Using Smartphones As Essential Tools For Learning; 40 Simple Ways To Use Smartphones
Some key notes I took away from this first article were that the findings from the first wave of the 1:1 of using technology were viewed as supplemental to the existing curriculum and with the second wave of the 1:1 that is still gaining momentum the views are that the use of technology is essential to the curriculum. As stated in the article, schools are reporting upwards of 30% improvement in standardized test scores, computing devices are being used as essential to the curriculum, i.e., the students use the devices from 40–70% of the school day and for periods after school as well, and the “active-learning” pedagogy emphasizes student constructive and collaborative activities (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999). This second wave will be based on the use of computing devices of choice (smartphones, tablets, etc.) the implementation of BYOD. The schools will just need to provide the internet access and educational software and the analogy that is used here references the internet as a roadway with the mobile technologies being the cars. Not only are these mobile technologies important and relevant in the educational setting but they are emerging as significant additions to both our consumer and business as well. I agree that the teachers that are already using project/problem/inquiry based strategies find it easier and are possibly being more willing to accept and utilize the benefits of mobile learning devices in their classroom & existing curriculum. “We have gone on record publically with the following prediction: Within five years every child in every grade in every K–12 classroom in America will be using a mobile learning device technology (Norris, Hossain
& Soloway, 2011). That being said, I have all 3 grade levels in the middle school and when taking a poll to see how many of my students have a mobile learning device to use - the results were 85% or higher in each of my 6 classes. Most of them have their own smartphone; some of them have both a smartphone and an additional device (ipod, ipad, tablet, kindel, etc.) and are more than willing and excited to use them in my classroom.
40 Simple Ways To Use Smartphones
Sorry I have gotten carried away looking into several of them...which has led me off task & has taken much longer than planned! :) Here is some notes specifically from #3 Scavenger Hunts
I took note to several of these 40 that were listed and hope to tweek them in a way that I can use them within my own subject area. I especially look forward to using the storyboarding, scavenger hunts and animations. This week I am going to try to use the scavenger hunts - although when looking at the lesson plan that was provided (btw LOVE that feature) I saw that it was for local history and instead plan on using this to complete (what was my former magazine collage) scavenger hunt for images that illustrate the elements & principles of art. I hope that this will enable the students to be excited to learn and find examples outside of my classroom walls. I also think that there could be some collaboration aspect to this where they would work with a teammate/partner and then we could compare and contrast the answers of all groups when we all finish as a class using a discussion/critique of which ones we think are the best examples for each of the elements and principles of art. I also hope that this will make them acknowledge that art is everywhere and these along with other important vocabulary are not just found in art works but in our everyday lives (advertising, clothing, houses, etc.). I would love to think of other ways that this could be used, I am thinking that they could be assigned to find examples of certain techniques, vocab, etc. using their devices, and document them by taking a picture then posting it to our companion site and describing what and where it is? or maybe leave that part open ended and have them crop the image and make it into an I spy type of feature...where students are then critically thinking about what it is and where it was found? Not sure but my wheels are definitely turning with some of these and how I can make them apply to me and my students.
33 Interesting Ways To Use Mobile Phones In The Classroom
#14 Use Posterous as a class blog for language students (could use this with images and then have digital discussions/class critiques)
#18 Create a mobile group (use Remind 101 and love it)
I found only a couple of additional uses listed with this article/presentation but have heard of some of the others already or did not feel as if they would be as beneficial for me specifically. I have used Remind 101 and have seen great results with that for my clubs and also my classes.
Technology as a supplement will continue to be phased out with time. As new teachers enter education, the way they are learning is by technology being essential to their learning. You can't expect new teachers to learn and know how to teach with 21st century tools then take these powerful tools and way of learning/teaching away from them.
ReplyDeleteJeanna briefly mentioned it in her response but one thing that many tend to overlook is the responsibility districts have to provide access to this technology via high speed wireless access. This is not something that is done overnight so those who aren't there already need to begin the planning process now or continue to deprive students of these essential learning tools.
