21st century educators

Following up on all the other blogs on 21st century learners, I did a bit of web surfing, looking for ideas of how to engage staff more into using ICT in their teaching. Each year, there is an increase in the number of students who use ICT in their leisure time. A student who does not use a mobile phone is a real rarity. Yet, many staff still teach the way they were taught. I am continually experimenting with the students on adult education courses. For me, it’s a way to practice & hone my ICT skills and I am privileged to be teaching staff. The staff on DAE courses are a group of committed tutors who are passionate about teaching but most importantly also open to new ideas. One of the formative presentations on the adult learning DAE course is to present a short session on one adult learning theorists. This year, I have asked them to do this using the pecha kucha approach. There was some trepidation when I suggested the idea but great buy in after I presented the session on ‘lifespan development and adult learning’. Everyone is now looking forward to the sessions.

Some of my approach is listed in David Warlick’s blog on 12 ways to become a IT literate educator (found via via Marian Thacher’s blog ). Many of the suggestions revolve around sharing, learning new skills together, experimenting and then evaluating and sharing the results with others. Which works well when staff are in a course together. One of the primary objectives of the DAE courses is for staff to network & learn from each other.

What of other staff? Marie Jasinski’s article archived on the Australian flexible learning network provides some direction. The three components of integrating innovation are the innovations, the innovators & adoptors & the organization. The type, attributes, market needs, benefits & pedagogical impact of the innovations need to be taken into account. There is a chasm between early & mainstream adopters & therefore there needs to be support to bridge the knowledge & also the technology vs pedagogy chasms. The organization needs to have a culture and systems that include infrastructure leadership, commitment & be able to provide adequate support. These guidelines provide a bit of a wake up call for me & for the staff development team.

handheld2008 pecha kucha sessions

This was to allow for quick 6 minute 40 second presentations where presenters had present 20 slides with each slide timed to show for 20 seconds..

First up, JaquelineBatchelor from Cornwall Hill College in South Africa on teaching grade 11 human anatomy using mobile technology. Need arises from the context currently occurring in South Africa.

Then Geoff Stead from Tribal on a ‘where are the mobile learners? ‘Covering the three levels of learners & how mobile maybe able to meet especially the first two levels.

Next, Adele Botha from Meraka Institute on using mobile phones to help students revise & learn maths concepts. Text messaging costs high but bandwidth is low! Mxit which is a South African company that allows instant messaging to take place. So math homework available since Jan. 2007 from 2 – 8pm Sundays to Thursday to revise grade 12 maths.

David Metcalf provides a quick background of the projects at the University on Central Florida plus a plug for the next mlearn conference at Orlando at the end of October 2009.

Ian from Highvale Secondary at Glen Waverley in Melbourne presents the pocket PC project at the school.

James Clay from Gloucester College on myths & legends about mlearning. There is a need to put an emphasis on relationships between students & teachers as content is pervasive. Also need to allow users to use their own devices, the college needs to be the one to offer ‘content’ that will be compatible with student devices.

Tony Vincent from Nebraska on Twitter & microblogging & potential uses in education. Sharing sites, hints, keeping in touch with what others are doing, archive information for own use etc. Advantage is ease of access from a range of devices to send & receive. Education twitter equivalent at edmodo.

Merryl Ford from Meraka on MobilEd & bridging the digital divide. Uses the capabilities of mobile phone & matching these to ways in which mobile phones may be used to provide for better learning opportunities in a country where there is over 90% ownership of mobile phones amongst young people.

Tony Vincent again on ipod touch & iphones. Some good hints on how to get the most out of your iphone including how to set up web pages on webapps. Also lots of software including games that can be potentially useful for education via iphone downloads (not all are free).

Ron Edwards on Second life, providing examples of uses in simulations, virtual world meetings, data visualisation, mixing virtual & physical communities, virtual world classrooms, augmented reality (mobile), first person virtual reality, etc.

Then a quick one from me on the CPIT mobile learning / mobile portfolio project which generated some interest & questions.

James Clay back with podcasting & vodcasting which has been part of the Mole Net project. With some good hints on what to use (Windows sound recorder, Garageband, Audacity, Quicktime – for video as well). Imovies, moviemaker, Microsoft photostory for vodcasts. Gabcast to use your mobile phone to capture voice. Use RSS to subscribe.

Gavin Cooney from Learnosity on using voice to complete oral assessments. Currently trialling in Ireland to assess oral Irish as Irish is now a compulsory subject at all levels of schooling in Ireland. Also includes use of SMS daily to revise plus the opportunity to converse with a chat robot.

Mark Kramer from the University of Salzburg on Mobilmundi: emploring the impact of current & emerging mobile technologies on higher ed. There is a need to ensure that mobile technologies enhance communication & interaction between individuals & communities.

Heliotrope on Prelude (a game of discovery) that can be useful in teaching soft skills. Starts first with an analysis of ones own strengths & weaknesses, moves out to the class, community etc. so that a holistic viewpoint can be developed.

David Williams on Helping Learning is a website that enables students to make contact with a teacher who may be able to help them with work via Skype. Free to use by both students and teachers.

Last one on was Steward Smith from University of Manchester on 'engaging tutors'. If tutors do not use the technology than students will not reap the affordances provided by any form of technology assisted learning.

A good recap of some of the papers from mlearn2008 but also a good spread of ones I missed plus a few new ones to think about. The Pecha Kucha concept is good for the start of a conference as it brings up a wide range of topics very quickly & allows participants to recognise presenters so that future networking during the conference is facilitated.