Innovation Anthology #211:
Imagine working in the bush, on a pipeline or at the oil sands. If you have access to a cell phone or PDA, you could very well pick up a university education at the same time.
That’s the objective of Dr. Kinshuk at Athabasca University.
With the support of iCORE, Xerox and Alan Markin of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Dr. Kinshuk has a new industrial research chair to adapt mobile technology to distance learning.
DR. KINSHUK: We want to provide them with very contextual information and relate it to their real life. So we are doing is modeling of four things. One is that we are modeling the student their differences, past performance, behavior, developmental abilities and so on. Then We are modeling the device they are using. And adapting the content, adapting the instructions to that particular device, and then we are modeling the location, where the users are and identifying what are the different things available in that environment that we can use for the purpose of learning.
According to Dr. Kinshuk, cell phone screens are too small for reading material, but their video, GPS and text messaging capabilities are well suited to collaborative learning among students.
Thanks today to iCORE
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I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
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iCORE, Informatics Circle of Research Excellence
iCORE was established in October 1999 by the Government of Alberta to foster an expanding community of exceptional researchers in the field of informatics, that is, areas of computer science, electrical and computer engineering, physics, mathematics and other disciplines related to information and communications technology (ICT).
As part of the Government of Alberta’s strategy to create a globally competitive knowledge-based economic sector, iCORE is directing its support to areas in which Alberta has a chance to develop internationally recognized research teams. It is also focusing on areas in which Alberta companies are active, so that intellectual property and valuable knowledge workers resulting from iCORE’s investment will have compelling reasons to stay in Alberta.
iCORE invests in people of the highest calibre, research scientists who work on fundamental and applied problems in informatics. It operates several grant programs to develop iCORE Chairs at Alberta universities, around which world-class research teams are developed. Since its inception, more than 24 research chairs have been established to focus on emerging areas such as wireless communications, artificial intelligence, and quantum and nanocomputing.
The iCORE principle is simple: exceptional people produce exceptional results.
In January 2010, under the new Alberta Innovation Framework, iCORE was restructured and incorporated into the new provincial agency Alberta Innovates Technology Futures.
Program Date: 2009-03-17