WEEK
4 - MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS FOR LEARNING
Educators
today have so many resources to pull from to help make learning engaging and
meaningful. Thankfully, there are various mobile devices that are available in
most classrooms. However, as educators we also need to realize that technology
should be a resource and not the main focus of every lesson. Pedagogy should
take first place to technology. The challenge might be which mobile device to
use or better still, which mobile device will enable students to better meet
the learning goals of a particular course.
The iPad is an iOS based portable, lightweight,
touch-screen tablet computer designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPad has
many features like email, messaging, social
media, photo-sharing, calendars, to-do lists, video-streaming, and even video
chatting. With its front and back camera capability, one can take a picture,
convert it to PDF, and then email it all in a very short time. Its lightweight
and portability make the iPad easy to fit in the back pack or purse of a busy
adult learner. When fully charged, the battery can last for up to 10 hours
which makes it very convenient for some on-the-go adult learners who may need
to go to evening class right after work. Another advantage is that the iPad is
automatically backed up to the Cloud and stored information can be accessed
from any computer or mobile device. This ensures that students do not have to
worry about losing data.
This mobile device will be very useful in my adult
learner classroom where students will be encouraged to use their iPad to
complete assignments and then email to me. Students can also use their iPads
for blogs or other collaborative activities or to access the classroom for
updates.
Khan Academy is an app that allows anyone to learn
almost anything for free. Anyone anywhere can log onto the internet and sign up
for free. Students can sharpen their skills by engaging in interactive
activities. There is now a free Khan Academy application for the iPad. There
are over 150,000 exercises with instant feedback that includes analysis of
right and wrong answers and the amount of time taken to answer each question.
There is also a scratch-pad feature for note-taking or showing one’s work in
solving a math problem, for example. Other features include:
·
Downloadable videos: take individual
videos or entire playlists to watch offline at your own pace
·
Subtitles: follow along, skip ahead,
or go back by navigating through subtitles
·
Track your progress: Log in with
your Khan Academy user account to get credit for watching videos
·
See your achievements
Students will be encouraged to explore the app to
practice skills or just to reinforce what has already been learned in
classroom. This app will be more of a benefit to students who need extra help
or reinforcement in a particular area.