george saltsman - teaching and learning at abilene christian university george saltsman: pedagogy...

The Pedagogy and Practice of

Mobile Learning

SLN SOLsummitFebruary 27, 2014

Thursday, February 27, 14

“Abilene Christian University gave out iPhones or iPod Touches … to transform its campus into a 200-acre Petri dish for studying the

intersection of mobile technology and higher education.”

Steve Kolowich, “The Mobile Campus,” Inside HigherEd. 21 September 2009.

exploring mobility


near saturation of faculty with devices (over 95%)

faculty experimentation, utilization and innovation

multiple national grants

42 formal research projects73 funded investigationsinnumerable explorations

research activities...

research studies at www.acu.edu/connected/research


http://www.acu.edu/connected

http://www.acu.edu/connected

Quiz


tablet versus scroll


scroll versus codex


codex versus tablet


codex versus tablet

?Thursday, February 27, 14

6.8 billion cell-phone subscribers-International Telecommunications Union


1.8 Billion iOS and Android Devices

1 Million iOS apps available with 60B downloads

875,000 Android apps available with 40B downloads


emphases of learning in oral culturesteachers live and work in relationship with students

teachers serve as guides or mentors, emphasizing learning by practice and apprenticeship

emphasis on contextual learning, using knowledge in particular contexts

repetition and assessment lead to independent praxis

learning as embodied, subjective, dialectic, and broadly interconnected


What is the greatest challengeof the oral information age?


accessing information

What is the greatest challengeof the oral information age?


Johannes Gutenberg c1398 – 1468


what is the greatest challengeof the print information age?


finding information

what is the greatest challengeof the print information age?


emphases of learning in print cultureteachers serve as the primary conduit of information, with students as receivers

emphasis on differentiating, classifying, and cataloguing

focus on memorization of facts and data

repetition is primary, analysis is secondary

learning as hierarchical, “objective,” standardized, and narrowly-defined


what is the greatest challengeof the digital information age?


what is the greatest challengeof the digital information age?

assessing information


the major pitfall of the 21st century teaching:

“the belief that most of what we know will remain relatively unchanged for a long enough period of time to be worth the effort of transferring it”

Thomas and Brown (2011)


the purpose for teaching?


in the digital age…


information is a commodity

in the digital age…


“Never again is someone going to pay you to answer a question that they can look up on Wikipedia”

Seth Godinc1960–


print information age digital information ageInformation is “scarce” and

publishing is limited. Quality

and assessment of informa-

tion are assured by the pro-

fessionalized processes of

publishing and cataloguing

Information is abundant and

publishing is pervasive and

easily accessible. Access to

information is assured, but

automated cataloguing and

easy publishing limit quality

and assessment

rethinking pedagogy


If I imagine my primary job as a teacher is to serve information, am I helping solve the current

informational problem or make it worse?


And given the vast complexity of the informational network, if I insist on my centrality, does that establish or harm my credibility as a teacher?


If assessing information – and the wisdom & experience that requires – is the central challenge of the current

informational age, are teachers more or less necessary?


print information age digital information ageCourse presentations and

materials are typically devel-

oped in advance outside of

class with teachers as primary

developers

Course presentations and

materials are developed

dynamically both inside and

outside of class with students

as co-developers or even

primary developers

rethinking pedagogy


http://blogs.acu.edu/learningstudio/

co-development: campus-wide media literacy




mobile blogging: community“We saw deep interest in being able to access... material on the fly, wherever [students] are, and being able to have a large-scale conversation with 1,000 freshmen. A professor can look at it and pull out special information for a discussion. What was only a virtual space becomes both a virtual and an interactive space in the classroom.”


print information age digital information ageCourse activity typically

focuses on presentation of

information with students

contextualizing, practicing, or

using information at home.

Course activity typically

focuses on students con-

textualizing, practicing, or

using information with

delivery of information

occurring outside of class

through media.

rethinking pedagogy


Source: Mayrath, Nihilani, & Perkins, 2011

course materials delivered on iPad...

majority of students positive about functionality:

ease of use, accessibility, and convenience

use of glossary, formulas, quizzes and flashcard features

increased motivation and study time


print information age digital information ageThe classroom is the primary

site of access to course

content, and access is often

“linear”– students cannot

typically return to previous

class presentations

Access to course content is

often recursive or “on-

demand,” allowing students to

return to content when and as

often as they’d like

rethinking pedagogy


written documents

MSDS/safety info

search tool

response tool

Podcasts in two categories: chemistry calculations and laboratory techniques

MEIBL: addressing student preparation


“Highly motivated”Podcast treatment

n = 33Lecture treatment

n = 20

Lab Reports 95.99 ± 2.74 91.80 ± 4.45

Quizzes 86.95 ± 6.56 79.44 ± 11.00

Lab Final Exam 83.24 ± 6.91 79.45 ± 10.28

Lab Course Grade 93.64* ± 3.13 88.72* ± 5.93

* Welch’s t-test indicates these are statistically significantly different at α = .05 level

MEIBL: addressing student preparation


Mean clarifying interactions by treatment blockMean clarifying interactions by treatment blockMean clarifying interactions by treatment blockMean clarifying interactions by treatment blockMean clarifying interactions by treatment block

Treatment group Contrasting treatmentContrasting treatment Equivalent treatmentEquivalent treatment Week 4

M SD M SD

Podcast treatment teams (n = 24)

2.942* .662 1.942 .485 3.950

Lecture treatment teams (n = 14)

4.478* .866 1.977 .605 4.210

* Welch’s t-test indicates these are statistically significantly different at α = .05 level

Cohen’s d = ( Mt – Mc ) / Spooled

for contrasting treatment block = 2.18

MEIBL: clarifying interactions


print information age digital information ageCourse activity often focuses

on the students as audience

and the teacher as presenter

Course activity focuses on

students as participants and

agents and the teacher as

guide or mentor

rethinking pedagogy


Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

flipping Blooms


Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

flipping Blooms

Relevancy

Thinking Skills

Making Connections

Pure Memorization


Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

flipping Blooms


Cambridge University Press

Bell Labs

real world projects to drive engagement


print information age digital information ageCourse activity emphasizes

exposition and analysis of

pre-screened information –

displaying, organizing,

summarizing, explaining and

critiquing are central

activities

Course activity emphasizes

discovery and application of

information “in the wild” –

and finding, assessing,

synthesizing, and applying

become more central

rethinking pedagogy


John Medinac1943–

Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine

Director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University


John Medinac1943–


John Medinac1943–

you’re doing

it wrong!


John Medinac1943–


John Medinac1943–

John Medinac1943–

“If you wanted to design a learning environment that was diametrically opposed to how the brain works, you’d design something like the modern classroom”


remote teaching examples


print information age digital information ageStudents and teachers have

access to one another pri-

marily in the classroom

In addition to classroom

access, students and teachers

have access to one another

virtually – through online

discussions, email, chat,

social networking, etc.

rethinking pedagogy


print information age digital information ageDiscrete disciplinary bound-

aries are established and

preserved for organizational

necessity

Interdisciplinary connec-

tions are encouraged and

disciplinary boundaries are

seen as porous or even

arbitrary

rethinking pedagogy


what’s holding us back?


Search for: Vision of ACU City Square


the purpose for learning?


thetrash


ThankGeorge Saltsman [email protected]

YouThursday, February 27, 14

george saltsman - teaching and learning at abilene christian university george saltsman: pedagogy...

Education

codex versus

tablet versus

scroll versus

addressing

remote teaching

seattle pacific

print information

oral information