Week 8: Wireless Technology – Cell phones in the classroom

I am truly interested in integrating cell phones into my high school classes. Seventy nine percent of teens have them and if the majority of them are like my own teenagers, they don’t leave home without them. Rather than saying no, no, no, how can we as educators integrate them to enhance the learning of our students.

Liz Kolb, the guru of cell phones for learning provides a plethora of strategies for integrating cell phones into the classroom. Check out her blog at http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/ On her blog you’ll be able to listen to her blogtalkradio show that she does right from her cell phone. I would love to do it; however at $7500 per month, it’s more than this doctoral student can afford. Her first episode, “Should Cell Phones Be Allowed For Learning”. Interestingly, she talks about a study being done at Presbytarian Ladies College in Sydney (Devaney, 2008). I included this same study in my presentation on Cells Phones in the Classroom. This study demonstrates the importance of creating assessments that align with 21st Century Skills.

Hall Davidson is also a supporter of cell phones for learning. He presented at NECC in San Antonio this past July. His presentation, “It’s in your pocket: Teaching spectacularly with cell phones” highlights strategies for teachers who wish to incorporate cell phones into their classrooms.

Davidson, H. (July 1, 2008). It’s in your pocket: Teaching spectacularly with cell phones. Presented at the National Educators Computing Conference, San Antonio, TX. Retrieved October 11, 2008 from http://ubiquitousthoughts.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/necc-2008-july-1-hall-davidson-on-cell-phones-in-education/

Devaney, L. (Sept. 2008). Open book exam 21st century-style: Educators begin to ponder if students should be allowed to use digital devices to take tests. Retrieved October 11, 2008 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=55284

Week 7 Synchronous and Asynchronous Discussions

This week as I was researching synchronous and asynchronous learning I came across a study that compared the two types of online discussions. Fernandez and Ghosh (2004) conducted a study of an online mathematics teachers’ course to compare the participation rate during synchronous and asynchronous discussion. The study revealed 40% of the students felt they were able to share their thoughts more freely in an online discussion compared to when they were in a traditional face-to-face classroom. The study found that the asynchronous discussions allowed students a greater amount of time to formulate responses and offered flexibility in when they joined the discussion. Interestingly, 100% of the participants checked back to see if anyone had responded to their posts and 60% claimed to be disappointed if no one had while 80% said it was important to read and respond to others posts.( I guess Walden professors have empirical evidence to support their posting requirements :O))

The study reveals that the synchronous discussions provided immediate feedback. The students did comment that within the synchronous format, the responses were shorter and not as well developed and that conversations were sometimes hard to follow. The study revealed the benefits of synchronous discussion to be that students felt they were able to form social connections and develop a sense of community with the classmates. Although the responses were less developed, 67.6% of the students perceived the synchronous discussion to be more valuable.

This study highlights the benefits of integrating both forms of discussion into the online classroom. But does it have to be limited to the online classroom. Rajesh Ratogi ( http://www.eltworld.net/times/2008/10/virtual-classrooms/) comments in his blog that having a blended environment may be the solution to meeting more of our students needs. I agree. I teach in a traditional classroom and I have a CMS which allows me to post assignments, announcements and also lets me integrate live chat and discussion board forums into my daily lessons. I have found the kids enjoy the live chats and really get into it. The discussion board provides them the opportunity to ponder their response and in my opinion use higher level thinking skills. I use the live chats as almost a brainstorming activity and the students take what they have learned from the synchronous discussion and expand upon it in the asynchronous discussion, backing up what they say with research.

Fernandez, M. & Ghosh, S. (2004). Examining asynchronous and synchronous communication in an online mathematics teacher education course. Retrieved October 17, 2008 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p117654_index.html

Podcasting

The technologies explored this week in my Computer Technology and Multimedia course highlight the reality of classroom walls becoming transparent. Podcasting and sreencasting are taking learning outside the confines of the classroom. Learners can take the podcasts virtually anywhere (Yes, even underwater, check out http://www.h2oaudio.com/ ). What does this mean for the teacher? “More and more students come to school with these skills [podcasting]. This is a language they not only understand but use often on a daily basis” (Campbell, 2005, p.35). Teachers are doing them a disservice if they fail to incorporate them into the classroom (Campbell). Yes, it is a new skill to learn; however, the potential benefits of incorporating podcasts can be substantial.

Podcasts have the potential to make the teacher’s job a bit easier. Students missing instruction due to illness or a field trip can listen to a podcast of the lecture without having to spend face-to-face time with the teacher. As a computer science teacher, I often have to show students several times how to perform a function within an application. For example, layering/arranging objects in Publisher. By creating a screencast of the lesson, students may replay the screencast as many times as they like until they get a firm grasp of the concepts. This saves me time and the student does not have to sit idly waiting for me to come over and answer his/her question.I subscribe to NPRs technology podcasts (http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=1019 ). These podcasts allow me to bring information regarding emerging technologies straight to my classroom without spending precious time searching for them. I use these podcasts as an integral part of my weekly lessons. Students listen to the podcast and then post a response to the weekly discussion board. Although I am in a traditional classroom, I have found this approach useful in meeting the diverse needs of my students. Many of my students have IEPs, and listening to a podcast rather than reading a news article provides them with an alternative to understanding the information.Campbell, G. (2005). There’s something in the air: Podcasting in education. Educause Review pp. 33 – 46. Retrieved October 10, 2008 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0561.pdf

Wikis -What Good Are They

Blogs and wikis take education and training out of the confines of the institution. They allow people to learn and gain knowledge from many different sources. My current research interest involves m-learning and the use of cell phones. Liz Kolb is the guru on cell phones for learning. Her blog, Cell Phones for Learning http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com provides the reader with cutting edge information regarding the use of cell phones as learning tools. This information is not yet available in a textbook and most educators are not aware of the resource connections that can be made with a cell phone. Blogs keep pace with the burgeoning change of information. Students in a classroom that is dependent on a textbook and a teacher, who doesn’t subscribe to RSS feeds from blogs, tweets, etc., may ultimately be short changed.Wikis allow for asynchronous collaboration. Wikis are made up of various web pages that can be modified by all members of the group. Members can hold a discussion while making modifications to the pages. In addition, a history of all the alterations is available. Members of the wiki are responsible for creating the content. Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis have created a global collaborative project in which two classrooms, located on opposite sides of the globe, work together to solve real world scenarios http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com based on Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat.” The wiki eliminates the classroom walls and allows for children of different cultures, race, and educational backgrounds to come together to solve a problem.Wikis are not only for collaborative projects. Helen Barrett, a leading authority on e-portfolios, claims a wiki is a free and effective way to create an e-portfolio http://electronicportfolios.org/web20portfolios.html The student can upload his/her artifacts and college and employment recruiters can get a clearer picture of the student’s abilities and personality.I’ve personally used a wiki to do collaborative project in Educ. 8808, 8812, and 8813. In each one of these courses my classmates were spread out across the United States and in one case, a group member was located in South Korea. The wiki was an effective collaboration tool that eliminated the location and time obstacles.