cellular learning

  What is NYSCATE?  Well, it is the New York Association for Computers and Technologies in Education.  I have been at their state conference in Rochester, NY for the past 2 days.    Today, I attended two workshops that interested me greatly.  The first, lead by Mike Amante with the New Hartford School District in New York, focused on iPod Touches as  mobile learning devices.  Mike is an Apple Distinguished Educator and has been using the Touch in school for a couple of years now.  His workshop interested me because of my recent discovery of the potential of the use of the Touch in my classroom.  Mike made an interesting comment that I feel the need to reiterate here.  He stated that we should not assume that the iPod would replace the computer in the classroom.  On the contrary, the iPod should be used to supplement the computer. 

 

I agree that mobile devices like the iPod or a cell phone can not quite make up for the power of a laptop or pc for each student in the classroom.  However, these tools have the potential to be great tools for learning. They are a low cost solution to a problem of providing technology to every student in the classroom.  At $200 to $400 each, they are still cheaper than many of the laptops that would need to be purchased for students. 

I saw many wonderful apps today that could be used on an iPod to promote learning.  There is the voice recorder Voxie that could be used for language practice.  The LoseIt App for calorie counting in health classes.  Using mobile Google apps for data collection.  Mike showed us these and gave ideas on the implementation.  His experience is invaluable to anyone interested in implementing these devices in their classes.  A site that he demonstrated with wealth of information educational applications for the iPod touch is located at the Apple Learning Interchange.

 

I also heard Maureen Lindell speak about her experiences using cell phones and iPods in her English classroom.  Like Mike she presented a wealth of information about iPod apps that aid her in teaching English.  She is using both cell phones and iPods in her classrooms.  Like me, she is running a pilot program at her school in East Chester, NY.

 

I would like to give a shout out to NYSCATE for choosing such good presenters.  These two were among many outstanding presenters at this conference.  I look forward to working with both of these individuals in the future.  Those of us who use cell phones and other mobile devices are few but our numbers are growing.

Recently,  I was challenged by Elliot Soloway (Link to his blog) to begin a series of pedagogical discussions related to mobile devices.  This is the first post to answer that challenge. Today I am focusing on anonymity. 

What does anonymity have to do with education?  Anonymity creates a more equitable environment for learners in a classroom.  Anonymity can also empower the learner to participate when they otherwise would not (Davis, 2003).  In my cell phone class room,  I have several students who constantly volunteer to answer questions and others who never speak out at all and actually fear being asked for an answer.  These shy and fearful students tend to coast through the lesson with as little recognition as possible. As educators, we need to engage these shy and fearful learners and make them into active participants in our classrooms.   Active student participation has been positively associated with student achievement (Graham, Tripp, Seawright, & Joekel, 2007).  I would theorize that the cell phone can increase student participation because of the anonymity of responses.

Using sites like wiffiti.com or polleverywhere.com allows students to anonymously post responses to the class discussions.  This empowers and engages even the most shy student and allows them to participate without fear of being called out or recognized.  I have students that are much more willing to answer questions when they know that they are anonymous.  Many times, these shy students do have correct answers, and, by enabling them to respond with anonymity, these students feel empowered when they see they have the correct answers to discussion questions.

The true key for any teacher is to engage all students in  a discussion, not just a boisterous few.  The cell phone is one solution to the engagement we desire in our learners.

 

References:

Davis, S. (2003).  Observations in classrooms using a network of handheld devices. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 19(3), pp 298-307

Grahm, C., Tripp, T., Seawright, L., & Joekel, G. (2007).  Empowering or compelling reluctant participators using audience response systems. Active Learning in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1177/146978740781885

I know that I have not blogged in a couple of weeks, but my doctoral studies have kept me quite busy as I am nearing the end of a term.

 

This video shows my students at work with their cell phones developing flickr.com slideshows for demonstration of their work.    I will be posting exemplars of this at a later date.  I have started using flickr for slide shows instead of photobucket for the simple fact that I can pause a flickr slideshow.  This makes it simpler to pause student work.  One drawback i have found using varying phone technology has to do with the quality of the camera in the phone – some phone cameras just not that good.  Some students are now using digital cameras for their work and others are now submitting handwritten work to compensate for low quality cameras.

This video is a 30 second cut from a group activity performed in my class this week. It shows my student’s response on wiffiti.

I had them break into groups of 4 that contained at least one smart phone per group. Each group was then tasked to answer the following questions and put their responses up on their assigned wiffiti board.

The only tool they had to find those answers was the smart phone contained in each group.

