Concerns

In our two weeks spent with Mobl21 creating content, viewing the widget, and developing the mini-module, these are a few concerns we've noticed:
=== 1. __Cost__: anytime you ask me to pay for something for education in our Web 2.0 universe, it is almost immediately a turn off. The free account provides one category, 10 stacks, one study guide, 10 flashcards, 10 quizzes, and 10 users...the average educator would only be able to use this as a "trial." The plans increase as far as capacity is concerned, ranging from $25/year to $9,600/year. If Mobl21 would increase the users to at least 30...a teacher could potentially create a different account for each subject :). The hard part for the teacher is creating content for each subject...copy/paste could be a solution to that. ===

=== 2. __Sharing Content__: personally, I think that sharing content is much too difficult as it is presented. To begin, sharing content with your users requires two mouse clicks...sharing it with yourself requires three. Educators from all over the world cannot openly share content. A content code is needed to share/push content, which would require the author to create the user, and the user to enter the content code. Very confusing, very difficult. To me, one of the advantages of online content is sharing. Recommendation for Mobl21: create an option to make content public. Create a heading in the Mobl21 homepage for sharing content, so educators could go there and upload/download "public" content already created by educators around the world (from those who chose a "make public" option when creating content). ===

=== 3. __Updating Content__: if an author edits and/or creates new content within a category, the user will need to "update" the widget/app before that new content is viewable. If they do not have an Internet connection, there will be no update. If there were a way to "auto-update"...that would be easier for the user. The widget will notify you that there is an update available - but the onus is on the user. ===

=== 4. __Navigation in the Widget__: to view content, a user will need to (1) log in with a user id, password, and content code; (2) click a content stream; (3) click a category; (4) click a stack; and (5) click "BEGIN"...all before content can be viewed. There is little information provided on the additional buttons at the bottom of the widget - new, all, favorites, tagged, and trash. I have found a way to tag flashcards, but I have not found how to utilize the other buttons as yet. I suspect that they are in place for a future update. ===

=== 5. __Logistics__: this is perhaps my biggest concern. For a student to use this medium, he/she will need: (1) a laptop/PC; (2) an Internet connection; and (3) desktop widget (which requires Adobe Air)...if that student wants to go mobile, (4) iTouch or iPhone (Android and iPad are forthcoming); (5) the Mobl21 App; and (6) iTunes. Let's say I use Mobl21 in (and out) of the classroom this year...my students will need to download the widget...onto which school computer will they load it (and do I have permission)? Do I have permission to run Adobe Air on a school computer? I won't begin to discuss issues with no computer/Internet connection at home (for those students, they can access school computers, but that takes me back to my previous concerns). If we write a grant to get a class set of iTouches, concerns with loading and updating the app constantly could potentially pose a problem. They will still need computer/Internet access to load and update all things Mobl21, they will need iTunes to load the app, they will need access to WiFi when running content with links to Internet resources. === === 6. __Accountability for students__: Other features, not explored in this mini-module, are available for users (teachers) to monitor student use and access to the study guides, flashcards, and quizzes. ===