Sharing Your Mobile Learning Experience...
When beginning to
delve into an emerging field like mobile learning, there is much to be
learned from early adopters of the technology.
This page will explore various ways and means of sharing your mobile learning experiences so that, as practitioners, you may help to build an effective learning community and contribute to the growing repository of shared experiences with mobile learning.
- How can your experiences be made accessible to others?
- Are there other stakeholders who share an interest in the mobile learning experience?
- What might be gained from sharing the experiences with them?
This page will explore various ways and means of sharing your mobile learning experiences so that, as practitioners, you may help to build an effective learning community and contribute to the growing repository of shared experiences with mobile learning.
Some Considerations...
1. Involve Your Students
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that reflection is a crucial part of effective learning. What better way to encourage reflective practice amongst your students, than to involve them in sharing their learning with an authentic audience? By communicating their experiences, they will be starting a dialogue that
will not only support their critical reflection but also allow others to learn from your mobile learning experience.
Click here for an example of a class blog which was created to share a mobile learning trial.
Click here for an example of a class blog which was created to share a mobile learning trial.
How?
Set up a class blog at blogger or kidblog.
Make arrangements to send your students around the school, visiting classrooms and the admin offices, to share their exciting new achievements on the mobile devices. This will not only spread word of your brave achievements but give your sharing students a valuable opportunity to speak to others about their learning.
Have your students:
Make arrangements to send your students around the school, visiting classrooms and the admin offices, to share their exciting new achievements on the mobile devices. This will not only spread word of your brave achievements but give your sharing students a valuable opportunity to speak to others about their learning.
Have your students:
- create a glog - an online multimedia poster - at Edu-Glogster
- Recount a mobile learning experience via digital storytelling tools such as Little Bird Tales, Storybird, or Carnegie Library Story Maker
- Make a mobile learning slide show at Photo Peach or Animoto
2. Report to Teaching Staff
Professional sharing opportunities are rare in the busy school week but it can be incredibly valuable to share your successes and your challenges - with any aspect of teaching and learning - amongst your colleagues. Teachers are often very humble about their achievements in the classroom. But consider also that we often prefer to KNOW that a new approach is going to work before we risk trying it. Having a colleague on staff ready to act as a "mobile learning mentor", willing to share their knowledge and expertise, can be a great comfort and offer a welcome initial scaffold to a teacher ready to embark on the mobile learning journey.
How?
Investigate the possibility of having staff meeting time allocated to professional sharing about mobile learning experiences. It
may be so successful that your Admin team will dedicate some staff
meeting time each month to the "Sharing" endeavour. Have some photos or
artefacts ready to show and invite your colleagues to try out the
activities for themselves on the mobile devices.
Invite your colleagues to visit your class blog and even make some comments. They might also involved their own students and begin a 'conversation' that will be very beneficial to both student groups.
Invite your colleagues to visit your class blog and even make some comments. They might also involved their own students and begin a 'conversation' that will be very beneficial to both student groups.
3. Report to the Parent Community
The parents at your school have a vested interest in the learning experiences of their children. Many parents are unable to witness these first hand due to full time work commitments. Parents who are active members of the P&C or P&F may also influence in the allocation of funds to purchase more mobile devices.
How?
Use a blog, a website or the school newsletter to share your mobile
learning experiences. Take the time to attend a school P&C or
P&F meeting to share information about the value of mobile learning
to improved student outcomes. See our Measuring page for ways to collect this sort of information.
4. Invite Classroom Helpers
We are used to inviting parents and carers into our classrooms to help with reading, but have you considered inviting them as adult guides for the "mobile devices" group? This kind of supervision will free you up to move around the room or take a guided reading group yourself. Remember too, that many parents are already experienced users of these devices. They may appreciate an insight into the educational uses of these "personal" mobile technologies.
How?
If you have the time you can hold morning/afternoon sessions for
interested parents to show them what you are doing with the devices.
But assure them that they do not need to be the "techsperts". It is
more valuable for the students to have an adult "guide" to supervise
behaviour and monitor attention, than someone who will solve their
technical problems for them and direct the mobile learning activity.
5. A Wider Educational Community
Don't forget the value of sharing with the wider community such as your education authority or district. Of course, in the age of the Read/Write web, your educational community is a global one. Consider contacting other mobile learning educators in different towns, states, regions and nations!
How?
Contact the Education Officer responsible for Digital Literacy or ICLT within your education authority, to discuss sharing opportunities. There may be a forum for professional exchange in the area of mobile learning. If not you could start one yourself - once you make contact with other schools using mobile devices.
Start a web search for mobile learning classrooms around the world to investigate opportunities for global professional dialogue with like-minded educators - it may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship that benefits your respective student groups as well!
Here are some other mobile learning communities to investigate:
Start a web search for mobile learning classrooms around the world to investigate opportunities for global professional dialogue with like-minded educators - it may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship that benefits your respective student groups as well!
Here are some other mobile learning communities to investigate:
NOW... It's Over to You!
Take a look at our Sharing WallWisher page. Post an idea, a tool or a strategy for spreading the word on your mobile learning program, or simply advertise your own. Post a link to your blog or website, or an email address for interested educators to contact you and find out more.
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