Modern life has reached new bounds with technology. Technology has already transformed the life of students, but now we have even more personal technological devices - such as laptops, tablets, and cellphones that might possibly transform the styles of teaching in schools and the lives of students and teachers at a national level.
Helen Crompton, in "The Benefits and Challenges of Mobile Learning", explains the numerous benefits that mobile learning brings to schools. Mobile learning adds a new platform that connects well with the students, and by offering academic lessons and tools through personal devices - such as tablets, phones, etc. - the opportunities for success are sure to rise for students. Crompton describes mobile learning as "learning through multiple contexts". Traditional classrooms can go so far in transferring knowledge, and adding the context of learning through mobile devices may correlate with student success by giving them another way to educate themselves.
Mobile technology also offers stronger educational resources for students with special needs. In "Mobile Technology Opens Doors-and Eyes-for the Blind", Sharleen Nelson explains how the use of the mobile device, iTouch, motivated a blind student - Val Bernal - to finally stick to learning brail. The device was able to give positive voice reinforcement, which motivated Bernal further, and now he's brail-literate. Mobile learning seems to have many opportunities to advance learning in all aspects of our classrooms. It is a platform that is able to help students learn in different ways.
Although mobile learning does add another context of learning subject material, Crompton also highlights the fact that the price of mobile learning programs are also a critical restraint in school's abilities to provide their students with mobile technology. This is the biggest impediment facing mobile learning advocates, but they also face changed in the traditional pedagogy that educators have held on to. Welcoming new technology means educators must learn new ways to integrate mobile learning into their classrooms, while also making sure the new devices don't put students off task. All in all, mobile learning would be a huge change for classrooms - meaning the traditional way of classrooms would surely change.
With the continuing rise of technology, it would be ridiculous if schools didn't look for a way to integrate it into their curriculums. However, I find it hard to mix the use of mobile learning with the attention spans of the students today. I feel that with a rise of technology in classrooms will mix with a rise of distractions, so I think it'll take awhile for administrators/educators to find the right way to assimilate mobile learning in their classrooms. I think the idea is well worth it, but implementing it will be harder due to the cost of the programs and the consequences of creating distractions for students.
"The Benefits and Challenges of Mobile Learning" - Helen Crompton (Sept/Oct 2013)
"Mobile Technology Opens Doors-and Eyes-for the Blind" - Sharleen Nelson (Sept/Oct 2013)
Hi Garrison -
ReplyDeleteThanks for explaining mobile learning! I like what you said about how it gives students a variety of ways to learn, and it sounds like it motivates students in new ways too! I agree that it will be a challenge making sure all students have access to technology! I think for most students, access to devices, phones, and computers will be simple, but for others, access to such technology outside of class will be difficult. I read about a teacher who sent the tools home with the students, but the inability to get onto the internet would be something that could cause some students to fall behind. Every so often I hear about government/city plans to make wi-fi widely available - sort of like how radio. I'm curious to see if this will become more of a priority as more students need access to a wifi connection for school.
Have a great day -
Heather