The University of Bristol is conducting research into the impact of 1:1 access to mobile learning devices at KS2 and KS4. Five schools, which are part of the Learning2Go or Hand-e-Learning projects, are being investigated.
This Development and Research project is using mixed methods to evaluate impact in terms of learners’ learning skills, attendance, behaviour and attainment. It will also review the success of the implementation and sustainability of the schools’ PDA initiatives and provide examples of emerging good pedagogic practice.
The final reports from the project will be available in Winter 2008.
The initial implementation of mobile projects is logistically challenging.
The open negotiation of contracts of acceptable and responsible use with learners and parents can be very useful in clarifying issues and building mutual trust.
When learners expect devices to be used, they are more likely to bring them to school every day and keep them charged. When all pupils in a class have their devices with them, the learning benefits are optimised.
Teachers need to play an integral role in choosing software and content to ensure that it is relevant to learners’ needs. They are then more likely use the devices.
Where possible, all relevant staff – especially teaching assistants, ICT co-ordinators and teachers – should be provided with mobile devices.
Implementation – technical
It is beneficial to ensure reliable wireless connectivity.
It is useful to consider systems for dealing with breakages and temporary loss of use of devices. This may involve planning for temporary loan stock.
Systems for storage of and access to work need to be developed. Teachers and learners need to access digital work to provide and receive feedback.
Consideration can usefully be given to possible software solutions to teachers’ issues around observing process, tracking progress and formative assessment.
Professional development of teachers
Teachers benefit from having time to explore what the devices can do before integrating their use into planned learning.
Using mobile devices is likely to increase learner autonomy. Teachers need to ensure that learners are able to evaluate resources, think critically and reflect.
It is important to consider the ways in which mobile devices are integrated with other (ICT and traditional) tools in learning at home and at school.
Asked how teaching compared to being an astronaut, Mrs Morgan, 55, replied: “Astronauts and teachers actually do the same thing. We explore, we discover and we share.
“And the great thing about being a teacher is you get to do that with students, and the great thing about being an astronaut is you get to do it in space, and those are absolutely wonderful jobs.”
Interesting article from the BBC on how researchers are using Bluetooth and Facebook.
A team of UK researchers is combining the power of social network Facebook with communications tool Bluetooth to learn more about human interactions.
Bath University scientists have created a tool which can use the unique ID of Bluetooth devices, like a mobile phone, to build new friendship networks.
Users register with the Facebook tool, called Cityware, that tracks encounters in the real world via Bluetooth.
So there I was on leave, when I got a phone call from work, someone needed access to JORUM. Though they had an Athens account, they probably weren’t part of the staff group we have which allows access to JORUM (as JORUM is a staff only resource). So using my Athens Administrator account details I tried to login to Athens from home, only to find that I couldn’t because it was also restricted by IP address! So unfortunately the member of staff will have to wait till next week, because the other Athens administrator is also on leave (come on it is August, virtually no one is around).
Now I suppose if we had a VPN at work I could have logged into that and then I could have access. Or if I had my home IP address “added” to the list of safe IP addresses (I have done this before with other IP restricted resources). However at this point neither of those are possible, so the member of staff will have to wait a week!
Will Shibboleth solve these issues? Maybe, maybe not, as you still need to administrate accounts with Shibboleth.
Found this interesting article on the BBC News website.
Girl overdoses on espresso coffee – A teenager was taken to hospital after overdosing on espresso coffee.
It would appear that she had seven double espresso coffees and as a result had overdosed on caffeine!
A warning to all coffee lovers out there, I know that a lot of teachers and lecturers seem to thrive on coffee, or they can only survive through the average day in FE by drinking coffee.
It would seem that extra caution is needed where I work as we now have Starbucks coffee available in our college cafes and I quite like the off Starbucks espresso now and again .
TechDis have published the third of their accessibility essentials guides. This third guide can tell you all you need to know about creating accessible presentations in PowerPoint.
As multimedia presentations are increasingly favoured as a means of delivering lectures, the importance of making them accessible to all learners becomes crucial. Software such as PowerPoint can present barriers to some learners, but it can also support others, and this Guide to Creating Accessible Presentations can show you how.
It has four sections:
Using Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibly within Teaching and Learning
Implementing Inclusive Practice
Delivering Presentations Inclusively
Good Practice in Providing Alternative Outputs to Support Accessibility
The guide also looks at the importance of making PowerPoint components accessible for others to re-use.
The JISC-funded TechWatch service recently published a major – and hugely popular – report on Web 2.0 and its implications for education and research. In this Podcast Philip Pothen speaks to TechWatch’s director Gaynor Backhouse about the work of the service and why the report has been so successful.
Web Worker Daily has a nice feature on how to use Facebook for business or in a professional capacity.
Let’s look at 12 ways Facebook can benefit the web worker, particularly those who are home-based. The more connected you are to your co-workers and clients without being intrusive, the better your working relationship.
I am a relatively recent convert to Facebook (more for discovering the potential of the site then for other reasons, but I have managed to make contact with some old colleagues from at-Bristol which is nice). For me there are quite a few ways in which Facebook can be used both as e-learning professionals but also to support and enhance learning.
The presentations from the JISC Digitisation Conference 2007 are now available from the conference blog. This will be useful as (obviously) I couldn’t attend all the parallel sessions and there were quite a few I wanted to attend.
news and views on e-learning, TEL and learning stuff in general…
