Group items tagged

"During a recent meeting with some colleagues, I reflected upon the conversations that I have had with potential clients over the past 6 months with regards to the use of mobile technologies. With a very small exception (probably 2-3 out of approx 60 conversations) those conversations have revolved around the creation of 'mobile learning', which actually translated as the "shrinking down of desktop content to allow it to be viewed and interacted with on a mobile device". Very little, if any mention, of creating performance support resources… No consideration of using the devices native functions I.e. camera, keyboard, GPS, voice recorder, to enhance the experience…. A heavy focus on the learner 'learning' something from it, as opposed to the worker 'enhancing' their performance from it (Hell, who needs to learn the London Underground routes if you've got the app in your pocket?) And this is where I think we have got it wrong again!" Great thoughts on where we are and where we might go with mobile technologies for education

"The purpose of the ADL Mobile Learning (mLearning) Guide is to provide a universal resource on all topics pertinent to mobile learning. This resource is intended to provide you with an introduction and will explore the following topics about mobile learning: the basics, planning, learning content, development options, and design considerations. This app was developed by the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative's Mobile Learning Team. ADL is sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD P&R). This is an official app of the U.S. Government ADL Initiative."

"I attended a webinar two week's ago featuring Stacey Harris of Brandon Hall Group and Mark Hellinger of Xyleme. The topic of conversation was this idea of going mobile with your learning; a hot topic in the learning space no doubt. They touched on the concept that learning expectations have shifted with all of the new technology, which has caused change among those who are initially developing the content. Furthermore, while social media monitoring and exploring, I am seeing an increase in not only speculation of that point, but a firm belief from others in the industry that there IS a shift happening in todays learning market. People haven't exactly been able to call it by name, but its being felt. People are feeling a shift from the current learning demands of just getting the information out there, to infinite accessibility and readability. " = Dawn Poulos An interesting article on how e-learning is responding to the push-pull of mobile accessibility.

"During a recent meeting with some colleagues, I reflected upon the conversations that I have had with potential clients over the past 6 months with regards to the use of mobile technologies. With a very small exception (probably 2-3 out of approx 60 conversations) those conversations have revolved around the creation of 'mobile learning', which actually translated as the "shrinking down of desktop content to allow it to be viewed and interacted with on a mobile device". Very little, if any mention, of creating performance support resources… No consideration of using the devices native functions I.e. camera, keyboard, GPS, voice recorder, to enhance the experience…. A heavy focus on the learner 'learning' something from it, as opposed to the worker 'enhancing' their performance from it (Hell, who needs to learn the London Underground routes if you've got the app in your pocket?) And this is where I think we have got it wrong again!"

"To make the paradigm shift with campus wireless possible-or even advance its evolution-wireless must be ubiquitous and seamless. Wireless devices need to work, not just on campus, but globally, and they must be able to go from campus to home to plane to Sri Lanka seamlessly. And we can't teach a course that makes effective use of wireless technology without an appropriate wireless device. With these infrastructure requirements, we could have classes that really use the mobility of mobile devices. One small step in that direction would be to have distributed classes where some students would physically be in a classroom while others would be distributed to various action sites. Learning about pollution? Have some students locate different polluted sites and participate in the class on site like the evening news. "This is Sue reporting Podunk the toxic chemicals are pouring into the Crimea River."

This is a downloadable e-book free from Shelley Terrell on how to use mobile devices as learning tools.

"Seesaw empowers students of any age to independently document what they are learning at school. "Students capture learning with photos and videos of physical work, or by adding digital creations. Everything is uploaded and kept organized for teachers. "Teachers can invite families to Seesaw so parents get an immediate, personalized window into their child's learning." A mobile app to help create student portfolios Part of the maker-spaces movement.

EdTechTeacher is a site with many free parts. The mobile apps page can be searched by type of device or by type of learning activity. The team also offers webinars and other apparatus to help teachers.

