A new project that I'm excited to be 'involved' in - albeit in a very small way...
Cloud Learn has been set up by Juliette Heppell.
The aim is to explore the use of mobile learning in schools and provide guidance for teachers in the use of these devices.
This group is for classroom practitioners to discuss the use and access to mobile devices i.e. phones, ipads, pda's, handheld consoles etc as a learning tool. The cloudlearn project starts from the premise that the culture seen in many schools and colleges of blindly 'locking and blocking' in the classroom is no longer acceptable:
* it does not prepare young people for the real world
* it is liable to be dangerous (you wouldn't try to enhance water safety by keeping children away from water until they were 16 then throwing them off the pier...)
* it misses some outstanding learning opportunities
* it is disengaging ("every turned off device is a turned off child")
* it is wasteful of resources ...and as many, many teachers students and schools are finding, it is unnecessary.
The key aim of the Cloudlearn project is to source, collate, reflect on and publish proven effective practice from experienced classroom teachers and practitioners - building from what worked for us, in our respective cultural and educational contexts, to offer a portfolio of general and proven approaches. The end-of-the-year outcome is to provide sets of strategies and advice, both specific and generic, for adults and organisations, and for teachers and their students, to help them to see the need to move beyond "locking and blocking".
These sets would be given to those involved in education around the world, not just in the UK. Over the next few months we will discuss as a group our thoughts, views and personal experiences on this and share the successes of mobile devices and the impact on teaching and learning in the classroom.
More to come later...
What are your experiences of using mobile devices in the classroom (or on fieldwork, as this is a key area for geographers to make use of this technology....)
Cloud Learn has been set up by Juliette Heppell.
The aim is to explore the use of mobile learning in schools and provide guidance for teachers in the use of these devices.
This group is for classroom practitioners to discuss the use and access to mobile devices i.e. phones, ipads, pda's, handheld consoles etc as a learning tool. The cloudlearn project starts from the premise that the culture seen in many schools and colleges of blindly 'locking and blocking' in the classroom is no longer acceptable:
* it does not prepare young people for the real world
* it is liable to be dangerous (you wouldn't try to enhance water safety by keeping children away from water until they were 16 then throwing them off the pier...)
* it misses some outstanding learning opportunities
* it is disengaging ("every turned off device is a turned off child")
* it is wasteful of resources ...and as many, many teachers students and schools are finding, it is unnecessary.
The key aim of the Cloudlearn project is to source, collate, reflect on and publish proven effective practice from experienced classroom teachers and practitioners - building from what worked for us, in our respective cultural and educational contexts, to offer a portfolio of general and proven approaches. The end-of-the-year outcome is to provide sets of strategies and advice, both specific and generic, for adults and organisations, and for teachers and their students, to help them to see the need to move beyond "locking and blocking".
These sets would be given to those involved in education around the world, not just in the UK. Over the next few months we will discuss as a group our thoughts, views and personal experiences on this and share the successes of mobile devices and the impact on teaching and learning in the classroom.
More to come later...
What are your experiences of using mobile devices in the classroom (or on fieldwork, as this is a key area for geographers to make use of this technology....)
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