Assignment - My experiences of mobile technology and learning

Growing up as a learner in school, and college I was always introduced to this ...

It wasn't until I reached University where mobile technology was actually welcomed into the classroom. Up until this stage in my educational journey, phones for example, were looked at as being a hindrance or a distraction. However... In the teachers' defence, the phones back then weren't smart phones and didn't really have much of a purpose within education unless you literally wanted to 'phone a friend' for the answer. Should mobile phones have had the 'smart' facilities that they do now... then maybe they'd be looked at in the way they are looked at today. Then again... It doesn't mean to say, that phones these days aren't a distraction, I suppose they have a bigger ability to actually distract learning than ever, but on the flip side, the ability of these devices and with all the knowledge that we have at out finger tips these days, surely the pro's out weigh the cons, IF they are used sensibly?

Anyway, back to my experiences, I suppose I never really had an experience of mobile technology being involved in learning until the last 2 years or so...

I have used iPad's , and mobile smartphones, through the use of these devices and using all the (literally) smart app's that can be installed on these devices, the possibilities are endless. Using apps like Aurasma (to bring books to life), Morpho ( to bring you or friends to life), or Explain Everything (to literally explain everything about a particular topic) can open so many doors and avenues to explore such topics in detail, and then illustrate them in order to get them to sink in better with ease! Even finding the answer to something as quickly as possible and turning it into a game is fun... 'who can find the answer to this question the quickest?' . These sorts of activities get everyone involved with devices that they have grown up with and love. Through my experiences, I have also seen the fantastic use for Today's Meet. A site which all students can access via their own seperate devices. The teacher then begins an online discussion on the interactive whiteboard, each student enters the pin to access the discussion and they can post comments live for all to see discussing the topic in hand. It is a live discussion, which can  get all the class involved. How fantastic is that? Integrating technology, discussion, trust and learning into the student all at once! I have used that site, and I found it fantastic.

As you can probably tell, I am very much in favour of technology in the classroom, I feel that as teachers, it is important that we do not only keep up to date with out subject knowledge, but we also keep up to date with the shift in technology advancements. I found this great youtube clip aswell, take a look! It illustrates the positive changes of what technology in the classroom can bring...