Posts Tagged 'Smartphone'

World Language Students Use of Mobile Devices in the Classroom

Do world language students use technology n the classroom? Do their  teachers go beyond having their students use technology simply for the drill and practice in vocabulary and grammar? Students can use laptops and mobile devices to hear authentic language, read authentic texts, read tweets about famous performers, see up-to-the-moment culture,  watch video clips, see tv shows, and communicate with native speakers (Tuttle, 2013). Teachers can help students select those learning activities appropriate to their language level. Often these mobile activities have built in context to help the students understand the language. For example, an online newspaper headline often has a picture to help convey the meaning.

Students know how do use these mobile  technologies for communication; their teachers just need to redirect their communication to being in the target language. Students enjoy looking at pictures and they can look at up-to-moment pictures of things happening in the target language area. Many students spend time watching videos on their own but now the world language teacher can have them watch video clips about a  familiar situation.

How do your students use their mobile device in your world language class? Does technology take your students out into the target language world?

An ebook 90 Mobile Learning Modern Language Activities has over 70% of the interactive mobile activities  to help develop students’ speaking skill; other language activities include listening, reading, writing and assessment.  The students participate in authentic culture through many of these mobile activities.,

90MobileLearning.S

Global Cultural Learning Using Mobile Devices (ISTE Mobile MegaShare Presentation)

Based on my presentation at ISTE 2014 Mobile Megashare

Why teach about other countries?

Location: Large view to small on maps.

Culture or culture.

Find six similarities in a  mobile picture from another culture (“Wars are caused by differences, not similarities.”-Tuttle.)

Tell one piece of information from each different Internet visual from a place in that country.

Have students do a Visual Analysis and Interpretation (Literal; Inference; and Value) for visuals from another country.  Use Flickr to find current images.

Analyze the same topic by looking at pictures from various countries in the same continent.

Have students interview a person from another country for a specific topic about her/his country and record on mobile.

Avoid visual and verbal stereotypes and overcome existing ones.

More important to know how to interact with others that when that country’s battle for independence was. Find daily cultural customs at http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/country-profiles.html

What attitude will your students have about the people of the country after the lesson/unit?

My Modern Language Blog:

http://bit.ly/imprml  

My newest book, English Common Core Mobile Activities, 150+  mobile activities organized by ELA CCSS Anchor Statements Grades 6-12 (can adapt up or down). For Android and iPad, mostly free easy to use apps.   Pair and small group work.   7.99 at http://bit.ly/tsmash

English Common Core Mobile Activities

English Common Core Mobile Activities

English + Common Core + Mobile = Success in Learning Poster Session at ISTE 2014

In my ISTE Sunday 8-10 am poster session, I demonstrate many diverse mobile activities to help students achieve the English Language Arts Common Core Anchor Statements through mobile devices. The mobile activities focus on free common tool apps that are available on both the Android and the iPad. The students use the apps as a seamless tools with which to show their demonstration of the Anchor Statements.  Here are short descriptions of three activities:

L.2 Conventions Mobile Online Survey. Teachers can give their students quick conventions formative assessment QR codes that link to an online survey/quiz such as in Google Forms. Each week the teachers focus on a specific part of the conventions such as capitalization. For example, teachers give four statements and the students select the one with incorrect capitalization. As the teachers project the graph of that day’s online quiz and they discover that many students have made errors, they present a micro-lesson on that aspect of capitalization. Teachers can have QR codes for online videos so students can also review that specific convention at another time.

SL.4 Photo Description Organized by Space.
Teachers have their students describe a picture using space organized words. Teachers ask their students to take a mobile picture from their home of a far away location. In class, the teachers review how to use space or location words to organize the students speaking. The teachers share a list of space words such as “in front of,” “to the left,” and “two blocks.” The teachers ask their students to pair up. One student describes how to get from his/her house or apartment to the far away place. The other student listens for and writes down all the space words or phrases that the speaker uses. The listening partner tells the speaker how many space organization words he/she used and suggests other space organization words that would clarify the directions even more. Next, the other student describes his/her picture while the partner listens and gives feedback. The students audio record their revised speaking and post it in an online class management system such as Schoology.

R.5 Key Word Search in Downloadable Literature

As students determine the theme for a piece of literature, they focus on key words that help them explore that theme. In groups of two or three students, one student has downloaded to a mobile device the public domain version of the literature such as Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding. That group of students may search for the word “knife” in the play by using the Find feature in the e-publication. They create a paper chart with three columns: 1) Act and Scene 2) number of times the word appears; and 3) who says it or does something with it that reflects the theme of the play. When they finish with their chart, they take a picture and post it in an online class management system such as Schoology.

Use these 150+ different mobile activities in my ebook,English Common Core Mobile Activities, to guide your students in learning and demonstrating the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Anchor Statements in Language, Speaking and Listening, Reading, and Writing. The activities, organized by Anchor Statements, actively engage your students. More than half the activities are non-fiction. Although the ebook is intended for grades 6-12, teachers at both the elementary and the college level can easily adapt the activities. Over 98% of the suggested apps are free and work on both Android and iPad. Many of these activities can be implemented immediately in the classroom. Each activity is described in detail; most students already can use the app in each activity. Students spend time in achieving the Anchor Statements, not in learning apps. Many of these mobile activities are done in pairs or small group so not all students need to have a mobile device.

English Common Core Mobile Activities

English Common Core Mobile Activities

Assessment and Mobile Learning Questions

Technology can play a critical role in the learning process.  Here are some questions about assessment and mobile learning to think about as you plan for your mobile learning.

