Exploring Mobile Technology In Education

Exploring Mobile Technology In Education

Date: 16 Sep 2018/Sunday

This blog post is one of the most interesting blog post written in a long time because it deals with a very precious device called MOBILE that we hold tight in our hands 24/7 :). I am sure each one you out there would enjoy reading the blog. 

We see mobile phones almost in every second person's hands, be it a 2 year old kid, a teacher, a parent, cook, cleaner etc Whats important is to educate everyone around about an effective use of this device. It has much more to offer than just games and social media interaction.  

This blog post will provide you an insight into a different dimension of mobile devices, you will get an opportunity to look into effective use of mobile devices in teaching and learning.  

In the recent years there has been a huge increase in the number of educational apps and tools that can be easily downloaded and installed on our mobile devices making learning and teaching much easier, engaging and fun. What needs to be considered is not the efficient use of mobile phones but the effective use of this technology to enhance learning and teaching experiences.The blog post will highlight benefits of mobile technology in the classroom, a look into some of the apps that teachers can use on their mobile phones, and some practical ideas of integrating mobile devices into teaching and learning.

Lets begin by exploring the difference between effective use of mobile phones and efficient use of mobile phones in education. For example students can search or look for relevant information using browsers on their mobile phones, they can access content online on a LMS (learning management system like edmodo), check emails and respond, participate in quizzes or polls online and respond, teachers can upload content on LMS instead of printing hard copies of notes, lectures, tutorials etc all makes it efficient use of mobile phones.

Innovative and creative use of mobile phones leading to enhanced outcomes in classrooms/schools can be categorized as effective use of mobile devices.  Lets look at a few examples. Every mobile phone has a camera, instead of asking students to write long essays or make presentations on topics, a better idea would be to ask them to make a documentary and share on social networks like Twitter, Linkdin, Facebook,  LMS like edmodo, or YouTube channel for real, authentic feedback. Why is this important? because this takes learning beyond classrooms and schools, which is not possible in a traditional classroom. People can comment on the videos.

Students can also use the recorder to record interviews with their peers on a topic under discussion, record feedback about a lesson,  create tutorials about a new tool, and upload to a schools or personal podcasting channel. People can even subscribe to the podcasting channel.  Podbean can be used to host podcasts. 

Teachers can create discussion forums and engage students in meaningful discussions. They could encourage students to participate in Twitter Chats with subject specialists, taking learning to a whole new level. They can establish connections with known subject matter experts which might open doors for future collaboration on projects. Teachers can also create Whatsapp groups , share reading articles, notes, documents , presentations, important videos, news update etc in the group. So that both teachers and students stay connected.

Another interesting thing teachers could do is introduce students to G-Suite for Education (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Sites, Calendar etc) They can download and install on their mobile phones.Google Hangouts and Google Keep could be added to this list. Hangouts could be used for online conferences with parents and students to discuss new initiatives, updates, projects etc Google Keep could be used to brainstorm ideas on a new topic, taking notes during class and sharing with each other, collaborating together on a list of important items for a trip, planning for a project, making lesson notes for revision, making lesson summaries etc.

Teachers could use it for keeping staff meeting notes, saving important articles and quotes found on social networks like Twitter, Facebook ,Whatsapp and sharing with colleagues and students. Google Keep lets you add collaborators the same list, who can add edit the list anytime. All important data would be saved in Google Drive like presentations, documents, sheets etc making it accessible to all. Teacher can share files and folders from drive with anyone anytime. They do not to carry heavy files and folders with them or carry laptops around.  You could also encourage students to join Google Plus communities and get up to date news about their products, interact with subject specialists, create own school communities, assign tasks, publish newsletters  etc

Another very interesting app to be download is the Google Classroom. Teachers can create as many classes they want, add as many students and co-teachers they want in their classroom. They can attach documents from drive and share as an assignment with their students. They can comment on the work submitted and send back to students. They can send reminders for important tasks and upcoming class too. As far as my personal use is concerned I have my online school currently active on the mobile. (details in website below). I have one sections created for Ranaa Child Welfare Foundation and two sections for SOS Children's Village Peshawar with almost 32 children. I can see students who have submitted homework, completed assignments, comment and send back assignments. I can assign individual tasks too.I can share important announcements etc.

You can also check Flipgrid, a video based discussion platform. Teachers post a discussion topic and students respond in the form of short videos. Students can share their reviews about a book they they read, they can run a news channel every week (share important news about school), do a cooking show and record favorite recipes, share their research about a topic, use it as exit tickets, debate on topics etc The best part is the grid can be share using a code with anyone, students from another class or school could be asked to join and comment on the videos or even join in the discussion. You could think of collaboration on a global education project with students in another country. Imagine the interaction and learning taking place in such a dynamic environment where every voice matters.

One more interesting thing that both teachers and students could do is to start writing their blogs using the blogger tool. Instead of simply surfing the internet , one could write and publish own blogs. Teachers can reflect on their own teaching and learning practices, share innovative teaching and learning practices with colleagues, students can maintain digital portfolios, online journals, write book reviews, write travel logs, Imagine providing students the opportunity to become professional writers, publishing for  a real and authentic audience. You never know they might end  up publishing their books  and become authors some day Inshallah :) You can add multiple editors in a blog and they could collaboratively write a blog post. This could be shared on the schools social media site too.

And yes both teachers and students could look for interactive and engaging learning games on mobile phones too. They can look for useful apps using the Google play store. But still there is much more to do :)

While I was exploring online I came across a research which says that  there are  20 million smart phone users in the South Africa and most of them are students and there has been an increased use of mobile phones in classrooms observed. I do not know exactly whats the number of mobile phone users in Pakistan but what we can do is to start thinking how to ensure its used more effectively rather than efficiently in classrooms/schools.

Your time to explore now. Happy Reading till my next blog soon Inshallah.

Regards and prayers
Sheeba Ajmal

References:

1. 5 Effective Uses of Mobile Technology in the Classroom
Weblink: https://elearningindustry.com/5-uses-mobile-technology-in-the-classroom
Accessed Online 16 Sep 2018

2.  How mobile technology can benefit learning
Weblink; https://edtechnology.co.uk/Article/how-mobile-technology-can-benefit-learning
Accessed Online 16 Sep 2018

3. Blogger in the Classroom
Weblink: https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//educators/activities/pdfs_GTA/CribSheet.Blogger3.pdf
Accessed online 16 Sep 2018

4. 15 Ways for teachers to use Google Keep in Classroom
Weblink: https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/15-ways-students-use-google-keep-infographic/
Accessed Online 16 Sep 2018

5. Catch the Flipgrid fever 15 plus ways to use Flipgrid in class
Weblink: http://ditchthattextbook.com/2017/06/02/catch-the-flipgrid-fever-15-ways-to-use-flipgrid-in-your-class/
Accessed Online 16 Sep 2018

6. Podbeab
Weblink: https://www.podbean.com/
Accessed Online 16 Sep 2018

7. Technology For A Cause - Enhancing Skills Empowering Kids
Weblink: https://sites.google.com/view/wwwtechnology4acausecom/home
Accessed Online