Day 4- To m-learn in education?
What one change would you require to adopt m-learning for your own teaching and learning?
I believe that m-learning definitely has a place in educational settings, however I do not see this being implemented in classrooms anytime soon. There are several reasons I feel this way and believe this style of learning may be better suited for smaller groups or to enhance individual learning.
Cost: For m-learning to be evident in schools, every student would need to have or purchase a device. Who would supply the money for this? Parents or the school?
Another issue is what kind of m-learning device will student’s use? Will every student use their own device? Or will every student have the exact same?
And what about Internet plans? Who will provide every student with this so that when they are home and are assigned m-learning homework, they are able to complete it?
Time: I believe for the time it may take to get every student set up and using their device, as well as monitoring them to make sure they are actually using their device for m-learning may take away from the idea of implementing this tool.
Teaching: It definitely depends what age students are and what kind of m-learning will be done. I am all for education to shift to a more technological classroom, however, we need to move at a pace where students feel they can keep up. This generation of students will be the first group to see so many changes, from SMARTboards to Ipads to m-learning. I think we need to slow down on all this technology “hype” and look at the big picture. I believe there will be a time and place for m-learning in classrooms, I just do not believe that right now the education world is ready for this shift.
Jenaca
Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
David William Price 7:11 am on November 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Interesting points.
1. Cost. What do you think of sharing mobiles? A Chinese study gave a single mobile to a group of learners. The mobile guided them through various games to learn to read and write Kanji. Mobiles are also commonly owned.
2. Standardization. This is a real issue. What do you think of choosing a reasonable lowest common denominator? Consider how Janala and Urban Planet English are teaching using simple SMS and ringtones. Even the simplest cellphones are sophisticated enough to play simple games. Similar graphics and prompts can be used to scaffold learners through activities and refresh their memories of what they’ve learned.
3. Data plans are an issue… but why would students by using their mobiles at home? Why wouldn’t they do their homework with their computers? Mobiles are about being mobile… out in the world… Apps are one way to ensure you have a program you can use as much as you like without requiring further data transmission… or limited data transmission.
4. Time. This is a huge issue. The ALPS project determined that it made a lot more sense to set up mobiles for people instead of expecting them to do it. Similarly, a major multinational found that some people had never downloaded an app before and had a lot of trouble figuring it out. As for monitoring students… why would this be any more of an issue than if students choose to daydream or doodle on paper (favourite time wasters in my day) instead of learning? Isn’t managing distraction is a skill students need to develop?
5. I notice a real bias to the classroom with K12 teachers. How does your thinking change if you focus on the mobility aspect of mobiles? Using mobiles out in the real world… away from the classroom and from home?
hall 9:40 am on November 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jeneca,
The cost to implement m-learning in schools is one of the major deterrent. The cost of a mobile device is very expensive which does not include internet connectivity. Also many mobile users will need to buy Apps for their phones in order for mlearning to be meaningful and effective. Thus the cost of mobile devices is major factor that can affect the growth of mlearning in financial stressed world.
David William Price 9:56 am on November 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’m not sure what things are like where you live, but in Canada there are many service providers who provide mobiles for free if you sign up for plans. Plans range from very basic to expensive.
Internet connectivity is a nice to have feature… but not essential for m-learning. Photography, video, audio recording and texting are all popular options. You can do a lot of learning with simple apps. Many apps are either a couple of dollars or are free.
Mobiles themselves can be shared… or can be purchased refurbished… or donated by carriers because they are returned and old.
I’m encouraging an optimistic opportunity-focused perspective in line with our “ventures” focus…