On Monday I made an experiment with my new iPod Touch. I took a WebALT calculus quiz using my iPod. Results were extraordinary: I failed the quiz, but was amazed of the features of the web browser in an iPod Touch (http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/). iPod has the same browsing functionalities as the iPhone, so the following comments apply also to iPhones.

It has been possible to use the WebALT assessment system with hand-held mobile devices also in the past. But this has been slightly cumbersome, because the webpages require a fair amount of scrolling and zooming when viewed using a small display like that of the iPod Touch. The extraordinary features of iPod Touch, the convenient scrolling and zooming just by touching the screen, change everything.

iPod Touch is not a telephone. It cannot use a telephoner network to connect to the internet. But it does support Wi-Fi. At a location where a wireless network is available, an iPod Touch becomes a very convenient internet device. You may even add features like email to an iPod Touch, but Apple wants to restrict the third party applications. There are some limitations though: an iPod Touch does not currently support JRE nor Flash. WebALT assessments and lecture podcasts work very well, however.

Small things are big things - says an ad in a park nearby my house encouraging dog owners to take care of the waste their dogs produce. This statement applies much better to the small internet devices: small things are big things. In a couple of years, kids are going to carry such devices with them. They will be used for making phone calls, listening to music, watching mobile TV etc... They will also be used for education.

I attach hereby some pictures of me taking a quiz on integration. You see how I failed: I was distracted by fancy features of the device.

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