Why mobile learning and blogs?

Often referred to as 'digital natives', twenty first century students are growing up surrounded by digital technology. Digital cameras, computers, IPhones, IPods, and Web 2.0 technology are second nature to the majority of youths today. The fact is that this technology is so convenient and relatively easy to use on a basic level. My aim in this teaching episode is to enable the students to engage in the project by using tools that they are able to relate to. By doing this I hope to help build their understanding of the topic. In saying this, I have chosen to integrate ICT into the lesson through the use of mobile learning and blogging.

Giving students tools that they can relate to will help the students to better engage in their own learning. Yelland states, "Theories of learning (e.g. Bruner 1977; Piaget 1972; Vygotsky 1978) that underpin Western education systems are grounded in the belief that humans learn best when they are engaged and actively constructing meaning." (Yelland, 2007, p8) . Sources from "The Perry File" state that 73% of students would be interested in using a mobile device in their studies (The Perry File, 2010), while The Neilson Company found that, “Globally, social networks and blogging sites are the most popular online category".  So by giving my Year 9 Ecology students a digital camera and allowing them gather their own findings, they are not just looking at pictures and reading or listening to information. The students are in fact finding the information first hand and presenting and sharing their information in a way that will hopefully trigger interest.  Therefore the students are able to reap more benefits from the task.

Mobile learning proves to be a convenient tool, particularly for use in fieldwork. Because of their light-weight, small and quick to use abilities, mobile learning tools can be a much more effective way of collecting multimedia field data, in comparison to the traditional pen and paper. Students are able to record photographs, video clips, video recordings and interviews.  Not only is this a more effective way of data collection, it is for the most part, a lot quicker and much more appealing.

Blogging allows the students to creatively present their work online and share it amongst peers.  The students are then able to share, read and comment on each other's work. Essentially the students are then able to learn from each other.

In summary of these points, I will take advantage of the popularity of ICT's by integrating them into the learning episode. The integration of mobile learning will act as a convenient research tool for the students. Presenting their findings on a blog will provide the students with a creative way to express their findings and enable them to share these findings with their peers. 

Sources:

-Yelland, N. (2007) The Millennials. (online) https://docutak.canberra.edu.au/eres/docs/24700/yelland.pdf. [accessed 29 July 2010]

- nielsenwire. 2010. Led by Facebook, Twitter, Global Time Spent on Social Media Sites Up 82%. http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/led-by-facebook-twitter-global-time-spent-on-social-media-sites-up-82-year-over-year/[accessed 29 July 2010]

-The Perry File.2010. Why use ICT in the the classroom? Justification for using Mobile Learning. http://elpc.tumblr.com/[accessed 29 July 2010]