Photo: Ian Lamont

While schools in the U.S. ban mobile devices in the classroom, the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) is working to better prepare its nation’s students to thrive in a fast-changing and highly-connected world by providing a learning platform entirely on mobile phones.  Nan Chiau is an MOE-designated Future School in Singapore centered around self-directed and collaborative learning using mobile devices.

To develop lifelong learners, mobile, Internet-connected, learning devices provide students with new learning opportunities in English, Science and Chinese that are not possible with paper and pencil. The idea is to create individualized learning opportunities through specially designed curriculum materials. Although students complete tests and assignments much like in a traditional classroom, the idea around putting learning opportunities into devices kids love and creating open-ended assignments is a huge step toward embracing 21st century ideas about learning.

 “This project demonstrates how 3G connectivity can transform education to enable a student-centric learning model that is available anytime, anywhere and easy for adoption worldwide.” -John Stefanac, vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm Southeast Asia and Pacific.

Not only can mobile learning be more interesting to kids, the devices are much cheaper and infinitely more mobile than PCs and even laptops. Because the devices are portable, learning can happen anytime and anywhere. In fact, according to the Technolog blog, 52% of children in the U.S. under the age of eight already have access to mobile media. So, meeting children where they’re already actively engaged seems like a natural way to nurture learning. Forward-thinking Singapore may be a model for the future of all learning, especially with the explosion of free online learning opportunities being developed by some of the world’s most prestigious universities.

What do you think? Is the Nan Chiau school a model for 21st century global learning or are there better alternatives for personalized learning in a high-tech world?

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Cloud-based computing Is vastly altering the storage and bandwidth needs of small businesses, and the next move is to bring the cloud to mobile devices. Here are a few free apps to consider when you’re making the change

Dropbox (Android, iPhone)

This is by far the most popular cloud storage service for individuals, and might be the right pick for your small business, depending on your storage needs. You get 2 GB of storage free, which is all you need if you’re just storing documents and spreadsheets for sharing between devices. With the Dropbox mobile app, you can share and edit files with employees, clients, or partners from your smart phone, so you can instantly and efficiently respond to concerns. If you need to store larger files or backup entire systems, you can upgrade to 50 GB, 100 GB, or 1 TB plans for $99/year, $199/year, and $795/year, respectively. One of the biggest draws of Dropbox is file backup—every version of each file is saved for thirty days, so you don’t have to worry about lost edits or drafts. (Cost: Free)

SugarSync (Android, iPhone)

SugarSync runs in the background on your phone and devices, automatically syncing selected files and folders from any number of devices to your smartphone, so you don’t have to pile everything you want synced into a single file structure like Dropbox. Browser access also allows you to use any computer with an internet connection to edit important files. SugarSync also saves five versions of each document for safety, and so that you can track changes as you collaborate with partners or employees on shared documents. The basic free storage is 5 GB, which might be enough of a selling point to choose it over other cloud storage providers, but more expensive paid plans make it a close second to Dropbox in our estimation. (Cost: Free)

PicPlz (Android, iPhone)

Creating a rich social-networking presence can be the most effective form of advertising for a small business. With PicPlz’s mobile app, you can snap a photo at any time from your smartphone, edit it using 15 tools, and instantly post it to one of seven social-networking platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Posterous, Foursquare). In the absence of an official Instagram app, this is a great way to quickly create hip, classy content to draw in potential customers. Problems reported by users of Samsung phones appear to have been corrected in the latest update, and the app appears to finally be bug-free. (Cost: Free)

Mozy (Android, iPhone)

Mozy and Dropbox have a great deal in common, but Mozy is a no-frills, much cheaper option—only $5.99 for 50 GB, and $9.99 for 125 GB. You lose a fair bit of functionality in the bargain, however: no public file-sharing, no real-time syncing of data (you can schedule periodic backups), and only five computers synced per paid account. This can make a huge difference, even for a small business, since getting Mozy for your home computer, office, and smartphone eats up three of your five allotted devices. Still, if you’re looking for seriously low-cost cloud storage and you have only basic file-sharing needs, Mozy might be a good fit. (Cost: Free)

Google Docs (Android, iPhone)

If all you really need to share between devices is documents and spreadsheets, Google Docs may be the ideal option. While other cloud storage options save conflicting documents separately, Google Docs allows you to edit a document together, in real time, showing who has made which changes in seconds. The benefits of being able to look at and make changes to a document with a client or co-worker in real-time are obvious, and being able to do it from your phone or tablet will make your business far more agile and responsive. (Cost: Free)

By Jane Johnson

Jane Johnson is a staff writer for GoingCellular, a popular site that provides cell phone news, commentary, reviews.

Are you an Internet technology thought leader, an instructional technologist, or a technology guru with a flair for writing and a passion for emerging internet technologies? Cloudhackz is looking for exceptional writers interested in sharing thoughts, ideas, and perspectives on the intersection of emerging internet technology, globalization, and learning.  Although this is not a paid opportunity, authors can include a short biography, a photo, and a link to his/her website. This is a great opportunity to showcase your writing–all articles will be shared on our social media channels to maximize exposure.

Interested? Contact Us

Laurence Kemball-Cook of Pavegen

TED is a global idea conference, and TEDActive is the project-based option that brings global thinkers and doers together around big ideas. This year, the TED Prize winner is the City 2.0, and idea. Because the Earth’s population is continuing to grow and concentrate in urban areas, we need new ideas for transportation, commerce, health, and community.

So, what do you get when an artist, a tech. guru, an engineer, and an inventor come together serendipitously around the TED Prize at TEDActive?
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