Who/ What  will assess the students’ mobile learning?
A) the same mobile app that the student worked on
B) a  different mobile app
C)  the teacher corrects a paper and pencil quiz
D)  an online  program evaluates learning
E) the teacher assesses the students’ paper, presentation or project that incorporates learning from the mobile device
F) some one in the class, school,  or another school assesses the learning.
G) some one outside the school, from the community, an organization, etc. assesses the learning.
H) the students self-evaluate and reflect on how to improve

Will the assessment be?
A) summative ( a final grade)
B) formative with  specific feedback and an opportunity for improvement

My ebook, 90 Mobile Learning Modern Language Activities, is available at http://bit.ly/90mlact.

My three formative assessment books, Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml.  I have developed 27  Spanish activities and 4 Modern Language Visual activities in which students begin to express themselves in the modern language and to  move toward spontaneous speaking Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

How will students’ mobile device be used for learning?

How will the  students’ mobile device primarily be used? What other ways can teachers have students use mobile devices to engage in  learning?

  • to introduce the learning goal to the students  before the teacher does in class  such as in a flipped classroom
  • to introduce the learning goal during the class presentation
  • to present alternative ways of learning the learning goal
  • to practice the learning goal after a presentation (drill and practice)
  • to apply the learning concepts at a higher level of thinking (compare/contrast, synthesize, evaluate)
  • to incorporate the learning into an individual student’s  big project such as project based learning
  • to capture in class learning such as taking a picture of the whiteboard or video recording a project
  • as a written, visual, audio or media  prompt for a learning activity
  • to collaborate with others within and outside the class on a project
  • to compete against other learning groups
  • to get information from the web (websites, images, etc.)
  • to get information from others via texting, email, etc.
  • to  poll or survey students’ interest about some part of the  learning goal
  • to assess student learning  and provide feedback to the students (formative assessment)
  • to assess students summatively (final grade on unit, project…)
  • to collect examples of student work for a portfolio
  • My ebook, 90 M0bile Learning Modern Language Activities, is available at http://bit.ly/90mlact.My three formative assessment books, Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbookMy modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml.  I have developed 27  Spanish activities and 4 Modern Language Visual activities in which students begin to express themselves in the modern language and to  move toward spontaneous speaking Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Compare Institutional MLearning to Your School’s Mlearning

Many institutions use QR codes. At the Cornell Plantations at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY),  they have put QR codes next to many wild flowers.  When a person uses his/her smartphone to scan  the wild flower QR code, the person hears a poem that mentions that wild flower.  Even though the person is outside in the “wild” area, he/she can appreciate both the flower and the poetry.   At the Etioje Museum in Indianapolis, they have a guitar exhibit; many of the musicians pictures or  actual guitars have a poster with a picture, words and a number next to them. The person borrows a smartphone from the museum and clicks on a specific  number to watch a video about a musician or hear a specific guitar being played.

Some things that happen during this institutional  mlearning:

– At both places, the visitor becomes involved in his/her personal mlearning.
– Each person decides what he/she wants to learn within the specific category. At the Plantations, the visitor selects which flowers he/she will scan.  The person may skip the QR code for any given flower.
– The visitor can listen/ watch any video as much as he/she wants.  A person may only view a few seconds of the video or the person may re-watch the video many times.
– Each person selects the order of his/her mlearning; at the guitar exhibit, a person may focus on the musicians in a specific time order or a person can randomly sample any musician.
– Each person does his/her own comparisons/contrasts with previous musicians or guitars; when couples or group of people travel together through the exhibit, they often share their comparisons/contrasts.
– Each new learning object broadens the learning or provides more in-depth details.  For example, the guitar exhibit covers many different types of guitar music while it also explains in-depth the development of the electric guitar.
– A visitor experiences variety and diversity such as the many different flowers at the Plantation Wildlife area while, at the same time, he/she encounters a  wholistic view of the category of wild flowers.
– Each place has a visual, print words and spoken words/videos  so the visitor employs different modalities of learning.
– Each person learns at his/ her own pace. A person may linger over a certain flower while his/ her partner goes ahead.
– Each person learns, not with a frown on his/her face, but with a smile.

How does this mlearning compare to mlearning in your school?

My ebook, 90 M0bile Learning Modern Language Activities, is available at http://bit.ly/90mlact.

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml.  I have developed 27  Spanish activities and 4 Modern Language Visual activities in which students begin to express themselves in the modern language and to  move toward spontaneous speaking Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My three formative assessment books, Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

90 Mobile Learning Modern Language Activities ebook

90MobileLearning.SHaving been both a  technology integration teacher and a district technology administrator, I realize that teachers accept and implement a technology when they feel that the technology will help their students to learn and it is easy to implement. Often times, teachers have no idea of how to to use the technology in their classrooms.  Frequently, professional development gives general examples such as those from the technology company but it does not provide examples specific to a subject area. As I thought of how to help more teachers integrate mobile learning into their classes and, particularly, their modern language classroom, I decided to create a book which shows a wide variety of mobile learning activities.

I focused on a book  to improve  to students’ modern language communication and culture awareness through mobile learning tools and apps. I developed  in-class and out-of-class learning in fourteen different categories of mobile learning (mobile pictures, internet search, internet image search, timer, poll and survey, QR code, voice and video recording, phone, video chat, media, apps, texting, twitter, Facebook, Wikis and Websites).

Over 70% of these interactive mobile activities help develop students’ speaking skill; other language activities include listening, reading, writing and assessment.  The students participate in authentic culture through these mobile activities.

I developed mobile activities  that are easy to integrate.

Please share this ebook link (http://bit.ly/90mlact) with your modern language teachers, modern language chair,  professional development person, and technology integration person to help them see the many ways to use mobile learning in modern languages.

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed 25  Spanish activities  and 4 Modern Language Visual activities that allow students to begin to express themselves in the modern language and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Your Contribution to 200+ Academic Activities with Mobile Devices

Dear teacher,

I invite you to submit a short paragraph description of how you help your students to learn or to demonstrate their learning through mobile learning for an ebook tentatively entitled “200+ Academic Activities with Mobile Devices”. I am trying to show the wide variety of ways that students improve their learning through mobile learning.