That is a great point Christian, using our own devices, and creating a 1:1 step is great, but like UPS says..."logistics." Some districts are literally not there yet. Not to mention, private schools and rural schools (at the elementary level) are so archaic in their mindset, many children are not exposed to the positive uses of devices until high school, and then they are already behind. Its a matter of funds, wiring, creating plans, expectations, and you are right- it doesn't happen over night. My daughter's school has 1 computer lab, their exposure is once a week to using device, so it has become our task to help our daughter create spelling tests on the i-pad, or reading books on her i-pod touch. There are ways that school communities can step up, and maybe parents can be of service- perhaps we need to educate everyone on the value of these devices!
DeleteYou both make really good points and there is nothing that can derail a 1 to 1 initiative or a BYOD initiative quicker than not having the infrastructure in place or not having the ability to reliably connect to the internet. When teachers get frustrated, it's hard to real them back in. And Andy, your daughter's school could possibly have more than one computer lab if the treasurer there didn't steal all of the Church's money :)
DeleteI could not agree more that providing a strong infrastructure is one of the most important parts of this entire process. Nothing is more frustrating that incorporating technology into lessons, only to have the technology fail. Ironically, my Google Docs continue to time out as I am trying to type this response:)
Delete"The NYT pointed to two reasons to explain the lack
ReplyDeleteof impact: (1) There was no educational software per se—
the laptops came with Microsoft Office and a Web browser—and (2) the teachers were not provided with sufficient professional development support, i.e., by and
large, the teachers were taught how to use the computers,
but they weren’t taught how to transform their existing
paper-and-pencil curriculum into curriculum that took
advantage of the affordances of the networked laptops" (Using Smartphones) This portion of the article says a lot. I think many of our teachers do use laptops simply as encyclopedias and typewriters, and claim to be "using technology." Jeanna is right when she emphasized how kids in 5 years will be one to one simply through their own devices, now it is time for us to change our mindset and use these powers for good, not evil, i.e texting and instagramming instead of staying on task. The Challenge still lies in how we, leaders of technology in the classroom, model and create positive professional development for the use of these materials. It can work- these machines are not typewriters! They are tools! Heck, I had 2 girls typing their notes today via text on their phones! Can you believe it? But they love it...
I agree with what you pointed out about how some teachers are "using" technology but only minimally and not as an essential tool. I believe that eLC's and the students in this class can help this by working together to teach others how to use technology as an essential tool instead of just something they use every once in awhile. I believe that many teachers are willing to change and use technology more but need more guidance on how to do that.
DeleteI also agree that students will be bringing their own devices within the next 5 years and we need to prepare ourselves and how we are using their devices. We need to stop vilifying their devices and see them as a positive tool that can be used to extend a students learning in and out of the classroom. As one wise person once said, “If you build it they will come.”
Jeanna, you had some really good ideas. I really like the idea in the article about the scavenger hunt. Christian and I were actually thinking about incorporating this into our project that is due next week. Anyways, I was at an ISSN conference a couple of years ago and a gentleman by the name of Alan November presented. He is a tech guru and one of the ladies in the workshop asked him how she could use Twitter in her classroom. He asked her what subject she taught and then he asked her friend sitting next to her what subject she taught. The two women taught English and Social Studies. He then asked them to give him a topic from each content area. The first woman said Romeo and Juliet and then second lady said Egypt b/c the uprising in Egypt was in full effect at the time. Anyways, he tweeted something to the affect, "What are the similarities of Romeo and Juliet to the current uprising in Egypt?" He used several different hashtags and it was amazing how many people from all over the world responded to his tweet. It really opened my eyes to the ways in which we could use twitter and also the ways in which we can garner a global perspective.
ReplyDeleteI believe there are a lot of apps and programs that many people have just a general knowledge of. This twitter example is a good example. Many people know what twitter is but don't know some of the advanced features. Google docs is the same way. Many have a surface knowledge but there's many more capabilities and uses that teachers don't know about without additional training.
DeleteI believe that education will depend more and more on technology. However, I believe that schools have to get ready for that change by updating their infrastructure like we have over the holidays. I know that many teachers at Delhi were nervous about starting the BYOD initiative because of the old wireless ports that we had at the time. They feel a lot more confident now that we have new ports that are much quicker.
ReplyDeleteI am also not surprised by the number of students who had devices in your class as I think that is what we had at Delhi as well when we polled our students. It is amazing to me the number and kinds of devices some of these students have access too. I also agree that they are very excited to get to use their devices in class. When we tell them that they can bring them in they are all very excited to do so, especially since we told them before Christmas that we would be letting them use it more in class. I know that for my classes many of my students asked for devices for Christmas because they knew we would be implementing BYOD. In fact, they were so excited that I had several students come see me first thing in the morning the day we got back to show me their device and help them install some things on it.
