
• Mobile devices become VERY personal
• Integration with many facets of student
life:
•
•
•
•
•
media
web browsing
calendar
communications
camera
Devices & Technical
Capabilities
Audio
Video
Print
Android
MP3, MP4
WAV, Ogg
MP4 (h.264),
WebM
Text, PDF, ePub,
HTML, MS Office
iOS
MP3, MP4,
WAV, AAC
MP4 (h.264),
M4V, MOV
Text, PDF, ePub,
HTML, MS Office
Amazon Kindle
MP3
-
Mobi, AZW
Plextalk Pocket
MP3, WMA,
WAV, Ogg
-
Text, HTML,
DOC, DAISY
Victor Reader
Stream
MP3, WMA,
WAV, Ogg
-
Text, HTML,
BRF, DAISY
Accessibility and AT
Capabilities
Video
Android
Subtitles
(requires SRT
file)
Braille
Output
Visual
Speech
TTS
TTS
Enhanceme
Recognitio
Content Interface
nts
n
-
Zoom
Yes
Depends
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
App
iOS
Captions,
Subtitles
(requires
display)
Zoom,
Contrast,
Large Text
Amazon
Kindle
-
-
Large Text
Depends
-
-
Plextalk
Pocket
-
-
-
Yes
Yes
-
-
-
-
Yes
Yes
-
Victor
Reader
Accessibility Concerns
• Inherent accessibility challenges
• Hardware limitations
• Buttons, peripherals, data transfer
• Software limitations
• OS issues
• App issues
Print-based File Types
DAISY NIMAS
ePub
MS
Office
Learnin
Bookshare
Audible
g Ally
Android
Not Yet
-
App
App
-
-
App
iOS
App
-
App
App
App
App
App
Amazon
Kindle
-
-
-
-
-
-
Yes
Plextalk
Pocket
Yes
Yes
-
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
App
(SoftPak
)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Victor
Reader
Stream
Yes
Apps for Students in
Higher Education
Android & iOS:
There’s an app for that...
• Competing platforms
• Similar capabilities
• Communities of users (fanboys &
zealots)
• Bleeding edge of innovation
Educational Uses
• Note taking
• text entry vs. audio recording
• Reading
• mainstream media vs. specialized
formats
• Studying
App Evaluation Criteria
-3+ stars and greater than 60% positive
reviews for current version
-No major bugs or crash issues in reviews or
testing of current version
-Compatibility with common desktop
applications
-Ongoing update cycle
Notetaking - iOS
Sound Paper
-synchronizes text with audio
recording
Evernote
-Cloud-based notetaking allows
access to notes from different
platforms
Auditorium Notes
-records audio while entering text
information, but not synchronized
Notetaking - Android
Extensive Notes - Notepad
-Supports audio recordings, media
attachments, and TTS
Evernote
-Cloud-based notetaking allows access
to notes from different platforms
Catch Notes
-Capture text, audio, images, and
synch with web.
Reading - iOS
•iBooks
-ePub and PDF reader
-Supports VoiceOver interactions
•Stanza
-ePub and PDF reader
Reading - Android
•Aldiko Book Reader
-ePub and PDF reader
•FBreaderJ
-ePub and PDF reader
-online library support
•Moon+ Reader
-Supports txt, html, epub, umb, zip, opds
-Full visual control of color, line spacing,
font size, orientation, and more
DAISY Players - iOS
•InDAISY
-Full-text/Full-audio DAISY player
-Supports DAISY 2.02 & 3 formats
•VOD (Voice of DAISY)
-Full-text/Full-audio DAISY 2.02
player
Idea Mapping - iOS
iThoughts HD
-Mind Manager/Inspiration-style
interface
-Import & Export support for many
desktop applications
(e.g., MindManager, Freemind,
MindGenius)
Idea Mapping - Android
Thinking Space
-Mind Manager/Inspiration-style
interface
-Import & Export support for many
desktop applications
(e.g., MindManager, Freemind, xMind)
Flash Cards
AnkiMobile
-Expensive, but desktop application is
free
-Supports variety of media formats
Study Cards
-Text-based flash card interface
Flash Cards - Android
AnkiDroid
-Free
-Compatible with Anki 1.2.5
-Many free decks available
Any Memo Free
-Supports many media formats (audio &
image)
-TTS support
Institutional Concerns
& Considerations
A word of caution...
• Understand the difference between
acknowledging the existence of mobile
devices vs. actively designing and
supporting any mobile technology.
• Discrimination via technology? There’s
an app for that- but only on the Palm
Pixi...
Focus
• What are you trying to accomplish?
• What are you able to support?
• What are the expectations of your:
• students
• faculty & staff
• administrators
Equipment Loans
-Develop a check-in process...and then follow it
-Specify a procedure that resets the device back
to original factory settings removing personal
information
-Choose whether to support students if they
override device settings
Alternate Media
Workflows
- Text/HTML
- ePub
- Text-based PDF
- DAISY (with appropriate
app)
- MP3
Alternate Media Tools
-ePub
Calibre E-book Converter, OCR applications
-DAISY
Save As DAISY add-in, DAISY Pipeline, online
tools
-MP3
TextAloud, Ghostreader, AT applications
Conclusions
In order to map out the intersection
of maximum benefit and minimal
cognitive demands, the needs of the
individual must be considered in
relation to the capabilities of the
technology.
Integration between mobile apps
and desktop & laptop
applications offers great
promise, but beware of the
dangers of riding the bleeding
edge of technology.
Questions?
Special thanks to Sean
Keegan of Stanford
University for helping
create this
presentation!
Jayme Johnson
Web Accessibility InstructorHigh Tech Center Training
Unit for the
California Community Colleges
jjohnson@htctu.net
http://www.htctu.net