Group items tagged

Research concerning mobile devices in the classroom. Verizon initiated, so caution toward bias.

"It wasn't so long ago that Chris Grant would regularly take a whole lab's worth of equipment with him into the wilderness. Today, he just takes an iPad." This article discusses how scientists are just beginning to use mobile devices, specifically the iPad, to assist them in field research. It is exciting to see how they are using it, and how new this is - even for "real" scientists. I feel like i am in good company! This is also exciting because I may be able to use this kind of information to acquire funding for field research studies and equipment for BEEC..

Divided as researchers sort out whether readers of tablets or textbooks perform better. As well as hidden costs of mobile devices.

I tried sharing comments using Evernote as an experiment. I don't think it worked, so here is what I had posted there: The Future of Education: Tablets vs. Textbooks BY MARGARET ROCK "Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt tested an interactive, digital version of an Algebra 1 textbook for Apple's iPad in California's Riverside Unified School District. Students who used the iPad version scored 20 percent higher on standardized tests versus students who learned with traditional textbooks." * This is interesting. It's noted later in the article that students who read a more traditional textbook in digital format, without the benefit of the bells and whistles of a book designed to play on the strengths of digital media, did no better than those reading paper books. My thinking on this is that the books that moved beyond just the traditional text and images were more intriguing because they allowed students to interact in more diverse ways with the information. One of the reasons I enjoy reading on my Nook is that it more closely resembles the experience of reading on paper. The advantage over paper is that I can annotate and highlight without damaging the book, plus I like the dictionary feature. Reading a book on a computer is not as rewarding as reading on a good quality reader. The Houghton Mifflin Harcourt folks add much more to the experience through videos, audio links, animations, and links to ancillary information while maintaining the options I mentioned in my Nook experience. It's more engaging because there's more to do and more of the senses are being addressed. "A small but growing number of researchers are uncovering evidence that readers are better able to remember what they read in printed books long-term when compared to materials read via an electronic screen, raising questions about tablets in the classroom." "For example, Kate Garland, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Leicester in England, conducted a study on the effects of e-books

The Future of Education: Tablets vs. Textbooks

Direct quote: "Last year, we rolled out an ereader lending program in my fifth and sixth grade school library, and I plan to share here the ups, downs, and what-to-look-out-fors we encountered along the way. We'll talk planning and implementation of the program-but first, a bit of background. Let's hop into the librarian time machine (fashioned from an old card catalog I found on Etsy) and go back to August 2011…." This article spoke clearly to me with its tongue-in-cheek, soup to nuts look at a librarian's dilemma. Clearly, the votes not in yet and might never be. What to choose, how best to manage??? A very graphic, accessible article about the challenges of selection, purchasing and management of e-readers told from a school librarian's perspective. The author strikes a balance between humor and pragmatism, offering concrete suggestions, research and strategies. 

This very short and concise article has been in my thinking as I've worked with students especially recently and pulled together other resources on Common Core. Amidst the glut of information and feeding frenzy tendencies, structure and guidance is needed from all of us to be deliberate. As we design instruction, consider learning expectations, select tools and resources and raise the bar for students, "re-impress upon digital natives the importance of thinking in absence of endless - and endlessly accessible - data sources." I urge you to shake up completely the animal, planet or country report. (I doubt that you are doing this cookie-cutter work, but spread the word). If a simple Google search can answer the question, throw out the assignment.

Productivity is at the bottom of the hierrarchy in Figure 2 MWUAHAHAHA. In a recent post I ranted that mobile devices don't make us productive. (Or at least that would be a poor goal.) Warning, this is an academic "conceptual" paper.

"...benefits of m-learning, as described in the literature, were the convenience and immediacy of learning that the technology enables; and the motivation that comes from being empowered to take learning into one's own hands." This article talks about implementing m-learning from a pedagogical perspective. For me it's about changing our teaching methodologies, so we focus on learning. I liked that it discussed different types of learning: micro-learning, multi-media learning, and the measurement of learning, and how these support m-learning.

Micro-learning is a great methodology for quick learning experiences, but I fear that too many digital natives crave micro-learning over in-depth, extensive, traditional learning and research. Micro-learning is immediately gratifying and "painless" when it comes to time investment and conveniently fits with mobile, on-the-go learning. I believe a healthy balance between the two drastically different learning models is important for students.

Defining mobile learning

The start of a conversation about teaching and learning with mobile tools.

I do think of my phone as more of an output device than the tablet or pc. Now It is becoming a bit more of an "input also" device!

Women and girls constitute the majority of the 775 million illiterates in the world. The main goal of the project is the empowerment of women and/or girls through education via innovative mobile technology-based learning and information programs.