 

Group A: 

1. Who "coined" the term matrix?

2. When did the matrix first appear?

3. Name 3 other contributors to matrix mathematics.

 

Group B:

Name 4 real world uses of matrices.

 

Group C:

Name 5 different math operations that work with matrices.

 

Group D:

1. What is a matrix?

2. What is a determinant?

3. What is a square matrix?

4. What axiom did Russell and Whitehead use the word matrix with?

 

This was the first time I had approached a topic using groups in this manner.  I only have four students in the room equipped with smart phones. As a result, I created the four groups.  However, on that day, one of my students with a smart phone was not in attendance.  You can imagine the problem this created fro this group.  I had to given them my smart phone for this activity.  There was a little bit of a learning curve for them with that phone but they worked with it and were successful at the activity.

I was very pleased with my students and their performance of this activity.  They were able to construct knowledge on their own about what a matrix is and its uses. 

The issue of the lack of smart phones lead me to have a conversation with my district’s director of instructional technology about the use of the iPod touch in activities like this.  I have even found an app for the iPod touch that allows the sending of sms texts without having a cell phone number or account. The name of this app is textPlus found at http://beta.gogii.com/v/textplus.html.  Since my room has access to a wireless access point, this will enable the ten or so students in my room with iPod touches to also contribute to group activities.  This also allows a low cost solution for students with out cell phones to participate in all activities if the district were to provide several loaner iPod touch for students who would need them.

One final thought,  as we desire to see increased literacy and desire for students to become life long learners, it is important that we follow every avenue that would lead them to live up to the potential that they truly have.

I attended a snowy conference this week.  This is an image taken yesterday evening with my cell phone.  We were at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY.

 

I heard an interesting statement today while at a technology leadership conference that made me do some thinking.  An individual pointed out that 5 years ago educational technology leaders were all about one laptop for every child.  These leaders claimed to be visionaries who said by this day in time we would see that come to pass.  Today this gentleman asked the same question of Eliot Soloway of the organization GoKnow  regarding the use of mobile devices in the classroom.  Dr. Soloway responded that we will see mobile devices being used by every student for learning in five years.  This seems like a grandiose claim, but is it?  When we consider the fact that in 2008 over 38 million laptops were sold (Global Sources, 2009) and that 1.28 billion mobile phones were sold in 2008 (Wireless and Mobile News, 2009), one can easily see that cell phone use is vastly outpacing laptop use.  Our children,  our students, are using cell phones as part of their lives.  Many feel they can not  exist with out them.  In 5 years, the potential truly does exist for mobile devices like the cell phone to be used for learning.

 

It was very interesting, hearing Dr. Soloway and the cofounder of his group Dr. Norris speak today.  They spoke of the use of cell phones as learning tools in a variety of classrooms in the United States and even one in Singapore.  Their philosophy is centered around a district provided cell phone for every student.  This philosophy does have its merits.  Districts that provide the mobile devices to students would have a large amount of control over content and use of those phones within their buildings and classrooms.  Also, such a homogenous type of system would allow the use of mobile apps  to which every student and teacher would have access.  This would allow collaboration and sharing of ideas between student and teacher and bring a truly dynamic element to the classroom. 

 

My philosophy is a bit different.  I believe that students should be able to use their own phones.  I know that this lacks the homogeneity  that Dr. Soloway promotes.  However, this takes the burden off the districts for the provision of the technology.  Additional, I believe my philosophy does open up the ability to truly teach responsible use of the technology to our children.  This does put more responsibility on a teachers lesson design and management skills, but I believe our teachers are up to this sort of challenge.  

 

As we begin to assist learners in finding 21st century literacy skills, cell phones are an integral part of that process.  We cannot ignore the impact that cell phones have had on our society.

From personal conversations, I have heard administrators and others say that cell phones have no place in the classroom.  In fact, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City said regarding cell phones in school, "They just don’t belong in the classroom any more than they belong, you know, than you should beg in texting when you’re driving. That one’s dangerous for your life" (New York Post, 2009).  When I hear comments like this, I can’t help but want to sit down with individuals like this to show them the great potential of mobile devices like the cell phone in learning.  To show them, when used correctly, that cell phones are more than just tools for bullying, distraction, drug deals, sexting, etc.  I could go on with all the dangers that I have read or heard over the past several months.

I believe that many of these issues can be addressed with proper planning by teachers and administrators.  Many of these issues can be made into teachable moments.  As I have worked with my students over the past month, I have seen their excitement to participate.   I have seen evidence of their growth as they have learned to write about their mathematical work but also to review their peers’ work.  I have never seen a group so engaged and interested in each others comments.  Everyone is participating in an amazing level. 