I will email you that I have received your submission and I will make the final decisions about all submissions by the end of May..

The following long form explains each of the categories. Then, a sample entry illustrates what your actual entry looks like. The emphasis is on students’ academic learning, not on explaining the technology.

Please email your submission to htuttlebs@gmail.com by April 30th. . Please put 200+ in the subject line. If you have a question, please email me at htuttlebs@gmail.com. I appreciate your willingness to share your ideas.

Harry Tuttle, Ed.D.

Long Form Explaining the Categories:

Personal Identification such as first name, last name, school, district, city, state or first name, last name, subject area, city, state:

Level : elementary, middle, high school, university

Subject: Art, Business, Computer Science English/Language Arts, Health, Home Careers/Life Skills, Languages, Math, Music, Physical Education, Social Studies, Science, Technology

Specific Subject such as English/Language Arts -First grade, English/Language Arts-AP Literature, Languages: Spanish Level II:

Student Learning Outcome: (what will the student learn/do and how well)

Specific mobile application or tool such as Camera, StoryBird App

Learning Activity:Please focus your paragraph on what the students do to learn or to demonstrate their learning, do not focus on the mobile device. See the following example.

Example of an actual submission:

Name: Robert Tuttle, Roxboro Middle School, Lakein School District, Shortschester, NY

Level: Middle School

Subject: Modern Language Spanish I

Outcome: Students will narrate eight sentences about a picture or pictures in Spanish

Mobile: Camera

Learning Activity: Joellyn listens carefully as her teacher explains that for the topic of “food-restaurant”, each student will narrate eight sentences for a given picture or pictures. That afternoon, Joellyn uses her mobile device’s camera to take a series of eight picture showing restaurant actions. For example, she takes pictures of restaurant actions such as ¨to enter,” ¨to look at the menu,¨ and ¨to order,¨ etc. Then, the next day in class, she shows her pictures to her partner, John who narrates a story using those topical actions. John says at least one sentence for each photo. For example, as John looks at Joellyn’s first picture, he says, “Ron enters the Italian restaurant.” For the next picture, John says, “He sits down in a chair.” John continues until he has narrated all of Joellyn’s pictures. Joellyn counts each sentence to make sure that John says eight sentences. Next, Joellyn narrates John’s’ pictures while John counts her sentences.

Example from Tuttle, H. G. 90 Mobile Learning Modern Language Activities, publication date of May 2013.

Please share this with your colleagues and other mobile using educators

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed 25  Spanish activities  and 4 Modern Language Visual activities that allow students to begin to express themselves in the modern language and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Show Administrators Good Learning, Not Mobile Learning, to Convince them of Mobile Learning

Some administrators still prohibit cell phones and other mobile devices  in the classroom.  They do not change their  minds when their teachers send them articles about the benefits of mobile learning; in fact, they may not even have time to read the articles.  Often when a teacher approaches the administrators with a statement like “Mobile learning is great”, they turn a deaf ear.  They are not interested in technology per se.

These administrators focus on student improvement.  However, when a teacher says, “I want to show you how much more students have gained in their learning since the beginning of the year”, the administrators become interested.   For example, Miss Thorp  shows her  administrator, Mr. Verona, how students have grown in their learning on a major subject area goal.  She demonstrates the low starting scores on math word problems and their now high scores. She does not talk about  or show mobile learning.  Once Mr. Verona acknowledges the students’ major learning   improvements, then she shows that students used  mobile learning to work on grocery store word math problems with students in other states and tells how important the mobile learning was to the learning.  Mr. Verona  now realizes that mobile learning  can be a valuable tool  in the math class.

How do you show your administrator improved student learning as a result of mobile learning?

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed 25  Spanish activities  and 4 Modern Language Visual activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Categorize Story Telling Apps by Student Media Use

A plethora of digital story telling apps and multimedia apps exist. However, most people who list  these apps  usually  present a random list of apps. The following categories help teachers to better decide on which type of app will help their students  for a particular learning goal.  The categories focus more on what media the students use rather  than their final product.  Although many apps  are available in each category, only one example has been included. Also, the  given app works on both Apple devices and Android devices; if there is no common app, then an app for each device is given.   Some categories  overlap. Each app is free.

Predominantly Text:
Screen of words after a screen of words  (any texting program like Cel.ly)
Students create a caption for a  picture   (babble)
Students create a comic strip by typing in text (Create a comic)
Students add much text to pictures to create a story (Storybird)

Audio:
Students record their voice for objects or people (Blabberize)
Students narrate a picture  (fotobabble)
Students create an audio recording (audioboo)

Pictures:
Camera picture (any mobile device)
Students show a series of pictures  – (on phone or mobile device)
Students create a collage  (Pic collage)

Animation:
Tell a story through limited animation (Puppet Pals)
Stop motion animation (Apple -imotion ; Android  Lapse it

Short  Video:
Students write text, add pictures and add music  (Animoto)
Students create a screencast of  what they show on the computer screen and of their narration of the various screens (screen-o-matic)
Students create Podcasts (podomatic)

Full production Movies:
Students create a movie with a  title screen, numerous frames, narration and special effects (imovie; Movie Maker)

Mobile device videoconferencing:
Students talk and show items as they  tell a story to  people in another location (Skype)

Eportfolio
Students use a blog, wiki or website to store their evidence such as voice recordings, illustrations, pictures, and documents to show their learning  achievements  (word press)

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed 29  Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Modern Language Mobile Learning Apps or Tools

Although modern language teachers may be using mobile learning, they may not be aware of  the various categories of mobile learning apps or of tools.  The following list gives teachers new resources to use in their classroom.  Teachers can use some mobile apps to help flip the language classroom since students can pre-study the vocabulary  or pre-study  a verb video.  Likewise, the foreign language teacher can have students use specific  apps if they display a learning gap on a formative assessment.  Even more important, the teacher can have the students listen to native speakers, read target language newspapers, and see up-to-the-minute culture in the country.  To find a particular app, the teacher searches  with terms such as “Spanish radio app ipad” or “French  verb forms android app”.  Many apps and tools are free or have introductory lessons.