It's amazing to see how many students in my room also came back with devices after Christmas! I'm not a parent, but if I was on the fence on purchasing a device for my child, I think knowing the device would be used for more than just social purposes would make me more apt to purchase the device. I would be interested to see how this trend continues when BYOD is implemented by more teachers in each building. Will the number of devices students bring increase?
Delete{Hageman} - While I agree that adopting a 1 : 1 ratio will increase learning in the classroom, I continue to struggle with the best uses of technology. At the end of the day, I think many forget that technology is a tool to enhance learning. While at times, technology can drive instruction, strong lessons that incorporate technology will still lead to the best results in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI am in the same boat you are in, I feel technology is essential but I am learning how to effectively incorporate it into my math classroom on a daily basis.
DeleteI agree with the articles when they state that mobile devices are essential for student learning. Since I am a newer teacher, I could not imagine teaching without technology. I continue to learn more and more ways to use BYOD in my classroom. I am actually beginning BYOD with all my classes this week. With this being on my mind, and some man of my students using their cell phones, I really enjoyed all the articles regarding smart phones. I am planning on having my ekids explore some of these programs and like Jeanna I am hoping to adapt them to fit my classroom needs.
ReplyDeleteJeanna quoted the following from our reading this week: “We have gone on record publically with the following prediction: Within five years every child in every grade in every K–12 classroom in America will be using a mobile learning device technology (Norris, Hossain & Soloway, 2011). Wow! Jeanna mentioned that she took a poll in her classroom and realized 85% of her students owned mobile devices, which is approximately what I see in my classroom as well. Interestingly, this percentage was at about 70% last school year. At this rate, perhaps this prediction is terribly off from the truth, at least within our district and this age group of kids. I have even noticed that many of the kids who I know do not have a family computer at home DO have a smartphone or ipod touch. I have also noticed more and more students bringing in devices since even Christmas, as Dion stated. I think when parents realize the devices will be used for more than just their child's access to Facebook, and they see what their kids are using them for in class, that they are more apt to find more value in the purchasing of a smart device.
ReplyDeleteI also found the statistic that studies found a 30% improvement in standardized test scores for those students using technology in a regular basis. This does not at all surprise me! Before implementing BYOD in my classroom, I feared that by letting the kids use their devices TOO much would lead to a lot of off task behavior. So, at first, I had the kids use their devices for a 10 minute activity at most on a daily basis. Recently (truthfully just since starting this class), I have been trying to implement them for the bulk of the activity, versus just the opening or closure of the lesson. I have never seen my class so well behaved! I have been implementing checkpoints, where students hold their group members accountable, which ensures the students are not browsing Facebook, which helps. Even then, if the app is engaging and and purposeful, the novelty of the activity glues kids to the app at hand. After all, why look at Facebook, when you get to use a NEW app that is engaging, new, and fun?
Next week, I will be starting a unit using the flipped classroom approach guided through Schoology. I've used the unit for a few years, but we have always used the school laptops. Last year, I let the kids use their devices for the checkpoints/quizzes on Schoology after each activity, but not for the instructional portion so the kids would be less apt to get distracted. With so many students doing different activities, it's hard to monitor what the kids are doing on their devices. Now that Schoology is a fully integrated mobile platform, I'd like to try to open the use of devices this year (mostly so I don't hog the computers again for an entire unit), but I will need to figure out a creative classroom management approach. Does anyone have any suggestions on this one? How can I keep the kids on track on their devices when every kid is doing a different activity? I'm thinking about something along the lines of "earning" the use of their devices through on-task behavior throughout the unit? Just a thought? But then how do I measure "on task" behavior when I can't always see what they are doing on their phones? A timely assessment or product?
In the classroom, mobile devices have a way of changing everything. From the moment my kids learned about being able to bring in their own devices, to every time we took them out, the kids were excited and involved, and I've never seen such quick reaction time to starting an activity! Here are a few of my favorite ways to use the smartphone: a scavenger hunt (I know its for middle to high school, but I HAVE to find a way to get it to the third grade level.), backchanneling, QR codes and Remind 101. I use some of these already, but am always looking for new ways to incorporate others.
ReplyDelete