The value of mobile technology in teaching and learning;

Mobile learning is the delivery of learning, education or learning support on mobile phones, PDAs or tablets.
New mobile technology, such as hand-held based devices, is playing a large role in redefining how we receive information. The recent advances in mobile technology are changing the primary purpose of mobile devices from making or receiving calls to retrieving the latest information on any subject. "Numerous agencies including the government agencies are using such technology"

Classroom applications combine the use of handheld computers, PDAs, smartphones or handheld voting systems (such as clickers) with traditional resources. (Tremblay 2010). This enables the student to learn skills in which can be transferred once in the workplace. In today's society it is becoming increasingly evident that technology and its place in society is the future.

Mobile devices(such as a Pocket PC) in the classroom can be used to enhance group working among students through communication applications, interactive displays, and video features.

• Existing mobile technology can replace what can be seen as old fashioned resources such as textbooks, visual aids, and presentation technology.
• Interactive and multi-mode technology allows students to engage and manipulate information.
• Mobile Device features with WIFI capabilities allow for on-demand access to information.
• Access to classroom activities and information on mobile devices provides a n oppourtunity for learning inside and outside the classroom.

Mobile devices can be used in brick-and-mortar or online settings to enhance learning experiences.

• The mobile phone (through text SMS notices) can be used especially for distance learning or with students whose courses require them to be highly mobile and in particular to communicate information regarding availability of assignment results, venue changes and cancellations, etc. It can also be of value to business people, e.g. sales representatives who do not wish to waste time away from their busy schedules to attend formal training events.
• Mobile devices provides an opportunity for online interaction between educator and student, and student to student.
• Blended learning takes the classroom out of a traditional brick-and-mortar setting. Students become part of virtual communities used for working together. 

Podcasting

Podcasting consists of listening to audio recordings of lectures. It can be used to review live lectures  and to provide opportunities for students to rehearse oral presentations. Podcasts may also provide additional information to make traditional lectures more interesting.

In the workplace

M-learning in a workplace can be very different from a school's context. Although employees do occasionally attend face to face training events, the majority of work-based learning happens on the job, often at the moment of need. Because of this, m-learning is being used in a wider range of modes:

• On the job training for someone who accesses training on a mobile device.
• Just in time training to solve a problem or gain an update.
• Performance support. Immediate access to tools to streamline a work-task
• Reference guides and ebooks
• Checklists

Due to the very different training needs across a large company, self-serve learning is more common than is found at the school, or college level. Mobile is seen as an effective way to reach a large number of employees easier and more effectively.

Lifelong learning and self-learning

Mobile technologies and approaches, i.e. Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), are also used to assist in language learning. For instance handheld computers, cell phones, and podcasting  have been used to help people acquire and develop language skills.

Other ways in which technology may be used are:

• Improving levels of literacy, numeracy, and participation in education amongst young adults.
• Using the communication features of a mobile phone as part of a larger learning activity, e.g.: sending media or texts into a central portfolio, or exporting audio files from a learning platform to your phone.
• Developing workforce skills and readiness among youth and young adults.

The value of mobile learning is argued to be :
Tutors who have used m-learning programs and techniques have made the following value statements in favor of m-learning.

• It is important to bring new technology into the classroom.
• Devices used are more lightweight than books and PCs.
• Mobile learning can be used to diversify the types of learning activities students partake in (or a blended learning approach).
• Mobile learning supports the learning process rather than being integral to it.
• Mobile learning can be a useful add-on tool for students with special needs. However, for SMS and MMS this might be dependent on the students’ specific disabilities or difficulties involved.
• Mobile learning can be used as a ‘hook’ to re-engage disaffected youth.

Therefore the benefits can be seen as :

• Relatively inexpensive opportunities, as the cost of mobile devices are significantly less than PCs and laptops
• Multimedia content delivery and creation options
• Continuous and situated learning support
• Decrease in training costs
• Potentially a more rewarding learning experience

With all things considered the value of mobile technology in teaching and learning appears to be immeasurable and has become a prop in which education of today relies on.

(Trembley 2010)

(microsoft 2011)

Microsoft and me

When I originally thought of the sentence Microsoft and me I didn't actually realise I use it at all, after some research I realised I use it hundreds of time throughout the day, now I have come to realise Microsoft is my new best friend, he helps me do my job, prepares for my second job, comes to work with me (keeps me company on times) and basically organises my day.

Microsoft has enabled me to keep in touch through "Skype" with my friends and family who are spread throughout the globe, it allows me to send information through my email account and keeps me in the "cool" sister category when playing games on my brothers xbox.

"Microsoft Windows or Windows is a metafamily of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. It consists of several families of operating systems, each of which cater to a certain sector of the computing industry. Active Windows families include Windows NT, Windows Embedded and Windows Phone; these may encompass subfamilies, e.g. Windows Embedded Compact (Windows CE) or Windows Server. Defunct Windows families include Windows 9x and Windows Mobile.
Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs).^[5] Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal computer market with over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984. However, it is outsold by Android on smartphones and tablets.^[6][7][8]
As of April 2014^[update], the most recent versions of Windows for personal computers, smartphones, server computers and embedded devices are respectively Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Embedded 8. A specialized version of Windows runs on the Xbox One game console."

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows


Microsoft has been around since .... and is constantly developing to fit with the everchanging society we live in, it is argued that nearly each household within western society has a Microsoft application within its walls.

Barriers to the effective use of technology in education.

