Convergence and e-learning

The spectre of covergence in the use of Web 2,0 technologies across hardware and software platforms appears to becoming more achievable every day. Will this truly create a flexible and dynamic e-learning platform for anytime, anywhere learners of all ages?

To find some answers at this stage may be premature. As ever, the driver for such convergence is, in fact, the technological advances within the current batch of mobile devices on the market - such as the latest generation of portable devices whether these are mobile phones, PDAs or audio/video players.

Over the past few months there has been an increase in the number of ways that convergence is becoming apparent. Take, for example, the phenomenon of podcasting that combines the use of RSS to signpost the location of related audio or video podcasts published on the internet. RSS is portable and is not only the mechanism for signposting the location of podcasts, but also the driver that is increasingly ported into different streams for media distribution.

With the right technology, hardware and software configurations, you can select and listen/watch a podcast via:

• your PC or laptop
• your RSS reader or "podcatcher"
  
• your portable media player
  
• your PDA
• your mobile phone

Assuming you have access to the technology, the most popular are the "free" options but a range of mobile phone services are now beginning to offer the opportunity to promote podcasts and use the funding models and associated revenue streams that generate the cash flow within the mobile telecommunications service industry. Whilst this approach may be of particular interest to business communities, it is not an option that would attract support amongst within the educational world.

It will be intersting to see whether this convergence trend in podcasting succeeds. With luck, technological convergence may lead to "free to access" solutions that can be widely used within education and make the prospect of personalisation a reality in due course!