Words and Meaning:  Dictionary/ Thesaurus
Translation  including Google voice
Verb Forms
Vocabulary / Phrases / Traveling
Learn the Language  (language study course)
Flashcards
Culture- General  such as a  city tour and specific  such as French recipes
Radio and TV stations
Newspapers and magazines
Voice and Video recording
Camera pictures
Media production such as  written text on a picture, talking objects,  digital stories
Whiteboard Sharing
Communication (texting…)
Brainstorm / Graphic organizers
Search the  web / search for  images
Internet movies/ YouTube
Website Connectors
Collaboration – group writing/ project creation
E-readers
Calculators / Spreadsheets
Mobile videoconferencing (Skype)
Organizers / Schedulers
E Portfolios such as a student’s own wiki
Clock / Stopwatch /  Timer
Learning Management Service Connectors
Phone

So what apps do you use?

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed many  Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Smartphones over Tablets

I have numerous reasons why I prefer a smartphone over tablets for students.
1) Students always have their smartphone with them regardless of where they are.  Students do not always carry their tablets with them.  For example,  Mary may not take  her tablet to swim practice but she will have her smartphone with her.  Just before practice, she  goes to her history class’s website to get the link to a video.  Chris will not take his tablet to work but he will have his smartphone with him so, during break, he can learn or practice his Spanish words.   Learning can only be 24/7 if the students have their mobile device with them.

2) Smartphones allow students to text.   Students spend much time texting in their daily life; they texted on an average of 60 texts a day in 2011  Teachers can have students text to find out information from others outside the classroom, to collaborate on projects, and  to write.  When students text others, they usually get immediate responses.

3)  .  The show, “Who wants to be a Millionaire?”,  gave us the expression “Phone a friend” and illustrated that people can learn from others.  When students use a smartphone, they can  call a person to ask questions, do a follow-up or clarify  information.  Students can talk to an expert / user of the learning concept such as  a contractor, a  business person,  or an artist.  When students talk to people outside the classroom, they see their in-class learning as something real.  Students can “shadow” professionals through weekly phone calls.

4)  Smartphones are cheaper than tablets.  A parent can purchase a high quality smartphone for their child for  less than a hundred dollars, a high quality tablet costs much more. Schools can purchase good smartphones at lower prices.

What device has your school selected as its mobile learning device?  Why? What does that device do beyond apps?

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, and Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed many  Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Mobile Learning, Not Mobile Students

Up until now we have not had 24/7 learning.  Students  had to go to their laptops/computers and, then, do their work.   Their computers might be in their bedroom, in the family room, in a school  computer library or in a library computer lab.  The students had to be mobile, not the technology.

Now students can use the mobile device that they always have with them such as their smartphone to truly have 24/7 learning. In the middle of the night, they can reach over to their night stand and use their smartphones to do any online work.  As they take a walk in the park, they can take their smartphones  out of their  pocket and  find out some information.  They can even use their smartphones to communicate/ collaborate with others in any location (As of March, 2011, over 50% of people text while in the bathroom).

Does your school let  students have a mobile device with them at all times?  Or is mobile learning confined to a specific class or to the school day?  Are your students mobile or is the technology mobile?

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, and Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed many  Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Replace Your Textbook with QR codes

Many  teachers dislike their textbooks. The textbooks may include too much or not enough about a learning goal. The textbooks may not arrange materials in the most logical fashion. The textbook may not have enough authentic up-to-the-date materials.  The textbook may not provide  visuals as learning tools.  These books may not provide multiple approaches or differentiated  learning. The textbooks may not provide assessments that assess what the district, school, team, or individual teacher deem as being the most critical.  These heavy textbooks  may not be convenient for the students to have with them outside of class.  These print textbook’s presentation and practice of material may be boring!

School districts, schools, teams or individual teachers now have a choice. They can create their own specially designed  virtual textbook, chapter by chapter or learning concept by learning concept with one page QR  sheets.  An advantage to a QR code textbook is that  the teachers can quickly and easily  change any critical material.  They change  the information on their website page,  wiki page, etc. that is linked to the QR code and the QR code is updated automatically.  In addition, each QR code can contain multiple links to allow for differentiation or choice.

The educator can use a separate QR code for each critical aspect of the learning.  Students simply click on the first QR code to start their learning.

A possible format can be  a separate  QR code for
– the essential question, the media situation/project, the “hook” into the lesson
– the learning goal stated in student language such as  “I  can” statements.  The learning goal can start with low level activities such as basic vocabulary and then work up to concepts.
– various ways to learn the content (videos, podcasts, screencasts of a presentation, a website with written text, an app, etc.)
– various ways to practice the initial  content (an app, a website, etc.)
– various ways to assess  the learning of the content at the lower levels (quick 5-10 item  online quizzes; short performance tasks, etc.)
– various ways to give feedback to students with learning gaps through providing new strategies (links to differentiated strategies such as visual, auditory, physical response, etc.)
– a project with a  higher level thinking activity (PBL, interdisciplinary project, etc.) and its assessment (rubric, checklist, etc.)
– if needed, a formal summative assessment at the higher thinking level.

Creating QR code chapters may sound  like a formidable  task.   However, within one week I had my students, as an end-of-the-course activity,  find  three videos that they felt taught a specific  learning goal well,  find an online quiz that tested the concept, and find a picture that showed an application of the learning.  When students evaluate material, they decide what really helps them to learn.  The materials are “student- approved”.  You can incorporate online materials that you presently use.  If you can work with one other teacher, then you can share your resources.

