Sep
2017
Lesson 4 – Theories to Understand Learning with Mobile Technologies
I’ve viewed the video by Mimi Ito in another class and found it just as interesting watching it again as I did the first time. I love her perspectives and ideas about learning and socializing and playing being connected and not separate from each other.
In my online classrooms, there is a “chat pod” for students to interact with each other and me. Many students, before class begins or after class is over, like to come early or leave a little late, to “chat” with each other. Commonly, they share usernames. Gamertags, etc., when they realize they have common interests outside of class. I find this fascinating. They virtually “hang out” in school, and then they’ll go off and virtually “hang out” outside of school. In many ways, I’m sure that my students “hang out” with their friends as much as or maybe even more than maybe students that are in brick and motor schools.
When I first graduated from school and went out into the schools on the teacher side, I think there was a very real discomfort or even, fear, of technology in student’s hands. When Ito said, “There really is a gap in perception and understanding between generations about the value of engagement with online activities,” is made me remember this. I’m not sure if it’s now my constant connection with students online, but at least for me, most of that fear is gone. Could it just be that my generation also had access to similar technology (be it AIM and basic text messaging and Xbox (the original)…you know, before live was a thing…), so we understand a little more about what students are drawn to/experiencing. We also have kept up with it, at my house, we have an Xbox One (weird, with a 4 month old, it’s more used for dust collecting than gaming now). My dad had a flip phone for awhile…and he doesn’t even have that anymore. My mom on the other hand finally has Facebook, mostly to see pictures of her granddaughter regularly, but she still refuses to use a profile picture…
When my students jump in the chat and start talking with emoticons, using “tech language” and talking about video games that are popular, I might not always know what they are referring to, but I do usually have a good idea. I’m not afraid to jump in on their chat conversations in class, they also like to text me about questions vs. calling, or even coming to my live help hours (where they could still use the chat box). Yet, they don’t ask for my gamertag, but they will ask if they can follow me on Snapchat or Instagram. So it seems that they do still like some places to keep to themselves.
My students tell me, a lot actually, that they love to be home (not surprising considering their schooling choice) and that their parents/guardians worry about them being online so much and disconnected from the outside world. They make the argument though, that they are in fact, very connected. Below is a picture that Xbox Live has for some of their marketing, doesn’t that just look fun, inviting, socially connected? That certainly is what Xbox Live is trying to sell.
I think about the advances in technology and education a lot. Aside from my role as an online teacher, I’m also pursuing this masters degree, but also, I’m an online student in general. “We have the opportunity to design learning differently: linking people in real and virtual worlds, creating learning communities between people on the move, providing expertise on demand and supporting a lifetime of learning,” (Sharples, M., et al. 232). This is a quote that makes me excited about the future of education. It’s also one, that I know is being met with, and will continue to meet, challenges, especially, I feel, in the K-12 setting.
Both a challenge and an opportunity was pointed out by Sharples, M., et al., “Young people are appropriating technology designed for adult work (e.g. SMS messaging and media file sharing) into their social world. This has deep implications for learning, if we consider, for example, why people would need to memorize facts when they can look them up on Google,”(238). Which then brought them to the issue of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is by far one of the larger issues I face with my students daily. Google makes it so easy to search and find the answer to countless questions. Explaining to students and parents the need to rephrase, summarize, directly quote, and to cite their sources is a battle. The temptation to bypass the hard work and similar copy and paste a perfectly crafted essay is tempting for every student.
It is important that we “[s]upport learners to reach personal understanding through conversation and exploration; support learners’ collaboration in order to construct common knowledge; use technology to enrich learners’ collaborative knowledge building with other learners and teachers; support learners’ transitions across learning contexts,”(Sharples, M., et al., Naismith and Corlett (2006). It is also important that we use technology effectively, I particularly liked Sharpes et al., list of success factors for mobile technology, “access to technology, ownership of technology, connectivity, integration, and institutional support
learning projects.” And as Bransford, et al., said, “giving students a set of standards that are universal (students and adults in the same spaces that are safe) get inform and informal learning working together” should be our overall goal which echoes Ito, “I think for teachers and schools and classroom learning, there’s still an incredibly important role to play, which is about giving kids access across the board to a baseline set of standards, literacies, expectations, about what they need to participate in contemporary society to be reflective.”
It’s an exciting time to be in education!
