I think the future of mobile devices for learning will continue to grow and mobile devices will become more and more affordable. I think the main concern is convincing the schools to allow utilization of it in the classroom. After finding out Poll Everywhere from Dr. Newberry and trying it out myself, I shared it with my co-workers. I they were going to be as excited as I was about it, but I was wrong. They were worried about their students being distracted by their phones. They also commented that it would be contradictory to what they have been telling their students about cells phones when they come to class, silence it or turn it off.
I think using mobile devices in the classroom will take some time for others to adapt to. Similar to the evolution of computers in the classrooms, as Dr. Newberry mentioned, it'll take some time. From a student's perspective, I think mobile devices and web services have been widely used and accepted by students. Each student is a member of at least one web service, whether it be MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, just to name a few. When my 8th grade brother missed a couple of classes, he logged on to his MySpace account, found one of his classmates and got details on what he had missed in class.
Increase in exposure to these mobile devices and web services to educators can help persuade them to accept the use of mobile devices in learning. If they were well-informed of the usage and how these devices and services does increase the students' learning experience. To be honest, before taking Dr. Newberry's ETEC classes, I never thought of using blogs, podcasts and social networks for educational purposes. I really believe that increase in exposure of the various usage of mobile devices and web services for learning can help change the minds of those who are skeptical about it.
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:o( Sorry to hear your co-workers were not as excited about the Poll Anywhere. I think this is going to be a difficult thing to introduce at all levels because of the skepticism of using cell phones in the classroom. Some districts have banned the use of cell phone on school grounds. Some teachers turn a blind eye after school but during school hours they are more apt to confiscate the equipment.
ReplyDeleteI was attracted to the part of your blog mentioning the use of MySpace and the like by students for assistance with homework. Despite the potential value of cell phones in the classroom, administrators and teachers have witnessed abuse/misuse, hence the ban in many schools. But, perhaps schools could purchase simpler mobile devices (such as clickers or even netbooks, though not handheld) and issue them to students as they do textbooks, providing some of the advantages for mobile technology in the classroom.
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