Get unchained from your textbook so students can learn better.  When will you start on your QR learning textbook?  You might want  to try a QR learning sheet  for a part of a unit or for a unit to figure out what format works best for your students’ learning.

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, and Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed many  Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

10 Ways Mobile Learning Changes the Teaching-Learning Process

 

Teachers’ role


Higher level thinking


QR codes

Students show learning

Teachers monitor learning

Bring outside in

Take learning out

Communicate

From text to media

Global/ Cultural


Extra: Use all of mobile, not just apps

Mobile Learning and Assessment

Can use a wide variety of mobile devices and of mobile apps for capturing student learning, analyzing it, providing feedback, and recognizing learning success.

Identify the specific learning goal

Have QR codes for exemplars that students can refer to anytime during the learning process

Pre-assess with mobile device: Need data to go to one location for analysis

Monitor and collect student data: Transform non-data activities such as texting into data ones. Constant monitoring of students. Daily/weekly review of data. Mobile device  spreadsheet of students’ scores

Use formative assessment: In-class performance tasks and short quizzes

Provide feedback: QR code to New strategy to overcome learning gap; Differentiate in strategies

Peer assess: While doing task on app or after learning task

Self assess: See progress and evaluate how to become better

Use Eportfolio: Wiki Edmodo ….

Celebrate successful learning

Other resources:

Search my education and technology blog bit.ly/hgtblog (Am on EdTech’s “The Honor Roll: 50 Must-Read K–12 Education IT Blogs”).

My modern language blogs are  now at  http://bit.ly/imprml

I have developed many  Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My three formative assessment books, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students,  Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, and Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment, are available at   http://is.gd/tbook

Learning App Analysis

Does the learning app:

Present problems, scenarios, etc in more than just words?  For example, does the app show a picture and base the questions on that picture? Do the students have to answer questions based on a short 30 second video?

Present a variety of different problems?  For example, can math students do the math in number format (2+2 = ),  word format (two and two equals), and visual format (two apples and two apples =)

Have a variety of ways that students can input the answer ?  Is the app an  A, B, C, D  click on the button choice  or does it allow students to move things around to show the answer? Can the students say the answer?

Identify when the students have a correct answer?

Identify when   students have an incorrect answer?  For example, the program says, “No, try again.”

Tell which part of the student’s answer is incorrect?  Or tell how the student was incorrect? For example, did the student  incorrectly  spell  the first part of the answer?  Did the students confuse two words?

Allow the students  to try again? For example, the program repeats the same question or a similar one.

Supply at least one strategy to understand the correct answer through explaining the concept?  Does the app provide a strategy to help the students overcome this learning gap?   Does the app supply  text clues, visual clues,  or sound clues   to help the student learn the concept so he/she can generalize to other questions of the same concept?

Tell the correct answer?

Keep track of the students’ progress?  Does it show the students what they have mastered before they  move on?  For example, the app can have a checklist of the various levels of the learning goal.

Make this data  available to the teacher?  Can the teacher  sort through the data by class, from high scoring students to low scoring  students,  and by specific learning goal?

Move the students on to a higher level once the student has shown proficiency?  How many questions reveal proficiency?  For example, does the app check student progress after ten questions or do students have to do thirty before it proclaims student success?

Move students up Bloom’s level of thinking?  Do  the students move up to do a real life example of using that learning?  Are they put in a real life scenario through a video?  Or do they go from abstract practice to more  abstract practice?

Have the student spend more time on learning than on playing reward games?

How is this mobile  app different from a website version of  the same material?  What  advantage does the mobile version have?

I have developed many  Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation.  My Spanish spontaneous speaking activities (20+) includes Modified Speed Dating (Students ask  a question from a card-whole class), Structured Speaking (Students substitute in or select words to communicate in pairs),  Role Playing (Students talk as people in pictures or drawing from 2-4 people) and Speaking Mats (Can talk using a wide variety of nouns, verbs and adjectives to express their ideas- pairs or small group),  Spontaneous Speaking (based on visuals or topics in pairs),  and Grammar speaking games (pairs or small group). Available for a nominal fee at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My three formative assessment books:   http://is.gd/tbook

Using Mobile Learning to Become World Citizens

How  mobile  are our students  in terms of their interactions with others through their mobile devices?

How much of  a student’s  learning involves
___ other students in the class?
___ other  classes within the school?
___ other schools within the district?
___ people in the community?
___ people in other parts of the state?
___ people in other states?
___ people in another country?
___ people from several countries?

If  we want our  students to be world citizens,  then we have to structure their mobile  learning to broaden their scope of interactions.  When they use mobile devices, they  can have access to others inside and outside the classroom.

One easy way to expand a mobile  learning activity is to think of the essential question for that learning.  Essential questions are universal.  Three quick examples:
– Do Grocery Store math in which students do real math based on actual prices in other places.  Each class “buys” certain items and post the name of the  item and its price and then make up problems.  María is planning a party but she only has $30. What  and how much of each can she buy for the party from this list of food and prices from our area.
– Have an international art gallery in which students from various countries exhibit  their art about family. Through QR codes, they either explain their art or show how it was made.  They can peer critic each other.
– Social Studies students from different states or countries  present the geography of their area and its impact on the history of the area. The students compare and contrast the geography and its impact from the places. Students can show the geography and its impact through taking pictures /movies and narrating the impacts that they show.

I have developed many  Spanish activities that allow students to begin to express themselves and to begin to move toward spontaneous speaking as in a natural conversation.  My Spanish spontaneous speaking activities (20+) includes Modified Speed Dating (Students ask  a question from a card-whole class), Structured Speaking (Students substitute in or select words to communicate in pairs),  Role Playing (Students talk as people in pictures or drawing from 2-4 people) and Speaking Mats (Can talk using a wide variety of nouns, verbs and adjectives to express their ideas- pairs or small group),  Spontaneous Speaking (based on visuals or topics in pairs),  and Grammar speaking games (pairs or small group). Available for a nominal fee at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My three formative assessment books:   http://is.gd/tbook

Mobile Learning Questions

Mobile  Learning Summit 2012

How will you use mobile learning?