Bransford, J., et al. (2006). Learning theories and education. (pages 209 through 244).
Ito, Mimi. Connected Learning, Children, and Digital Media by Dr. Mimi Ito from UC Irvine.
Sharples, M., et al. (2009). Mobile learning: Small devices, big issues. (pages 233 through 249).
9 Comments on Lesson 4 – Theories to Understand Learning with Mobile Technologies
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Alex Herr
September 19, 2017 at 11:43 pm (7 years ago)Hi Megan,
I liked your mention of Mimi Ito’s phrase “gap in perception and understanding” when referring to how different generations use and perceive online activities. Since so many of our students have smartphones today and some go through schooling in your online setting, it would be irresponsible of us as educators to ignore this everyday, engaging part of their lives. I think our generation is much more willing and accepting of technology in the classroom since technology is a norm in our lives and we can see the potential of using it for learning in the classroom. Older generations see the potential of how they learned and succeeded in school which may not always coincide with training our K-12 students for new types of jobs that await them in their future.
The “design learning differently” phrase from the Sharples reading connects to my district’s initiate for this school year to “do school different”. We are encouraged to try things that are outside of our comfort zone, include thoughtful technology when appropriate, put the kids in control of learning through exploration, etc. I’m even encouraged to take videos in my classroom of these “different” experiences happening and send them to my principal. I too am excited by that quote and also understand that we will face challenges in doing so. For me, the challenges do not outweigh the benefits. My favorite quote you included in your blog was from the Sharples reading that touched on ‘Googling’ to find out information. While it led into a valid and unfortunate argument about plagiarism, I appreciate the light it shed on memorization. As a math teacher, I work with lots of formulas that are useful for solving specific problems in specific contexts. I often find myself Googling a conversion or a formula that I have not used in a while. I think I’m much better serving my students by teaching them this skill as opposed to memorizing information that can be easily searched through Google or answered by Siri.
Thanks for a good read!
Alex
Priya Sharma
September 19, 2017 at 5:10 am (7 years ago)Megan, thanks for providing details on your online context and students. I think it provides a nice expansion of the content we are reading. I really liked the idea you mentioned of the chat pods – I wonder if that would work for adults? Also your comment about understanding the challenges associated with technology/media is important. Do you feel there are other challenges apart from plagiarism that are immediately apparent? Thanks!
Megan Riggers
September 19, 2017 at 6:23 pm (7 years ago)Oh so many challenges!
Besides plagiarism, here are a few that I really struggle with.
Students coming to class, but not actively listening, it’s very difficult to tell when they are/aren’t unless I constantly ask poll questions.
Students not coming to live classes at all (this means a lot of phone calls to parents and students, which is really a waste of time and it’s always the same students).
Student struggling with the basic technology skills (using Google folders and Dropboxes)
Students struggling with more advanced technology skills (using a ThingLink, taking screenshots)
Parents struggling with technology skills….not checking their emails
Even something as basic as students keeping their contact information updated! I never see them in person, so if suddenly they stop coming to classes or failing and they aren’t checking their email, it becomes a problem when they don’t have current phone numbers in our system.
Also – I just saw your comment about adding headers, great idea, I’ll incorporate that next week!
Megan Strickland
September 18, 2017 at 11:41 pm (7 years ago)It is an exciting time to be in education! I think we are in a time of constant change with common core and technology blending together to meet the needs of the world. I am interested to see how everything all plays out with standards being changed or morphed into more collaborative pieces and students explaining their processes/steps. I believe you really are at a good place being on an online school because you see a lot of how students are interacting with technology at all different levels also students have to be better at explaining how they complete a task because they are chatting with each other instead of just showing them their work. I think their interaction online via chat is really cool to see too. It is similar to observing them during class prior to the bell ringing or when you see students on campus and you find out that various students in different periods are friends. I am curious if you feel that students are letting you into their friendship driven activities more because you are an online teacher or if you feel still more of a separation that researchers were mentioning in some of the articles read. I know that for me, many students would prefer to have the social media separate than combined when it comes to teacher/student relationships and I am alright with this. I think that we can still bring in other aspects of technology into the classroom and connect with them without having to be a part of all aspects of their technology lives. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Megan Riggers
September 19, 2017 at 6:16 pm (7 years ago)I would say it’s semi-blended, Megan! Students are much much more open in the chat than I think many of them would be in person. It’s like any keyboard situation, I think it makes them a little more brave.
