Setting up the mobile office
Another aspect of making the move online is to reorganise your own working structures so that you can work more virtually yourself. It's possible to create a system that allows you to to work (almost) as easily when out on the road as when in your home/work office and without huge disruption when moving from one to the other.
Selecting hardware
Think about this for when you next upgrade your computer. Things which are helpful to use are:
- a notepad/ laptop computer - this can be a main computer (and yes, have another as backup)
- make sure it has a wireless card
- a flash drive for transferring data
- small portable headphones and microphone
- a mini mouse (or better still, learn how to use the mouse pad!)
- a USB hub to make it easy to plug/ unplug the notepad from the home set up
- a camera stick for photos/ video (these are cameras on a flexible thin tube)
- an external hard drive for your backups
- a digital camera
Plus, think about these:
- a large screen, a wireless keyboard and rechargeable mouse for your home base (having 2 screens means you can cut and paste across screens – honest!)
- an extendable modem cord so you don’t have to work crunched up near the phone in hotel rooms without wireless connection!
- Think about a graphics tablet if you need to draw, or prefer writing to touch typing - cheaper than a full "Tablet PC".
- You can get a backpack especially made for laptop computers
- Luggage shops have wheelie frames to strap all your gear on.
With this equipment and the support of some friendly ‘techies’ it's possible to travel in Australia and overseas and continue your work from most locations.
What next?
What’s next? Mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) that can include diary, phone, video, camera and presentation tool functions and will synchronise with your lap top, or then again there are some really great A4 sized notebooks and others with cameras included. iPods or other wearable audio devices (mp3 player) are also becoming part of the scene.
More specialist research is needed here, but there's a great network out there to help you!
- Marcus Ragus's M-Learning (mobile learning) project web site is packed with great information.
- The TXT me project also has some interesting case studies on how to engage disadvantaged youth using SMS text messaging.
Logins and passwords
So much for the hardware. Another area in which it helps to be systematic, is in your choice of logins and passwords. It is easy to amass many different logins to different sites/communities. Some you have no choice about, but for those you do, it’s worthwhile considering creating a name that no one else is likely to have and then sticking to it as far as possible. A good way to do this is to select a username like whereis_yourname.
Regardless, if you do end up having to use more than one username and password, work out how to store them safely and be meticulous in adding to them! Roll on single signature logins!
Another important consideration when working in e-learning (in e-working) is to set up your email so that it can be accessed from the web – that way it can be accessed from any computer or from your notebook regardless or where you are when you access the Net.
Oh! and here’s another goodie from Stephen Downes. If you record it electronically then you can share it and use it immediately. In other words – work towards losing the paper and pencil and using your preferred e-device OR type/record your handwritten notes religiously.
Many people are now using "portable applications", software that will run from their USB flash drive. (portableapps.com/)