Walden 6177 Week 4 Blog Post

Let’s talk about mobile (M) learning.  M-Learning refers to the use of handheld, portable, and wireless devices by learners on the move (Park, 2011).  What kinds of devices are we talking about?  Smartphones, laptops, tablets, and various other personal media players can all be used for learning.  The two I want to focus on in this post are iPhones and the MacBook Air laptop computer.  However, the benefits we’ll discuss most likely are available on the majority of mobile devices to include other brands of smartphones, tablets, and lightweight, digital memory, laptops. 

Why would I use iPhones (or other brands of smartphones) in my classroom?  Because everybody has one and they have the potential of being an incredibly powerful learning resources.  According to a not-so-recent study, (Koszalka & Ntloedibe-Kuswani, 2010), in 2008, 87% of adults between the ages of 18 and 45 owned a mobile phone.  Undoubtedly the number is much higher today, with the majority of those phones being “smartphones” capable of high-speed Internet connections.  Smartphones, like the Apple iPhone, have enormous potential as learning resources because they put so many different learning mediums at the user’s fingertips (Bonk, 2009).  In one device you can access videos, websites, podcasts, PDF files, and many other learning  assets. 

My strategy for using smartphone technology in my classroom would include encouraging my students to periodically check for class updates and announcements in forums I’d set up such as Twitter or Facebook.  I would also encourage them to use mobile learning apps, such as Mobile Learn from Blackboard, to turn in assignments, stay up to date on their group work, and post to class discussion boards while they are on the go.

Another mobile device I will encourage the use of is a lightweight, digital memory laptop computer like the Apple Mac Book Air.  At less than an inch thick and lighter than large soda at your favorite fast-food dive, the Mac Book Air has an astonishing array of software available for use by adult learners (Bonk, 2009).  The thing I like about the Air is the digital memory.  Gone are the days I had to wait for my bulky laptop to boot up so I could use it.  Now I open up my Air and in a matter of seconds it is ready to go.  At my disposal are an incredible selection multimedia resources I can use to conduct research, write papers, develop presentations, record video and sound, and share my work with my classmates.

I will urge my students to use laptops like the Air to bring learning resources to the classroom and bring the classroom to wherever they are (Koszalka & Ntloedibe-Kuswani, 2010).  At home they can complete assignments on their laptops.  In the classroom they can share what they’ve learned with the instructor and their classmates.  I know from personal experience that with apple products in particular, sharing information stored on your mobile device, (iPhone or Mac Book), is easy if you also happen to have an Apple TV unit hooked up to a projector or large screen TV.  With such a set up, anyone in the class with an Apple device can “Airplay” whatever is displayed on their device unto the screen or TV.  For example, students in the class could take turns showing videos or articles to the entire class from their own seats.  No one has to get up and use the instructor’s computer or transfer his or her data to the classroom computer.  The Apple technology makes it easy to share. 

Cheers!

Ron N.

References 

Bonk, C. J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Koszalka, T. A., & Ntloedibe-Kuswani, G. S. (2010). Literature on the safe and disruptive learning potential of mobile technologies. Distance Education, 31(2), 139–157.

Park, Y. (2011). A pedagogical framework for mobile learning: Categorizing educational applications of mobile technologies into four types. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(2), 78–102.