Today ELC interviews a mLearning thought leader RJ Jacquez.   We first met RJ when he was an Adobe evangelist and are thrilled to get his thoughts on the rapidly changing mLearning arena.   If you'd like more information from RJ, please go to his blog at http://rjacquez.com

ELC: RJ, for our readers, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

RJ Jacquez: Sure. I spent the last 12 years of my career working as an Evangelist for various companies, including eHelp, the original makers of RoboDemo, which later became Captivate. I also worked for Macromedia and more recently for Adobe Systems, for the last 6 years

Since leaving Adobe last year, I have been focusing entirely on Mobile Learning (mLearning). I call myself an mLearning Analyst, Podcaster, Blogger and Consultant, focusing on all-things mLearning.

Post by Sanjay Nasta

Today E-Learning Council interviews Mayra Aixa Villar, an instructional designer from Argentina who is focused on helping organizations harness the potential of mobile for learning solutions. Mayra first came to our attention because of posts on ASTD's blog on the Fundamental Considerations for Designing mLearning solutions. 

ELC: Mayra, can you tell me a bit about yourself?

Mayra: I started to research e-learning in 2009, the research was part of my M.A. thesis on Applied Linguistics (sub-field Computer Assisted Language Learning) and this allowed me to be appointed by the United Nations to evaluate some eLearning and instructor-led courses as an intern in 2010. That year, I also prepared some interactive presentations and I started to learn how to use rapid elearning authoring tools such as Articulate Studio and Adobe Captivate. Last year, it was pretty intensive as I could apply the knowledge and skills acquired to real projects, and I worked as a freelance Instructional Designer for two IT companies here in Argentina. So, ID has been a step-by-step process for me (I have also been teacher/instructor since 2004).

ELC: Last year you got interested in Mobile.

Mayra: Yes, at the end of last year.

ELC: What got you interested in mobile learning?

Mayra: I am finishing my MA thesis now and then I want to pursue a PhD in Educational Technology and I want to focus on mLearning for e-inclusion (M4D) in developing countries.

ELC: Great! I'm from India originally and have seen the explosion of mobile, especially low bandwidth mobile, in India. Is it similar in Argentina and South America?

Mayra: Absolutely! I have been reading local and international research papers that show that mobile technologies can help to improve people´s education dramatically in those countries.