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The 1-minute guide to teachers’ concerns about mLearning

May 8th, 2012
by Nicky Hockly.
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Photo by maiak.info

This post is a follow-up to my blog post ‘The 1-minute mLearning panel summary’. (You can watch the IATEFL Glasgow panel discussion here). That post dealt with the panel’s responses to questions from the chair (Lindsay Clandfield). This follow-up post summarises the issues brought up by the audience at this same panel event. These issues reflect, I think, (some) general concerns that educators have about the implementation of mobile learning. Below I’ve summarised some of the views of the panel, and added my own at points.

  • What’s better – BYOD (bring your own device) or class sets of mobile devices?

Clearly there are issues with BYOD (and you can find a good set of resources related to the topic on Scott Newcomb’s blog here), not least that of compatibility across platforms. But a key point in favour of BYOD is that of ownership and personalisation. Students using their own devices, and being able to take them home, will strengthen the home-school connection for younger learners, and encourage out of class learning for all learners. But we need to remember that for some learners in some contexts, bringing expensive mobile devices to and from school may in fact be unsafe by leaving them open to attack. Miguel Mendoza in Venezuela bought my attention to this in a comment on one of my blog posts last year, when he pointed out that it would be unfair to ask his students to bring smart phones or similar to class as they could well be targeted for mugging.

  • What criteria should we use to select ‘good’ mobile learning material?

As with any materials, relevance and coherence are important, and we also need to guide our students through already available content for consumption via mobile devices. Perhaps more interestingly though, we can encourage the use of mobile devices to capture information and record in the field, to document what learners actually need. Most importantly, whatever we decide to do with our mobile devices, we need to ensure that it supports learning. A cool app may be cool – but does it actually help our students learn anything? I think the key questions we ask ourselves about any digital tools or materials hold true for mobile and any other kind of learning materials. I’ve blogged about this in the past, and so have Sue Lyon-Jones and Graham Stanley, among others.

  • If students have access to mobile devices, won’t they be tempted to bully each other or tweet offensive things while online in class?

Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) need to be in place to deal with unacceptable behaviour for younger learners. After all, we expect certain standards of behaviour face-to-face, and online is no exception. We do need to be careful not to tie down things too much. If we limit Internet access because we fear students may misbehave when online, we will end up doing our learners a disservice. For adult learners, online netiquette guidelines can had given or negotiated with students.

  • If mobile learning is ‘any time anywhere’, does this imply an increased workload for teachers?

This can be a danger, but there are a number of possible solutions:

  • set up rosters e.g. for tutorials/homework help, managed at institutional level
  • encourage collaborative learning activities so that learners get on with tasks without the teacher. Effective task design is key here.
  • set clear expectations about and limits to when and how often you can be contacted as the teacher

 

  • How do you deal with negative attitudes to mLearning from other teachers?

It’s best to start small. By implementing a pilot project in your institution with only a few classes and teachers who are keen to take part. Good tech support needs to be in place to deal with the nitty-gritty of things like backing up class sets of iPads, installing apps, transferring work from devices to the teacher etc. Pilot project teachers need to be personally supported by a team leader. For larger projects, an online community to discuss and share what is being done, plus regular face-to-face meetings (e.g. monthly or every six weeks) can also be helpful. Any training needs to include the methodology behind the activities/tools being used, not just how to deal with the technology. With younger learners, holding sharing events with parents, and building in learning materials for children to take home on devices can garner important parental support for mLearning projects.
These suggestions are from Gillian Penny’s primary school iPad project, which is carrying out a research project with the University of Hull. This mLearning project is evaluating teachers, students and parents at six-month periods throughout the pilot, and it will examine attainment and also changes in attitude towards the use of mobile devices (unfortunately I can’t find any online documentation about this project).

What about you? What issues do you or your teachers have with implementing mLearning? Please share in the Comments section below!

Nicky Hockly
The Consultants-E
May 2012

If you like these 1-minute Guides, check out:

 

Posted in: ICT, mlearning.
Tagged: · · · · · · ·

The 1-minute mLearning panel summary

Apr 3rd, 2012
by Nicky Hockly.
1 comment

Photo by borkur.net

At the recent IATEFL 2012 conference held in Glasgow, Macmillan sponsored a panel discussion about mLearning, with a number of educational experts:

  • Agnes Kukulska-Hulme (Open University UK): researcher and writer on mLearning in education
  • Gillian Penny (West Dunbarton Schools, Scotland): Apple Distinguished Educator and teacher trainer on pilot programmes integrating tablet use in primary schools
  • Jim Brady (Anniesland College, Scotland): Teacher in adult education
  • Lindsay Clandfield (Spain): Teacher, trainer and author. Panel discussion moderator

Knee surgery prevented me from taking part in person, although you can see my pre-recorded video contribution for the panel (an overview of practical considerations for teachers). The panel event itself was filmed, so I was able to watch the panel tackle a range of interesting issues from home. You’ll find a link to the video of the whole panel discussion at the end of this post. Meanwhile, in the spirit of my quick-to-read 1-minute series, here is a 1 minute summary of the panel’s excellent contributions:

How big a growth area is mobile learning in education?

