The following are excerpts from the February, 2010 issue of Campus Technology, page 34.
I recently read some interesting information that was compiled by Project Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization that surveys K-12 students, teachers, administrators, preservice teachers, and parents nationwide to understand the trends in student learning. In 2008, they surveyed 281,500 K-12 students.
“When Julie Evans, the CEO of Project Tomorrow, gives presentations to higher ed leaders, she discovers that they are usually interested in the students that will be going to college in a couple of years – the high schoolers. But she explains that “looking at the middle school students or upper elementary students – in grades 3 through 8 – is actually a better instructional tool for them, because those kids have a very, very different view from their high school peers.”
“As example of those differences, she points to their viewpoints about online learning. ‘The traditional, conventional theory is that high school students take online classes because they want to get college credit and they want to have a class that fits into their schedule. But when we look at middle school students, they’re more interested in blended learning – where they take a traditional class with a teacher and then also have an online component.’
“Her point: ‘If I’m a college CIO (chief information officer) or CTO (chief technology officer), and I’m only thinking about the 100 percent online class that my students are looking for, then I’m not properly preparing for that next generation of students coming up, who want a blended approach. I want to be building for kids I’m going to see five-plus years from now.’”
“Evans lists nine attributes that characterize these students:
- They’re self-directed in their learning.
- They’re untethered from traditional education.
- They’re expert at personal data aggregation.
- They engage in the power of connections.
- They create new communities.
- They’re not tethered to physical networks.
- They prefer experiential learning.
- They’re content developers.
- The process is as important as – and sometimes more important than – the knowledge gained.”
“Ultimately, Evans says, “students want to define and direct their own educational destinies.” That will, she explains, require schools to develop new kinds of learning spaces, move to more social-based learning, tap digital resources that add relevancy, and move learning beyond the classroom walls, whether those walls reside in a district or on a campus.”
Here’s my take on this – Many of these characteristics such as being expert at personal data aggregation, they engage in power of connections, and they create new communities are features that tell me they are very comfortable in the online world. The fact that to them “the process is as important as the knowledge gained” tells me that they would prefer to learn by doing rather than by listening to a lecture or even engage in a discussion. They are content developers. They like to create and experience what they are learning.
So how do we change the learning environment? As already indicated, hybrid learning may help. Connections and learning communities are not made (or at least not as easily) in 50 minute periods. But learning that can be accomplished anytime, anywhere using mobile, portable devices that have wireless access will allow these students to thrive.
At Tony Bates’ site, e-learning and distance education resources, he poses questions educational institutions should ask when attempting to determine how well they are integrating technology into their institution. At the end of 2010, a book co-authored by Tony Bates and Albert Sangra of the Open University of Catalonia will discuss each of these questions in more detail. Here are the questions:
Are there ‘champions’ with power and influence in the institution who recognize the importance of technology for conducting the business of the institution?
Does the institution have an advanced, comprehensive technology infrastructure that enables all staff, students and faculty to access computers, networks, software and services as required?
Has the institution digitalized its administrative services, and can staff, students and faculty access administrative information and services easily over the web?
Has the institution identified a clear, strategic rationale for the use of technology within the institution?
Has the institution identified additional financial resources or reallocated resources to support the integration of technology within the institution?
What proportion of staff, students and faculty are using technology and for what activities?
How innovative is the use of technology, particularly for teaching?
What level of support and training is given to instructors to ensure good quality teaching when using technology?
Are students learning better and getting better services as a result of technology integration?
There are a number of products that act as personal response systems (also known as student response systems or “clickers”) that work with the iPod Touch or iPhone. Here’s what I have discovered so far:
Turning Technologies ResponseWare is versatile but there is a subscription fee that each student must pay. Also, the system pings Turning Technologies server once each second so you have to make sure your network will be able to handle that amount of traffic.
The eClicker by Big Nerd Ranch is limited to 32 clients (students). The Host application (for the instructor) costs $24.99 but the client app is free. The system is WiFi-based so an Internet connection is not necessary since the teacher can set up a wireless network (easily) if he or she has a Mac. (I don’t know if it is easy to set up a wireless network with a Windows computer.)
The app that seems the best (from what I can see) is iResponse Classroom Responder System. The app for the clients costs 99 cents and the host for the instructor’s computer is free. There is a Mac and PC version and there is a basic and Pro version for both platforms. The iResponse system is also WiFi based. Instructions for how to set up a wireless network with a Mac as well as instructions for using the software are available.
The video below describes the concept of student-generated content. The basic idea is that one method of engaging the student is to have them generate content that illustrates the principles being learned in the class. Will students be enthusiastic about this? I don’t know but I suspect some students would not want to generate content but would rather just sit in class and be passive.
In the January 28, 2010 issue of Academic Impressions, the article “Considering Mobile Learning for Your Institution” discusses what institutions should consider when determining if they want to get involved in mobile learning. Judy Brown, founder and former director of the University of Wisconsin system’s Academic ADL Co-Lab, provides some insights when considering a mobile learning initiative.
The first question to ask is “will the learners be consumers of content, producers of content, or both?”
Mobile devices can be used not only for consuming information but can also be used for creating information as well. The keyboard of devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch allow limited keyboarding but the new iPad with its larger built-in keyboard and optional keyboard attachment should allow students to more easily create text.
The key thing to consider when considering uses of mobile devices is portability. While a laptop can do many of the things a mobile device can do, a portable device makes it much easier to accomplish these things. Here are a few examples of things that could be done with a mobile device:
Create a personal wiki with VoodooPad and export to your iPod Touch or iPhone (Mac only)
Getting Started Brown suggests that when you getting started considering implementing a mobile learning initiative, you should invite both “believers” and “non-believers” in order to provide an ongoing discussion about both opportunities as well as challenges. She also suggests that institutions begin with a pilot project or two. And institutions should provide as much support as possible to the faculty involved in the pilot project.
Decisions to Make
Define Your Objectives – Brown suggests you ask why you want a mobile learning initiative and how you will know if you have reached your goals?
Define Your Audience – Who are the learners who will be involved in the mobile learning initiative. How will they be supported? Who is responsible for oversight and day-to-day operations of the mobile learning initiative?
Faculty Development – Who is responsible for training and supporting faculty in the appropriate use of mobile devices in the educational process? Further Thoughts One of things that I’m afraid most college courses don’t do is develop a community of learners. Rather, students come to class, listen to a lecture and engage in some class discussion, and do homework. Although the class time provides an opportunity for discussion, this may be limited depending on the size of the class. And each class is typically only 50 minutes long. Will all students get their questions answered? Maybe or maybe not, depending on the complexity of the subject matter. If the class involves expressing opinions, will everyone have a chance to express their opinion? Maybe not if the class size is large and/or the topic has many facets to it. But if learning can be extended beyond the classroom, learning can become richer. Yes, learning occurs when a student reads his or her textbook and completes homework assignments but this activities are largely done individually. And a textbook doesn’t provide any interactivity (or at least not very much). And a textbook only provides a linear explanation of a topic while a mobile device could allow a learner to access a variety of sources that could be compiled and organized by each individual learner. Tools such as Evernote (which works with both browsers and mobile devices) would allow learners to easily collect and modify information from Web sources, and even add voice annotations.
Hitch is a device that allows you to quickly transfer files from one device (such as an iPod) to another device (such as another iPod) without using a computer. This device would be helpful in a classroom where each student had an iPod or iPad and the teacher wanted to transfer files from his or her device to the the students’ iPods or iPads.
