Google on Mobile

I found this post through the RSS pipes this morning – Google is thinking about the cell phone as the connection between the individual and all the information “out there”. The ubergadget is a sensor that knows where it is and can record the sights and sounds of a given location. This is no more than what humans can do. But with this device, systems can be made to collect the information of millions and process that information to provide a valuable resource to everyone who is connected, and becuase there is a personal investment, a great added value to those who contribute.

This mass connectedness is, to me, what mLearning will be about. Just enough information delivered in a situationally aware manner as a response to a user directed query. While this may not be the way to learn everything – and I don’t think it is – it is certainly something that can be leveraged for lifelong learning – paidea as it were. If you want an example about how this might look, check out Carbon Diem (developer) and PIER2. Or take a listen to Nathan Eagle on what is happening in the hotbed of mobile innovation, Africa (Spark).

This might also be perverted into the ad system that we see in Minority Report, but with any luck, we’ll have ways to avoid the ads if we want – as well as maintain our individual privacy against the system so we are not being monitored – unless we want to – or maybe need to.