Exploration: Mobile Learning

At the present time I am not in a class so my explorations in this lab where limited. Before taking CEP 812, I did have an experience with Poll Everywhere which was a great interaction for a portion of the students who had this experience. The survey consisted of picking qualities of candidates for student leadership. This survey was to be administered to 228 students. This is where we encountered a problem with the free version. The amount of students was over the limited allotted for the free version. In order to conduct this survey, the services would have needed to be upgraded to the school wide plan which has a cost. I believe it would be well worth a school looking into but with the financial state of most districts, it may not be feasible.

One mobile device I find useful is the use of Asus, Oplay mini media player that reads, MiniSD, MicroSD, ( MiniSDHC and MicroSDHC with passive adapters), flash drives and can connect to any High Definition Multimedia Interface, HDMI device. MiniSDHC and Micro SDHC can be removed from your cell phones to display videos, photos or even play music. This is a good substitute for using flip camcorders or digital camera. Many times last years I wanted to use video located on YouTube for instructions. YouTube is a prohibited site in most districts. I was able to use Keepvid to recorded the video to mp4 format and store it on a MicroSD or SDHC card. Without a computer, the Oplay can connect directly to a projector or television for viewing. The challenges I foresee with this mobile technology is receiving the proper training on how to effective use this device. A solution a district could take is to take a look at how to secure sites that are useful for teacher and find a way to make them accessible. The primary reason I purchased this device was to have use of information blocked for sites that my students and I felt was useful.

One of the things I would like to try is using QR codes. For older student who have cell phones this is a great way to provide them with learning using a mobile device. Many of the technologies presented are geared directly at older students so elementary teachers must improvise. I researched using a 2D USB bar code reader which can be purchased for under $35. This will be a great assistance to direct younger students to learning without having the teacher typing in or bookmarking multiple URL’s during a lesson. The challenges I see with this problem would more than likely be cost and availability of the bar code readers. Most school district conduct the business of purchasing technological devices systematically which may not include using Amazon or Ebay.