Mobile Learning is a growing trend in education.
In elementary, secondary, and higher Ed classrooms, teachers are finding more and more ways to incorporate mobile learning into their curriculum. And for good reason - students love it. In fact, 82% of undergraduate students say they prefer a blended learning environment (Brooks, 2016). And that's just the tip of the iceberg!
For those of you who haven't been clued in to mobile learning - you may be asking: "What in the world does mobile learning even mean?" Well, I'm glad you asked! According to Educause (2016), Mobile Learning is a term used when incorporating laptops, tablets, and smartphones to provide educational experiences within and outside of the classroom.
4 Reasons You NEED to use Mobile Learning in Your Classroom:
- Student flexibility - Students can engage with activities and lessons in class as well as outside of class. Students who miss class can catch up with online presentations, practice, and even quizzes. Using an online Learning Management System (or LMS), such as CourseSites, assignments and assessments can be completed online whether a student is in the same room or across the country. Makeup quizzes no longer need to be scheduled during class time, further setting a student behind in content.
- Meet students where they are - Mobile activities can be catered to accelerate learning or remediate content to individualize learning for each student. Using an online application like Desmos, instructors can assign work that may start out at or below level for the whole class but increases in difficulty quickly. Some students may finish 3 or 4 challenges as they learn the concept accurately. Other students may complete 12 or more challenges that increase in difficulty and are challenged above what is expected of the majority.
- Students and Teachers can have instant communication - Using technology, teachers can gauge how students are understanding content or what topics need remediating. For a low-tech version, Plickers allows students to use a paper card to submit answers and only the instuctor needs to use a smartphone or tablet. For classrooms with 1:1 ratios (or every student has their own tablet in class), a great resource is GoFormative. Instructors assign a quiz and as students answer, the instructor can give immediate feedback for individual students. Using this option as a test review has allowed me to point students to their common errors before the actual test.
- Students can work Collaboratively - Online projects can be scheduled and conducted fully outside of class time. This ensures that instructional time can be used to focus on content and growth. Students don't need to be together to work together when working through projects created and managed through Google Drive. Students can even create presentations and present them online using a presentation website like Prezi.
These are just a few of the reasons to get you to try Mobile Learning in your classroom! Tell me - why do you use mobile technology in your classroom?
Need more inspiration? Check out the infographic below, created with Piktochart:
Recommended Websites to try:
Desmos: https://teacher.desmos.comCourseSites: https://www.coursesites.com
Plickers: https://plickers.com/
GoFormative: http://goformative.com/
Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/
Prezi: https://prezi.com/
Piktochart: https://piktochart.com/
References:
Brooks, C. D. (2016). ECAR study of undergraduate students and information technology. Louisville, CO: ECAR. Retrieved fromhttps://library.educause.edu/resources/2016/6/~/media/files/library/2016/10/ers1605.pdf
Educause Library (2016) Mobile Learning. https://library.educause.edu/topics/teaching-and-learning/mobile-learning
