During our meeting in Oulu, Jari Laru presented his work on Mobile Learning Scaffolding:

Scaffolding collaborative inquiry learning in nature context. First phase of that design experiment was conducted in late autumn 2004 in Pudasjärvi National Park, Finland. In first phase of that design experiment group of school children [n=22] participated in study where they used tailored software in autumn 2004. This tool enabled students create, receive and modify flyers with their mobile phones in inquiry-based learning project. (Laru, Stegmann, Järvelä, 2005; Laru, Järvelä, Clariana, 2005a, Laru, Järvelä, Clariana 2005b)

In the trial they used the Nokia Flier application, described below and freely downloadable from this url:

The Nokia Flier application allows you to create and locally distribute short messages containing text and a picture. When you have created your own flier you can publish it to other Nokia Flier users, who are close by (about 10 m) and have activated Nokia Flier application on the phone. Nokia Flier uses Bluetooth wireless technology for communicating with other phones. For power saving reasons, Nokia Flier will be automatically turned off after 12 hours of use.

Tags: location awareness, Location Based Services, mobile learning, new technology