Helpful educators on Twitter submitted some of their favorite mobile learning websites, apps, and resources. Tony Vincent put these submissions into the set of posters that were placed around the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown at Mobile Learning Experience 2012. If you weren’t at Mobile 2012 or missed some of the posters in person, they are posted here for your learning pleasure.

Educators & App Enthusiasts Lisa Johnson & Yolanda Barker host a weekly online radio talkshow called Appy Hours 4 U. Lisa and Yolanda are doing a series of interviews with some of the speakers that will be at Mobile Learning Experience 2012. You can tune in live or listen to the recording afterwards.

Read more at TechChef4u.com.

We are excited about your participation in Mobile Learning Experience 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. Please visit the Mobile Learning Experience 2012 registration desk in the Valley of the Sun Foyer at the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix to pick up your badge and bag between noon and 1pm April 11. The agenda and program is online at mobile2012.org and we suggest looking it over before the conference. You do not need to pre-register for the breakout sessions. Seating in breakout sessions will be first-come, first-serve and based on availability of chairs.

Getting to the Sheraton

The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown is located at 340 North 3rd Street and is about seven miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The hotel does not have its own airport shuttle. Super Shuttle from the Airport to the Sheraton is available at about $13 per person and ExecuCar from the Sheraton to the Airport is also available at about $13 per person. Please contact the concierge desk for more information and updated pricing. Alternatively, you can take the Valley METRO Light Rail for approximately $1.75. Call the Sheraton at (602) 262-2500 for Light Rail instructions.

Parking

If you drive to the hotel, you need to park in the Sheraton self-parking garage located in the hotel. Day and overnight self-parking is available at the discounted rate of $10 per day. If you have accommodations at the Sheraton please let the Front Desk know that you have a vehicle. Your guest room key card will be needed to enter and exit the garage. The discounted parking rate will be included in your folio at check-out as long as you park in the Sheraton self-parking garage. If you do not have accommodations please ask the Arizona K12 Staff at the Mobile 2012 registration desk for a validation ticket so that you can get the discounted rate. Please note parking is based on availability.

Meals and Accommodations

Your registration includes morning and afternoon snacks and beverages, dinner April 11, and breakfast and lunch buffets April 12 and 13. Buffets are vegetarian-friendly, but please email if you have any other special dietary requirements. Also, if you require a vegetarian meal for dinner on April 11 please also let Cheryl know. If you registered with private accommodations at the Sheraton, those accommodations have been booked for you. Official check-in time is 3pm. When you arrive you may leave your bags with the Bell Desk until your guestroom is available. Early check-in will be based on availability. You must check out by noon April 13 unless you have extended your stay with the Sheraton.

Internet Access

You will be provided with complimentary wireless access in your guestroom and in the meeting spaces. There are two separate networks for the wireless access. For the guestroom access you will need to agree to a daily charge when logging on and the fee will be waived from your room folio at check-out. The meeting space access will be used for when you are inside the meeting rooms and will require a code each day. The code and access directions will be provided on-site.

We wish we could guarantee consistent Wi-Fi access at Mobile Learning Experience. However, providing reliable access to a group of our size and with our number of devices is a challenge for any venue. To ensure that participants have the fastest Wi-Fi connection possible we are urging everyone to utilize one device at a time and to put all other devices in Airplane mode until they are needed.

Software Updates

We recommend that you update your operating system to the latest version. Some apps shared at Mobile Learning Experience 2012 may require iOS 5 or above. We also recommend you update your apps before the event begins. Doing app updates during the conference might cause bandwidth issues.

Agenda and Program

The preliminary agenda and program are online at mobile2012.org/schedule-materials. We will provide you with a print out of the 3-page agenda. To stay digital and current, the full program with session descriptions is available as a PDF or as an iPad iBook. The program will be finalized April 9, so we recommend downloading that version to your device between April 9 and the beginning of the conference.

Restaurants and Points of Interest

The Sheraton is located in the heart of downtown and within close proximity to many points of interest. There are links to many of these, along with tips on where to eat and things to do in Phoenix at http://mobile2012.org/location. And, of course, there are also apps designed to help you find nearby restaurants and attractions.

Welcome Reception

Learning A-Z and Emantras are sponsoring a cocktail reception from 4:30pm-5:30pm April 11 in the Valley of the Sun DE. Dinner and Jaime Casap’s keynote presentation will take place afterwards in the Valley of the Sun Ballroom.

What to Bring

Arizona is known for being hot and sunny. Please bring along sunscreen if you plan to do anything outdoors. Please dress in layers because meeting room temperatures are often difficult to regulate and you may find yourself in a chilly room. Be sure to bring your fully charged mobile device(s). Pack your power adapters and cords and make friends by bringing a power strip. If you are an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad user, please know your Apple ID and password so you can download apps.

Thursday is Geeky T-Shirt Day!

