You Tube - Mobile Learning: What is that?
Dr William Rankin
This is a clip from Apple distinguished educator Dr William Rankin.
“I can’t see the forest because of all the trees.”
I appreciated the simple explanation about mobile technologies given by Dr Rankin. I am going to show this clip to other teachers at my school. I am an IT coordinator and I often face resistance to using new technologies. We still have many staff that use computers as word processors only – they book computers to allow students to type up assignments. As we are trying to change the perception of technology in our school I found the passion with which Dr Rankin spoke and the simple terminology very appealing to me and I can see other staff may also benefit. I also think it may appeal to my junior business class. It may help them see mobile technologies as more than just music storage and a game playing tool.
This clip is part of a larger speech given but I found this short, sharp version to be more beneficial than the longer version. As it only goes for a few minutes’ staff and students hopefully will give it their full attention and not tune out part way through. It is certainly something that all educators have faced before “How do I help my students understand not just fragments of information but to see whole concepts? To see how all the pieces fit together to see it as a whole.
New technologies allow us to carry the library with us. I have certainly never carried a textbook for use outside the classroom – for many reasons including the one given in the clip about not wanting to damage it. Mobile technologies allow us to leave the four walls of the classroom behind. They allow us to discover new ways to help our students. Information does not have to be fragmented anymore.
“We can now see the trees and the forest”
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ReplyDeleteDelete Comment From: Mobile Me
ReplyDeleteMobile Me-dia said...
I, too, have this issue about the way that technology is viewed and incorporated into the teaching and learning occurring in the classroom. What we need is a shift in the way we view teaching and learning. Dr Stephen Heppell says that we need a new DNA for teachers. Teaching methods used to deal with an industrial age where information was held by the few has given way to the digital age where information anyone can access information using the web. Teaching methods, however, are still focused on the teacher holding the knowledge and gradually revealing this to students. There needs to be movement towards being co -constructors of knowledge, of incorporating collaboration and independent pathways into our methods. Computers are not just glorified typewriters....they can be the keys to a world of learning, anytime, anywhere!
by Karen D
Karen D comment part 2:
ReplyDeleteI really liked the analogy that was made by Dr Rankin. Great resource! Now that I have had a bit more reflecting time I wanted to add to my previous comment. I think that not only do we need to review our teaching methods, we also need to review closely our student expectations and encourage and teach students how to engage with the world by asking active, analytical high level questions. It is no use having a library of books in your pocket if you don't engage with, question, wonder or reflect on the world around us. It is limited to stand in the forest and only asking what kind of tree is that? Students should be asking: Why does it grow here? Why do its leaves/bark/seeds look like that? What would happen if this tree wass planted in the snow/ desert/ wetland? What animals are using it? Why? If it fell would it only make a sound if I was there to hear it? :) Questions are the windows to the world.....the device is just the rocket ship to take us there!