Mobile Learning

In Class Polling

I am old enough to remember the large suitcases full of little devices that were handed out to students who could then use them to vote in class in response to questions posed by the lecturer taking the class. The cumulative class responses could be magically displayed at the front on the big screen.

These days there are handy web based systems like Polleverywhere that can be used in place of the clickers. relying on the student’s own smart devices, polls authored in polleverywhere can be downloaded as aPowerpoint slide for use in class. Alternatively the poll can be delivered fully online hosted by Polleverywhere. A third more recently developed way to use Polleverywhere is to wrap it up with the use of Twitter. The poll can be tweeted to a twitter stream and respondents can answer by tweeting.

And, to top it all, Polleverywhere is free to use for class sizes up to 30.

In class voting can be an integral component of a SMART teaching strategy. Find out more at polleverywhere.com

Mobile devices – to give or not to give

Smart devices, (mobile phones or tablets) certainly do support a number of in class engagement approaches. However before we can start to exploit these wonderful tools in teaching, do we need to ensure that every student in a class has a smart device and further, does it need to be the same device in everyone,s bag or pocket?

I would argue no, for a number of reasons. First high percentages of students now have at least one smart device of their own. Second there are excellent web services, that can be used to support for example in class brainstorming on virtual writing walls or in class polling, that are completely device agnostic. In addition the same web services can be used on laptops which many students will have in addition to a smart device or indeed, instead of a smart device.

It is also worth questioning whether for such engagement activities each and every person actually needs to have a device. So long as there is one smart device or laptop per group of say 5 students this is sufficient as some of the best in class engagement approaches come from exploiting the dynamics of group output. As well as the above, students can get quite irritated if, in addition to their own personal devices they have to remember to bring in n institutional device as well.

Of course there may be some circumstances where it may make sense for all,students to have the same device, possibly pre-configured in some way. For example this may be appropriate on a specific course where particular software of device specific apps are integral to the subject and/or learning strategy.

Generally however institutions and departments should think twice, and then a third time, before abandoning the wealth of equipment students bring with them before going to the great expense of providing devices.

Educreations

Educreations is a unique interactive whiteboard and screencasting tool that’s simple, powerful, and fun to use. Annotate, animate, and narrate nearly any type of content as you explain any concept. Teachers can create short instructional videos and share them instantly with students, or ask students to show what they know and help friends learn something new.

You can try it for free and produce some great output. Paying for the full version (not that much) gives the full set of features.

Find out more at: https://www.educreations.com/faq/

The whole World has gone mobile crazy. So many people now have smartphones or tablets. Students often have more than one such device and they are very used to using them for social activities. Integrating mobile technologies into teaching can open up a range of learning opportunities.

For example the use of mobile devices can facilitate situated learning, where students in work or just out and about experiencing something related to their course, can easily record the experience or work activity and share this with others for discussion. In class various approaches to engagement, brainstorming in groups, in class voting can be done through exploitation of handheld devices and extraordinarily easy to use web based systems to support such activities.

The use of mobile approaches to learning can help students learn any time and any place and can form an important aspect of a flipped classroom approach to curriculum delivery.