Reflections on Mobile World Congress 2010 - by Dr Naomi Norman

Having recently won a mobile learning award, released a new mobile learning app, and hosted an e-learning debate with a motion about mobile learning, it seemed only fitting that Epic attend the global mobile event of the year: Mobile World Congress. And, oh boy, are we glad that we did?!

Over 50,000 mobile professionals from more than 180 countries gathered last week in Barcelona to talk all things mobile and to hear from ‘the great and the good’ of the industry, including Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.

We saw the new technologies yet-to-be released: to name but a few, the Windows 7 Phone Series, which integrates with Xbox LIVE; the Samsung i8520 Beam Android phone with built-in projector; and the less commonly known Puma – a phone packed with loads of sports training software.

All these small advances in technologies may make for big contributions to learning, be it games-based mobile learning offered on the Windows 7 Phone Series, or overcoming the challenge of fitting learning on a small screen by using projection on the Samsung i8520 Beam, or tracking systems on mobile phones to enable intelligent training plans, such as on the Puma.

We also experienced the buzz in the growth in the app market: the iPhone may have started the revolution, but others are determinedly playing catch-up. Companies such as Nokia, Intel, Deutsche Telekom and Samsung all made use of the Congress to entice app developers to their platforms and smartphones. And many of these phone companies are now joining forces to launch an open platform, making it easier to create apps for multiple devices.

And with Gartner research this week reporting that the mobile phone market will rebound more strongly than ever this year, the future for mobile technology certainly looks bright (and not just for Orange!). We, at Epic, believe it looks just as bright (if not brighter!) for mobile learning.

What do you think the future of mobile learning will look like? Why not comment below?

Dr Naomi Norman, Director of Learning, Epic