Wayfinder, a leading supplier of location and navigation services for mobile phones, recently announced the launch of a web application that makes its “Power Search” technology available to iPhone and iPod touch users. The technology is accessed via Safari and allows users to search a multitude of databases, through one unified search field, that cover up to 100 million local search records around the world.

Wayfinder’s search engine is based on Tele Atlas digital map data, to which information from a number of other premium databases is added. For a limited time premium travel content from Wcities will be searchable as well.

“We are pleased to have developed a powerful web application for iPhone and iPod touch,” said Magnus Nilsson, CEO of Wayfinder. ”We’re also excited for the opportunity to use the iPhone OS SDK to develop compelling location and search native applications for these revolutionary devices that we expect to deliver going forward.”

“Accurate digital maps and related content are the foundation of powerful location-based services and applications. With our data and Wayfinder’s Power Search application, the vibrant community of iPhone and iPod touch users can get an even more personalized experience from their devices”, says Jack Reinelt, COO EMEA, Tele Atlas.

Making the search process on converged mobile devices more expedient and efficient will be crucial to the success of their usage in educational settings. When you’re searching on a handheld device, even if it is via the handy Mobile Safari browser on the iPhone, you want decent results fast; users might be willing to scan through a couple of pages of Google’s findings on their PC, but that’s less appealing and less practical for classroom usage when you’re peering at far smaller screen.

Be sure to check out Wayfinder’s press release at iPhone Buzz.

In a very interesting Chronicle blog post yesterday, Mark McVay—design director of the architecture firm SmithGroup—explores the way in which culture affects the public space of a campus. He discusses the challenges of designing university spaces that not only stand the test of time and remain permanent parts of a campus fabric, but that are also adaptable to changing technologies, curricula, pedagogy, and enrollment.

McVay asserts that the current “Millennial” generation is introducing new ways of interacting in and using space and is challenging decades-old planning standards. “The Millennials’ seamless embrace of technology is driving some of the biggest changes. Digital teaching tools are now commonplace. Distance learning now links students and faculty members around the globe. But maybe the most serious consequence of the digital revolution is that it is redefining the social aspect of learning. Millennials take digital technologies and improvements for granted. Chatting, texting, and network-gaming environments create global interaction.”

The impact of these changes on learning spaces is subtle, but significant. Whereas previous generations generally use electronics in solitude, Millennials see them as opportunities for dynamic social interaction. Clusters of students huddle around a computer sharing ideas—approaching full immersion. McVay suggests that the key is simultaneity of input. He writes, “Designing for this generation means providing wireless Internet access and readily accessible power. It means keeping in mind wire management and ergonomics. And it means encouraging changes in behavior that maximize interaction at both the local and universal scales.”

Ultimately, as McVay asserts, these developments give us opportunities to increase the experiential component of learning—and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface.

Be sure to visit the Chronicle of Higher Education for the full article.

Mobile phone novels, keitai shosetsu, are now dominating the fiction best-selling list in Japan, a country at the forefront of technology development and adoption. The novels are divided into sections, which phone users can read between two stops on the Japanese subway after downloading them from publishers’ websites. The novels are also written on mobile phones.

As mobile devices with Internet access become more common, the era of mlearning is certainly upon us. In a recent presentation at the Learning Technologies conference, Gordon Bull of Learning Forte presented these mobile phone novels as evidence of the degree to which people are using technologies on the move; his point was that commuting is an obvious period that could be used for mobile learning.

However, making mlearning ubiquitous still faces challenges, perhaps the most prominent being the different mobile operating systems. According to Bull. “It’s quite challenging to deliver to different technology; although, it would be easier if mobiles were used for corporate learning which are on a common system.’

Bull suggests the real inhibitors are the different resolutions and screen sizes of the various devices. And while certain websites already exist that can reconfigure a single source into different formats to be sent to various mobile devices, sending a large amount of data to mobiles - such as video - is still costly, and many phones are still 2G, which can typically handle digital voice transmission, text and messaging, but not large quantities of data, audio or video.

For now, Bull thinks that some of the best mobile learning is text-based. Voice files are also a good option to consider for mobile learning currently, according to Bull, as shown by increasing numbers of commuters downloading the news to listen to on the way home.

In the future, Bull envisages that one growth area for mobile learning could be augmented reality. It is already used in the aircraft construction industry, with workers getting performance prompts as they move on to the next activity.

For more, be sure to check out the full article at BCS