We wrote our views in the COMMENTS section and made a Wordle to represent with an image which topics we wrote about most.
Please see this post's COMMENTS for our views.
From Tony:
Hi guys,
Here's a great video that shows just how much impact the mobile web is having on business. Imagine what it'll do for education! Cheers Tony
From Diana:
Hi guys,
Here's another interesting video (click here: MOBILE LEARNING IN A PRIMARY CLASSROOM) - about how students in a primary school in the UK are learning using mobile technology. The video focuses on how children often learn "instinctively" how to use mobile technology, and recommends that teachers be open to learning from their students as well. It also gives a "fly on the wall" view of the affordances of mobile technology in a primary classroom, such as making it easier to cater to individual differences.
Diana
Please see this post's COMMENTS for our views.
The only experience I've had of mobile technology in the workplace is email and the messaging service on my blackberry. What I love most about that in fact is that I can take my phone every morning when i wake up, walk to the bathroom, do my thing, and delete the tens of emails that come through that i don't actually need to read. Believe it or not, it actually saves me time when i get to the office so I spend that 10 mins doing something more productive. I also do like being able to respond to emails faster since my phone is always with me. And i'm pretty sure my manager appreciates it too. It's especially handy when you're in the middle of a big conference or event and someone on the other side is actually waiting for a response from you. The disadvantage is that because people can email so easily, they actually do. I've seen emails that only say "thanks" or "OK" or once even "haha that's so funny". These obviously add little to the content or conversation...and I doubt emails are designed for this purpose. Isn't that what instant messaging is for? I think mobile technology at work has made me more efficient but not necessarily more productive.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't have any experience with mobile phones in a school environment, i can see the potential that it holds for learning and teaching. Kids today clearly love being connected and it's common practice to look something up immediately on a phone. I wonder though, what is your (and i ask all my groupies this) experience with children and phones? Peter's examples of trails and GPS on phones are pretty cool. I guess the bottom line is how well can the teacher as a facilitator use mobile technology...as with any other tool...
ReplyDeletemore on this after some research. :)
If I compare my experiences with mobile technology use in my previous workplace (a kindergarten) against the "Functional Framework" mind map from Peter's Prezi from last week, I would say that I used mobile technology in the following ways at my workplace:
ReplyDeleteAdministration (Contact):
- Emailed parents and colleagues while commuting to and from work. This saved a lot of time.
- My colleague and I would update each other on what our students had been doing in each other's classes by sending each other photos we had taken with our own mobile phone, immediately after taking the photo. There was no need to upload to another device, so this made it easier to share information more frequently. Of course my phone was password locked for safety.
Referential:
- Looked up information (such as facts) any time while teaching the children. I did not have to leave them to go to a computer and could look things up *as and where needed*.
Data collection:
- Recorded videos of the children's learning (including their own narrations and conversations) that were then played to the children and their parents on the class computers.
- Took photos of children for their portfolios.
Reflecting on these uses, I would say I highly value mobile technology because I can use it *as and where needed* (time and place) and can access *many highly differing functions* in *one, easily portable device*.
I've used mLearning in a few instances. My new school is a little stricter on the use of phones - so I've tended to limit it to QR codes to let students know where I am or for treasure hunts.
ReplyDeleteA recent treasure hunt I did was with year 7. In groups they had to use their phones to read QR codes to get clues to the next location. I've used QR coeds with senior students to direct them to websites etc.
At my old school I used my mobile and sms to carry out similar tasks. In the days before QR, students were given paper clues and once they found their first location, they were given a number and code to sms to me. I'd then respond with another clue for them to move to the next location.
One a more basic level I've had student use their camera hones to take images of their work - especially when that work is ephemeral - so notes on a whiteboard - or group notes on butcher paper etc. This has proven useful in allowing students to access information that would otherwise be lost and forgotten. Especially useful when my senior film students are brainstorming narrative ideas and characters.
I've used photos of places - namely of Stanley cemetery to help show them what the place was like while on a trip there for a novel about HK in WW2 that we were studying.
Mobile learning for me tends to augment other things as opposed to dominate or be the driving force of a lesson. I like students being able to access the internet through 3G when off campus on a trip and I think that it allow students to answer questions quickly and at the time they have them - rather than taking a note and checking at a later date. As I find that when students do that, they are far less likely to actually bother to check for the answer.
Personally I use the iPhone and iPad to check email, facebook and twitter and the internet. I also have my calendar on it so can easily check and make appointments. I use facetime to speak to my wife at work. For me the iPhone is now fully integrated into what I do and how/when I do it. Far from this being a drawback it allows me a measure of efficiency that I did not have a few years ago. While waiting at the dentist, I don;t flip through old Nat Geos anymore _ I can clear my inbox - catch up on news that is of interest to me, check what my friends have been up to that day, read my kindle book - a whole range of possibilities that are more meaningful to me. This is all learning in my mind. It may not ne format education that I'm undertaking there, but most of what we learn happens out of the classroom and the ability to get stuff done - the multitude of little tasks that can easily chew up 30 mins is great. The screen acreage of the iPhone is a bit of a pain - unless I have my glasses! but the iPad is perfect. I wish the iPad was foldable so it could be more mobile - as I tend to leave it home and only use it there. The next iPad I bet - or any tablet for that matter - will have the 3G so I can use it out and about with more ease - although my iPhone covers 85% of what I need there.