  • We need to remember that students like to have access to the teacher in class, not just to devices. But overall there is pressure coming from students themselves towards the use of mobile devices (Jim)
  • At primary level, the use of mobile devices tends to be very directed and integrated into classroom activities and the syllabus. This is happening only in some schools in the UK now, but is coming to an increasing number of schools (Gillian)
  • Globally mobile learning is a huge growth area – see for example the teacher training English in Action project in Bangladesh, or the Nokia and UNESCO MoMaths project  for maths learning in South Africa (Agnes)

What about practical uses of mobile learning?

  • When students have access to one mobile device each (e.g. an iPad), the classroom dynamic is much calmer, as kids don’t need to share. However, this clearly has budget implications. Ideally students should be able to take home the mobile devices so that there is a spillover between school and home learning (Gillian)
  • Students can use mobile devices for production e.g. recording audio/video (Jim)
  • The Open University is seeing a combination of disk-based and mobile learning being used by students. The question is how mobile technology can extend what learners already do in class, outside of the classroom (Agnes)

What if your institution bans mobile devices (especially mobile phones)?

  • At primary level using a directed device in the classroom (e.g. class sets of tablets) works best. BYOD (bring your own device) not really practicable at the moment at primary (Gillian)
  • Using the devices for specific purposes in class and at specific moments can impede misuse (Jim)
  • Institutions who ban mobile phones need to consider putting in place a clear Acceptable Use Policy. Prohibition is often caused by caution or fear (Agnes)

What role do large tech companies play in the spread of mobile learning?

  •  Educators need to beware of ‘shiny box syndrome’(being dazzled by attractive hardware). Support is needed not just for the technical aspects of using a mobile device, but more importantly support is needed for implementation and the pedagogy behind using mobile devices effectively (Gillian)
  • Designing for mobile learning versus delivering standardised e-learning via a mobile device are two very different things. Mobile learning needs new activities designed for situated, personalised learning which is done out in the field. (Agnes)

Watch the full panel discussion.

The audience came up with some excellent thought-provoking questions for the panel. I will summarise these in my next 1-minute  blog post.

What about you? What questions do you have about mobile learning? :-)

Nicky Hockly
The Consultants-E
April 2012

Posted in: conferences, elearning, mlearning.
Tagged: · · · · · · · ·

The 1-minute guide to integrating technology into teaching

Feb 28th, 2012
by Nicky Hockly.
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Photo by retro traveler

One of the biggest challenges facing EFL (and other) teachers today is how to integrate technology into our classes in a meaningful and principled way. If that sounds like you or your trainee teachers, here’s a 1-minute roadmap.

1 Survey the terrain

You can’t start using technology and tools until you know what’s available. You need to survey the terrain. That is, take a good look at what’s out there, get an overview of the tools and software, and think about what each might be good for (or not so good for) in class. Sounds simple, but how do you get up to speed with what’s already there, and how do you keep up with the new tools and software constantly appearing? Some suggestions:

  • Follow a couple of key blogs that review tools that teachers can use. My personal favourites: Make use of, Free Technology for teachers, Cool tools for schools, and Nik Peachey’s Learning Technology blog.
  • Join online teacher groups that discuss and share information about technology in teaching. My personal favourites: Webheads, and IATEFL Learning Technologies SIG discussion list.
  • Build up your PLN (Personal Learning Network) in Twitter, Facebook and/or Google +. Your PLN will share resources and ideas that can help you keep an eye on what’s useful for teaching.
  • Keep any eye on websites with regularly updated quality content showcasing new tech tools for teaching. My personal favourites: Our (The Consultants-E) very own Tool of the month, and Russell Stannard’s Teacher Training videos site with tutorials on how to use a wealth of tools.

2 Get a Map

Clearly knowing what’s out there is just the first step. More important is knowing how to map the technology onto your curriculum, so that using tech is not just an ad hoc business of trying stuff out now and again with no particular goal or rationale behind it.

Take your coursebook syllabus (or whatever syllabus you use), and physically map the tasks and tools you could use, onto it, in a grid. Like this:

Coursebook syllabus grid with additional column to map on tech activities

Brainstorm a number of options and ideas with a group of colleagues for each unit of your coursebook or syllabus. When you’ve got several (3-4) options for each unit, take the next step below to help you decide which to try out and which to discard.

