Every class I have ever been in at least from say high school on has had “that kid” that always said something really honest and maybe even true during class, but usually made everyone else uncomfortable.  We all know that kid, there always seems to be one. Well, I am that kid and always have been. So, I am going to be honest and say that I did struggle somewhat with connecting the readings and at times got frustrated in seeing the worth in relation to the course topic.  Now let me be clear, I find worth in each reading itself and particularly enjoyed the Gee article on identity, but on a whole how all of the articles tied together in regards to mobile learning I am still at a bit of a loss. Now, that could be due to being sick, or simply I am not seeing the bigger picture that is being laid out before us.  What I do hope is that after reading a few of my fellow classmate’s blogs, I will have a better insight as to where I was missing connections. With that said, I will do my best to string together the points that I did find particularly interesting or relevant.

So, let’s start with the article that made me want to stab my eyes out,(ok I may be being a tad dramatic when I say that) “Learning Theories and Education” Toward a Decade of Synergy”.  Again, I found the concepts presented interesting and certainly can understand how it can be important to understand the concepts of implicit learning, informal learning environments, and formal learning environments when discussing any sort of learning environment.  I guess where I got a tad confused or disinterested and this is a fault of mine as a novice in the field of learning theories, I just find these papers go so far in depth to get to a point that is essentially wrapped up in a few paragraphs in the summary. Then again, it could simply be like the article mentions “Adaptive expertise involves the willingness and ability to change core competencies and continually expand the breadth and depth of one’s expertise.  This often requires people to leave their current “comfort zones” and venture into areas where they must function as “intelligent novices” who often struggle initially in order to learn new things (Bransford et. al, 2006, p. 223)”.  In addition to that point which I clearly thought hit home, there were several things that I did find interesting although I am not sure they would directly relate to mobile learning environments. It was intriguing to learn about the concept of pruning in regards to synapses.  I would be curious if those extra synapses that are developed and then are essentially tended to and grown through experiences as is discussed, would those additional synapses make one more intelligent (Bransford et. al, 2006)? I know that the article goes onto discuss “critical periods” and how they aren’t as rigid as many believe, but I also know of all the studies regarding language and how you are put at a deficit or in a favorable position based on the number of words you are exposed to as a child.  Is that essentially the fostering or the pruning of the unused synapses? Just something to think about. I particularly was interested as to why the infants would need social interaction as opposed to tv voices to pick up the language cues, but by later in the article 2-year-olds were able to recreate processes witnessed on tv (Bransford et. al, 2006). Yet another interesting questions I garnered from the article. Finally, as I began to discuss in relation to myself at least, I found the discussion of innovation vs. efficiency very interesting and can see how one needs to regress to be able to develop further, which is a very hard thing to admit and commit to (Bransford, 2006).  Again, interesting, but I hope someone can more directly point me to applying this to mobile learning specifically as opposed to learning in general. Or perhaps that wasn’t the intent at all.

The Gee article as I aforementioned was very interesting.  I had never considered how involved the idea of identity is and that on a whole there is very little in many respects that one can control their identity.  I thought Gee did a fabulous job of breaking down what could have been a complicated topic and made it accessible to a novice, aka me. I will say that although I still don’t see this relating to mobile learning specifically, I can completely see this in education.  My heart broke a little bit for the boy with the I-Identity of ADHD that was being continuously used throughout the article (Gee, 2002). As someone that sees these students every day in my classroom and can understand how that identity could negatively impact a student, it was sad to see but interesting to see how it was constructed through the various identities.  After reading this, I think I need to really sit and figure out what identities have been constructed for me and by me and I also need to do a better job of evaluating how I construct others D-Identities. It is in many ways overwhelming to think of how much goes into how people view you and then possibly how you view yourself as a result.

The Pea article was fine, although very researchy (not sure that is a word).  I was lucky enough to view and show a documentary called Screenagers to my students last year.  It was essentially the Pea et. al study but cranked up a notch. Meaning, if you thought the findings were “disappointing” to read in that article, this documentary would blow you away.  Actually, if you have a chance to get your hands on it or go to a screening, I highly suggest it. I will post a link to the site at the end of this blog. I know that Professor Zimmerman posed a question about whether the study changed our thoughts coming into the course.  Truthfully, having already learned about the negative effects of social media, mobile technology, multi-tasking, etc. I already have a skewed vision or approach and am constantly having to try to focus on the benefits and not on the tremendous number of negatives that can go along with mobile technology.  One of the reasons I took this course is to try to remind me of all of the positives that can come from mobile technologies and learning because with so much of what I am reading I get so discouraged for my young students and am truly concerned for their well being going forward.

Since honesty is the best policy as I stated above, I started to run out of gas by the Sharples article.  I did read it of course and found some points that were key and truthfully the Pea et. al article and the Sharples were the most on topic regarding this course, but not quite as interesting as the other two. My favorite quote I think I read the entire day was from the Sharples article “Where does school end? When can a child just delight in learning for its own sake without having to present the results for school assessment (Sharples et. al,  2009, p. 240). I know Sharples was talking about how we can evaluate mobile learning, but I really think that there is something much bigger here. Last semester we spent a lot of timing discussing how students dive head first into learning when it is something they are passionate about. Why are we as educators not doing more to harness that? Why are we not trying to direct students towards learning that they participate in simply for the love of learning?  Listen, we all know that we can’t always simply learn what we want and what we love, but if we can give children enough of those experiences, quite possibly they will be able to willingly embrace learning the things they don’t love because of those opportunities.

Forgive me if this blog posting was convoluted or just too darn honest.  I fear I have taken too much Nyquil to stem off the lovely bug I have picked up from my children.  Here is the link to the Screenagers site, seriously, if you can get your hands on it, do, and if you can arrange to show it your high elementary and middle school students, in the future they may thank you for it.

https://www.screenagersmovie.com/

Resources 

 

• Bransford, J., Stevens, R., Schwartz, D., Meltzoff, A., Pea, R., Roschelle, J., . . . Sabelli, N. (2006). Learning theories and education: Toward a decay of synergy. In P. Alexander & P. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (2nd ed., pp. 209–244). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [Course E-reserves]
• Sharples, M., Arnedillo-Sánchez, I., Milrad, M., & Vavoula, G. (2009). Mobile learning: Small devices, big issues. In N. Balacheff, S. Ludvigsen, et al. (Eds.), Technology-enhanced learning: Principles and products (pp. 233–249). Springer.
• Pea, R., Nass, C., Meheula, L., Rance, M., Kumar, A., Bamford, H., . . . Zhou, M. (2012). Media use, face-to-face communication, media multitasking, and social well-being among 8- to 12-year-old girls. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 327–336.
• Gee, J. P. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25(2000-2001), 99–125. Read pp. 99–111 only; the rest is optional.