Mobile phones in classrooms...?

This week the managing e-learning wiki asked us to consider whether mobile phones should be used in the classroom. To analyse the many perspectives that people have, we used De Bono's thinking hats. De Bono's thinking hats is a tool that people use to look at an issue from many different perspectives. I was drawn to the white hat because it encourages people to do some research! I don't really have an opinion about the effectiveness of mobile phones in classrooms because I don't know if they work!!

My contribution to the wiki was

whitehat.jpg

Nikita Barnett

Information: What information do I have? What are the facts? What information do I need? What do I want to KNOW?

- Information about the effectiveness of mobile devices in classrooms would be necessary to make this decision. This information could come from surveys, research or personal experiences

so... then that made me think, I wonder what sort of research is out there about this issue that will make me more informed.
Here are some things I have learnt
- In a survey done in Japan it was found that students use features such as email and document storing on their mobile phones far more than on a PC
- Students are already using mobile phone features such as to-do lists, reminders, online searching and emailing to help them in their studies
- Rich multimedia found on mobile devices are incredibly engaging and therefore more likely to capture students attention  and the information is more likely to be retained.
- Availability is a major issue, most classrooms have access to a computer, but this is a far cry from access for every child.
- Both students, teachers and administration need time and professional development to understand how these tools can be used effectively. There are a lot of people and programs out there that could have a positive impact on education, but there are not enough educators that are aware of how to make the best use of these tools

These are a few of the articles that I read, feel free to find out more!
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~yshigena/Thornton_Houser_2005.pdf
http://www.eduworks.com/Documents/Publications/Mobile_Learning_Handheld_Classroom.pdf
http://www.tojet.net/articles/8210.pdf

Upon reading this information and considering it from the perspective of the white hat, I felt compelled to add more to the wiki. This time I added information to the yellow hat. De Bono's thinking hats provide an excellent framework for learners to explore a topic. It is very difficult to construct knowledge with a group of other people without a common framework for people to be guided by.

This has made me consider what it would be like for learners in my classroom. I need to scaffold their learning in such a way that they feel comfortable to contribute and learn from sharing their opinions and knowledge. It is also important that the framework or guidance that you provide allows learners to use higher order thinking skills. The process of using De Bono's thinking hats in the wiki helped me to feel comfortable contributing to the wiki because I immediately saw something that I was familiar with (the thinking hats), I was able to pick a hat that suited me and I could learn about different people's perspectives and ideas which actually informed me a lot and inspired me to find out more and contribute to the wiki again.

I think that wiki's are great! but even greater when learners are scaffolded to contribute effectively!!

Thanks for reading

Nikita