Mobile Learning

I'm been a huge fan of Mobile Learning since 2005.  For me, it started with Palm Handhelds and the early iPods, and has evolved into cell phones, Flip cameras, and Apple's iOS devices.  For the record, I don't consider anything that you can't stick in your pocket a true mobile learning device (that includes iPads), but that's material for another post.  I'd also like to see a device price point under $200.00, but even at $200.00 per device I really struggle to see how an school sponsored, single-platform mobile learning initiative can survive.

I'm following Saline Area Schools new BYOD policy with great interest, and I embedded it in an earlier posing here. For the uninitiated, BYOD stands for "Bring Your Own Device", and in this policy the teacher has the discretion of whether-or-not mobile and other devices are used in the classroom. But that leads to the question "What does a BYOD classroom look like and how can a teacher leverage all these different platforms?"  For me, the answer is providing the students the choice of a wide range of assignments that meet their learning styles which may or may not be accomplished using technology. Here are some of the resources I would use to develop a BYOD Classroom.

• Kathy Nunley's Layered Curriculum
• Mr. Roughton's Classroom 2.0
• From Toy to Tool: Cell Phones in Learning
• Learning In Hand
• The Flipped Classroom 

The educator will also have to develop a broad understanding of the capabilities of different platforms. For example, while students can create mindmaps on Netbooks and iOS devices, iOS apps typically do not allow  multiple users editing the same project at the same time.

Concerns about texting and other issues are often cited when bringing mobile devices in the classroom, but students often pass handwritten notes and so far the solution hasn't been banning paper and pencils. In closing, here are a few sample tweets on Twitter's #pencilchat.

• "I refuse to use pencils in my classroom until manufacturers figure out a way to limit what students can write with them."
•  "Any teacher who can be replaced by a pencil... should be. - Arthur C. Chalk"
•  "There is no evidence that the pencil makes learning faster, easier or better."
•  "I'm going to work hard to make sure my children are prepared to use pencils in the workforce."
•  “The problem with pencils is that kids are going to use them to copy stuff out of books."
•  “I don’t have time 2 learn about pencils. Besides, students use them at home all the time, so they are probably experts already."

Wicked Project Audio

view on Audioboo

PART A - Brainstorm Session

For our group project we've decided to produce a tutorial on the setup and use of Wii remote interactive whiteboard.  Unfortunately, the initial portion of this project, our group brainstorm, had technical difficulties and video of our session didn't record.   This is ironic,  because we chose to use the web conferencing tool, Big Marker, due to the audio recording problems we were having with Jing, Camtasia, CamStudio, Screencast-o-matic, etc.  These tools only recorded the in-microphone for us despite our attempts to record the system audio. Big Marker worked perfectly in our test run, it recorded the audio from the three of us and produced video, but in the end only the audio was saved.  Big Marker was chosen because it provided a solid, easy-to-use web conferencing platform and also recorded video and audio without the need for other software. Unfortunately, it wound up being unreliable. 

Our attempt can be found here. 

Despite the technical issues, the meeting was productive. Our Group formally settled on producing a tutorial for the Wiimote IWB using a Prezi screen recording combined with audio.  Rachael and Dale provided information here for Ashley to disseminate and the group is meeting Sunday, June 3rd to discuss further plans with our upcoming storyboard.  Rachael and Dale will concentrate on the setup, hardware, and software components of the IWB while Ashley will provide a geography lesson for the IWB and make sure the information provided by Rachael and Dale is accessible to new users.          

Wicked Problem Project: Part B - Application of TPACK

My wicked project is an effort to provide a cross-platform mobile training and remediation training solution for education programs presented by Sloan*Longway educators. The technology needs to be free, support HTML5, and be quick.

To allow for quick access, I will create a poster of QR codes that will on the classroom wall.  Educators will use their cell phone equipped with a QR reader app to access mobile websites containing important content a information and a brief self-grading quiz created with Google Forms that provide immediate  feedback so educators can assess their content knowledge over the related GLCEs.

In addition to the content, the initial setup of many programs is intimidating.  I will post the lesson plans, and  upload images and videos to demonstrate the setups safe usage of items like the liquid nitrogen dewer. The website will also contain an embedded self grading quiz using Google forms that provides immediate feedback to the educator.

Sloan*Longway educators experience three issues when teaching the core educational programs.  These issues are remembering important content and pedagogical details, classroom setup, and the proper use of equipment.  Unfortunately, binders tend to get lost or ruined quickly, and computers with internet access are not available in the classrooms.  With this mobile solution,  Educators will have immediate access to important content and pedagogical information

About Me

PART A - Description of Need or Opportunity

Sloan*Longway is a historical museum and Science Center located off of I-475 in Flint, Michigan. Its mission is to "create engaging experiences for everyone that inspire a lifelong curiosity in history, science and technology." To fulfill this mission Sloan*Longway provides a variety of educational programming for students and adults throughout the year. In order to meet demand from local school districts, the organization offers 26 hands-on and materials rich core programs aligned to Michigan's Science and Social Studies GLCEs. These programs are taught by 3 full-time educators and 4 part-time educators. For various reasons, staff training and remediation is an ongoing problem which results in an undesirable level of program specialization within the staff.  

 In order to help allieviate this issue, I plan to create an easily assessable mulit-platform mobile solution for iOS, Android, and Windows phones. My initial concept is a series of websites that contain key program background, content, set-up, and other information that will be accessed through the phone's camera with QR Codes. Here is a brief description of QR codes from Common Craft:

I plan to create 12 websites for the top 6 science programs and the top 6 social studies programs  using free sources like Weebly, YoutTube, and other non-flash based resources.  QR code creators and readers are free so the only cost for this project will be paper and laminate.  Furthermore, using a QR reader is relatively straightforward so only minimal staff training is required. I plan to track the use of  the websites with a counter, and will provide a brief survey using Google Forms.

Here are some sites that provide information for using QR codes in training:
How to Use QR Codes in Corporate Training

5 Real Ways To Use QR Codes In Education

You and QR Codes

Saline BYOD Policy