The Value of Mobile Technology in Teaching and Learning

My personal experience with mobile technology and learning starts and ends with the odd dabble with Google – employed, usually, to resolve an argument with friends over some fact or other.  I have never really considered mobile technology as a learning aid.  But I suppose that even something so simple as fact checking the distance from one country to another, or the correct spelling of an unfamiliar word, is a learning experience in itself.

I recently read this British Council blog, authored by ‘educator, multimedia author and editor’ Joanna Norton, entitled ‘Teaching Tips: How Students can use their Mobile Phones to Learn English’.

In it, she notes that:

“Camera phones provide a great way to ask learners to ‘notice’ grammar around them. You can encourage students to take photos of street signs, menus, advertisements, or other examples of written English that they see around them. Spotting the misuse of apostrophes (‘s) or noticing incorrect spelling are my favourites.”

I make these observations ALL THE TIME!  I don’t take photos of the offenders, but how many times have I pulled up behind a white van assuring me that ‘no job is to small’ or winced at a sign offering to clean your ‘window’s’?  So, why not make this a learning tool?  Why not encourage my students to do the same?  It seems an obvious way to get teenage learners engaged.  And this kind of learning could be sustainable over a term: for example, learners could be asked to collate images of bad grammar to build a Pinterest board which would in turn generate discussion.

But, what considerations do we, as teachers, need to keep in mind when incorporating mobile technology into our teaching?

The Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) have issued a good practice guide entitled ‘Mobile learning: how mobile technologies can enhance the learning experience’, which contains a handful of case studies pertaining to the various uses of mobile technology.  One of these studies – ‘Warning! Modelling effective mobile learning is infectious. An example from higher education’ (Chrissi Nerantzi, Juliette Wilson, Nadine Munro, Gemma Lace-Costigan and Neil Currie, University of Salford) – notes that: 

“The student body is more diverse than ever and technological advancements are shaping how we live. Learning and teaching are changing too. Increasingly we talk about networked and connectivist pedagogies, the need for more flexibility and openness in our offer as well as lifewide and lifelong learning and professional development. Mobile devices are making it possible to seamlessly integrate learning and teaching supported by technology in and outside the physical classroom in on and off campus based programmes in new and exciting ways (Conole and Alevizou, 2010). However, a deep knowledge and understanding of digital literacies are required to make mobile learning work well for teachers and students to maximise learning (Aviram and Eshet-Alkalai, 2006; Johnson et al, 2013).”

The phrase that interests me most here is this one: “Increasingly we talk about networked and connectivist pedagogies”.  This is the aspect of mobile learning that really appeals to me – the potential it has to help combine and share ideas.  Incidentally, this is also what I have found most exciting about my first experience of blogging – look at all those people out there, typing away, handing you their ideas.

I will return to the British Council blogpost I mentioned earlier.  It is just a short post, but it’s a mine of ideas, and already those ideas have begun to encourage my own. 

Joanna Norton tells us that: 

“Another useful tool is the recording function on mobile devices. Here are three examples:

1) Learners can record themselves speaking English and share it with friends, who can offer feedback. This is a great opportunity to practise pronunciation.

2) Learners can record conversations with native speakers on a range of topics and integrate them into projects.

3) Learners can use the microphone creatively, and incorporate voice recordings into edited videos.

Mobile technology turns the question ‘What did you do last weekend?’ into a personal story,

 as learners can share with the group photos or videos of what they did, where they went, and how they felt. They can also share their social media activity, providing an opportunity to explore what their friends thought of the weekend.”

So, how about having an English student record themselves reading a Shakespeare soliloquy on their mobile phone – wouldn’t that bring the language to life for them?  How about having each class member record themselves reading a poem and then editing them together so that it becomes a class performance – wouldn’t that deepen understanding?

The aforementioned UCISA case study regards ‘connectedness’ as the best result of mobile learning.  It says:

“The biggest bonus for the tutor and students is, in our opinion, more flexible and extended opportunities for connectedness, on the go support and troubleshooting, but also the exchange of ideas and learning opportunities. These are not necessarily led by the tutor, but more through peer to peer learning, a desirable and powerful reciprocal learning motivator that also makes learning more enjoyable (Boud, 2001).”

And as much as I might have wanted to, before I started writing this blog, I cannot see the negative in that.  Do I believe mobile technology plays too big a part in our day-to-day lives?  Yes!  Do I want, in teaching English, to promote books and reading off actual paper more than anything else?  Yes!  Am I being forced, by increments, to admit that mobile technology might just have a place in the classroom?  Well, yes, I suppose I am.  So long as it is aiding the learning rather than leading it, I suppose I am. 

I might not be quite ready to admit it yet, but it’s a resource I fully intend to utilise.