Apr 04 2008
Mobilizing the Hearts and Minds of All Students: Mobile Technology Solutions
Are you looking for a way to transform teaching and learning? Would like to capture the imagination and attention of your children in your classroom or those in your home? Then you might want to explore how mobile technology solutions can meet the learning needs of today’s diverse student population.
That’s exactly what happened to me when I collaborated to write a grant for Palm IIIc handheld computers in 2001. I used these mobile computers in my classroom for three years and also utilized the school’s AlphaSmarts, portable laptop alternatives, for four years. It was amazing to see how many of my students approached learning in a more engaged manner when they were offered the options of mobile technology tools like the Palms and the AlphaSmarts and could get away from paper and pencil and even the desktop computers.
Now seven years later, students are even more experienced and at home with mobile devices than they were when I used mobile computers with my third graders. With the number of phones and iPods now becoming more commonplace possessions among younger students, mobile computers offer the promise of transforming our schools in ways we could not have dreamed possible when most of us were in college.
Just like the OLPC initiative, mobile computers are designed to create a new learning environment and not just function as an additional tool in the classroom. In this new learning environment, the focus is on the individual student constructing his/her own knowledge. By utilizing specially designed software, teachers are able to “mobilize” the curriculum and move students away from paper and pencil.
Many of the software applications available today for mobile computers have been developed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at the Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education (HI-CE) under the direction of Dr. Elliot Soloway, an Arthur F. Thurnau professor in three departments at Michigan and a leader in the field of mobile computers. He and Dr. Cathleen Norris, Regents Professor at University of North Texas co-founded GoKnow, Inc which provides mobile computer software and professional development training for teachers and administrators.
To listen to Dr. Soloway and see these mobile computers in action, check out the link from YouTube, Mobile Computers in the Classroom, listed in the blogroll on the right. I encourage you to visit the website of GoKnow, Inc., which is also listed in the blogroll. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be just as captivated about the possibilities for mobile computers in the classroom as I was. Let me know what you think and if you are using them right now in your school.
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[…] Gina Trapani wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThat’s exactly what happened to me when I collaborated to write a grant for Palm IIIc handheld computers in 2001. I used these mobile computers in my classroom for three years and also utilized the school’s AlphaSmarts, portable laptop … […]
I am currently in an education technology class as part of my teaching degree and we just completed an assignment where we found research conducted that showed what a difference in test scores there could be when students learned using computers versus other styles. A lot of kids today have computers in their home that they use everyday for a variety of reasons, it only makes sense to use them as part of their education and also partly explains why they can learn more effectively using them.