Thursday, March 27, 2014

Week 4: What Constitutes “Good” M-Learning?



Argument for M-learning




What Constitutes “Good” M-Learning?

How can educators use the new technology of mobile learning to create learning activities for their students?  This question is one that teachers can easily learn by studying the functionalities of their own smartphones.  Educators can learn to embrace what mobile learning apps can do to enhance learning in their classrooms.  Many educators today frown upon mobile usage in their classrooms as distractors that disrupt the flow of instruction.  If educators learn the capacity, utility, and integrative goodies that mobile learning can produce that does not necessarily need be the case.  According to a Pew Research study, “Six in ten Americans go online wirelessly using a laptop or cell phone; African-Americans and 18-29 year olds lead the way in the use of cell phone data applications, but older adults are gaining ground” (Smith, 2010).    

Even with increasing numbers of investigative studies, there are still significant gaps in the literature (Litchfield et al., 2007). Little is understood about when m-technology is most useful and what constitutes good m-learning.

(Anderson & Stead as cited in Koszalka and Ntloedibe-Kuswani, 2010) posit, “Using m-technologies in instructionally sound ways offers two advantages…M-technologies can effectively bring community instructional resources and activities from the outside into the classroom, bringing similar benefits to those that were seen when computer technologies were first integrated into classroom settings” (pp. 140 – 141).
(Facer et al., 2004; Sprake & Rogers, 2006; Williams, Jones, Fleuri ot, & Wood, 2005 as cited in Koszalka & Ntloedibe-Kuswani, 2010) report, M-technologies such as Smartphone are portable and connective by their very nature; thus, they can easily provide learners with resources and new types of instructional activities ‘out’ of the classroom and into the community. 

I concur; for example, a science teacher could easily integrate into a lab lesson into the curriculum that takes advantage of the portability and connectedness capability of Smartphones by having students research, identify, and categorizing and listing photographs they take, let us say, of dry rot in trees in their neighborhoods.  Another use I can think about for using Smartphone technology is to download apps such as “Popplet” that is a tool for the iPad and web to visually capture and organize your ideas.  It is used in the classroom, at home, or in the office.  It is an excellent tool to teach literacy-writing skills.   


As you can see M-learning is the new dimension of technology learning tools inside and especially outside the classroom.  M-learning devices such as Smartphones and some cameras such as my Samsung Galaxy NX300 have the capacity to create and connect learning whereby learners become less consumers of information and more collaborators, researchers, and publishers on-the-go (Stead, 2006 as cited in Smith, 2010).  



Always Ready to Share Your Memories

According to Samsung NX300 website, users can connect to their world—and to their smart devices. A dedicated Direct Link hot key lets the user quickly and wirelessly send images to a mobile phone, tablet, PC or Smart HDTV—directly from this camera. It is perfect for sharing moments with friends, family, and your favorite social networks. The Samsung NX300 also includes Dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) support so you can connect faster and with more stability to wireless networks around you.

 
References
 
 
Edudemic.com. (2013, January 29).  Using Cell Phones in Class:  A primer for teachers.  Retrieved from http://www.scoop.it/t/mlearning-learning-on-the-go?page=2.
 
Koszalka, Tiffany A. & Ntloedibe-Kuswani, G. S. (2010). Literature on the safe and disruptive learning potential of mobile technologies. Distance Education, 31(2), p. 139-157.
 
Popplet App. (n.d.).  Visual Learning.  Retrieved from http://popplet.com/.
 
Smith, A. (2011). Pew Internet & American Life Project: Smartphones. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2011/PIP_Smartphones.pdf
 


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