Prediction: If mobile learning only focuses on drill-and-kill activities, then mobile learning will fail.
Why only use mobile learning for apps?
How can teachers improve student learning  through the social interactive parts of mobile learning?

Questions for Mobile Learning
1. What is the role of  teachers in mobile learning?
2. How can the students learn through collaboration inside and outside the classroom?
3. How do  students do higher-level thinking for in-depth learning?
4. How can teachers increase students’ learning time?
5. How do students demonstrate their learning on a daily or weekly basis?
6. How do teachers constantly monitor students learning and provide new learning strategies? How do students monitor their own learning?
7. How do students bring their world into the classroom to make learning real?
8. How do students take their learning out into the world?
9. How do students communicate for learning through texting, Facebook, and phone calling?
10. How do students learn from media as well as written information?
11. How do students learn more when they interact with people outside the class/state/nation?

My favorite QR code generator is http://createqrcode.appspot.com/
Use a URL shortener like bit.ly to shorten the long urls
It allows you to enter several links into the one QR code and it allows you to determine the size of the qr code

A video about using QR codes in various subject areas     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayW032sKtj

 

A few of my previous blogs about Mobile Learning:

Criteria for selecting student mobile learning device (educational concerns)

Aim For Real Learning With Apps

Analysis of Learning with Mobile Learning

Is it really MOBILE learning?

Teaching In the Age of Mobile Learning Devices

My Spanish spontaneous speaking activities (20+) includes Modified Speed Dating (Students ask  a question from a card-whole class), Structured Speaking (Students substitute in or select words to communicate in pairs),  Role Playing (Students talk as people in pictures or drawing from 2-4 people) and Speaking Mats (Can talk using a wide variety of nouns, verbs and adjectives to express their ideas- pairs or small group),  Spontaneous Speaking (based on visuals or topics in pairs),  and Grammar speaking games (pairs or small group). Available for a nominal fee at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My three formative assessment books:   http://is.gd/tbook

Criteria for selecting student mobile learning device (educational concerns)

As schools move toward mobile learning, they have to make decision about the type of mobile device that the students will use.  Regardless of whether the school supplies its own device or whether students supply their own,  there  are some basic minimal  requirements.

1) The device has to connect to the  internet so students can use qr codes, do internet searching,  bookmark commonly used sites,  watch educational videos and create online surveys.

2) The device should have enough memory for basic apps such as an  e-reader, a note-taker/ word processor,   spreadsheet,   media player, and a dictionary app.  The device will have other apps that help the students to climb the learning ladder from memorization to synthesis/evaluation  for their  specific learning goals.  There will be many more higher level learning apps (70%) than lower level ones (30%).  Those apps that simulate or duplicate real-world use of the subject area  learning will be the most useful apps.

3)  The device should have a camera and microphone so students can take pictures, record videos, and record audio. They will want to  capture and demonstrate their learning through images and sound (pictures, sound recordings, and movies).

4) Students need to be able to do texting  on the device so they can seek the perspectives of others and to learn from others outside the classroom.  As students learn to ask good  essential questions, they can seek the perspectives of others so they can go beyond the limited perspective of the textbook.  If we value diversity, let’s bring it into the classroom through seeing the opinions of others.

5) As students use their mobile device to explore concepts through productivity based learning, they will want to be able to call their experts such as their aunt or grandfather for things such as what is was like during the Depression,  how a farm business has been changed by technology, etc. so the mobile learning device needs to have phone capabilities.  Even better, if it can have videoconferencing.

6) Students need access to their social media sites on their mobile learning device so that they can distribute surveys.  When they want to receive many responses, they know they can distribute the surveys to their online friends.  The more people responding, the better the data to analyze and the more critical thinking involved.

If we want students to be prepared for their future in the real world, the world outside the classroom, then we need to start taking them virtually into that world and allowing them to bring that world into the classroom through their mobile learning device.

I have 20+ Spanish spontaneous speaking/fluency activities  available at Teacherspayteachers: 
http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My three formative assessment books:   http://is.gd/tbook

Smart Phones and Mobile Learning: Best Practices and Lessons Learned ISTE

We will Edmodo for our Mobile Learning workshop so you can respond to and share resources and  ideas.

We will do a survey on mobile learning

Why not?  and how to overcome the negatives

Why?

Learning goals met by Mobile learning

Other schools – each group will read about a different school and post info using  Plus, Minus, and Interesting/ Questions

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Reference

Google 466453

Chacha 242-242
Apps – Dictionary, Thesaurus, verb conjugator, periodic table

Internet search – facts, visuals, TED talks, vids

Change teaching since students can access facts via mobile device

5 Ways Smartphones

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Texting

Get help from others

Get opinions and views from others that give a bigger perspective

Bring  the outside world into the classroom

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Surveys

How many people can complete the survey in 24 hours?

Teach analysis skills in creating and analyzing survey results

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Media to demonstrate learning

Flickr slideshow http://www.flickr.com/

Yodio http://www.yodio.com/

Geo-tours Http://bit.ly/andN57

Audioboo http://www.audioboo.com

Voki http://www.voki.com

Facebook

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Global Interactions

Go beyond just going to sites in other countries or about other countries; have students interact with other students to solve problems such as environment

Skype in the classroom http://education.skype.com/

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Higher Level Thinking

Contrast/ Compare two things

Synthesize from various sources

Evaluate

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Assess Learning

Google Docs including forms and spreadsheet

Poll everywhere / http://www.polleverywhere.com

QR codes for formative feedback strategies

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QR Codes

Label Multiple Change See

QR code generator: http://createqrcode.appspot.com/

QR Posters

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Reactions/ Questions/  Suggestions

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

My formative assessment books: Formative Assessment Responding to Your Students,   Student Writing Through Formative Assessment Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment. http://bit.ly/Tutbks

My 20 Spanish spontaneous speaking activities are available for a nominal fee at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle


Educational Mobile Learning: A Technology Evaluation Grid

As you begin to plan for using mobile learning, use this grid to help you determine where you want to be.

