Mobile technologies are beginning to be seen by some researchers and academics as important tools for learning. They not only provide a way of extending learning outside of the classroom but also give students an experience that is consistent with their everyday lives (Dale & Pymm, 2009). This provides increased opportunities for student engagement whilst also meeting the new generation of students’ expectations for learning. Mobile technologies, such as iPods, empower students with a number of different skills. One study found that the learning outcomes of the projects assigned to students to be completed using iPods enabled students to demonstrate skills such as: performance skills, creative powers of interpretation, research and exploration and assimilation and synthesis of complex information and theoretical concepts (Dale & Pymm, 2009). This is reinforced by Sharples et. al. who acknowledges that exploration is a fundamental part of learning and something that is already a relatively mobile experience, thus making it the perfect candidate for integration of mobile technologies (2009).
The integration of mobile technologies into the classroom, however, understandably has a number of issues attached, including, of course, monitoring student behaviour using these devices. In my opinion, this is an issue that will be the biggest problem at the beginning of the integration of mobile technologies into schools. After a period of time, and the implementation of a behaviour management policy regarding mobile technologies, I would argue that this would become as big an issue as graffiti on desks, something that occurs here and there but is not widespread. Furthermore, I would argue that schools are already having issues regarding the use of mobile technologies in schools, even when they have ostensibly banned them. Introducing mobile technologies in an educational context and teaching students how to use them responsibly is a far better strategy for the management of these technologies.
There is, of course, the concern that the integration of mobile technologies into classrooms will mean that teachers simply use them as a tool to deliver the same content they would have delivered without the technology. It should be acknowledged that teachers should make use of the tools available on the mobile technologies in order to benefit their students or allow them to engage in activities they would otherwise not have been able to engage in (Sharples et al., 2009). This could include the introduction of podcasts with students recording their thoughts on a lesson after its conclusion and posting them on a designated website.
Another fantastic use for mobile technologies is to better integrate work completed during excursions with classroom work. This has been completed in a study whereby students were able to engage with content at a museum via mobile phones provided by the museum through taking photographs and watching extra videos explaining certain exhibits. This content was then seamlessly streamed onto a web page or weblog for the class to revisit later (Sharples, et al., 2009). This is just one example of using mobile technologies to enhance the learning experiences of students in ways that would not have been possible or would have been costly to implement previously.
Ultimately, the integration of mobile technologies into schools is something that will probably differ on a school-by-school basis. In my opinion, however, the use of mobile technologies within classrooms will not only improve students’ engagement and, hopefully, their outcomes but is something that will also improve behaviour in regards to these devices and allow teachers to spend less time being phone wardens and more time actually teaching their students.
Comparison: Modern-day classroom versus traditional classroom:
Here is a podcast from CSIRO regarding the naming of the species of fly now known as Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae after the singer Beyonce. This podcast could be assigned as homework for students to listen to prior to a Biology lesson about insects in order to engage them in the content.
Works Cited:
Dale, C., & Pymm, J.M. (2009). Podagogy: The iPod as a learning technology. Active Learning in Higher Education, 10(1), 84-96. Retrieved from http://alh.sagepub.com/content/10/1/84
Paul, G. (Presenter). (2012, February 6). The buzz around the fly named after Beyonce [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.csiro.au/en/Portals/Multimedia/CSIROpod/The-buzz-around-the-fly-named-after-Beyonce.aspx
Sharples, M., Arnedillo-Sanchez, I., Milrad, M.,, & Vavoula, G. (2009). Mobile learning small devices, big issues. In Balacheff et al. (Eds.), Technology-Enhanced Learning (pp.233-249). doi: 10.1007/978-1-4020-9827-7 14
Digitization at its best: Next-Generation Classroom launched in Modern School [Image] (2013). Retrieved from http://www.learntoday.in/blog/digitization-at-its-best-next-generation-classroom-launched-in-modern-school/
Dinosaurs, Caterpillars and Educators – Real Structural Change [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kellygerling.com/theory-practice/organizational-change-articles/new-paradigm-change-metamorphosis.shtml
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