by Bruce Friend
Schools across the United States, indeed across the globe, face the challenge of providing access and support to their teachers on how to use current technologies to engage students and deliver instruction; as well as to engage and inform parents. Many home school parents face these same challenges.
It can seem at times that just as we seem to master one technology, something new comes along that requires us to update our skills and technical awareness. The use of mobile learning technologies and the supporting content and communication tools are one way that many educators are providing a more individualized and collaborative learning environment. A recent report from Project Tomorrow identified the following reasons why schools are implementing mobile learning opportunities:
Why mobile learning?
• Greater ability to individualize learning
• Increases student engagement
• Promotes collaboration with other students
• Increases in attendance and participation
• Increases student engagement
• Mobile Learning is fun
As I read through this report, I was reminded of an interaction that I witnessed between a student and teacher during a school visit last year. During a forum in which teachers and students were brought together share their views on the use of technology in learning, a student used his smart phone to illustrate the disconnect in how such technologies could be leveraged for educational purposes. With a bit of dramatic flair, the student took his device off of his belt and held it up asking the adults in the room what they saw. To a person, all of the teachers stated that it was “a phone.”
“Precisely my point!” the student declared. “You see a phone when in reality this is my computer. This is my connection to information.” He then went on to share how a teacher recently scolded him for “having his phone out in class” when in reality, he was using it to learn more about the topic that the teacher had been discussing in class because he was interested in the lesson.
Access to devices that support mobile learning is rapidly increasing. 2010 marked first year in which sales of mobile devices exceeded PC sales. By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PC as the most common web access device worldwide. Within the next five years virtually all phones sold will be a smart phone.
It would also appear that access to smart phones and other mobile devices is on the rise. Of course this comes as no surprise if you have been with a group of teens lately. Today’s students crave ownership of such devices much like students just had to have a pair of designer jeans in the ‘80s or a pair of Air Jordan sneakers in the ‘90s.
Forty-four percent of K-12 students report have access to a smartphone. The fastest growing segment for new smartphone purchases are for 13-17 year olds. Sixty-two percent of students stated that they prefer mobile devices over laptops for learning.
Of course the rise in the number of our students with smartphones does not come without the need to address appropriate usage and communication. Clearly the statistics above speaks to how educators must rethink how they inform and connect with the students and how we should move past the notion that phones have no place “in class.”
If you have questions about digital content and the use of online learning and what options may be available to you, e-mail me at: bruce.friend@sas.com
Bruce Friend is the Director of SAS® Curriculum Pathways®, an award-winning education resource that provides online lessons, engaging tools and activities at no cost to U.S. educators. Bruce has spent the past decade working in the field of online learning. He is a national pioneer in helping to establish the country’s first statewide online program and has been the chief administrator of two state virtual schools. He has been honored with the “Most Outstanding Achievement in Distance Education” award by the US Distance Learning Association and is a two-time recipient of the Florida Principal Achievement Award. Prior to joining SAS, Bruce was the Vice President of the International Association for K12 Online Learning; a non-profit organization that provides support to students, parents, and online learning programs.
Schools across the United States, indeed across the globe, face the challenge of providing access and support to their teachers on how to use current technologies to engage students and deliver instruction; as well as to engage and inform parents. Many home school parents face these same challenges.
It can seem at times that just as we seem to master one technology, something new comes along that requires us to update our skills and technical awareness. The use of mobile learning technologies and the supporting content and communication tools are one way that many educators are providing a more individualized and collaborative learning environment. A recent report from Project Tomorrow identified the following reasons why schools are implementing mobile learning opportunities:
Why mobile learning?
• Greater ability to individualize learning
• Increases student engagement
• Promotes collaboration with other students
• Increases in attendance and participation
• Increases student engagement
• Mobile Learning is fun
As I read through this report, I was reminded of an interaction that I witnessed between a student and teacher during a school visit last year. During a forum in which teachers and students were brought together share their views on the use of technology in learning, a student used his smart phone to illustrate the disconnect in how such technologies could be leveraged for educational purposes. With a bit of dramatic flair, the student took his device off of his belt and held it up asking the adults in the room what they saw. To a person, all of the teachers stated that it was “a phone.”
“Precisely my point!” the student declared. “You see a phone when in reality this is my computer. This is my connection to information.” He then went on to share how a teacher recently scolded him for “having his phone out in class” when in reality, he was using it to learn more about the topic that the teacher had been discussing in class because he was interested in the lesson.
Access to devices that support mobile learning is rapidly increasing. 2010 marked first year in which sales of mobile devices exceeded PC sales. By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PC as the most common web access device worldwide. Within the next five years virtually all phones sold will be a smart phone.
It would also appear that access to smart phones and other mobile devices is on the rise. Of course this comes as no surprise if you have been with a group of teens lately. Today’s students crave ownership of such devices much like students just had to have a pair of designer jeans in the ‘80s or a pair of Air Jordan sneakers in the ‘90s.
Forty-four percent of K-12 students report have access to a smartphone. The fastest growing segment for new smartphone purchases are for 13-17 year olds. Sixty-two percent of students stated that they prefer mobile devices over laptops for learning.
Of course the rise in the number of our students with smartphones does not come without the need to address appropriate usage and communication. Clearly the statistics above speaks to how educators must rethink how they inform and connect with the students and how we should move past the notion that phones have no place “in class.”
If you have questions about digital content and the use of online learning and what options may be available to you, e-mail me at: bruce.friend@sas.com
Bruce Friend is the Director of SAS® Curriculum Pathways®, an award-winning education resource that provides online lessons, engaging tools and activities at no cost to U.S. educators. Bruce has spent the past decade working in the field of online learning. He is a national pioneer in helping to establish the country’s first statewide online program and has been the chief administrator of two state virtual schools. He has been honored with the “Most Outstanding Achievement in Distance Education” award by the US Distance Learning Association and is a two-time recipient of the Florida Principal Achievement Award. Prior to joining SAS, Bruce was the Vice President of the International Association for K12 Online Learning; a non-profit organization that provides support to students, parents, and online learning programs.
