Juliet Habjan Boisselle, Digital Learning Consultant, and Doug Reilly, Program Coordinator, Center for Global Education, Hobart & William Smith Colleges Last fall, seven students studying abroad in Asia were equipped with iTouches and asked to explore how mobile computing might facilitate their navigation of place, culture and language. Their findings were posted on the collaborative blog “Asiapod.” In the form of digital storytelling, this “virtual poster” will share participant and audience voices on the impact of the co-curricular, non-credit bearing project, and engage attendees in conversation on future applications of mobile learning in global education.

1. 7 participants
7 iTouches
6 challenges
Hobart & William Tidbits
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4 Goals
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6 Challenges
In order to guide students’ explorations, the project facilitators posed six
97 comments
5038 total views
facilitate embedded learning weekly “challenges” as prompts. Challenges included:
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!" Create community among students who study abroad in Asia: past,
present and future
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during study abroad in Asia
on-campus to enhance language learning
I’m incredibly excited about the discourse on
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snippets from daily life
The fear in study abroad is the mobile computing pulls
Readership Map
Asiapod. Our student participants have risen to the students out of place, and the approach so far has been
challenge and their level of engagement collectively to try to get students to disconnect. Asiapod takes a
is immediately apparent. Asiapod bloggers gained different tack: we try to route their attention through the
Digital
Learning
quite the following on campus -- to quote one student
exclaiming aloud ‘I’m addicted to Asiapod. I get giddy
when I see that a new posting has arrived.’ She’s not the
only one.
Juliet Boisselle, Digital Learning Center
Center for
Global
“
ipod, and back around to their immediate environment,
with content and apps that augment their experience.
Doug Reilly, CGE Program Cordinator
“
Having approximately 25 hours of Chinese class a week
all taught in Chinese, in China, can be mildly daunting.
Center The DianHua app is a Chinese-English dictionary app
Education that has been irreplaceable all the times that I’ve been
Project
in class and the professor uses a word I don’t know.
Hannah, HWS ‘13, Blogger
Family
Facilitators
Student
Bloggers
technology while abroad.
Emma, HWS ’12, Blogger
“
While I was in Korea it encouraged me to get out
more and to be aware of how I was interacting with
Most visitors came from United States. Japan and China are not far behind.
What’s Next?
Friends in
USA New Friends
Students on
HWS Campus
Gennedy, HWS ‘13, Blogger
“
I liked blogging along with fellow students, and
knowing that my blog was being read by a variety of
different people.
The student contributors were studying in Japan, China,
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new student participants will begin blogging
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the iTouch will continue to be the tool of choice for this
program
Abroad Hong Kong, Vietnam, and South Korea. Quite honestly,
I had not considered going abroad to most of these !"I+/)8$.%$6:;$88%07"-/;8/0+0.)"1%66"3+"%0.*/9'-+9"./"
countries until I read this blog. I received a taste of each .#+"8*/7*$;"./"</).+*"$99%.%/0$6"*+,+-.%/0"/0"0$4%7$.%/0"
I enjoyed reading Asiapod while I was at school because I have never country which students felt were valuable or interesting.
been to China and I really felt like I could follow your travels by reading /<")8$-+F"-$;8')"IJ>")8+-%$6%)."1%66";/*+"</*;$66?"K/%0"
Asiapod answered some questions I had about going
about all of the amazing things you were doing. It also reminded me program collaborations
abroad and opened my eyes to other aspects I had not
that the world is a huge place full of different people and cultures, thought about. As a thirsting-advice-seeker for going abroad, I appreciated Special thanks to the Freeman and Tanaka Foundations for generous !"In response to feedback, Asiapod participants, in addition
which can be easy to forget while I am writing papers and studying for the stories and experiences AsiaPod introduced me to that I (hopefully) support of this project. ./"%L/'-#+)E"1%66"3+"7%4+0"%L'0+)"7%<."-$*9)"%0"/*9+*"
exams at college. might experience myself. encourage greater utilization of apps
Carla, Wellesley College ‘13, Reader Melissa, HWS ‘14, Reader