Week 6 - Mobile Technologies

This week we explored a number of mobile technologies that could be used in the classroom. Today's youth are digital natives and tools like mobile phones, iPod's, iPad's, tablets, robots, camera's and videos all appeal to them in the classroom. These are tools they get to use at home and by allowing them into our classrooms we are creating a real world context environment. So what can we actually use these technologies for in the classroom?

The iPad

The iPad is an ever increasing tool in the classroom. It's portable and has so many functions that make it the ideal, differentiation or engagement tool. Until a few weeks ago, while I had seen the benefits of the availability of apps on the iPad I was not convinced about the control a teacher could have over those apps in the classroom. After attending Catholic Educations Early Years Conference though my thoughts had changed! I attended a workshop on differentiating with iPad and was pleasantly surprised at just how much control the classroom teacher can have over the tool. You are able to put a 'lock' on apps so that students cannot exit that app without a password. How great is that! My biggest fear was handing out a bunch of iPad's, asking students to use a particular app and then getting to the end of the lesson only to find out they'd used everything but. With this cool 'lock' function those worries are gone. You can also add functions like text to speech and different swipe functions for students with physical impairments. According to Apple (2013) "iPad comes with a screen reader, support for closed-captioned content playback and other innovative universal access features — straight out of the box. There’s no additional software to buy or install. These features make iPad easier to use for students who have a vision impairment, a hearing disability, or a physical or learning disability".

Now as far as apps go, I think I have probably 100 educational apps on my own iPad...all free! The quantity and quality of apps available is just getting better and better. According to Aronin and Floyd (2013) "There are countless opportunities to match children's preferences, strengths, and needs with developmentally appropriate apps that link relationships between the abstract and everyday technologies relating to mathematics, science, and engineering". While I haven't used one in the classroom, I have used one for my personal tutoring sessions for a prep and grade 2 student. They love it. They understand that I pick the app and that they only get to use it as a consolidation tool at the end. So far they have been respectful with its use....also another fear of mine! I'm not sure how younger students would handle the responsibility of using it without supervision. While I've dropped mine a few times, i've been fortunate enough to have done it from a low height and onto soft surfaces. I would definitely think that precautionary measures for either where they are using it or what protective casing it has would be a necessity. Overall a really useful and affordable tool for the classroom!

The Mobile Phone

When asked to take a position on Mobile Phone use in the classroom this week I thought it might be interesting to revisit our collaborative Wiki from earlier in the course. I was, to be honest really disappointed in the responses. Most people were against the use of mobile phones in the classroom. I think this belief stems from a lack of knowledge about the different functions today's smartphones have. Most seemed to agree that they would be a constant distraction and no learning would be achieved. I disagree. Much like the iPad, the iPhone has the Guided access tool in the settings. This allows the teacher to have one app open and locked to that phone. While the content that students might be able to search for on the internet could be off task, I believe the mere knowledge that they are locked into this activity will help to keep them on task. I think they could be an absolutely brilliant tool if managed correctly. Their functions are limitless and they are easily accessed in today's society. Content would of course need to be monitored but I don't see this as being any different to a teacher's role when working on laptops or PC's.

The Youtube clip here shows how iPods could change the direction of education. Its a great little clip that highlights the importance of keeping up with our students needs! What are your thoughts on their views? Do you think they are a necessity or just a want at this stage and do you think they hold any value for education?

The apps available such as QR codes, google maps, numeracy games, literacy games are just scratching the surface of the affordances these technologies hold. I really thing they would be a great tool to keep students engaged, outdoors, self assessing and creative. Like any technology they require monitoring by the teacher. Some of the biggest fears that seemed to come up in the collaborative Wiki were those surrounding Safe, Responsible and Ethical practices. Mostly Cyber bullying seemed to be a concern. Once again I think if the device is locked onto the only task they are doing in the class this problem would be eliminated. If they cant access sites that promote cyber bullying then they cant bully others.

Other Tools

In class we also got to look at a few other technologies that we could use in the classroom. I've compiled a list below. All of these tools would be great for a range of ages in a school setting. I see the most applicable ones to early childhood being the Beebot and Digital Camera.

-Beebot                                         -Digital Camera
-Video Camera                              -GPS
-Robotics                                      -EasiSpeak Microphones


 I also found this really great mind map that shows some of the affordances of learning with mobile devices:

Source: Google Images

This week we had the opportunity to look at mobile devices and their use in the classroom. I think that as long as the following three factors are addressed these devices can be highly effective classroom tools. Educators need to think about:

• Is the activity Safe, Responsible and Ethical?
• Is the activity appropriate?
• How will the use of these technologies meet the curriculum requirements?

Overall they are really fun and engaging tools that would be a great asset to any classroom. My next post will be a reflective synopsis of the past few weeks learning materials. Until then, happy blogging :)

Tarina

References

Apple iPad (2013). iPad in Education. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/au/education/ipad/#classroom

Aronin, S., & Floyd, K. K. (2013). Using an iPad in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms to Introduce STEM 

          Concepts. Teaching Exceptional Children, 45(4), 34-39.