My name is Toby Beck and this assignment is meant to demonstrate a mobile optimized learning tool that I envision for the near future. I have incorporated my research and presentation into a mobile “app”. I have also created a prototype called “Mobilearn” that demonstrates some of the qualities I believe will reshape the future of K-12 education. I have partially done this as an exercise in pitching a prototype to a potential investor.
Here is a quick video showing how to navigate my prototype.
The prototype contains Challenge 1.1 and Challenge 2.1 for you to see completed in your Block-Chain Academic Record. Click on Challenge 2.1 to complete it.
Figma currently does not allow for embedded video, so the “video” in my prototype is only a “placeholder” screenshot – it doesn’t play!
Access the prototype using your mobile phone here.
Hi Toby:
I see where you are trying to move with this vision. At the same time DL has a long way to go when it comes to bridging pedagogy with the tech application. I was really surprised by your comment about Figma not having the ability to embed videos, when actually it is possible. I have included the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V8N4VG_Yqc
When it comes to these projects. I have found it is very important to take all the time allocated to complete it. This way one can tinker with the tech to use its full potential in the design. Your prototype works, but Figma’s features allow you to do so much with DL. Please take time to explore.
Hi Britt,
I watched this video. I believe it opens the video in a secondary platform, Anima. Which I didn’t want. I contacted Figma customer support and they told me that at this time, you can’t embed video inside Figma.
Hi Toby
This is great prototyping showing how future schools may look like. The idea is brilliant!
If you would put in some “user experience” roadmap for students to journey with the future school, and how parents may receive synchronized feedbacks, that prototype might be more convincing and self-sustainable. I can imagine that with the whole school curriculum being developed, students all around the world could benefit from worldly learning.
Hi Nini,
Thanks for the feedback. Can you explain more, what do you mean by a “user experience roadmap to journey with the future school”?
Thank you!
Hi Toby,
I am skeptical of your estimate of the number of students that will stay in DL after the pandemic. We know from public reports that children who are currently in hybrid systems miss school and that their mental health is suffering from the lack of face-to-face social interactions. I agree that DL enrollment will increase over the years as some students did discover during this pandemic that they actually excel in DL, but am unsure of the magnitude of that increase. My skepticism comes from current trends in education to increase hands-on, experiential learning in the classrooms, the very learning strategies that DL would struggle to incorporate. This would be especially noticeable in shop and STEM courses. So perhaps it is not that DL will explode in the coming years, but a blended or flipped model of education where students do some hands-on work in brick and mortar buildings and some work online. I agree that 5G and better mobile e-learning platforms and apps will support this, though remain cautious of the applicability of microlearning in senior courses with very complex concepts.
One thing I wholeheartedly agree with though is the financial savings that such a program will give us! In overcrowded schools, and an oversaturated pool of teacher applicants (600+ MyEd applications to Surrey when I applied 6 years ago!) I do think that part of the solution to funding problems is to move some courses online. Some courses continue to be lecture based by virtue of the nature of their content and there really is no reason for such a class to meet face-to-face. That space could be used to divide an overcrowded STEM class in two so that students have adequate space for design/test/exploration work.
Hi Ying,
You may be correct about DL not retaining students.
However, I would counter with the following. A hybrid system is not a DL program. A DL program is where students are only learning online, using a LMS to receive and upload content. As well, my DL school has maintained enrolment over the course of the year, where many predicted it would not. Interviewing my families as I onboard them, I would say 90% said they were choosing DL as they have been thinking of trying it or trying something other than traditional schooling, and this year was the final push they needed to jump in. I would also say that 80% of my students are thriving. Many students in my intake interviews complained of being bored, unengaged and “waiting for the class to move on as the teacher tries to remediate the 12 students who are below grade level”. As such, they are looking for something else.
In other words, my first hand experience is that most of my students in DL are not suffering with mental health issues. I would say that my connection to many of my students is much stronger than when I was in the classroom. And these students are looking elsewhere because they were not getting the attention they wanted in the classroom.
Micro-learning as I understand it, is taking concepts as complicated or simple as they are, and breaking them down into smaller tasks/chunks – not watering down the complexity of the content.
My A3 embodies the opportunity I see to continue to offer new choices to families who feel the monolithic monopoly of public education doesn’t work anymore.
Hi Toby,
That’s a good point, that some students are taking DL because their classes are not differentiated enough. I suppose with overcrowded classrooms, some students do need more attention. I had not thought about this group of clientele. Thank you for this.
Very interesting and timely project Toby,
I really enjoyed reading about the “boom” that online education has taken in the past year especially. I agree with you that though the spike in online enrolment may have been brought on by force and necessity, I think it will remain as a popular and growing choice by many students and families. Having now taught online for a year now, I have come to love it in many aspects and am considering continuing remote work in the future for the many lifestyle benefits that I am sure many others have found as well.
I like how you focused on building something that is specifically designed to be done on mobile devices, remotely and flexibly rather than retrofitting something that already exists to somewhat work for online learning on mobile devices, which is largely what we are working with now. From what I gathered using your prototype, it seems to be designed to be done asynchronously. I am wondering if there would also be opportunities or scheduled time for synchronous learning to occur and if not, what role would the teacher play in this classroom community if any at all?