Mobile Learning

Like most teachers, I like the idea of using cell phones in the classroom, but I’m reluctant to fully integrate because not all students have access to the same tools. I’ve already started using QR codes at my school, but only for optional special events not for classroom activities.

I checked out the discussion “Cellphones in Education” at Classroom2.0. The community, however, seemed not to be terribly active. There were many posts on breaking the ban on cell phone use and developing parent-student-teacher agreements. I wasn’t particularly interested in these topics, so I spent most of my time looking at the tools on the Mobile Learning page in Angel.

One tool I thought was especially interesting was Wiffiti, which allows you to post tweets on screens, jukeboxes, etc. This would be great if we had a scrolling message board outside our school that would let students and teachers tweet about what they are doing in the classroom. Other students and parents would be able to keep up to date on what we were doing inside. I think this would be especially interesting in Korea where all technology seems to move at the speed of light. I also liked the idea of using cell phones for scavenger hunts, but I cringe at how much checking would be involved. Perhaps students could upload pictures to our Facebook page and we could grade the hunt afterwards. I really like the idea as well of creating a video contest where students could post their favorite memories of our school and vote on which ones they liked best. The winners could get a prize of some variety.

Polleverywhere.com is a great tool I would highly recommend for schools. The polls are quick and easy to make and the data is displayed in an easily readable manner. In the classroom, this would work best if you have a lot of students or are asking a potentially sensitive question such as “would you like to change the date of the final?” Some students might want a different option but be shy to say anything in front of their peers. This would effectively sidestep this issue. This would also be a great way to get parental input or play games like Family Feud. However, in my current school class sizes are so small that it’s unnecessary to use cell phones for much beyond that. Nevertheless, it’s an excellent tool and I’d recommend it highly!