(Sorry for this long post, guys, but I thought this real-life experience how m-learning helped transform a P4 boy's reading experience would be very interesting to share!)
--- Last Saturday, I was helping one primary school kid with his English. He HATES reading even though he is a bright boy. So there I was, trying to cajole him into completing just one page of his assigned readings. The way his eyes glazed over at that moment, you'd have thought I had asked him to burn, dissolve and swallow the entire book...
I was feeling increasingly tired. Suddenly, I remembered about m-learning, so on the spur of the moment, I whipped out my iPhone and tapped a dictionary app (Dictionary.com, if you want to know what it was).
"Let's look up some words using the dictionary!"
Oh, he instantly took to it like a fish to water. He chucked his book aside and fingered my iPhone eagerly. At first, I tried to type out the word for him, but he insisted on typing out the words all by himself.
Seeing an opportunity here, I asked him to spell out the words in FULL without peeking at the auto-listed search results. His spelling is not very good, so this turned out to be a very fun exercise for him.
Then, I saw that, on his own initiative, he had started exploring all the other related English words that the dictionary suggested. He kept looking at each word, reading out the word and pressing the "Listen" button to see how the word was pronounced as compared to his attempt.
Lo and behold, we found out that the dictionary app had an interactive speech-to-text feature (complete with animated throbber). So we spoke into the iPhone, and the app returned the word it thought we had spoken.
My boy was over-the-top with excitement at this point. He grabbed the iPhone and nearly stuffed it into his mouth, blurting out the new word. He was so inspired to improve his spoken English, especially when he saw that I could get the app to recognize my pronunciation accurately, but his pronunciation couldn't make it. So he kept trying and trying, and I heard him modify his pronunciation accordingly till he managed to get the system to recognize his pronunciation correctly.
Looking at the beaming smile on his face, I could see the sense of achievement and accomplishment on his face, as we exchanged high-fives. Who'd have imagined that a mundane dictionary app could become such an engaging and competitive game?
For a boy who would dilly-dally for 20 minutes just to look up one word in a paperback dictionary, he learnt 5 or 6 new words entirely on his own with the mobile dictionary app - with childlike enthusiasm.
M-learning made reading a dictionary become a game for him, causing him to become a highly self-motivated learner.
--- So just want to share some personal reflections with you what I realized about m-learning through this episode:
1. I think one of the most powerful advantages of m-learning is its sheer accessibility, anytime, anywhere. For children with extremely short attention spans, this is a godsend. You don't need to have to ask the kid to sit still while trying to grab a reference book at the same time.
2. The types of input and output should, ideally, be _directly_ related to the target area I want my student to improve in. E.g. I saw how the boy modified his pronunciation repeatedly to coax the system to return the desired result.
An idea of how specific mobile techs can be directly applicable to current cirricula:
E.g. GPS in Geography lessons could be used to help a student experientially grasp the concept of relative scales on a map. The student walks 1 km and observes that on the Google map, the GPS dot representing his position moves only 1 cm.
Or in Maths, students could use a theodolite app (they do have an iPhone app for this too) to determine triangulation of structures...
3. It would be good if the system is able to allow the student to define his own personal goals within a pre-defined set of objectives. This allows for a personal sense of achievement and empowerment, instead of a sense of failure
It's important to my boy, because I noticed that he is afraid many times to try solving a new problem, telling me that his teacher will scold him if he makes any mistake. As such, he will keep on staring at the same problem for a very long time without trying, even to the point of tears.
4. While m-learning is very flexible and allows for instant and REAL-time feedback, there is a greater risk of distraction from the intended educational objective at hand. So, I think if we develop m-learning apps for younger kids, they need educators/facilitators to help keep them focused.
---
Last Saturday, I was helping one primary school kid with his English. He HATES reading even though he is a bright boy. So there I was, trying to cajole him into completing just one page of his assigned readings. The way his eyes glazed over at that moment, you'd have thought I had asked him to burn, dissolve and swallow the entire book...
I was feeling increasingly tired. Suddenly, I remembered about m-learning, so on the spur of the moment, I whipped out my iPhone and tapped a dictionary app (Dictionary.com, if you want to know what it was).
"Let's look up some words using the dictionary!"
Oh, he instantly took to it like a fish to water. He chucked his book aside and fingered my iPhone eagerly. At first, I tried to type out the word for him, but he insisted on typing out the words all by himself.
Seeing an opportunity here, I asked him to spell out the words in FULL without peeking at the auto-listed search results. His spelling is not very good, so this turned out to be a very fun exercise for him.
Then, I saw that, on his own initiative, he had started exploring all the other related English words that the dictionary suggested. He kept looking at each word, reading out the word and pressing the "Listen" button to see how the word was pronounced as compared to his attempt.
Lo and behold, we found out that the dictionary app had an interactive speech-to-text feature (complete with animated throbber). So we spoke into the iPhone, and the app returned the word it thought we had spoken.
My boy was over-the-top with excitement at this point. He grabbed the iPhone and nearly stuffed it into his mouth, blurting out the new word. He was so inspired to improve his spoken English, especially when he saw that I could get the app to recognize my pronunciation accurately, but his pronunciation couldn't make it. So he kept trying and trying, and I heard him modify his pronunciation accordingly till he managed to get the system to recognize his pronunciation correctly.
Looking at the beaming smile on his face, I could see the sense of achievement and accomplishment on his face, as we exchanged high-fives. Who'd have imagined that a mundane dictionary app could become such an engaging and competitive game?
For a boy who would dilly-dally for 20 minutes just to look up one word in a paperback dictionary, he learnt 5 or 6 new words entirely on his own with the mobile dictionary app - with childlike enthusiasm.
M-learning made reading a dictionary become a game for him, causing him to become a highly self-motivated learner.
---
So just want to share some personal reflections with you what I realized about m-learning through this episode:
1. I think one of the most powerful advantages of m-learning is its sheer accessibility, anytime, anywhere. For children with extremely short attention spans, this is a godsend. You don't need to have to ask the kid to sit still while trying to grab a reference book at the same time.
2. The types of input and output should, ideally, be _directly_ related to the target area I want my student to improve in. E.g. I saw how the boy modified his pronunciation repeatedly to coax the system to return the desired result.
An idea of how specific mobile techs can be directly applicable to current cirricula:
E.g. GPS in Geography lessons could be used to help a student experientially grasp the concept of relative scales on a map. The student walks 1 km and observes that on the Google map, the GPS dot representing his position moves only 1 cm.
Or in Maths, students could use a theodolite app (they do have an iPhone app for this too) to determine triangulation of structures...
3. It would be good if the system is able to allow the student to define his own personal goals within a pre-defined set of objectives. This allows for a personal sense of achievement and empowerment, instead of a sense of failure
It's important to my boy, because I noticed that he is afraid many times to try solving a new problem, telling me that his teacher will scold him if he makes any mistake. As such, he will keep on staring at the same problem for a very long time without trying, even to the point of tears.
4. While m-learning is very flexible and allows for instant and REAL-time feedback, there is a greater risk of distraction from the intended educational objective at hand. So, I think if we develop m-learning apps for younger kids, they need educators/facilitators to help keep them focused.
Cheers,
YA