A geek is someone who shows a lot of passion about a topic, and we certainly have our share of geeks coming to Mobile Learning Experience. To celebrate your geekiness, wear a geeky, nerdy, or techie shirt and be prepared to pose for pictures. Geeky T-Shirt Day is, of course, optional.

Apps

We suggest loading the Bump app to your Apple or Android device and prepare contact information you’d like to share with others at the conference, including your Twitter, Facebook, and blog URLs. We also suggest loading a QR Code reader. i-nigma is a popular reader for iOS and Android.

QR Code Sticker Station

We want you to be adorned in QR codes! Stop by the QR Code Sticker Station near Registration to create and print a code that links to your website, Twitter, Google Plus, favorite app, or URL of your choosing. Or, print a QR code sticker that says a nice message or quote.

Share Your Favorite Mobile Learning Resources, Links, and Apps

Do you have a great website, resource, or app you’d like to share with Mobile Learning Experience 2012 participants? We’re making mini posters to place around the conference venue and we’d love to include your resource!  Simply complete the form by April 6: http://j.mp/m12fr. We’ll select many of the submissions to make into posters, complete with a QR code for instant access. Feel free to submit multiple websites, resources, and apps. After the event, we’ll upload the posters to mobile2012.org so you can see them all.

Blogs from Mobile Learning Experience 2012

Letʼs share ideas, info, and inspiration from the conference online! If you submit a blog post from Mobile Learning Experience 2012, you’re entered to win a new 3rd generation iPad!

Send your blog post as an email to . Include photos, audio, video, and files as an attachment and they will be included in the post. Give your email a descriptive subject, and be sure to include your name in the title of your email. Entries without a first and last name in the subject line/title will not be included in the drawing for the iPad.

Blog posts will be published at mobile2012.posterous.com.

Help Crowdsource Mobile Learning Experience’s Sharing Sessions

There are up to six sharing sessions scheduled at Mobile Learning Experience 2012. Topics for these sessions will be crowdsourced, meaning that those attending the conference can submit and vote on topics. The room for sharing sessions will have a projector and document camera, allowing for any participant to share apps, ideas, examples, student works, etc. Mobile Learning Experience 2012 will seek volunteers to moderate each sharing session.

We’re using a Google Moderator series for submitting suggestions for sharing sessions and to vote on those already submitted. Like the conference’s other breakout sessions, sharing sessions are 60 minutes in length. Look over the agenda at http://mobile2012.org/schedule -materials/ to get an idea of the topics already offered. Sharing sessions can be a great way to fill in topics missing from the main program and for those who aren’t part of an official session to share, present, discuss, and contribute. Please submit suggestions and votes before April 6th. The sessions will be announced shortly afterwards and added to the schedule. For links and more details, go to http://mobile2012.org/2012/02/19/crowd.

Twitter

Mobile Learning Experience is on Twitter at twitter.com/mobile2011. The hashtag for the conference is #mobile2012.

We look forward to seeing you at Mobile Learning Experience 2012!

Do you have a great website, resource, or app you’d like to share with Mobile Learning Experience 2012 participants? We’re making mini posters to place around the conference venue and we’d love to include your submissions!  Simply complete this form by April 5. We’ll select many of the submissions to make into posters, complete with QR codes for instant access. Feel free to submit multiple websites, resources, and apps. After the event, we’ll upload the posters to mobile2012.org so you can see them all.

Below are two examples.

Eric Marcos is Mobile Learning Experience 2012′s Thursday Keynote Speaker. He’s co-presenting with one of his students, Andrew Rothman, about MathTrain.TV. MathTrain.TV is a “kids teaching kids” project by Eric and his students at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, California. For the last several years Eric’s students have been creating and sharing screencasts that cover a range of math topics. They use software to combine what they say with what they write to make videos that are freely available online and in iTunes.

MathTrain even has an app for iOS. The app is designed by Andrew Rothman so participants in the Mobile Learning Experience 2012 will get to hear a student’s perspective on app development and on podcasting.

To learn more about Eric and MathTrain.TV, watch the three minute video about the MathTrain.TV Story.

Eric has found that students can do some remarkable things when they are encouraged to participate in the learning and teaching process. Come hear Eric April 12, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona at Mobile Learning Experience. Registration closes March 19.

There are seven sharing sessions scheduled at Mobile Learning Experience 2012. Topics for many of these slots will be crowdsourced, meaning that those attending the conference have a say in what’s offered. The breakout room for sharing sessions will have a projector and document camera, allowing for any participant to share apps, ideas, examples, student work, etc.

Like other breakout sessions, sharing sessions are 60 minutes in length. Look over the agenda and program to get an idea of the topics already offered. Sharing sessions can be a great way to fill in topics missing from the main program and for those who aren’t part of a regular breakout session to share, present, discuss, and contribute.

If you are attending Mobile Learning Experience 2012, please use this Google Moderator series to submit your suggestions for sharing sessions and to vote on those already submitted. You will need to log in with your Google Account. Possible topics include high school math, Android app suggestions, movie-making tips, web-based tools for science, fostering collaboration, apps for very young students, etc.

