Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

Hi Jocelyn,

Well... this seems to have missed the point about Handhelds doesn't it?

As you know.. In Wolverhampton... we are delivering multimedia content and surfing the "Net" on our handhelds using the 640x480 resolution on our VGA screened devices... Also via some of the "Voucher" software from Fujitsu Siemens we are able to use and create documents in "Full" Word and "Full" excel.... and then there is the on-board stills and video camera....

.......We are using this in classrooms for recording children's key learning moments and we think that the instant on function of the Mobile OS is key to embedding ICT into the teaching and Learning process.....

So All in all.... I feel that the TDA have missed a trick and are behind the pace.....

Regards

Dave Whyley
Headteacher - E -learning consultant Wolverhampton

In many ways our teacher trainees would say that they are too versatile if that does not sound perverse.  I get comments like "PDAs can do a wide variety of things but not very well" which I don't agree with but I think some people find there are so many facilities that they don't know where to start.  Personally I use my XDA as a planner and for checking e-mail and I am now going to use it as my mobile phone.  The TDA see to be going down a blind alley suggesting tablets for tutors in my opinion.

No

I am presenting at the JISC Innovation e-Learning Conference at the end of this month on the WCC plans for mobile learning.

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=elp_conference06_programme

James Clay
WCC Director

Hi,

I am a Year 4 teacher, and we recently took 90 8-9 year olds to the British Museum. As well as encouraging the children to look at Egyptian artefacts (not just the secret doors in the library) I ended up chatting to one boy about gadgets. He said he would love to bring his mobile to take pictures and videos of the trip. I asked why he hadn't:
 "because we're not allowed Miss Sim" (with a suitably patronising expression)
   wishful thinking!

So just thought I'd add some evidence that, at a younger age, children would be motivated by using hand held devices. Mobiles still seem grown up to 8 year olds, whereas maybe by key stage 3 or older the novelty could have worn off for some pupils?

The reason we were talking about taking photos was the trip organiser did not want to take digital cameras off site, in case they got damaged (I took my own). Allowing pupils to use their own devices could side step this issue.

Just some thoughts,

Grace

As will be witnessed by the wide range of mobile device applications used in schools (and discussed on many of this forum's pages) the "lack of versatility" is clearly not a function of the PDAs.  There have been myriad examples cited.  The initial comment could only have been made by someone who had NOT attended last October's HHL conference at Goldsmiths !

The lack of versatility is most likely to be found in the imagination of the people who have the opportunity to utilise the technology - the teachers (et al ?).  This lack is likely to be founded (or dumbfounded ?) on the lack of time for each of them to sit quietly and engage in "blue-sky thinking".  The time constraints imposed by (an excess of ?) required documentation, for National Curriculum, for school management, and so the right boxes can be ticked for school inspections.

Most teaching colleagues I have known, over a number of decades, are imaginative and would embrace opportunities if they felt it was (a) likely to make learning more engaging, (b) likely to be easy to implement (without adding greatly to the planning process), (c) likely to have no more than a small logistical impact (eg: the maintenance & security of the devices), and (d) likely to gain the support of those with decision-making and financial power (who are conservative by nature - "the system can't be wrong ...it produced me").

To change the attitude of the person / group who suggested that PDAs lack versatility there needs to be a body of wide ranging examples of uses with clear learning advantage.  That, plus the significantly lower cost per unit (vs. desktop PCs) should lead to a change of attitude.

Just my twopenny worth !

Geoff's presentation at the same conference is really excellent, looked at it this morning, really interesting stuff going on with m-learning in FE.

If the TDA are talking about teachers' use of PDAs then I have, in part, to agree. I know I don't use my PDA for the sort of serious jobs I do nowadays that are my nearest equivalent to planning lessons and schemes of work. I need a big screen for that, partly because I think quite graphically, even when writing a page of text.

Teachers need to use applications that are subject-specific and not available, and in many cases not suitable for, handheld devices. Have you tried working your way through a multi-sheet Excel spreadsheet with a lot of data in it on a PDA. It's diabolical. Could a D&T teacher work on Pro/DESKTOP CAD on a PDA size screen? Of course not.

However, I wouldn't be without my PDA if it's only for the most basic PIM functions where it's critical to my work and life and I am absolutely convinced that there are a number of school-specific apps waiting to be developed to go alongside registration and photo records of achievement that will expand the utility of handhelds for teachers . Also, of course, working with Dave Whyley & Co in Wolverhampton I'm quite clear about the value of PDAs to children where they are eclipsing the value of lap/desktops if only in being constantly and instantly available. Then there's all the other learning-appropriate apps: dedicated (eg Espresso Learning Pathwyas), web-accessed (eg Grid Club) and generic (eg PWord, Sound Recorder or video).

But let's not confuse the teacher's role with the pupil's. At the present state of development I cannot imagine a teacher being able to work without regular access to a lap- or desktop. Though I know of a lot of London teachers who never carry their laptop between school and home. They travel on buses, bikes or the tube and find a combination of home machine, USB stick and school network terminal suits them better.

I'm sure some teachers would find a PDA fitting well into this scenario, better than the USB stick by far. But the moral of this story is 'horses for courses' - we need to differentiate between people's needs in everything and each should be able to find their own most suitable ICT solution. However, the idea that a teacher could manage without a lap- or desktop and do everything they need on a handheld seems silly to me.

But then I've always been a professional at winding people up ;-)

David Perry