Making a Case for Mobile Devices

Why should a teacher be prepared to allow or require students to use mobile devices to achieve learning objectives?

 “Mobile learning can and does make a positive difference in how students learn, and it’s not just because of the “cool” factor. When used the right way, mobile technology has the potential to help students learn more and comprehend that knowledge.” (Matthew Lynch, 2015)

One of the areas in which our world is hurtling toward the future is in the area of technology. Innovations in digital learning, though a tad slower, is making great progress as well. One way, we as teachers, can move forward with the rest of the world is by using mobile devices in our classes. Why mobile devices? Referring to the iPad, Marc Prensky points out “the incredible flexibility it provides to vary learning activities at a moment’s notice,” and that “with iPads students have the world at their fingertips– anywhere they might be.” One can say the same thing about other mobile devices. In one small device, students have access to an unimaginable amount of resources, and teachers need to be looking into how to tap those resources to enhance student engagement and improve learning. On students’ use of mobile devices, Lynch notes: “They stay on task, they correct mistakes in real-time and, most importantly, they get excited about learning.”

What’s great about mobile devices?

•          Ability to collaborate by interacting with peers anytime and anywhere.
•         Students own them and are using them in multiple ways.
•          “Mobile learning lets students benefit from interacting with their course content on the devices that they use to connect with every other aspect of their lives, nearly 24/7.” (Wilson et al)
•          If the school cannot provide them, students can bring their own.

Some learning strategies and activities that would work well with mobile devices:

•          Watching a short YouTube video
•          Game-based activities
•         Writing and sending short messages/email
•          Sharing thoughts and ideas
•          Taking and sharing pictures
•          Scavenger hunts
•          Drawing mental images and sharing them
•          Reading e-books
•          Listening activities

Guiding Principles for using mobile devices:

Clear objectives: Clear objectives are imperative because students can easily get distracted and lost in the world out there.

Structure and Control: An effective approach can provide control.

Short and to the point:

“2-minutes: for reinforcing information via interactive knowledge checks and updating existing information.

5-minute: for interactive learning games and short videos that communicate information.

10-minutes: high-level interactive games and integration of social learning.”                                  

                                                                                                    (Designing Digitally, 2016)

Simple navigation and user friendliness: “Easy to follow navigation is key in mobile learning.” (Chaffe, 2016)

Other factors to consider:

·         Personalised: First, personalised learning, which considers the learning style, interests, and abilities of each child should drive every learning task. Differentiated instruction which according to Tomlinson, “means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs,” will help our students to work at their own pace, “taking extra time in the areas where they need it most.” (Lynch, 2015)

·         Communication: We cannot let our students loose on the internet without teaching them how to communicate in an appropriate manner.

·         Creativity: The main focus should be on creating meaningful and innovative experiences for students. Perhaps, student-driven should be the guiding factor here.

Some activities that I would consider using in my class:

Mobile Devices: Phone, iPad, camera, tablet

Write-Draw-Share: 

• After reading or listening to a story, students could use a mobile device to write a descriptive paragraph or draw a mental image of their favorite character. 
• They could then share it with their peers and teacher using an app of their choice on their mobile device.

Write and Punctuate: 

•          Students should learn to communicate in a clear and concise manner.  Students could use mobile devices to send messages to each other focusing on not just text, but punctuation as well. Whether they type their message or use voice to text, they still need to know the punctuation rules.
•       After a language lesson, students could practice what they have learned by posting messages on a shared platform. 

·        

Scavenger Hunt: There are countless possibilities for this activity ranging from taking photos to looking for specific information, places, shapes, or objects. 

•          A geometry activity could have students looking for different shapes and objects and taking photos and sharing them.
•          History students are sure to enjoy hunting for historical objects or monuments in their area or in another country.
•          Scavenger hunts need not be confined to our world. Students could use their devices to look for stars and other heavenly bodies.

Some factors to keep in mind:

Connection speed and data plan limitations: This will be an issue, and we cannot expect all our students to have fast internet connection or be connected all the time.

Digital divide: The way the world is moving toward digital innovations and tech use is mind- staggering, but the reality is that there is so much inequality in this world that many children can only dream of owning a mobile device.

Expectations - What the experts say:

“Simply using mobile technology in the classroom does not guarantee a rise in comprehension or even the attention of students. “(Lynch, 2015)

“You cannot directly take a computer-based learning method and transfer it to a mobile device. The manner in which we learn from mobile devices is different from computer-based learning or traditional classroom-setting learning.” Designing Digitally, Inc.

