Describe the Instructional Technology Trend.
More and more students have access to mobile devices,
therefore it makes sense to optimize learning experiences geared toward these
mobile-equipped students. Mobile learning is a learning experience students can
access any time by using a tablet, smart phone, or mobile device of their
preference (or whatever is most handy). It is a learning environment designed
for devices smaller than a laptop, most likely equipped with a touchscreen.
How do you think this trend is going to impact learning/education?
I believe mobile learning will see the rise of lessons that
conform to the features (and limitations) of mobile devices. For example, an
assignment might have students go to complete a field assignment, identifying
certain types of plant life, taking a picture, and uploading it to the cloud
and sharing it with the rest of the class. Such assignments would have a small writing
element, but would not be writing intensive due
to the somewhat cumbersome nature of entering text on a device the size
of a smart phone's touchscreen. I'm not saying ALL, or even most, assignments
will go this route. Just that this type of activity may be more common due to
the ubiquitous technology students have at their fingertips.
Of course, mobile devices are only as good as the apps they
run. That's why I think there will be more classes and lessons that show
students how to create their own mobile apps. This could be handled in computer
science courses, but with the advent of WYSIWYG app-building tools, students of
any stripe will have this capability as well.
As an instructional technologist, what do you need to do to keep up with
this trend?
To keep up with mlearning best practices, it would behoove
me to familiarize myself with the research on the effectiveness of mobile learning.
This would be somewhat easy to do, since there's not very much of it as of yet.
With a background of what the research says, I could then network with other
educators and find out what's working (and not working) for them. I would also
look at non-education specific sites like Lifehacker
to keep tabs on the latest apps and ideas. I believe that not all the best
educational uses necessarily come from educators; that is, apps designed for
something else may end up being pretty useful in the classroom as well.
Provide two resources for reading that provide more information on this
trend and explain why these readings stood out to you.
- 10 Excellent Platforms for Building Mobile Apps: This article from Mashable lists several platforms for building a mobile app. If schools are going to invest so much time and energy in mobile learning, it makes sense for students to try to create some mobile learning technology of their own. Many of these web tools are free and easy to use, meaning creative students can get an app developed (and possibly on the market) quickly.
- Mobile Learning Portal, University of Texas at Austin: I chose this site because it collects a lot of research, best practices, and expertise in one spot. Someone who knew nothing about mlearning could do worse than to start looking here.
A Video from the web about the trend
This video is effectively a commercial for the Float Mobile Learning
company, I like that it looks at mobile learning from a training perspective
rather than a school-centric perspective. Not that there's anything wrong with
schools' perspective, but an example from the corporate world puts more
emphasis on how the mobile learning works in a practical sense, which I think
makes for an easier sell to people.
Re-use information that you shared for your main post in the discussion
forum (educreation, voki etc)
- http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=10259853&height=267&width=200
- http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=10259912&height=267&width=200
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