Week 6

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Mobile Technology in the Classroom

The topic for this weeks blog is mobile technology in the classroom. While this has been discussed to some degree in previous posts; this week will look at the benefits and implications of the use of mobile technology in the classroom as a whole. 

What is mobile technology? Mobile Technology is exactly what the name implies; technology that is mobile. Such devices are laptops, tablets, smart phones, music players, and GPS devices.  This week blog will be focusing on the use of tablets, smart phones, and music players in the classroom.  There is no denying that Apple devices are the most popular, therefore iPhones, iPads, and iPods will be discussed. 

Here is a short video that introduces mobile technology. 

There is no denying that education is shifting in its practice. Times are changing and education is changing along side it.  The major change in the classroom has been the introduction of mobile devices.  These devices allow students the opportunity to find any information needed at their fingertips. The introduction of these devices has meant that students can engage in education anytime, anywhere. What exactly are the implications in classroom practice when these devices are used? Are all students better off learning from a mobile device? Or are educators forgetting that what has worked in the past still does work today?

Benefits of Mobile Technology

This generation of students has been dubbed "Digital Natives" meaning they have grown up with technology and know how to use it with ease. They don't know life without technology, especially mobile technology. From a young age these children would have passed time by playing games on their parents smartphones when out to dinner, they may have even had a tablet of their own to play on.  This means that students have changed drastically in what knowledge they bring to school about technology. Wylie (2014) suggests that students are now more engaged when using the latest gadgets as it is what they are most used to interacting with. He also suggests that students don't just want mobile learning, they need it.
According to Wainwright (2014) using mobile technology in the classroom is helping your students to prepare for their futures.  Simply knowing how to use a mobile device will be vital for a students future career, in many areas.  It is also an essential part of being apart of a connected world. The use of mobile devices also allows students instant up-to-date access to any information they need. They allow students to stay up to date with what is happening around them, helping them to become well informed citizens.  As well as this, the fact that the devices are mobile allows learning to happen anywhere, not only on school campus but at home as well.  If students are excited and interested in learning when mobile devices are used in the classroom they are much more likely to do their own research and learning outside the classroom.  

Another amazing benefit is the ability to hold all textbooks in one device.  In the primary schools years, this is more a benefit for the teacher then the students. However if I was able to carry all textbooks and information needed to teach a school day, I would be saving a lot of paper, and would have one small device to carry around with me. 
The use of smart phones in schools is quite a controversial one.  Many schools have banned the use of any mobile phone in their schools. However smartphones can have a place in education. One program that I have come across in my research is the poll everywhere program.This program is discussed further down the page. 

Disadvantages of Mobile Technology

No one would say that there are zero benefits to mobile technology, and no one should say there are zero disadvantages either.  There are a few disadvantages to using the devices in the classroom that I have found.  At this stage there is no device that allows students to create and submit work; and for teachers to easily receive grade and return that work. To do this, a collection of apps may need to be used, or work uploaded to a computer, this in turn can create a lot more work then using traditional methods.  Then there is the dreaded Wi-Fi and internet connection issues, we all face from time to time, some more then others, especially in regional centres. A intermittent or non existent Wi-Fi signal can greatly effect the stressfulness of a planned lesson.  This just goes to show how important it is to always have a back-up plan. 
Then there is the distraction issue. While you are teaching a lesson with iPads it is easy for students to exit the app you are using and access a game, or something that excites them more.  There is a function on iPads where you can lock students into a particular application, however this wouldn't work if students are needing to go between two or more applications. Then with this comes the cyber bullying issue.  This is perhaps more of an issue in high grades where students are using social media, however it seems to be affecting younger students as well.  When students are using mobile technology they need to be monitored very closely to ensure they are staying engaged with the topic and not becoming distracted.The following picture is an example of Expectations that should be used and displayed in a classroom. 

 

Photo Source - http://notanotherhistoryteacher.edublogs.org/mobile-devices-in-the-classroom/#.U-QkmkhY7kU

Mobile devices can be quite expensive too, especially when trying to obtain an iPad for every student in the class. As well as this they are not indestructible, protective covering adds to the cost of equipping a classroom.

Applications 

Celly

Celly allows students, teachers, and parents to communicate.  It allows teachers to message their students to remind them about homework tasks, up coming exams and a range of other things. It allows parents to contact the teacher about concerns they may hold for their child's education. All this is achieved without the teachers private mobile number given out.

In Celly's most recent update email addresses can also be used, meaning students or parents are not disadvantaged by not owning a mobile phone.  All communication is private, secure, and is monitored by one or more curators. 

Polls Everywhere

This program allows the teacher to ask a question, it could simply be "who understands this concept", students then text their response anonymously and the data is collected in real time and shown on an Interactive White Board.  This simple use of mobile phones allows teachers to quickly and easily collate data without students having to raise their hand and become embarrassed about not understanding.  

Socrative

Socrative lets teachers engage and assess their students with educational activities on mobile devices. Through the use of real time questioning, instant results and visualization, teachers can see the whole class’ current level of understanding. Socrative saves teachers time so the class can further collaborate, discuss, extend and grow as a community of learners. 

 

QR Codes

QR Codes, or quick response codes are pretty much an advanced bar code.  QR codes can be read both horizontally and vertically, not just horizontally.  When a QR Code is scanned it bring up information, links, audio, video, and much more.  QR codes provide rich education for students.  For example students learning about a particular battle for History may need to read a recount of the battle, if a QR code is added to this page, it could link to a YouTube clip of a reenactment of the battle.  This helps to engage more then one learning style in the lesson and engage students with technology at the same time.  The following video shows how one school incorporated QR Codes. 

 QR codes can be made at Kawya QR Code. 

References 

Business Info.UK. (n.d.). Mobile Technology. Retrieved from http://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/what-mobile-technology-and-what-are-benefits

Wainwright, A. (2012) 4 Benefits of having mobile technology in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.securedgenetworks.com/secure-edge-networks-blog/bid/82379/4-Benefits-of-having-mobile-technology-in-the-classroom

Wylie, J. (2014). Mobile Learning Technologies for 21st Century Classrooms. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754742

Poll Everywhere. (2014) Retrieved from http://www.polleverywhere.com/

iPads in special Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ed635ipadproject.wikispaces.com/Advantages+and+Disadvantages+of+iPad+Use+in+the+Classroom

Teach Hub.com (2014). Advantages/Disadvantages of the iPad Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.teachhub.com/advantagesdisadvantages-ipad-classroom

Celly. (2014). Retrieved from https://cel.ly/

Mobile Devices. (2014). Retrieved from http://notanotherhistoryteacher.edublogs.org/mobile-devices-in-the-classroom/#.U-WfpUhY7kV

QR Codes in Education. (2014). Retrieved from http://theohiobloke.edu.glogster.com/qr-codes-in-education/