The value of mobile technology in teaching and learning

In this day and age it is becoming more and more obvious that mobile teaching needs to become a big part of teaching and the way students have access to learning is about to become more technology advanced than ever’

In this day and age it is becoming more and more obvious that mobile teaching needs to become a big part of teaching and the way students have access to learning is about to become more technology advanced than ever.

The notion that there are so many factors that could prevent a pupil getting to school, whether it be family obligations, money or any other countless reasons, Mobile technology used to teach students across the world could be the most valuable aspect of teaching.

Looking at some of the software we have been introduced to throughout our ICT module shows that there is so much mobile technology that can be used to teach, but the majority of these software programmes, online or offline, seem to do the idea of mobile technology in teaching no justice.  The software tends to be awkward to work with and buggy.  If mobile technology is to be used as a valuable aspect of teaching and learning there needs to be an advancement in how it is done.  Which is happening, but slowly, the more it is rushed, the worse the software will be.

Is the use of online questionnaires in the classroom building a unneeded barrier?

The use of online questionnaires is seen by some as a gimmick and an unneeded barrier distancing from one on one teaching and support between students and teachers but is also seen by some as a extremely helpful tool for using questionnaires in the classroom.

The website/app in question is called socrative (www.b.socrative.com) and relies on the teacher logging in and setting up a room for students to log into on laptops or through their smart phones and tablets, they are then offered the option to answer a question set by the class teacher.

The argument against this is that it dramatically takes away the use of one on one teaching throughout the classroom. The amount of time it takes to set up versus the time it would take to pass out a hard copy of the questionnaire is a point to look at.  The way you can see the students react with the question in front of them is a much easier way to decipher how they are getting along with the subject matter.

Although through this specific site/app you can see who answered what and give them feedback regarding their answers it seems a bit like its technology for the sake of technology, using it for the sake of using it, the direct need is not there for this website, in my opinion, face to face answering and feedback is much more of a learning tool than looking at selections on a webpage.