Desktop or Mobile? Why Not Both?
The (new) age old question of our tech-era: Should we go mobile?
There are pros and cons to mobile readiness, although the cons may be worth it to avoid being behind the times. Nowadays, everything is mobile, with smartphones being a permanent appendage to most teenagers. While desktop sites have much larger capabilities, mobile optimization is...well, optimal. Mobile readiness is like having something custom-built, just for you (and, well, billions others...but who's counting?). So, how do you get the best of both worlds? The connectivity and mobility of an app, and the functionality of a desktop site? Well, combine them, of course!
Take this for example: Google Skeeball
Reinvented and called "Roll It", Google's app-to-web-browser mash up takes a whole new approach to connectivity. Using your Chrome browser, visit Google Roll It and g.co/rollit on your phone. (It says to have a Chrome browser on your phone, but I used Safari on my iPhone, and it worked just fine). Enter the code that comes up on your browser into your phone, and TADA--THEY ARE SYNCED! Move your smartphone from side to side and see it react on your web browser...cool, huh? You can play Roll It against yourself or others.
Then the fun part starts: Stand up, wind back your arm and align your smartphone up with the computer screen. As though the mobile device is the ball, swing it toward the direction of the browser, just like you would in real-life skeeball. This will ultimately release a virtual ball on the desktop version and you'll rack up points based on which bucket it lands in. So long, productivity. It's been nice knowin' ya.
Image courtesy of Google Source: http://mashable.com/2013/05/28/google-roll-it-skeeball/
So if you could think up an app-to-web-browser mashup to teach a concept...what would it be? Would you shoot hoops for a PE course? Run a mile and track you progress when you get home on a web-based app? While not all things have to be as thoroughly mashed, as Google has done, the ability to multi-app/tech/browse/access information on a range of devices and platforms keeps students engaged, excited and motivated. What will you try next?
