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Mobile Computing:The Why’s and the How’s
Patrick M. O’Shea, Ph.D.
What am I going to talk about?
The educational needs of current & future students.
The nature and capabilities of mobile computing.
What does this all mean for educational practice?
Who am I, and why me?
Post Doctoral Fellow in Instructional Technology at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.
Director of the Handheld Augmented Reality Project (HARP).
15 years experience working at every level of education.
Background in Instructional Technology, Assessment and Program Evaluation.
What is HARP?
Star Schools Grant
Focus: math and literacy
Focus: under-served urban middle school students and teachers
To design and study engaging and effective augmented reality learning environments using wireless handheld computers equipped with global positioning system (GPS) receivers
What is Augmented Reality?
“Games played in the real world with the support of digital devices (PDAs, cellphones) that create a fictional layer on top of the real world context” (Squire and Jan, 2007, p. 6).
Interact with virtual elements while moving around the physical environment.
Scenario based curricula: Alien Contact! & Gray Anatomy.
Involve groupwork and role assignment.
Student needs?Adaptive thinking.
Problem solving.
Critical thinking.
Metacognitive skills.
Analysis and synthesis of information.
Content knowledge?
To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand the facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. National Research Council (2000a). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (p. 16)
What do students bring?
Fluency in multimedia
Community awareness and involvement
An ability for nonlinear expressions
Technological familiarity
Multi-tasking ability
A desire for “individualization”
Mobile Computing: Examples
Laptops
Cell Phones
PDAs
MP3 Players
GPS devices
Gaming devices
eReaders
Digital cameras
Mobile Computing: Features & Capabilities
Wireless connectivity (w/network & other devices)
Small size/Portability
Self contained power (pro & con)
Delivery of multimedia
Limited computing power
Delivery of information
Simulations
What does this capability allow?
Sharing of information in real-time
Authentic interactions with information
Required collaboration
Creation of content
Leveraging of student-owned tech
Graphically represent complex information
How do we do this?Keep abreast of technology & features
Formal academic sources such as the International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing
Informal sources such as Popular Science/Mechanics or BoingBoing
Question academic practicesLook for opportunities to provide students information outside of the classroom (for example, tours or treasure hunts)
Look for opportunities where students could gather or create content on their own (for example, wikis, blogs or flickr)
How do we do this?Set the stage
Plan ahead to save work later
Involve students in the plan
Leverage the technology that students already own and know
Embrace ambiguity & be willing to fail meaningfully
Not all technology will work, but you can learn from it in either case
Students who create their own content will need lots of help making sure that it’s quality material
What does this all mean?
We can individualize education
We need a new philosophy of technology usage
We can fully involve students
We need a new philosophy of the students’ role
Questions?