"What I like the most about this chart is the fact that it emphasizes the social and affective component in learning, something which is often overlooked in today's digitally-focused learning paradigms. These mechanical skill-based and market-oriented paradigms reduce students to 'cheerful robots' and view pedagogy as 'merely a skill, technique, or disinterested method' to teach pre specified subject matter' (Giroux, 2011). Instead, education should be viewed as an important locomotive not only for gainful employment but also for 'creating the formative culture of beliefs, practices, and social relations that enable individuals to wield power, learn how to govern, and nurture a democratic society that takes equality, justice, shared values, and freedom seriously.(Kindle Location, 67 from "On Critical Pedagogy")." The checklist is also quite short.

Winksite ID 17798 -- worldwide message to phone from the Internet. Steve McCarty's first attempt to create an Internet-mobile learning site.

This app lets you peek into students' minds as they are in the process of learning a subject. Distribute tests or problems and then see each students' answer real-time. Students can enter text, draw pictures, use math symbols, etc. You score on a slider and they receive instant results. The animation on the sign-up pages gives some examples of each type of student response. The only problem might be that learning really takes place over a long period of time -- you can "know" some things, but not really understand or learn a subject.

"What is qualitative formative assessment? Some call it anecdotal or informal assessment. However, such designations imply passivity -- as if certain things were captured accidentally. I believe the word "formative" should always be included with the word assessment because all feedback mechanisms should help shape and improve the person (or situation) being assessed. Wedging the word "qualitative" into my terminology differentiates it from the analytic or survey-based measures that some associate with the term formative assessment." Richards discusses using mobile tools for on the spot assessment in a variety of ways.

A chart showing the differences between individualized instruction and personalized learning. "On the face of it personalized and individualized learning are two sides of the same coin, a game of semantics and this is why many teachers still use them interchangeably as if they mean the same thing while in fact there is a noticeable difference between the two particularly in how each trend views the role of teachers and students, knowledge, and standards." This chart by David Warlik shows the differences.

Nik here talks about creating a mobile phone community online.

Nik here talks about creating a mobile phone community online and ways to use such a site with students.

Points out the advantages of using a tablet device for content-creation. It's fast, mobile, and economical: "We've had computers in schools for years, but in reality many (most?) classroom teachers don't and never did have their students making podcasts, movies, eBooks and websites. Doing so seems too time consuming and for many non-technical teachers the learning curve appears disproportionate to the benefits realised. "But producing comparable creative content on an iPad is relatively quick, simple, yields impressive results with minimal fuss, and the learning curve is … well, there almost isn't one! There is no need to connect an external microphone (the built-in one is better than that in any laptop), no need to adjust recording levels, no need to use a pop-filter. No need to import media from a recording device to the editing device (becasue they are one and the same), and it's unnecessary to allow 10 minutes at the end of a class, to save, unplug devices, shut down and stow the laptops. Instead, when the bell sounds, students simply flip their iPad cases closed and walk to the next class!"

Learning Made Mobile issue focuses on iPod and apps 4 learning.

A blog post describing how to use Blogsy to post via iPad. With mobile learning on the rise, this seems a good app for anyone to have, although it costs $4.99 currently. You can blog to any of the major services, such as Blogger or Wordpress, and also photo and video share to Picasa, Flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo. Now your mobile students have no excuse not to post to their blogs.

"Description: A breathtaking array of 'learn to code' Apple, Android and Windows phone apps. Learn C++, Python C#, HTML, SQL, JavaScript, Java, CSS, php and Swift via the site or apps. These are 'must try' tools for anyone starting out with coding. The site even has a 'Code Playground' to experiment with your code." I haven't had a chance to try out any of these, but this should be an interesting starting point to get students coding.

Use mobile apps to learning anything anywhere - lessons are free. Great for content-based learning. Spanish version.

"GoClass is a learning platform.... Using common mobile devices and an Internet connection, the platform helps you improve student engagement, classroom management ... With lesson plan review, student notes and media annotation, their classroom experience goes home with them." This app seems to have multiple functions, such as sending students follow-up notes and quick polls/quizzes, sharing whiteboards, etc. This will require some exploration. Available for both Apple and Google platforms.