Skeptics need to the potential that I see in my students.  To see that achievement is possible.

Soloway and Norris once wrote, “Educators can continue to be enforcers, battling with students over mobile devices wasting a unique opportunity in time.  Or educators can make their scarce dollars by ultimately having students use their own devices for school work.”  (taken from The impending mobile mega-disruption, District administration, 44(8), 20-24.  January, 2009)

This is a choice that all educators need to be aware of and not run from.  Our youth are using mobile devices in ways never anticipated by those who created them.  We as educators need to embrace cell phones and use them to foster growth and learning.

Students submitted the first flip book of the year today.  I have included a link to the assignment here. I was very pleased with student responses and work on this assignment.  They chose good problems for their examples; and their comments and reflections were thoughtful and instightful.  I am requiring these students to go above and beyond what all other pre-calculus students are required to do.  As educators in the 21st century, it is our duty to reach learners with 21st century technology.  How can we ask young people who are steeped in web 2.0 technology and mobile technology to learn just from books and lectures.  This course may include the use of cell phones as a tool for learning but it goes beyond that with the inclusion of wikis and blogs that force the students to summarize, reflect, and comment on what they are learning.   Each one of my students are seeking to do their best with these activities and I am proud of them.

The following is an example of student work from the flip book assignment along with the authors reflection.  I chose this one because it does fully represent what was required of the learner and is an exemplar.

“During this unit, my knowledge of factoring has improved greatly. I learned new methods of factoring including the Sum/Difference of Two Cubes, and Perfect Square Trinomials. I was able to recognize, when given a problem, which technique to use, after learning these new methods, along with the ones we have already learned. I find that the most challenging aspect of factoring is being able to identify which method should be used for each problem, and after covering this unit in class, I find it easier to tell.”

I finally feel as if my students are beginning to embrace the use of cellphones for actual educational purposes! Today I did the following polleverywhere.com question with them and had 100% participation. I also found a solution for those who do not have an unlimited texting plan that allows them to contribute to these polls. The Ipod Touch and a wifi hotspot!!!! When the student found that he could use an Ipod to participate he was very excited. I am very encouraged to see the work that my students are doing. Tomorrow we go into a computer lab to work with a wiki I am having them build and to work on a flip-book project as well.

The first few days of classes have come and gone.  I wanted to reflect on my thoughts about the week.  The first issue that I have noticed is that I am not getting 100% participation, yet.  Many of the students are eager to work with their phones, but I do seem to have some hold outs.  I did several text based activities with the students.  I do have two students without an unlimited texting plan on their phones, so I have had to adapt to their needs.  Fortunately, pen and paper are still amazing tools of communication. I believe the power of many of the web applications that exits for sms texting lies in the anonymity of the text.  I am including an example of a wiffiti.com screen below that shows their responses to a review assignment.  Notice the names that show with each text.  This anonymity should allow even the shyest student an ability to participate without the fear of being heard and teased.

I am encouraged by this experience.  I am being challenged and learning along with my students.  I look forward to how much I will learn throughout the year.

Well, next Tuesday marks the beginning of classes for me. My precalculus class has 18 students, at this time.  I believe this is an ideal size for a pilot of this nature.  I have been putting a lot of thought into what activities the class will perform the first day.  Of course I need to go over the typical administrivia, seating, books, contact info, etc.  However, I do believe that guidelines as to the use of the phones in class should be established that morning.  I do have a few guidelines that I will be insisting upon:

1. 1.  No cell phone use during written tests and quizzes unless I indicate other wise.
2. 2.  No personal use of cell phones in class.  The only time they should be in use is when assignments are given for their use.

These are the only two major guidelines that must be followed.  However, I do plan a five to ten minute activity where the students help develop the guidelines themselves.  I believe they can take better ownership of them.  This should allow for teachable moments in the future on appropriate cell phone use.

 

As I reflect on the past week, I do believe I am moving in a positive direction for learning.  This work is challenging my own teaching style by taking me out of my comfort zone and allowing students more control of the learning environment.  My students will be demonstrating many 21st century literacy skills in this class, from the use of cell phones to using blogs and wikis for learning.  Several of my colleagues believe I am a bit crazy for doing this kind of work in a math classroom, when my previous methods have always served me well.  But I find still waters stagnate.  If I am not teaching in a dynamic manner, always seeking and growing myself, how can I expect my students to do the same.