I was reading a blog post the other day about 'morning routines' (it was on ReadWriteWeb I think). Most of the people there were woken by their phone alarm and use their phone to check email, twitter, facebook etc. I assume that many of us are the same - (whether we'd like to admit it or not!) and I think it would be simplistic to assume that our students are not following a similar behavioural pattern. For that reason - above most others - I think mLearning will gain importance in modern classrooms - just as it has out of those classrooms.
I am a beginner in the use of mobile learning. I have used mobiles but for just communication purpose.
ReplyDeleteI was familiar with use of camera for recording the images and calculating magnification, recording solar eclipse, capturing any strange readings in the experiments, etc. while my experience in City University of Hong Kong. But this course has given me an exposure with amazing uses of mobile technology for students to use in their learning.
This week I have bought an ipad-2 for my own learning use. And I am gradually exploring its possible uses & available applications for the classroom teaching and learning. So far I am able to explore only few applications which can be used in Physics teaching like Science360 for iPad, Solar system, NASA HD, etc.
But I am sure that it is up to teacher to find out ways of usefulness of the technology for their own classroom.
This last week we taught students how to separate plant pigments by chromatography. In the past we would have had them staple the chromatography paper to their lab report to hand in. Over time the pigments fade and if there are individual lab reports only one person get the chromatography paper. With all our students having phones with cameras, everyone took a photo.
ReplyDeleteWe sent a gummy bear to his fiery grave this week by dropping him into a test tube of KClO3 we were heating with a bunsen burner. One student recorded this on his phone to show a student who was absent. In biology QR codes are the way to find out more about a subject such as a parts of a plant. We stick QR codes on plants around campus and have students head out on a scavenger hunt to learn about plant structures.
The practices I have mentioned take advantage of the ubiquity of phones and their associated capture technology but not as much the connectivity aspect. As I reflected on this new dimension to education a number of applications came to mind. Getting students out of the classroom into a "natural" type environment is more and more a goal and using the Google Earth application may be the tool. There is now a free Google Earth app for Apple and Android powered phones. Students heading out into the country park can find trees with their Google Earth layer and then attempt to identify them from a link to a website.
Mobile technology can be applied spontaneously, as I described above where the student whipped out his phone and said "can I video this?" or it can be planned as we get students to call a friend in classroom "who wants to be a millionaire". Although our school allows cell phone use in school we don't use them in the classroom to a large degree. As our students are connected in school through wifi on their computers the connectivity of cell phones is not a big plus.
Students use their phones for analysis - as calculators and timers simply because it's faster than the same application on their computers. We do use other forms of mobile technology but they are not personal and are quite specialized. We use Vernier LabQuest sensors for data collection outside the classroom. These handheld devices are able to collect data such as - dissolved oxygen levels, CO2 or O2 levels, and store it until they return to class where they can be uploaded to laptops.
Thanks Tony for sharing the video! Very good analysis of current situation. I agree with the speaker, if one haven't used the technology (like iPad) they won't get a clue about revolutions taking place today.I was not very impressed about iPad, until I used it.Now it is a part of my routine.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tony, what a fascinating and timely video! Really valuable information, good to know. I think it is most interesting that he says the web is transforming to one where engagement and differentiation are paramount, and that 'search' and 'social' are just going to be options and will not dominating the landscape.
ReplyDeleteInteresting also to see the input from commenters who don't agree with him..
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting article from the Guardian newspaper from 30th October of this year (i.e., fairly current), reporting on the debate in and around schools regarding the use of mobile technology. Some think it is essential and others think it is too much of a distraction. Copy and paste this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/30/smartphones-handheld-computers-battleground-schools?INTCMP=SRCH
ReplyDeleteHere is another recent report from the Guardian, about children using iPads successfully in the classroom. The school argues that the iPads are helping children to access learning that they might not have previously, because of the heightened interest, as well as because of learning programmes that allow the students to approach learning tasks in a different way. Please copy and paste to see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/30/education-ipad?intcmp=239
ReplyDeleteThanks Tony for such an inspiring video! While I'm watching the video, a flash of thought comes to my head, "Will there be a day when personal PC disappear in this world?" By that day, there would truly be "office-everywhere" and "education-everywhere". However, would "education-everywhere" becomes "education-nowhere". Since education is so readily-available, people just don't treasure and treat seriously on education opportunities that ultimately no education is received.
ReplyDeletemLearning is a new concept to me and I just recently picked up this new technology when I first got my iPhone. Now I'm a big fan of iPhone and iPad and I have them everywhere I go. I have to agree that the affordance of using mobile technology in education, but there are also proven evidences of negative effect on health. When it comes to wellness, I'm not sure which one is more important?!
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