Tuttle Mobile Learning Device Technology Grid

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My formative assessment books: Formative Assessment Responding to Your Students,   Student Writing Through Formative Assessment Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment. http://bit.ly/Tutbks

My 20 Spanish spontaneous speaking activities are available for a nominal fee at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

Analysis of Learning with Mobile Learning

Use the following grid to analyze student learning based on  how you will be or are using mobile learning.

If you are planning for mobile learning, how can you modify your present plan to maximize learning with mobile learning?

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

My formative assessment books: Formative Assessment Responding to Your Students,   Student Writing Through Formative Assessment Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment. http://bit.ly/Tutbks

My 20 Spanish spontaneous speaking activities are available for a nominal fee at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

5 Smartphone (Mobile Learning) Concerns

As I have been using smartphones in my classes, presenting about it,  writing about it, and reading about it, I have some concerns.

1. Why limit mobile learning  to lower-level drill and kill activities?   Spanish teachers can have their students  study vocabulary on a topic such as a restaurant via an app. However, they can also use a QR code to show the students a restaurant  in Lima Peru and have their  students talk about the restaurant.

2. Why limit mobile learning to text-based learning?  A common mobile learning activity is to have students use a QR code to go to a web page and read the information.  Why not take them to a video or a  photo that shows the same  learning?  Math students can watch a Kahn video instead of reading about the math.

3. Why limit Smartphones to  individual activities?  Instead of Johnny sitting by himself learning about a country,  why not have Johnny and Rosa contrast different pictures of the same country?  Johnny has one picture and Rosa a different one.

4. Why limit mobile learning to one small view?  English students can search the Internet on their mobile learning device and find a poem about love  but these same students can create QR posters in which they show how the human condition of love shows up in a poem, a song, a movie, and a TV show. They can compare/contrast the various types of love.

5. Why limit Smartphones/tablets to just learning when students can use it to analyze their learning?  As students do various speaking tasks, they record their scores  in a Google document spreadsheet. They can see how well they  are progressing at any time.  Likewise, they could use an online rubric checklist (Google Doc) to help them assess how well they have written their essay.

How do your students use Smartphone, Tablets or Mobile Learning? Are they limited?

I have 20 Spanish spontaneous speaking/fluency activities at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My formative assessment books:   http://is.gd/tbook   Formative Assessment Responding to Your Students,   Improving Foreign Language Speaking Through Formative Assessment  Successful, and    Student Writing Through Formative Assessment

Administrators Learn From Others Through Google Forms

Superintendents and other central office people often need to find out information, collect real time data, opinions or interests of others.  Likewise, a building principal might want to survey the views of his/her staff. He/She may be looking for alternative ways of solving a possible school problem.  When  administrators receive suggestions, opinions, etc from others and have up-to-the-minute data, they can make wiser decisions. An easy way to quickly get information from others is through Google Forms.

One just needs a Google email and then they can create a Google Form.

Go to Documents on the Google menu bar.

Click on New

Click on Form.

Type in  the title  of the form such as Hall Problem.

Add in any directions.

Select from several type of questions. Can use as many different types, each in a different question.  Those questions that allow for a specific answer (multiple choice  Checkboxes, Choose from a lists, scale, and grid) can  automatically analyze the number of responses for each choice. If you include numerical or very short answers, people can answer these from their Smartphone.
Text – short phrases or a short sentence
Paragraph – longer answers such as multiple sentences
Multiple Choice (select one of the answers)
Checkboxes (select one or more of the answers)
Choose from a list
Scale Rate something on a scale of 1-5 or 1-1o
Grid Rate a series of items on a scale of 1-5

Remember to click on “Makes  this a required question” if the survey takers have to answer the question.

Move any question up and down by clicking on it, holding down on it, and moving it up or down.

Click on Save.

Go to Forms, Edit and copy the url (http://..). at the bottom of the page.  Email that url to the people you want to take the survey or  take that long URL and shorten it using bit.ly so that people can type  it directly in their Smartphone or tablet.  Be specific about when the closing date is for taking the survey.

To see the results, go to Forms – Show Summary of responses.  The numerical answers will be a graph form. The text answers for any question will be grouped together.

For those  administrators that want real time  data at a meeting,  get the URL of the form, shorten it using bit.ly, and display that shortened URL at a meeting so the people can take the form right then on their Smartphones or tablets.  Show them the results instantly.

Are you ready to learn from others? Are you ready to make better decisions based on real-time information from others.

I have Spanish spontaneous speaking activities at Teacherspayteachers:  http://bit.ly/tpthtuttle

My formative assessment books:   http://is.gd/tbook

Why Cell Phones and Smart Phones Differ from Previous School Technology

Cell phones and Smart phones differ drastically from previous school technology.

1.  The students know how to use these technologies. They use them daily. They text, they take pictures and send the pictures, they take videos/movies and send them, and they access the web. Teachers do not have to spend class time in teaching students the new technologies. Even when teachers “teach” a new program such as Yodio, the students already know how to take pictures, upload them to a program, know how to record their voice and how to send their voice files. Teachers save all the time they used to spend in teaching how to use a new technology which often was many days.

2.  The students always have these mobile learning devices with them. They may forget their notebook. They may leave their textbook home. They may be without a pen. Their dog may have eaten some critical papers. They may have lost their password onto the class website. However, they will have their cell phone or Smart phone with them.

