In this post I will clarify what a mobile device is and explore how they could be used in a learning environment. But first some definitions.
Mobile Devices
Mobile devices are not just portable phones!
Mobile devices include
- mobile phones
- tablets
- laptops
- game consoles
- media players
- PDAs
- other small hand held devices
The features of a mobile device usually include
- Internet
- short messages
- voice and voice recording
- audio recording and playback
- video recording and playback
- geographical positioning
- games
- applications
- social networking
- connectivity
Note: Apple are not the only manufacturer of Internet enabled devices. Plenty of alternatives exist, and many of them are put out by companies as big as Apple, like Microsoft with its tablet called Surface.
A note on mLearning and eLearning
When it comes to learning, some consider mLearning is not the same as eLearning. Float Learning have written an interesting blog post 'mLearning is not eLearning on a mobile device'. Their definition of mLearning is:
"mLearning is the use of mobile technology to aid in the learning, reference or exploration of information useful to an individual at that moment or in a specific use context"
(Float Mobile Learning, www.floatlearning.com accessed 14/4/13)
Mobile Devices in the Classroom
Why are mobile devices are important to education? I have highlighted three reasons.
1. Mobile devices are popular
We covered earlier in this course the 'enage or enrage debate'. Students are often masters of mobile devices and expect them to be used in learning.
In addition to children's expectations is the fact that so much of our lives (including our learning) happens with the help of the Internet. Nowadays not having an Internet connection is like having the power off!
The popularity of mobile devices for accessing the Internet is rising and it is estimated that next year, for the first time in history, mobile devices will be used more than desktop computers.
Graphic by Microsoft Tag (www.tag.microsoft.com).
The online world is 50% mobile.Just take a look at what happens on the Internet in 60 seconds!!
This info-graphic is by Go-Globe (http://www.go-globe.com/web-design-shanghai.php). If you like these two graphics check out my week 5 blog post where I have included a Prezi presentation about mobile devices.
2. It is an education system requirement
I learnt in this weeks tutorial that the education department requires teachers to use technology in the classroom. Take a look here if you want to expore the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations' plan for digital education and technology in schools.
3. Our children will use mobile devices in their every day learning
The slide show below presents the idea that todays students are going to need to know how to learn, and learning takes place in a number of formats, but typically an electronic devices is used. Of the electronic devices, most will be 'mobile'.
Advantages of Mobile Devices in Classroom Learning
- students learn how to access information
- enormous variety of engaging educational applications
- more likely to cross over learning styles
- learning any time, anywhere
- encourages students natural interest in the tools and devices and focus them into using them for educational gain
- offers another level of interaction between student-student, student-teacher and student-parent, teacher-parent
- teacher resources
- personalised learning experience
- update of texts etc - updates rather than purchasing new editions of texts / resources
- devices can carry huge amounts of information
Tools
Any area of the curriculum can utilise mobile learning and the vast array of tools and applications are testament to the way they can enhance and engage students learning.
These two presentations offer a great range of tools and apps (130+) for the classroom.
ipad 2 uses and 32 interesting ways to use ipad touch in the classroom .
The blog 'Personalising Learning with the iPod Touch' is a quality site with a range of suggestions for how to use the iPod for learning. There is a great post called 'The nitty gritty...' which answers a lot of the questions that would be raised when introducing iPads to the classroom for the first time.
My favourite tools include
Of the 150 or so tools I looked at this week one that stood out was Instapaper. I think Instapaper will have great benefit in corporate collaborative learning teams.
Note: I tend to think about adult education and learning in the corporate environment, rather than the majority (if not all of the class) who will soon be primary and secondary teachers.
Instapaper is a free application that allows you to bookmark text to read later. A teacher can disseminate an article of interest to an entire class. A group of students can work collaboratively on a project and share their research with the group. Interest groups from across the globe can share documents to every interested party - at the click of a button. The text is optimised for readability, can be read any time and can be read offline. Suitable for Apple and Android devices.
Suggestions by others in the class
Sarah has also mentioned a number of uses for mobile devices in teaching, in her blog post and James has focused specifically on mobile phones.
Follow link for original picture accessed 14/4/2013
Mobile phone use in the classroom
Mobile phones are now smart phones, meaning they have access to the Internet and have a high level of functionality and high ease of use.
As pointed out in the journal article 'Mobile phones and student learning in secondary schools' (Hartnell-Young & Heym, Curriculum Leadership, vol 7, issue 26) the school must take a position on the use of mobile phones and importantly address the reasons that mobile phones are perceived to be 'bad'. If they decide to use them then they must consider policies around their use. The alternative is that personal mobile phones be left in student's lockers during class and approved mobile devices, such as iPads be used in the classroom.
The ABS have issued a paper 'Children and Mobile Phones' (ABS 2010) in which they report that 76% of children aged 12-14 have their own mobile phone.Instead of fighting against it perhaps schools can utilise this high ownership. One blogger (Alana from Enhanced Learning in Professional Contexts, http://alana6705.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/who-pays-cost-of-mobile-learning.html) suggests that the government has forgotten to factor mobile devices into the budget. Maybe mobile device ownership will remain with the individual, reducing the cost for the government, although I acknowledge that this brings about its own costs, in terms of schools and teachers supporting a variety of devices.
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