I have learned quite a bit about mobile learning over the last few days and I can see why educators are eager to integrate these technologies into their schools and classrooms. Although watching the Verizon videos does raise a few questions for me.
I don't doubt that the levels of student engagement in ALL the classrooms has indeed increased since the addition of the MLDs, however, while test scores have gone up, it was not by huge leaps and bounds. I have to wonder if those teachers who agreed to guinea pig the program were not already the more effective teachers whose students would have done better on tests than others anyway, and they only quickly reference one classroom where students had the MLDs, and then didn't and their test scores dropped, but I would still like to see more data on this.
Also, the MLD's have restricted web access. I am not saying that this is a bad thing, but I am reminded of all the other issues raised when we were learning about being a digital advocate and how many times things we don't want to be restricted are and all the other things that come with that.
And finally remember change without difference? Many of the things that teachers say they are doing are the same activities (which are not bad ones!) but simply without paper. This is neither good nor bad, but simply an observation. Does this mean that it is easier or harder for a student to get out the door without having turned something in? If students are doing their homework on devices, and parents don't know how to use the devices, are parents who want to be involved with their kids school work going to be 'shut out' in some manner?
Taking off my negative glasses and putting on a pair of rose colored ones, I can definitely see myself using different mobile learning devices and techniques in my room. One of the projects that I have always wanted to do was to have students record the histories of local senior citizens. With these mobile devices, students can take pictures of places that their subject may want them to see or 'artifacts' a subject may have, record video, record notes, audio, etc., etc., with out having to invest in a ton of equipment or set up time. Plus these media elements can easily be transferred to a blog/web page.
I also immediately see myself using the poll everywhere tool: To check for understanding, to check in on due dates, to ask where the students may want to take the curriculum...and it takes away the burden of being in the spotlight that many teens are not comfortable with. I have embedded my poll everywhere poll below. If you would like to take a minute and answer that would be great! Thanks!
Great Devil's Advocate questions! Looks like you have your TPACK hat on, here=8-) Unfortunately, I have very little to worry about cell phone wise - my district's K-12 policy prohibits students from carrying them around during school hours. Students who have phones must have them turned off and locked away in their locker or teacher's desk. I have used Flip cams to record student presentations. These presentations were posted online via Screencast and the links were shared with parents. I also burned a cd of the videos for interested families=8-) Using digital voice recorders to improve fluency rates next fall with my students is my next project. In the research phase as I type. Just wondering how you enjoyed your visit to the Classroom 2.0 site. I have been a member for a couple of years and have come away with a lot of valuable information after every visit.
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