Technology Can be an exciting and amazing way in which to teach, however we must acknowledge that there can be barriers to learning through the medium of technology, in theory it seems like an excellent way in which to make your lesson exciting and inclusive. As education facilitators we plan plan and plan some more, this arguably creates an amazing lesson, so I thought in an recent lesson. I had planned for all eventualities (or so I thought), my lesson plan was meticulous and precise, my activities inclusive and varied and my teaching methods were to suit my learners needs. I was feeling pretty confidant, I had listed all my technology equipment, tested it all and was ready to go, I arrive at the venue ........ no internet connection. All my planning had been for nothing a lesson that included all the technology of todays society and I had no internet access. It would seem that I am not alone as this Blog  shows.

 

Using technology effectively in education can provide its own challenges, these included technical and social and educational challenges all these challenges have the potential to create barriers.

 

Technical challenges can include-:

 

• Connectivity and battery life
• Screen size and key size
• Meeting required bandwidth for nonstop/fast streaming
• Number of file/asset formats supported by a specific device
• Content security or copyright issue from authoring group
• Multiple standards, multiple screen sizes, multiple operating systems
• Reworking existing E-Learning materials for mobile platforms
• Limited memory
• Risk of sudden obsolescence

 

Social and educational challenges include

 

• How to assess learning outside the classroom
• How to support learning across many contexts
• Content's security or pirating issues
• Frequent changes in device models/technologies/functionality etc.
• Developing an appropriate theory of learning for the mobile age
• Conceptual differences between e-learning and m-learning
• Design of technology to support a lifetime of learning
• Tracking of results and proper use of this information
• No restriction on learning timetable
• Personal and private information and content
• No demographic boundary
• Disruption of students' personal and academic lives
• Access to and use of the technology in developing countries
• Risk of distraction

"While the number of computers in the classroom continues to increase and tremendous support for technology integration exists in academia, a major discrepancy exists between the level of technology use expected of educators and the actual use and integration of technology in the classroom. This highlights barriers that impede the effective use of technology in education. Teacher quality is the factor that matters most for student learning," note. Therefore, professional development for faculty becomes the key issue in using technology to improve the quality of learning in the classroom." Darling-Hammond and Berry (2007)

According to a recent survey by two largest teachers' unions, most educators are enthusiastic about the role technology can play in improving learning, but many still feel unprepared to take advantage of digital tools in the classroom. What's stopping them? The persistent barriers could include too few computers, a lack of technical support, and inadequate professional development.
This would suggest that it is not just students but also staff that need training in the use of those techniques. Is this the problem in integrating technology into the curriculum, align it with student learning goals, and use it for engaged learning projects? What are the needs of staff to integrate technology in their teaching process development? What are the barriers to effective use of technology in education from the viewpoint of staff and student? Do fewer technicians hinder effective use of educational technology? Or is the reason the insufficiency of equipments and lack of maintenance? It would appear although we as a society has made leaps and bounds in the development of technology, it is still a long way off from being effective within an education sense.
El Semary 2001.

 

 

How ICT changed how we learn

I am 37 years old and learning in school for me was books, paper, pens and the occasional trip to the library (which wasn't a place i visited often). In comparison My 14 year old brother now visits the ICT suite, ICT suite we were lucky to have access to the computer room (which had an internet access that was slower than a snail). ICT has progressed massively in the past ten years, today's youth think nothing of logging onto their various gadgets and access the whole world from the comfort of their own homes, also with the mobile technology it is now at their access 24/7.

The National government has recognised that the way in which students are taught ICT is not fitting in the direction Society is moving, in response to this a nationwide shake up of the ICT curriculum has been implemented, students need to be taught skills in which are transferable to the workplace, this unfortunately was not happening.

"Education Secretary Michael Gove today announced he was scrapping the existing ICT curriculum. In its place, he will introduce new courses of study in Computer Science.
The move, which is being supported by industry experts including Ian Livingstone - co-founder of Games Workshop, would give schools the freedom to create their own ICT and Computer Science curricula that equip pupils with the skills employers want.
Other experts, including the British Computer Society and ICT professional association Naace, confirm the current National Curriculum Programme of Study is dull and unsatisfactory. Some respondents to a 2008 e-Skills study said that GCSE ICT was “so harmful, boring and/or irrelevant it should simply be scrapped”.
Companies such as Microsoft and Google and Cambridge University are already working with technology education organisations, such as the British Computer Society, to produce free materials for schools. More are expected to follow."

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/harmful-ict-curriculum-set-to-be-dropped-to-make-way-for-rigorous-computer-science

With the new curriculum it is hoped that students both young and old are to be taught useful and informative ways in which the everchanging world of ICT can be used to support and encourage the learners journey, whilst considering lifelong learning this in itself will create barriers purely because of the lack of knowledge some learners may have surrounding the subject, although barriers may be present it is hoped that by creating change within the teachers/tutors this will cascade to the learners and make the world of ICT accessible to all.

Pride - well worth a look

Pride - A true story of valley people power

Love this song

Review a blog that you feel may be useful in your teaching - Interesting and informative blog

Upon searching the internet one wet sunday morning i came across this blog, why-do-we-learn-and-what. At first it seemed like on nonsensical load of garbage, but as i read on not only was i intrigued but also felt like the writer had jumped into my mind and wrote my thoughts down.
Whilst being involved in the journey of lifelong learning, an understanding of why an individual starts this journey is (i feel) essential. Education is not an easy feat when you are of a school age with little or no responsibilities, add into mix children, jobs, families, friends and all the daily catastrophes that can happen to you, you end up with a world of chaos.
This blogger also explores the idea that learning is not just something you do in an structured environment, in my line of work unstructured learning is paramount for the learners due to the client base i work with, this has definitely given me food for thought on this wet and windy sunday morning.