mobile learning: avoiding common pitfalls learning...pitfalls common mistake: inability to take risk...
TRANSCRIPT
Mobile learning traditionally means any learning that is mediated by a mobile device such as a smartphone, tablet, or mini computer. In the bigger picture, mobile learners access their content, tools, and communities any time, any place, often in a mixed environment of multiple devices with 24/7/365 Internet access.
Common Mistake: Putting technology ahead of pedagogy It’s easy as a district to fall short in building a real vision of how learning will change with technology and what the expected benefits are. Such failure puts the district at risk of not meeting unspoken stakeholder expectations and suffering the resulting public backlash.
• What's it going to be? Pull together a substantive vision• Get clear on the specific benefits of the transition to mobile learning• Bring old policies into the digital age• Figure out how to keep it funded - indefinitely• Design your approach for technology infrastructure, professional development,
and continual iteration and improvement• Be mindful of human fairness - plan how to mitigate inequity today and
eliminate it in the future
What is mobile learning?
Mobile Learning: Avoiding Common Pitfalls
PLANNING1
STEP
• Falling for the hype or blindly following other districts without your own vision• Planning for mobile learning in isolation and then trying for stakeholder buy-in
after the fact• Depending mostly on vendors to design your technical or human infrastructure
(be true to your vision and avoid cookie-cutter solutions)• Failures of transparency or communication (tell them why you are doing this,
then tell them again)• Letting limited resources stop you (be creative, do what you can, work towards
equity)
PITFALLS
Common Mistake: No project plan or project coordinatorIt happens. Districts are sometimes blindsided by predictable and avoidable problems such as when students have trouble connecting to the Internet; or they circumvent Internet filtering; or digital resources turn out to be insufficient; or parents are uncomfortable with student use of technology. Thorough planning, transparency, and a project coordinator help mitigate the risk.
• Check your plans for technology, professional development, and programassessment (design them to evolve gracefully as things change, because youknow they will)
• Re-check your updated policies - will they survive contact with your students?• Educate parents and students, both about why you are choosing mobile, and
what is expected of them (then educate them again)• Line up all the moving parts with an implementation plan• Consider real-world testing (pilots, student white hats, lots of devices at once)
IMPLEMENTING2
STEP
• Implementation by committee (someone has to pull it all together)• Implementation by top-down mandate• Going to scale with an untested approach (faster but messier)• Too much focus on others’ best practices instead of on a culture of innovation• Policies not updated to reflect digital realities• Incomplete communication with parents and students• Flaky technology: insufficient bandwidth, slow devices• Unsustainable purchasing practices• Failure to communicate expectations
PITFALLS
Common Mistake: Inability to Take RiskWith mobile learning, often the biggest risk to improvement is to do nothing. A culture of innova-tion means continually trying new things, learning from them, keeping what works, and discard-ing what doesn’t. But this can be too risky in some command-and-control environments.
• Share widely your progress toward the vision• Track outcomes and analyze root causes• Make and test hypotheses from micro scale to macro• Recognize and celebrate unexpected results – both good and bad• Iterate and improve practice, but also iterate and improve the vision
CONTINUALLY IMPROVING3
STEP
WHAT TO DO
• Impatience – educators need 3-4 years to shift their practice• A lack of transparency (bring your stakeholders along on the journey)• Punishing poor outcomes of good experiments (it happens!)• Failing to recognize good outcomes that break expectations (embrace the
counterintuitive)• Little or no real experimentation (try testing hypotheses with control groups)• Failing to learn and iterate based on outcomes
PITFALLS
τ = rF sin θτ = r × F a2 + b2 = c2
>> TAKE ACTION
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee
WHAT TO DO
WHAT TO DO
Contact: Marie Bjerede
Project DirectorCoSN LML Initiative
Mobilea CoSN Leadership Initiative
>> TAKE ACTION
>> TAKE ACTION