Please submit suggestions and votes before April 5th. If you vote early, please check back later to vote on topics submitted since your last visit to the Google Moderator series. The sessions will be announced after April 5th and added to the agenda and program.

Mobile Learning Experience 2012 is seeking volunteers to facilitate each sharing session. Please complete this short form if you are interested in facilitating a session.

by Tony Vincent

One of the highlights for me at Mobile Learning Experience 2011 was connecting with fantastic educators. One of them was Eva Griffin. Eva Griffin is a fifth grade teacher at Wilson Elementary School in the South Mississippi County School District in Arkansas. I got a chance to work with Eva and some of her students at a workshop in their school district in 2010. Eva was a prolific blogger at Mobile Learning Experience 2011. Check out her posts.

Eva is a brilliant educator for many reasons. She incorporates project-based learning, publishes student work, and integrates one-to-one iPod touches daily. But what really makes her stand out is her relationship with her students.

I caught her between sessions at Mobile Learning Experience 2011 in the corner of a breakout room. She was Skyping (or perhaps FaceTiming) with her students from her iPod touch! She was telling them about what she was learning at the conference (until I interrupted).

This was actually one of my favorite parts of 2011′s conference. To see Eva connect and communicate with her fifth graders from 1,200 miles away was inspiring. I whipped out my iPhone and took a short video of the moment.

Mobile Learning Experience 2012 is sure to have its share of inspiring moments as well. Please considering joining other brilliant educators April 11-13, 2012 in Phoenix! Registration ends March 19 or when all 300 spots are filled.

Please help spread the word about Mobile Learning Experience 2012. Feel free to post, tweet, embed, plus, Facebook, and share this commercial with as many educators as you can. Also, share with them that they can save $200 by registering before January 20, 2012.

Want to share your passion about mobile learning?  Then apply to present at Mobile Learning Experience 2012!

Below is important information for those interested in presenting.

Thank you for your interest in presenting at Mobile Learning Experience 2012. As the premiere conference dedicated to mobile learning in K-12 education, Mobile2012 will offer dozens of quality breakout sessions April 11-13, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Breakout sessions are one hour in length, so please propose a session that fits into that amount of time. If you have too much to jam into one hour, consider dividing up the topic and proposing two sessions. If you have material that will only fill a half hour then consider finding a partner to present with. These often make for a more interesting presentations, especially if you can set up two contrasting ideas.

Please make it clear in your description if your session might be more appropriate to beginning, intermediate, or advanced users. We want conference participants to have as much information as possible when selecting sessions to attend.

The deadline for presentation applications is November 16, 2011. We will contact you prior to January  10, 2012 to let you know if your proposal has been accepted.

We are particularly interested in sessions with a focus on personalized learning, project-based learning, collaborative learning, and the management of  technology. We are also looking for sessions that are subject-specific (for example, math activities for primary students using iPad, using netbooks to improve middle school writing).

Remember, participants in your sessions won’t be happy with sage-on-the-stage style lectures. Mobile2012 will be accepting presentations that are interactive, foster conversations, and inspire.

If you know someone who would make a great presenter for our event, please send them a link to the proposal form.

We will be using the exact wording you provide on your application to create  Mobile2012’s program, so enter your information as you would like it to be represented. Be sure to copyedit your work using proper grammar and punctuation. We thank you in advance for your proofreading.

Mobile Learning Experience 2012 is not able to pay presenters’ expenses. If your session is accepted, the lead presenter will receive a $50 discount on registration. Registration rates are:

The Arizona K12 Center, part of Northern Arizona University, has partnered with a group of educators who are passionate about mobile learning to bring you the Mobile Learning Experience 2011. The Center’s professional development opportunities have a reputation for being top-notch, making them the perfect organization to facilitate mobile 2011.

The Arizona K12 Center began as an initiative from Governor Jane Dee Hull that would support teacher professional development so that teachers, in turn, could enhance their students’ learning.

The Legislature approved and funded the Arizona K12 Center to begin in July, 1999. In the next several years, the Center expanded by collaborating and partnering with Arizona’s universities, other state and national learning institutions, educational organizations, and community and business leaders.

Currently, the Arizona K12 Center continues to bring innovative ideas and professional development support to Arizona educators. Under the leadership of its Board of Directors, the Regents’ Universities and other stakeholders, the Center is shaping a more pro-active role in developing teacher leadership and providing quality professional development opportunities to educators to improve teaching practice and student achievement.

Most quality school reform efforts focus primarily on the end result of improving K12 student performance. At the core of these efforts is a call to rethink the practice of teaching in ways that would raise standards, increase student achievement, reshape curricula, and restructure the way schools operate. The Arizona K12 Center was created to bring these topics into focus in order to increase Arizona teachers’ abilities to improve student performance. The Center supports the professional development of educators as they work to become teacher leaders in their schools and assist their students in achieving the high standards that have been set.

Follow the Arizona K12 Center on Twitter and Facebook.