In my exploration of this week's topic I came across many fascinating stories and creative use of ICT. I learned about the RIA Learning Innovation Project making technology accessible to thousands and education them on its proper use. Listen to the interesting clip below...
An excellent example of EIFL in action was a community project in San Javier-La Loma. The community library wanted to serve the needs of the community but the most recent map of the area was completed in 1971 - very outdated for the current community needs. This library utilized the people of the community, computers, digital cameras, voice recorders and helium balloons to crowd source a map of the area. Read about the fascinating project here.
Mobile Devices in Education
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| Mobile use in Classrooms from distance-educator.com |
The use of mobile devices in education has been a point of contention for many educators. In fact, whether mobile devices should be banned or used in school is such a hot-button topic that it is one of the top debate topics on debate.org. While the default for many years has been to ban public devices from all schools, I believe that the pendulum is starting to swing the other way. Wired Magazine calls BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) the future of education (Wired, 2013). A study by the Pew Research center finds that nearly 80% of teens 12 to 17 have cell phones for personal use (Oregon Live, 2013).
Being able to harness students' personal devices for educational use has some serious potential. For years schools struggled with sharing laptop carts, overbooked computer rooms, and unreliable technology. Now, allowing students to use their own devices in a responsible way allows so many more possibilities for education. A study by Science Direct found mobile devices to be more effective than desktop computers in student learning, and mobile devices were found to enhance student learning (Sung, Chang, Liu, 2016).
Given these factors, school libraries should allow the use of mobile devices. Setting up mobile charging stations and having mobile logins for the reference material would increase the potential power of mobile devices in the hands of students.
Resources
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries
EIFL (n.d.) Creative use of ICT in public libraries. Retrieved from http://eifl.net/eifl-in-action/creative-use-ict-public-libraries-5
Debate.org (n.d.) Should mobile phones be banned in schools. Retrieved from http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-mobile-phones-be-banned-in-schools
Hamilton, Stuart. (March 12, 2013) Stamping out poverty as well as books?How libraries can support development. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/mar/12/libraries-power-global-development
Hammond, Betsy (2013). Nearly 80 percent of teens have cell phones; more likely than adults to use mobile internet. The Oregonian. Retrieved from https://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2013/03/nearly_80_percent_of_teens_hav.html
Molinari, Aleph (2011). Let's Bridge the digital divide! [youtube] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaxCRnZ_CLg
Panagos, Tim. (2013). The future of education: BYOD in the classroom. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/insights/2013/09/the-future-of-education-byod-in-the-classroom/
I enjoyed watching the video on the digital abyss. The numbers were startling and it makes me wonder the potential of reaching out to the majority of our global community and empowering them with tools and technology. It's great to learn about the library initiatives that are penetrating into places and with giving it an "acupuncture" to uplift the community.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the need to let students use devices at school. Next year, our school hopes to be part of a pilot project where we will be leasing out ipads to our intermediate students. This will allow them to take their device home and use it in that particular year. Our hope is that students will become more responsible at handling the device, physically and socially.
I completely agree with the use of mobiles at schools and community learning spaces. Mobiles are the one device most adults will have even if they can't afford a computer. Distributing literacy content through these devices can only help! I used to love using my device to participate in interactive exercises when in university.
ReplyDeleteUsing phones need to also come with incentives like free charging in public spaces, as electricity in many developing countries is prohibitively expensive.
That EIFL project is intriguing--great use of technology for a vital purpose. I myself have struggled with student phone use in the English classroom since the invention of the smartphone. These devices have potential, but they also contain social media applications like Snapchat, which are designed like slot machines, for the purpose of being addictive. That makes smartphones an extraordinary distraction. Students now come to use with "continual partial attention," as was predicted by Pulitzer Prize winning author Nicholas Carr (2011). Since we are now dealing with addiction, not just a lack of courtesy, I'm very concerned with the perception that we can "just integrate" smartphones into the classroom. Though I would love to see research (beyond anecdotes) that shows how this can be done.
ReplyDeleteYou have included good discussion of the possibilities of public libraries and the work of several agencies/organizations. I love the mapping example! I wonder if mobile devices afford the same opportunities in other countries or if there are any different considerations or challenges?
ReplyDeleteI respect the RIA Learning Innovation Project and how they have thought of many important considerations before setting up an internet sight. They even use recycled material when creating the space. Very impressive. My only concern is the presenter, Aleph Molinari stated that the Internet should not be a luxury but a right. I firmly acknowledge the imperative nature of the internet to surviving in the future workforce. However, water, food and housing are also imperative and these items still eclipse hundreds of millions of people. How can we reconcile all these needs?
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