worldatways

"By making its inaugural higher education partnership with Duke, Ustream aims to help empower educational experiences across physical and financial boundaries,” said John Ham, Ustream’s chief executive officer. “We look forward to enabling Duke professors to reach students across the globe."

“Duke has a strong commitment to sharing its knowledge and expertise to serve society,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations at Duke. “We’re using a growing number of new media platforms to invite the public to participate in the debates that animate our campus, on issues ranging from health care to foreign policy. These new services and programs make it possible for our faculty to connect with audiences around the world.”

AGAIN LIKE WE SEE IN MANY OTHER CELL PHONES FOR LEARNING PRESOS, THIS “APPLICATION PHASE” IS THEORETICAL. WE NEED MORE ACTUAL EXAMPLES OF CELL PHONE USES IN CLASSROOMS. OF COURSE A BIG ISSUE RIGHT NOW IS THERE ARE NOT MANY EXAMPLES. I NEED TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THE EDUCATORS IN OXFORD, KANSAS, WHO ARE WORKING ON A CELL PHONE LEARNING PROJECT THIS TERM.

David Warlick asks on his blog; “what will we ask on our tests when students come in with Google in their pockets? Will they be better questions than we ask today?” Web-capable mobile phones allow users to both access and create the information which is shared on the Internet. My research explored the reality of making use of the mobile phone as a tool for accessing the Internet and the reaction of both teachers and their students to having ‘information on-demand’ or ‘Google in their pocket’.

Are students learning to cope with information overload and to become critical and discerning in their use of information? Hedley Beare (2002) has written extensively on the future of schooling. He states that it is ironic “that teachers currently give the information out to students that they have already deemed to be correct. There is not authentic context requiring students to critique information”. It is the ability to critique and use information that is such a crucial skill.

My research found that often students were being set internet based ‘research’ activities for homework with very little guidance as to how to go about finding the desired information, or more importantly what to do with it.