From Jan Holmquist:
23 Mobile Things is a self paced course that offers library workers the chance to build their awareness, knowledge and skills at their own pace. It is a fun professional development tool that seeks to explore the added potential of mobile devices. The course is freely available to anyone who has access to a mobile device (tablet or smartphone) to participate.
We are interested in exploring ways that libraries and library staff can use mobile technologies to deliver library services, to engage with their communities and for their own professional development.
The first version of 23 mobile things was developed in Danish by Jan Holmquist, Pernille Saul, Stine Grabas and Sigrid Kjøller. This version of the course is an international collaboration, Jan Holmquist from Guldborgsund-bibliotekerne (Denmark) and Mylee Joseph and Kathryn Barwick from the State Library of New South Wales (Australia) are working together to build the English language version of the course. Dr Michael Stephens from the San Jose State University (USA) and Tame the Web is researching the outcomes of 23 Things courses for library workers and has provided some advice to the team.
Note from Michael:
I’ve been researching the impact and effect of 23 Things/Learning 2.0 programs since 2009. In the last few years, the Learning 2.0 model has been adapted to focus on specific subject areas and learner focus. Recent examples include “23 Things for Professional Development” (http://cpd23.blogspot.com/) and “Looking at 2.0,” an adapted program for citizens of Queensland, Australia hosted by the State Library of Queensland (http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/services/learning/programs/looking). The program, offered close to 1000 times, globally has remained within the realm of desktop and laptop computers, as have the tools highlighted, such as Twitter and the increasingly popular Pinterest.
The next logical step for this program is into the area of mobile and handheld device. The popularity of these devices as an information and communication tool has grown in recent years, and is set to surpass access by desktops or laptops by the year 2020, according to Pew Internet and American Life’s “Future of the Internet” report (2008). The Horizon Report, from EDUCAUSE and the New Media Consortium, has ranked mobile technologies as leading edge tools for teaching and learning for 2010, 2011, and 2012. The 2012 report identifies mobile apps and tablet computing specifically as key emerging technologies already making an impact on teaching and learning in the coming year.
I’m excited to be working with Jan evaluating the impact of the program at his library and to be serving as an advisor for the international version of the course.