3. The students can use their own mobile learning devices. The school does not have to provide it except possibly for a few disadvantaged students. Teachers can do lessons regardless of the various types of mobile learning devices (the various companies that produce the phones) and of the various carriers. The school does need to provide access to the school’s wireless.
4. With QR codes, students can be a click away from learning resources. Students do not have to turn on a computer, log in, and then type in a web address. Many students have trouble typing in a web address even when the web address has been shortened. The student instantly go from scanning in the QR code to clicking on the link(s). Class learning time is saved.
5. Students can easily be producers of information. They can take pictures to document environmental concerns in their community and make those into a multimedia story such as with Yodio. They can audio record the interview of various people as they talk about the importance of math in their careers. The students can make a movie about the various healthy habits of their family and friends for their physical education course. They have these tools on their phones and they know how to use the tools.

6.  Due to the richness of  web resources, teachers can move students to higher level thinking. Students can easily contrast two images of the same incident for an English class. They can evaluate the bias in reporting the same story as they read newspapers from around the globe in a Social Studies class.

7.   Students can be global in their learning.  Texting can be done  internationally. Students can text a science survey about using paper in school  to their friends in other states and other countries.  Elementary students can text math word problems  which students in other countries have written in terms of things in their country. For example, a school in Costa Rica migh offer this problem, “If you are really hungry and you buy a “casado” (rice and meat dish) for 2,500 colones and a fruit drink for 400 colones, how much do you spend? What is that in USA money?

A very useful QR code generator for Mobile Learning (mlearning)

I  use   Create QR code     as my QR code generator for my classes for several reasons:

I can

1) Put in a variety of information such as text and links.  I can embed an essential questions along with links for thinking about the question.

2) Put in many  links/urls.   I often have 5 or more links  in one QR code so that students have a range of choices or a range of resources. (Yes, I’ve shortened the URL.)  This QR code generator creates  a book with many pages while many other QR generators create a book with one page.

3) Select  the size of the QR code.   Sometimes I have manually resized a QR code and that code could not be read.  Students  create a “poster”  demonstrating their answer to an essential question. This poster can be a regular size sheet of paper  with many labeled  small QR codes.

Link to Tuttle’s Formative Assessment books

Cellphones/Smartphones in Education – Tech Forum NY 2011

Tech Forum  New York Oct 2011

Dr. Harry Grover Tuttle

htuttlebs@gmail.com

CellPhones/Smartphones In Education: SmartPhones for Smarter Students

Rationale and Concerns:

Some cell phone uses

1 Pictures of                  2 Pictures for                             3 Voice recordings                4 Text                     5 Talk                   6 Time

Smartphones

Logistics:                Number:                        Type:                             Etc:

Reference information:

Higher level/ Creative thinking
Access: Web URL or

QR codes

Sample Learning Activities that promote collaboration and personalization

1 Contrast

2 Prompt

3 Mystery

Hints for Using QR codes          1 Name              2 Multiple                       3 Link                               4 See

Reading

Current Global/World Culture

Formative Assessment

Create own evidence of learning (media): Animoto, Yodio

Some Android apps

Aldiko Book Reader – ebook reader
Dictionary.com
Google Docs – Google docs

Evernote – save and organize web material
Dropbox – online storage

Talk To Me Classic – Language translator; speak and it translates
Wapedia: 4 Wikipedia & more! Wikipedia for the mobile

World Newspapers Newspapers from around the world

Smartphone -1 Computer -0 Speed of Getting to Material

I have been using Smartphone / Mobile Learning for the semester in my Spanish class.   The class does meet in a computer lab.  However, the other day, the power of mobile learning and QR codes  shone.  I offered students the opportunity to do an activity on the smartphone or on the computer. The students who used the Smartphone & QR code were on the site and most had completed the  short activity before  the computer students had even logged on the network.  The computer students had to turn on the Windows machine before doing the log in.  The more time we save on getting to material in the classroom , the more time there is for learning.

An additional speed benefit of Mobile Learning /Smartphone and QR codes is that students do not incorrectly  type in the URL (Http://…)  even when I have shortened the url.  When students mistype the url, they have to retype it. Again, wasted class time.

How do you use Smartphones/ Mobile Learning to Speed up getting to learning materials?

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students, is available through Eye on Education.

Also, my  book,  Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, is available through Eye on Education.

Mobile Learning and pictures What’s the real story?

A friend used to listen to a presentation of a new technique, a new program, or a new textbook and say “What’s the real story?” His question implied that when we hear the “wonders and amazements” of a new thing, we need to become aware of  what else is involved.  He disliked “All you have to do is…” because he knew that much else was really  involved.

Unfortunately when a new technology such as mobile learning hits, we hear the “it’s amazing” stories. The educators of the amazing stories do not tell  the reality of what did not work or the difficulties along the way.  I heard someone talk about how the students took pictures as part of a project. So, I built an assignment around my Modern Language  Spanish students taking personal pictures of current vocabulary of daily activities.  For example, students took pictures of their friends, family or children getting dressed, brushing teeth, combing their hair, etc.   My students found it easy to take the pictures on their cell phone.  They took the ten required pictures.   However, the difficult was getting the pictures from their cell phone to a central location. Most students could only send one picture at a time.  One student downloaded his pictures to his computer and then burned them onto a CD.  Another question was where do the students send the pictures so that others can look at the pictures? The simple solution seemed to be for students to keep their pictures on their own cellphone and let other students look at their cell phones. We learned to trade cell phones for a few minutes while we did this activity.

Let’s share the realities, the fixes, the this-is-the-easy-way-to-do-it, and the lessons learned  with others as we begin this new adventure with mobile learning.

My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students, is available through Eye on Education.

Also, my  book,  Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, is available through Eye on Education.


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