As a missionary in a far off land, have you ever wanted to translate evangelistic material, discipleship resources, or a good training guide into the language of the people you're trying to reach? Have you ever wondered if it's legal to do so if you or your organization did not create the resources? Do you know how to get permission to translate the resource?

Tim Jore of Distant Shores Media and Door 43 discusses these issues and many more in his recent presentation at the Mobile Ministry Forum consultation. See the MMF Blog for videos of more interesting topics covered at the December 2011 consultation meeting.

Mobile Ministry Forum Consultation 2011 - Enabling Open Collaboration in a Mobile World from Clyde Taber on Vimeo.

¿Habla Español?

Send your Spanish-speaking friends to YouTube to see what a small group Bible study would look like when using oral strategies! MAF-LT's video team recorded a live session of Simply The Story, an oral inductive Bible study. Laura Macias delivers "One Leper" from Mark 1:40-45 and follows with questions that has the entire group excited about finding lessons from God's Word and sharing how they apply to their lives today.

Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCOFnkcQsbc

Brian Ward of Mission Aviation Fellowship's Learning Technologies division discusses how MAF-LT helps ministries move forward with distance education and mobile learning. This presentation was given at the December, 2011, meeting of the Mobile Ministry Forum.

Mobile Ministry Forum Consultation 2011 - MAF-LT and Mobile Ministry from Clyde Taber on Vimeo.

A Pedagogical Framework for Mobile Learning: Categorizing Educational Applications of Mobile Technologies into Four Types

Yeonjeong Park

Virginia Tech, USA

One of the issues that we on the Education Services team are looking at is how to design effective learning using the ubiquitous mobile phone.

In this paper, Mr. Park discusses the unique ways in which mobile phones can be used to deliver and receive effective learning. As Mr. Park says, “few instructional design guidelines based on a solid theoretical framework for mobile learning exist.”

We encourage you to read this paper and participate in the discussion. Find the article at

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/791/1788

From his conclusion:

In this paper I introduced a definition of mobile learning, outlined its characteristics, and compared it with e-learning. Despite the great potential mobile learning has and the innovative development of mobile technologies, a theoretical framework in which to review diverse mobile learning projects in the context of distance learning has been lacking.

Are you...

• CURIOUS about Bible storytelling but short on time or money to attend a workshop?
• EXCITED about Bible storying but don't have an audience?
• INTERESTED in new ways to follow Bible stories with questions?

Then join our VIRTUAL storytelling community via Skype! We meet every Wednesday afternoon for an hour at 1pm PST, 2pm MST, 3pm CST and 4pm EST. Just contact MAF-LT and send your request to "Orality Comments &  Questions."

We at Learning Technologies look at a lot of learning management systems (LMS), which is a fancy name for programs for creating and delivering digital courses. We recently ran across an easy to use system that we are experimenting with called Haiku. My colleague used the word "giddy" as he described his experience with this easy to use LMS. The first course is free, then there is a reasonable charge for additional courses.

We've used Moodle a lot and easy to use was never something we said about Moodle. Free, yes, easy, no. We recommend that you check out Haiku.

       The reality that 2/3 of the world’s adults don’t, OR WON’T LEARN FROM READING, has challenged one of MAF-LT’s clients to move their leadership training materials from 6^th grade to 2^nd grade level. A common mistake made by literates when simplifying training for these “Oral Learners” is the temptation to “dumb down” the material. After all, what can they teach if they are limited to a 2^nd grade vocabulary?

But the adults they are working with are not second graders. Many are intelligent men and women who may be perceptive believers. As Oral Learners they just don’t have the ability (or desire) to use written material. They don’t divide life into abstract categories like “love” or “forgiveness.” Neither did Jesus. He told memorable stories, like the Prodigal Son! 

Since an Oral Learner’s capacity for learning is limited largely to memory, the challenge is to make important lessons more memorable. Here are some ideas: