Most of us own a mobile device in one form or another; in fact, a
quick Google search tells me that 75% of the total UK population and
over 90% of young adults have one. The term ‘mobile device’ describes a
whole range of technologies, including Personal Digital Assistants
(PDAs), iPods, MP3 and MP4 players, portable gaming devices (like
Sony’s PSP) and media integrated ‘Smartphones’ with cameras, video and
Bluetooth (amongst other things). These technologies are becoming so
advanced that I’ll bet that at least one of them can make you a cup of
tea, and they are all so shiny and small that students love to get
their hands on them.
Students are walking around with fairly sophisticated computer
technologies in their pockets, but a lot of schools still insist that
they are turned off in lessons because they’re thought to be an
unwelcome distraction. Common fears concerned with ‘lifting the ban’
include floods of text messaging in class, an increase in ‘happy
slapping’, teachers being filmed and put onto YouTube and, well,
general anarchy. Are these pieces of technology as distracting and
detrimental to education as common attitudes depict? What if, instead
of being forbidden and demonised, the power of these technologies can
be harnessed and used for good?
Another quick Google search informs me that the average young person
spends approximately eleven (yes, eleven) hours a day engaged in one
type of media or other, from watching TV to browsing the Internet to
listening to music on iPods to texting friends on mobile phones. Mobile
devices already form an integral part of young people’s lives and are a
potentially huge untapped resource for education.
Using technology that students are familiar with is not a new trick. In
the early days of the Internet, anyone who could navigate their way to
the BBC News website was seen as some sort of technological wizard.
Embracing new technologies and using them in educational ways
encourages students to see them as educational tools as well as devices
for fun, and being able to use them confidently generates respect for
both the teacher and the technology.
Recently, pilot schemes have been run to look at the impact of mobile
devices on learning. A study commissioned by Becta (“How mobile phones
help learning in secondary schools”) has looked at using Smartphones
with features like PDF readers and Internet browsing capabilities in
schools. Teachers built the technology into their lesson plans and made
use of all the different functionalities on the devices. They had the
freedom to get a bit creative: as well as using them for things like
taking photographs and capturing videos they were used as stop watches
in experiments, as Internet browsers to look at revision sites and to
receive SMS text messages from teacher to remind students of deadlines.
The outcome was that using the camera and media player functions of the
phones made students develop better communication skills, encouraged
them to practice thinking critically and got them to collaborate on
work more successfully.
Other studies have looked at the use of things like iPhones and iPod
Touches which, with 1000’s of applications, have even more potential
functionality. Software programmes can be downloaded straight to the
device in minutes, so students have access to resources like GPS
systems, graphical calculators, dictionaries, translators, Google
Earth, word processors, Dictaphones, simulations, games and even a
pocket planetarium*. Students can transport documents between school
and home, editing them in transit, and collaborate on projects over the
Internet. They can even have access to revision material without an
Internet connection with downloadable podcasts they can listen to in
their own time. Never again would students be able to use the old
faithful excuses: “Forgot my calculator, Miss” or “The dog ate it,
honest”. Getting this material onto iPods is becoming increasingly easy
too, with devices like the Tribeam’ Mobile Charge Station and Parat
Solutions’ Parasync enabling you to put material on up to 30 iPods at
once.
Having easy access to a wealth of resources is great for teachers as
well as students. Extra flexibility means lessons can be more
spontaneous (no need to book that IT suite three weeks in advance…) so
that you can spend more time teaching the important stuff and less time
on things like drawing out diagrams of equipment in science when simply
taking a photo would do. Giving students the opportunity to learn how
to behave well around technology and to use the things they are
familiar with to improve their education is invaluable.
For more information on anything you’ve read above, get in touch with us at 03332 409 333 or email us at learning@jigsaw24.com.
*Check out my top 10 applications for education:
- iBlueSky – mind mapping software at your fingertips (literally).
- Remember the Milk – an interactive ‘To-Do’ list to help keep you organised
- WeDict – a pocket dictionary for multiple languages
- iPlot – a cheaper alternative to the graphical calculator, but with all the same functionality
- Quick Voice (iPhone and microphone-equipped iPod Touch only) – a dictaphone for making notes on the go
- Dexy – a note taking app with spell check and built in email functionality for easy sharing
- Air Sharing – makes moving and viewing files easy
- Google Earth – an old favourite now available for mobile devices
- School of Rock – based on the feature film this app teaches the basics of music. You can even record your own jam sessions!
- Most Addictive Game – because we all need a break now and again, watch it though, the title doesn’t lie.