Vision

Towards a Vision of Teaching and Learning...

Congratulations on arriving at this spot in the website! All too often when we embark on the journey of undertaking something new we jump in boots and all without having a clearly defined purpose in mind. We need to take the time to fully consider how the use of mobile technologies in the classroom will enhance the teaching and learning process for all students. We need to identify how students learn in the 21st century and to examine the implications of this for our teaching in today’s classrooms.

“Learning today is more than working in subject disciplines as an object of schooling. It is more than the 20th century information literacy mantra of ‘life-long learning.’ In the digital era, knowledge itself does not stand alone, but is a product of connections and personal learning environments in which students continue to revise, connect and alter what they know indefinitely. Knowledge spaces are physical, virtual and interconnected.”
Groom, D & O’Connell, J (2010) “Connect, Communicate, Collaborate – Learning in a changing world.”

As educators, we need to keep in mind that the changes in technology and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are also providing direction for the new Australian Curriculum. ICLT's are listed as one of the ten capabilities that must permeate all areas of the curriculum. The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians was instrumental in informing the Australian Curriculum and stated that, "successful learners are creative and productive users of technology, especially ICT, as a foundation for success in all learning areas (2008, p8). The 2011 Horizon Report acknowledges that mobile devices are rapidly emerging technologies that need to be adopted in schools in one year or less. Mobile devices are supported by a rapidly developing network of resources and a wide range of activities making them "advantageous tools for learning and study" (p13).

The aim of this page is for you to formulate your own vision of teaching and learning when using mobile devices with students. This vision should inform your decisions about what is taught, how it is taught and how you will embed the use of mobile devices such iPods and iPads in the teaching and learning process.

Today's Student

Take a look at this video depicting the world that the student of today lives in. Whilst its content is American, the principles of change are universal .....

And now for a student perspective .........

Some thoughts to ponder..........

In what ways have the activities of children changed since you went to school?
What were your primary ways of communicating as a child or student?
Are schools teaching in ways that are reflective of the world that their students are living in now?

Making the Shift

Let's take a look at how our system of education came to be and how it has evolved. As you watch this video consider what changes we need to make in order for education to be relevant for students and for the society that they will be working in.

Questions after viewing:

Does your model of learning reflect a production line mentality where standardisation is strived for?
Do you allow for differences in human capacity in your teaching setting?
What changes, if any, can you observe in your own setting that suggests there is a shift in the educational thinking?
Can you suggest further changes that could be implemented at your school so that there is a greater shift from the factory generated model of education to a model that values diversity in learning styles?
Who are your learners and how do you cater for their learning needs?

Take this poll to examine the main types of activities that your children undertake in the classroom. This is a chance for some self-reflection on your current teaching practices.

View this video on the impact of mobile devices on K-12 education? Then consider some of the questions below:

The Impact of Mobile Devices on K12 Education from CraigMichaels, Inc. on Vimeo.

How could you use mobile devices in your classroom?
What changes would you need to make to your teaching practices if this were to happen?
What do you believe online learning might mean and what does it look like in everyday teaching?
What management issues would you need to consider?
Who are your learners and how do you cater for their needs
Does learning need to be 24/7 as suggested in the video?

Design a poster of some of the ideas and beliefs that you have discovered about using mobile devices in the classroom.
CLICK on the image below to take you to WORDLE to create your own.

Collaboration

So where to from here? This page has certainly given you plenty of food for thought and if it's done its job it has probably opened up a plethora of questions. The key focus should centre around the question,
"How will the use of mobile technologies enhance the teaching and learning process for our school?"
Ideally, in a school situation, all members of the teaching staff would have undertaken the learning experiences on this page so that discussion about the issues for your particular school setting would be stimulated. There will be many responses to the questions on this page and time needs to be allocated for the ideas and beliefs to formulate.

The following interactive tools could be set up to generate ideas and allow others to respond to them and build on them.

Towards a Vision of Teaching and Learning...

Today's Student

Making the Shift

Collaboration

Wallwisher

Google Docs

Wikispaces

Wordpress

Bubbl.us

Flowchart Software

Blogger

Edublogs

Wiggio