At the moment everyone involved with iBeacons is experiencing a platform in constant flux and evolution - its an exciting time, especially for educators who see new tools to support linking the wave of digital devices now deploying in schools and universities with real, physical locations.
As I've been experimenting from the learning side with Estimote, Nomi and Gymbal beacons as well as apps like Beecon and Beacondo, so have many developers been working to get new types of apps ready to capitalise on what a well-supported beacon-ecosystem can make possible. One of these developers is Crowdsify who have been active on twitter and especially on the ground in Europe deploying location and proximity services that leverage iBeacons. After chatting with them over the last few weeks I'm now pleased to announce a collaboration project where we can bring their expertise and my education background together to build something new.
It's early days, but our specific focus is looking at how an iBeacon app looks when adapted for educational needs. We want to build something that is at once a first class demonstration of the possibilities of tools like heat-maps and notification triggers, as well as a an app that can be used to directly support classroom and training sessions.
Look out for much more on this project and what we learn very soon...
