August 29th, 2008 by Tim Greenhalgh
It’s always heartening to see positive responses from educationists to mobile technology. I’ve just caught up with a report from Becta on the potential learning benefits of mobile phones in secondary schools.
The new primary research in “How mobile phones help learning in secondary schools” recognises the need for a more open approach to their use with blanket bans giving way to gradual inclusion of the devices in all areas of the secondary curriculum.
The research, by the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Nottingham in schools in Cambridgeshire, Berkshire and Nottingham, strikes a fine balance between over-zealous advocacy of mobile technologies and fearful exclusion.
As it underlines, by the time they reach secondary school, 91% of 12 year olds in the UK have a mobile phone – and most are application-rich devices perfectly suited to media-rich learning.
During the research, the pupils used their phones for learning in a wide variety of ways (the report highlighted 15), including:
• Creating short narrative movies
• Downloading and listening to foreign language podcasts
• Using GPS to identify locations
• Bluetoothing project material between group members.
You could make a little leap and suggest that – right there – is a snapshot for mobile content strategies that don’t rely on push and prod but embrace the technology to provide engaging ways of interacting with young people. It also shows that with a little creative thinking (Numnut broadcast TV anyone?) mobile content can be very attractive to relevant communities of all ages.
The report didn’t ignore the need for solutions to current fears of distraction, cheating, and abuse of devices through inappropriate recording and publication on social network sites. But it clearly supported the need for a cultural shift – trusting the students to be part of a change in attitude and creating an education environment where mobiles would be used responsibly. The parents of the young people involved were also almost unanimous in their approval of the development – which I find a tad amazing and really encouraging, given the negative press that surrounds mobile.
Tags: Becta, LSRI, mobile learning, mobiles in schools