3 Ask for directions

Integrating technology is not just finding a great new tool or idea and then trying it out. You need to be absolutely clear about why you’re using the tool, and what added value it’s bringing to the class. Ask yourself. I’ve blogged about the key questions teachers need to ask themselves here, but in the spirit of a 1-minute guide, here’s a quick summary. Ask yourself about: the outcomes of using the technology, the added value it brings (if any), the time & effort needed to use the tool, the syllabus fit, the skills needed (by teachers and students), location (where you will carry out the activity), and role of the technology (consumption and/or production of digital artefacts?).

4 Test drive

Try out your activities and ideas with a class. Keep notes of how you think it went, what you could do to improve the lesson, and also get feedback from your students. You may think an activity was useful, but your students may think it was a waste of time. So test drive your ideas, and then check.

What about you? What are some of the key principles behind your own use of technology with students? What particular tools work well, and why do you use them? What do you avoid using or doing with students?

Nicky Hockly
The Consultants-E
February 2012

Posted in: blended learning, ICT, technology, web 2.0.
Tagged: · · · · ·

The 1-minute guide to the mobile classroom

Jan 31st, 2012
by Nicky Hockly.
19 comments

Photo by Milica Sekulic

Wondering how to start introducing elements of mLearning (mobile learning) into your language classes? Here are five ways to do so, starting from simple recognition type activities to more complex project work.

1 Show and tell
Let students talk about their mobile phones, and what they use them for. Many of us develop serious emotional attachments to our phones, and love showing or telling others about them. See this lesson plan introducing the topic of mobile phones from Jo Budden.

2  Texting
Carry out a short focused classroom activities in which students use their mobile phones. For example, give students a short dictation to take on their phones. Watch Lindsay Clandfield talking about this and other simple one-off activities with mobile devices.

3 Reading
Engage reluctant readers by sending them simple serialised stories or questions via daily sms messages. See Carol Rainbow’s account of this project.

4  Recording
Get students to audio and/or video record themselves in pairs while carrying out a speaking task. Let students use this to monitor and feedback on their own speaking performances. Watch Claire Chapman and her students try this out in class.

5 Creating a treasure hunt
Get students creating treasure hunts/ quizzes for each other using quiz apps on smart phones. Read about Anne Fox’s local history treasure hunt project for groups of students on mobile devices in Denmark, and download her lesson plan.

See more suggestions on getting started with mobile learning from David Read’s blog post (scroll to half-way down).

What about you? What ways could you start using mobile devices with your learners? What ways have you already tried?

Nicky Hockly
The Consultants-E
January 2012

Posted in: elearning, mlearning.
Tagged: · · · · · · · · · ·

The five most fabulous Moodle 2.0 features

Dec 21st, 2011
by Nicky Hockly.
2 comments

Moodle is now well into its second generation, with Moodle 2.2 as the most recent release. For anyone still hanging onto a first generation Moodle (version 1.9 seems popular), it is well worth considering an upgrade to Moodle 2. Here are five of the most fab features, imho:

1. Mobile-friendly

New themes in Moodle 2.0 are now mobile friendly, which means you can easily access and contribute to your Moodle course via a smart phone or tablet computer, without having to shell out for a mobile app. New tab navigation makes the interface look so much neater from any device.

 

 

2. My private files

Students can upload their own files in text, video and audio format. These can be kept private, or shared with others as wished. Even better, a ‘File picker’ allows students to pull content in from across the web. Love this one.

 

3. Comments

Comments can be added to anything – tasks, blogs, resources… It’s not quite the ´Like’ button in Facebook, but it does allow students to provide feedback or content comments on pretty much anything you add to your course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. x2

In editing mode, the x2 icon allows you to duplicate any resource. This is the feature that I suspect most of us have been praying for. And not just duplicate – you can duplicate and edit. Fabulous.

5. Images

The new image editor allows you to easily resize and customise images that you insert. Gone are the days of massive images appearing in forums, if students have not resized them before uploading.

 

 

 

Overall, the look and feel of Moodle 2 is far sleeker, and both teachers and students have more control over content added. Flexibility, community features, and usability have been enhanced. What more could one ask for?

All the images above are from Andrei Tarassov’s recent very informative webinar about Moodle 2.0. Check it out here.

What about you? What version of Moodle are you using? If you use Moodle 2, what are your favourite features?

Nicky Hockly
The Consultants-E
December 2011

Posted in: blended learning, E-Moderation, elearning, Moodle, VLE.
Tagged: · · · · · ·

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