“Face to face or computer-based learning should not be just automatically converted for delivery to a mobile device.” (Chaffe, 2016)

In conclusion, despite the evident benefits of using mobile devices in the classroom, we should not ignore the fact that we can never predict the direction a mobile device activity could take. Often, there is a big gap between the ideal and reality, and a good knowledge of our students as well as the activity is critical to ensure a positive and successful experience for all.

References:

Chaffe, Sophie. (March 5, 2016). Getting Mobile Learning Right: 6 Best Practices. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/getting-mobile-learning-right-6-best-practices

Designing Digitally, Inc. (June 20, 2016). Retrieved from http://www.designingdigitally.com/blog/2016/06/mobile-learning-content-best-practices#ixzz4IM1ouqaE

Lynch, Matthew. (March 31, 2015). Do Mobile Devices in the Classroom Really Improve Learning Outcomes? Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/do-mobile-devices-in-the-classroom-really-improve-learning-outcomes-38740

Prensky, Marc. (December 2, 2005). Shaping Tech for the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt-shaping-tech-for-classroom

Wilson, E., Kelleher, J., Day, L., Hives, L., and Lilleker, R. (n.d.). Getting Started with Mobile Learning. Retrieved from http://www.blackboard.com/cmspages/getfile.aspx?guid=0b434794-81ec-4eae-9367-6498052a66e0

Cognitive Flow and Learning

By Zalino Bona

An activity that gets me into that state where I’m totally immersed and lost to the world, is reading. Suspenseful books have that effect on me. Another activity that can take me to a new world is crafts; especially when I’m creating something. Egg decorating, knitting, sewing and making things with fabric or paper get me into that state where I’m so caught up in what I’m doing that eating and sleeping can seem like distractions.                                                                               

 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this state of engagement ‘flow.” He describes the flow experience as: “when a person is completely involved in what he or she is doing, when the concentration is very high, when the person knows moment by moment what the next steps should be …” For Jill Suttie, it is “that feeling of complete immersion in an activity, where we’re so engaged that our worries, sense of time, and self-consciousness seem to disappear.” 

                                            

When I am engaged in an activity like egg decorating, for example, I think of a design in my mind, and I use different materials and work with the goal of transferring the design in my mind to the eggshell. I get instant feedback as I see the plain eggshell being transformed into a multi colored object with swirls, lines or other geometric designs. The challenge lies in working with tiny beads, paint, yarn and other materials on a fragile eggshell, while trying to create something aesthetically pleasing and as perfect as possible.

Why do I experience flow when I am engaged in an activity like this? It is hands on and challenging. I can increase the level of challenge by changing the material or making the design more intricate. There are clear goals and feedback, and I enjoy working on it. All these conditions foster flow, according to Jill Suttie. The conditions for flow, according to Csikszentmihalyi are clear goals and feedback, and the right level of challenge: “ the feeling that what you can do is more or less in balance with what needs to be done, that is, challenges and skills are pretty much in balance.”According to Csikszentmihalyi, Suttie and others, hands on activities, rather than lectures, the right level of challenge which requires a good balance between the challenge of the activity and the skills of the person engaged in that activity, team projects, and giving a wide array of choices can be powerful motivators. And when students can connect what they are learning in the classroom to their own lives, they’re more likely to be more invested and engaged.

A wise mentor once said that “technology is useful because it enables us to know and access what’s out there so we are not reinventing the wheel.” The internet has tons of ideas on all the things I love to do. My personal learning network contains a list of resources that I could dig into for ideas and suggestions. Some sites that I love to explore and turn to for ideas are:

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/crafts/

www.enchantedlearning.com

www.hobbycraft.co.uk

If flow helps me to take learning to a deeper level, as a teacher, I believe this is an area I should be exploring to make my lessons more meaningful to students and to take them to new levels of learning. I need to explore ways to create conditions that foster flow in my class to enable my students to engage with their lessons to enhance their learning experiences. 

I also need to be aware of things that could get in the way of flow: not having needed materials at hand, lack of time, and distractions in the form of other people trying to talk to us when we are trying to concentrate. Jill Suttie lists the constrains of public schools: rigid curriculum, testing, grades, and time limit as obstacles to flow in classrooms.

Finally, though watching videos is reportedly not an activity that fosters flow, it is one of the best ways of gaining knowledge. So, here’s a video which will hopefully help us to learn more about this process called flow: What the Science of Flow can Teach us About Limitless Performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ZKJrz4oJo

Resources

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Motivating People to Learn. (April 11, 2002). Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-motivating-people-learn

Suttie, Jill. (April 16, 2012). Can Schools Help Students Find Flow? Retrieved from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_schools_help_students_find_flow

Suttie, Jill. (April 7, 2012). Eight Tips for Fostering Flow in the Classroom. Retrieved from 

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/eight_tips_for_fostering_flow_in_the_classroom