At the same time, I do see that separation though. I’m not invited to the fanfiction websites or asked to jump in Xbox live activities, already they talk about both in forth of me and aren’t shy about sharing screennames in front of me, they just don’t ask me directly even though I’ve mentioned that I do enjoy video games (although lately, who has the time!).
Thanks for your comments!
Kelly Nicole Grimes
September 18, 2017 at 10:56 pm (7 years ago)I honestly agree with the statement about there being a “gap in understanding and perception between generations about the value of engagement with online activities”. I know my parents were the same way. They were anti-technology and didn’t understand why we were infatuated with it. My husband and I both are still a little leery about what we want our children to use and for how long. Even though we use it ourselves on a regular basis, we don’t want our children to get into something they shouldn’t or not know how to interact with others because they spend too much time online. We also ask them why they want to go online and if it has any educational value before we decide whether or not they can go online. We talk to them about it and look at what it is they are trying to watch, play or read and this actually makes us feel more comfortable in letting them use more technology. The only other issue we have with letting them use technology is that they are always asking for the newest in greatest in technology. In the past year, my sons have already asked for four different video game consoles and the new Iphone. I don’t think I have enough space in my house to accommodate all the technology they are asking for.
Plagiarism is also an issue at our school. Our students are taught the do’s and don’ts when writing a paper and they still seem to have a hard time determining what is and is not plagiarism. Our school uses this online tool called turnitin.com that can tell the students what percentage of their paper has been plagiarized. They are allowed to use this before they turn in their final product. This is a very valuable tool, but you would be amazed at the number of students who still turn in plagiarized papers. Do you use a similar tool to determine which papers have been plagiarized?
I also agree that we have to support our students in every possible way when it comes to using technology. We are asking students to do more and more online for our classes and I think it’s only fair that we educate them first before having them attempt anything online. Our school has taken a number of different steps to teach students about the technology they are using and make them aware of any danger associated with using technology. Is there anything that you or your school is doing to support your students as they are completing their classes online?
Megan Riggers
September 19, 2017 at 6:06 pm (7 years ago)In a previous course, I sang the praises of Turnitin! We used to have access but sadly – no more. I remember asking for the latest and greatest technology myself, it exhausting to keep up with it all! I wish you all the luck, I’m sure it won’t be long before my little one is asking too! She’s already more excited for the light up toys than the “regular” ones, haha.
Thank you for the great comments!
Lydia Keller
September 18, 2017 at 4:10 pm (7 years ago)Hi Megan,
I found your musings about online ethics and academic integrity interesting.
“Plagiarism is by far one of the larger issues I face with my students daily. Google makes it so easy to search and find the answer to countless questions. Explaining to students and parents the need to rephrase, summarize, directly quote, and to cite their sources is a battle. The temptation to bypass the hard work and similar copy and paste a perfectly crafted essay is tempting for every student.”
I use the note making part of NoodleTools with my students. NoodleTools is a subscription, so it would depend on whether your school would support its purchase, but I find it an excellent tool to help kids learn to paraphrase, take notes, and learn to cite sources. The note cards have a space to copy and paste, then a place for the student’s paraphrase, and another area for the student’s thoughts or connections to the notes. It’s hard to teach this concept, but the setup of NoodleTools certainly helps.
I have trouble myself with crediting images that I use in media that I create like slide shows and movies. I am trying to teach kids methods for documenting those sources, too, through captions.
Another issue is media literacy. I hope your cyber school has a course on this, especially for kids who prefer a tech-based classroom. Knowing how to discern bias, manipulation, and credibility of on-line sources is really important as well as understanding the rights of people who create material that winds up online. It’s hard to help kids understand that just because they can take something doesn’t mean they should. My physics teacher friend has a project where the kids have to use technology to show that they understand sound waves, but everything they do has to be completely original. He has gotten songs, animation, drawings, movies, all sorts of things.
I don’t think that would work for everything, but it’s gotten him some super interesting submissions.
Megan Riggers
September 19, 2017 at 6:03 pm (7 years ago)We don’t teach a media literacy course but I wish we did! I know that in 9th grade they have a Unit dedicated to it though!
I will have to look into NoodleTools, that sounds like a great resource!
Thank you for the thoughtful comments as always, Lydia!