Mobile Learning: Enhanced Collaboration through Mobile

Devices in K-12 Science Classrooms

Sylvia Suh-Ngounou

Idaho State University

WyTECC Conference

Rock Springs, April 26th, 2014

Raise your hand if….• Live with a\or K-12 learner(s)?

• Teach or know someone who teaches science classes?

• If you own a mobile device? Have it with you right now?

• Had more than 5 mobile gadgets (mobile phones, laptops, iPads, iPods, ...) in your house last night ?

• Have ever used a mobile device in teaching or learning?

Common Sense Media

•52% of children from 0-8 years have access to mobile devices at home.

•41% smartphones

• 21% video iPods,

• 8% iPad/tablet

•29% of parents have downloaded “apps” for their children to use.

•38% of children have used mobile devices.

•75% of teenagers own a mobile device.

According to the Horizon report in 2012,

•61% of Americans age 12 and up own a mobile device,

•44% own smartphone

•2000 school districts in the US have integrated mobile devices

What is Mobile Learning?

Any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies.

O'Malley et al (2003)

Why do I want to take advantage of mobile learning to teach science?

Possible reasons:

You like (=LOVE) technology.

You want to try out something new with your learners

You have seen your learners all have smart phones or iPods/iTouches/ iPads already. Why not get them to use these for learning?

A few of your learners have asked you to recommend apps, games and other mobile-friendly content they can use out of class.

You’ve read/heard about the benefits of informal learning.

Why Use a Mobile Device?

• It personalizes the learning process

• It enhances social interactions

• Independence

• Anytime and Anywhere learning,

• For easy communication (peers, teachers, other devices).

• Instant notification

• Learning takes place “at” and “around” the mobile device.

• Almost everyone has one

Why Enhance Collaboration?When students work in groups toward a common academic goal (Dooly, 2008).

• Attain higher level thinking

• Preserve information for longer times than students working individually.

Why?

•Students are actively exchanging, debating and negotiating ideas within their groups increases students’ interest in learning.

•There is an age old proverb that says “two heads are better than one”.

K-12 Science Teachers and Mobile K-12 Science Teachers and Mobile DevicesDevices

K-12 science teachers are finding out that mobile devices offer many exciting options for their professional lives (Lucking, Christmann, & Wighting, 2010).

1. Audience Response Systems

2. Camera: Stills/Videos

3. Voice Recorders: Podcasts, etc.

4. Applications

5. Research via the internet (Google, Wiki’s, blogs, discussion boards etc.)

6. Alert Systems

Pedagogical Paradigms

Lets consider many of the current pedagogical paradigms that support learning and in particular collaborative learning, and give some clues to help understand the potential of using mobile devices in this context.

Constructivism

Constructivist’s central idea is that human learning is constructed rather than received, that learners build new knowledge upon the foundation of previous learning (Bruner,1996).

•Discover

•Build new knowledge

•Using appropriate tools

Mobile devices provide this unique opportunity.

Considering a Collaborative Science Project?

Have students use their Smartphones/iPad/tablets to access discussion boards and wikis to elaborate the activity being performed. Exchange of ideas Justify and refine own contributions Acquire new knowledge

iPads for simulations where the learners play an active role in the simulation of a dynamic system or process.

Apps

BehaviorismWithin the behaviorism paradigm, learning is thought to be best facilitated through the reinforcement of an association between a particular stimulus and a response (Caballé, Xhafa,& Barolli, 2010).

• Use it to reward or punish student behaviors

• Stimulate students with the presentation of engaging teaching materials and tasks, obtaining responses from learners, and providing appropriate feedback (reinforcement)

Considering a Collaborative Science Project?

• Use a smartphone to provide real time feedback to your students through Poll Everywhere (www.polleverywhere.com), Socrative.

Situated Learning

Learning takes place through the relationships between people and connecting prior knowledge with authentic, informal, and often unintended related learning.

•It encourages cognitive apprenticeship where teachers (the experts) work alongside students (the apprentices) to create situations where the students can begin to work on problems even before they fully understand them.

Considering a Collaborative Science Project?

• Use a smartphone/tablet/iPad to take observational notes, pictures, compare data about animals and plants, etc.

• Use an iPod to support field-based activities, like:

Listening to pre-loaded instructions, observational notes, reflections, in a podcast.

Explanation of key concepts/ terminologies, background information about the subject, questions students should be thinking about before the class, etc.

Social-cultural Learning

The sociocultural theory of learning views that learning takes place in a social context (Rogers, 2002).

•collaborative group work and sharing with peers (and others).

The mobile environment can make a significant contribution to this process.

By….

Effective Mobile Collaborative Strategies in the Science Classroom

• Establish a group goal

• Establish flexible group rules

• Manageable amount of data

• Use real world problems

• Use a collaboration script with assigned tasks, roles, and groups

• problem solving and critical thinking skills

• Incorporate free savvy tools (Socrative, Voicethread, Zoho, google docs, Zotero etc) http://www.missiontolearn.com/2009/08/free-online-collaboration/

• Have a back up plan

Science should be taught in whatever way is most likely to engage the active involvement of learners and make them feel willing to take on the serious intellectual work of reconstructing meaning.

(Millar et al., 2001, p 289)

Ideally science instruction will ensure that students learn complex science in the context of inquiry and have an experience of mastering new topics or technologies relevant to their personal needs or goals

(Linn, 2004, p 9)

Contact Information

Sylvia Suh-NgounouStudent Advising CenterCollege of Education

Idaho State University

Phone: 208 282 5887

Fax: 208 282 3791

ReferencesCaballé, S., Xhafa, F., & Barolli, L. (2010). Using mobile devices to support online collaborative learning. Mobile Information Systems, 6(1), 27-47.

Common Sense Media, retrieved March 24th, 2014 from http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Lucking, B., Christmann, E., & Wighting, M. (2010). Hang up and learn: Cell phones in the science classroom. Science Scope, 33(9), 82-85.

Scanlon,E., Jones, A. & Waycott, J. (2005). Mobile technologies: prospects for their use in learning in informal science settings.

Traxler, J. (2009). The evolution of mobile learning. The evolution of mobile teaching and learning, 1-14.

http://www.polleverywhere.com/classroom-response-system