Lesson 1 LDT 505 Blog:
In my opinion mobile technologies should use constructive activities to promote learning. The constructive use of ready-to-hand mobile devices can assist students in building career skills needed for the 21st century. These skills include student’s learning how to create, collaborate, and communicate with technology. However, improper employment of mobile devices can impede student achievement, when these devices are primarily used for developing basic skills in student consumption of information or function as a device in providing rote learning experiences. Therefore I think it is important to implement constructive learning while using mobile technologies to promote 21st century learning.
Partnership for 21st century learning established a framework for 21st century learning http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=254&Itemid=120 .1 This framework includes (1) mastery of content knowledge in core subjects, (2) learning and innovation skills, (3) information, media, and technology skills, and (4) life and career skills. MacAuthor and Pearson Foundations support these components and produced a YouTube video “Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner,” which helps define the needs of modern students
Constructive applications of mobile technology can assist in student development of skills in the P21 framework. What skills do you think are important for students to learn in the 21st century? Constructive applications in the classroom using mobile devices for 21st century learning include: students participating in lectures, communicating with others, engaging in participatory simulations, creating visual information (maps, graphs, models, etc.), collaborating with others, playing educational games, and reflecting on their progress. Specific examples on constructive uses of mobile learning can be found in Pea and Maldonado (2006) article pages 435-437 and Sharples (2013) article pages 4-8. Pea and Maldonado (2006) states:
“We are particularly interested in applications that maintain an emphasis on inquiry processes, social constructivist theories, and distributed cognition designs: although there are many applications designed for individual use, we concentrate on those that favor collaboration among students.” (p. 435)
Sharples (2013) supports the fact that hand-held devices can enable new forms of collaborative learning (p. 10). Zurita and Nussbaum (2004) study showed improved 1st grade reading skills after applying hand-held mobile technology in a constructive way.6 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2004.00089.x/pdf Do you think there is an age group where constructive activities are more appropriate or effective? Constructive learning activities have shown to increase student test scores. However, mobile technology misused in predominately lower socioeconomic areas had a negative effect on learning (3, p. 204).
Warshauer and Matucniak (2010) noted that schools in lower SES areas used technology to perform drill and practice activities that promoted shallow and rote learning, while higher SES used technology for individual and collaborative student centered work that encouraged deep constructivism (p. 199). What factors contribute to the misuse of technology in lower SES areas? Also lower SES students were more likely to use technology to consume information rather than construct new information (p. 194). This improper use of technology can actually impede student learning. Therefore I think students must be encouraged to apply constructive activities while using mobile devices in learning 21st century skills. What advantages are there in using mobile devices for constructive activities compared to desktop computers?
References:
- Framework for 21st Century Learning – P21. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=254&Itemid=120
- Networked Student (2008, Nov 26). Wendy Drexler (Producer). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA
- Warschauer M., Matuchniak T.(2010) Review of Research in Education, 34, Chapter 6: New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes (1) pp. 179-225.
- Pea, R. and Moldonado H. (2006) WILD for learning: Interacting through new computing devices anytime, anywhere. Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. Sawyer,K. ed. New York. Cambridge University Press. 2006. 0521607779. pp. 427-441.
- Sharples, Mike (2013). Mobile learning: research, practice and challenge Distance Education in China, 3(5) pp. 5–11.
- Zurita, G. and Nussbaum, M. (2004), A constructivist mobile learning environment supported by a wireless handheld network. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 20: 235–243. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2004.00089.x
Dana, Great questions! I may adopt your italicizing strategy next week if you don’t mind.
To address your first question, on page 207, Figure 3, Warschauer and Matuchniak’s (2010), three sets of 21st century skills were: “1. Information, media, and technology; 2. Learning and innovation; and 3. Life and career areas”, and I sort of see the three areas as learning:
The Past – “#3. Life & Career” stories and experiences build a person’s knowledge base
The Present – “#1. Media & Technology” are how we interperet (and document!) what is happening now
The Future – “#2. Learning & Innovation” create goals for the future
I think it’s fair to say that using the tools available to be as informed as possible about the past, present and future does bring people into the 21st century.
To answer your last question question about the advantages of using mobile devices, I think mobile computers serve a different purpose than desktop computers. Mobile is useful for the three things you mentioned: creating, collaborating, and communicating when we do not have a laptop handy. It makes learning on-the-go possible, so I think content and activities created for mobile should keep the “mobile” user in mind. For situations like this class, I tried this week to check blogs from my iPhone 6, and reading worked well, but responding back was a challenge because I’m not a super cell typist… Do tell me, does this mean I need to get with the times?
Reference:
Warschauer M., Matuchniak T.(2010) Review of Research in Education, 34, Chapter 6: New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes (1) pp. 179-225.
Dana,
I completely agree with you on the need to model for student the appropriate ways to use mobile technology. The only way they can truly learn how to use their device appropriately is through seeing adults and teachers use it the correct way as well. I think that as mobile devices increasingly become a part of the learning experience, it will become more natural for students to use the device correctly. As we make this shift with students who have been forced to put away their devices, it is more likely that we will run into issues. I think that in the future this will become easier. Right now though, I can see how technology can sometimes distract student learning. Creating a classroom environment where students understand device etiquette is key. There will still be problems, just as there were issues with students passing notes or throwing spit balls. Last year, I had a student who would take pictures and snap chatting them to people when he should have been looking up synonyms to vocabulary words. By creating an environment where students have little time for tomfoolery would probably help with this issue.
Hi Dana!
I think the central theme of your blog post is the misuse of technology rather than its constructive use. Which is why I want to comment on this question you posed: “What factors contribute to the misuse of technology in lower SES areas?”
First, according to Warschauer and Matuchniak (2010), page 194, “Whites were more likely than Blacks or Hispanics to use word processing, e-mail, multimedia, and spreadsheets or databases. These applications were also more widely used by children who lived in high-income families, those with well-educated parents, and those with English-speaking parents as compared with children from low-income families or whose parents did not graduate high school or did not speak English.” This tells me that there are many more factors within the home that contribute to misuse (or improper use) of technology.
Interestingly, in the MacArthur Foundation YouTube video you shared above, Nichole Pinkard stated (at 1:22): “…almost any kid you look at and say, ‘wow, this is a great user of digital media,’ you can trace back. There’s a parent, there’s a program, there’s something that inspired them and developed it.” So, you hit the nail on the head when you commented this on my blog post: ” In my opinion role models can help level the playing field. Mentors can be instructors, knowledgeable parents, and people in the community, or peers who are successful in utilizing computers for learning. I think it is imperative that we as educators increase our focus to include encouraging parents, community members, and businesses to become a part of the education of all students. We need more people to encourage and inspire the proper use of technology. I use my smartphone for social interactions such as text messages and Facebook, but I also use it for many educational purposes from accessing research materials to using an app to help me memorize lines for theatrical productions. By showing others that our mobile devices are more than just social tools, perhaps we, too, can become an inspiration!
SOURCES
MacArthur Foundation, Rethinking Learning: The 21st Century Learner, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw, viewed May 15, 2015
Warschauer M., Matuchniak T.(2010) Review of Research in Education, 34, Chapter 6: New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes (1) pp. 179-225.