Week #6 Reading Response – Thomas (TJ) Bartholomew

For this week’s readings, I chose to come at these articles from the perspective of utilizing technology more in the elementary school classes. My context specifically relates to designing meaningful learning experiences for 4th grade users with laptops in class in addition to the various forms of mobile technologies students can access at home, or on the go. With the range of devices able to be used, which predominantly include smart phones, tablets, and then laptops, mobile design for using these platforms is paramount. For students to be able to engage in connected learning, programs must be optimized for use across the range of devices.

In Martin, Pastore, and Snider’s article “Developing mobile based instruction,” the authors discuss the instructional design background for developing instruction using web technologies. The author cite Traxler’s research and identify six mobile learning categories that that designers must consider when creating mobile learning experiences for students. Traxler’s six categories are…

Technology driven mobile learning
Miniature, but mobile e-learning
connected classroom learning
informal/personalized/situated mobile learning
mobile training/performance support
remote/rural/development mobile learning

I view these categories as optimal considerations when it comes to designing learning experiences for students that can span beyond the classroom using different mobile devices. Mainly, ease-of-use needs to be at the forefront of selecting mobile technologies. The user interfaces absolutely must be optimized for use on any device with varying screen size. A program is no good if only offered within the confines of a laptop, but not optimized for the use on phones or tablets with smaller screen display in the 21st century.

This article goes on to highlight a case study with graduate students tasked to create and design a mobile web app. The students used Adobe Dreamweaver in order “to develop a 10-minute instructional tutorial on a topic of their choice that could be viewed on any mobile web browser” ( p. 48). During the course of the project, students ran into a myriad of design considerations that needed to be accounted for when putting together the app. Navigation, display, and content design all reared their heads as challenges that need work arounds. The different size screen presented lots of challenges for the students, and have since become a main design consideration when working with these apps to be able to be run across different devices’ screen sizes. For instance, an app run on a phone screen needs to have concise bite-sized bits of information in order to not overwhelm the user.

This article really got me thinking about the advancement of technology and app usage as I’ve been growing up with technologies has progressed. Years ago, kids would run home to hop onto the family computer to navigate Myspace, Facebook, AIM, and many other technologies. Now, apps and and programs have been optimized for more mobile technologies. Facebook, for example, seamlessly runs on the web or apps designed for phones and tablets, and can be accessed virtually anywhere, rather than sole-reliance on the home computer.

In order for education to trend towards using these mobile technologies effectively, teachers and designers must explore the necessary research into how to effectively use the technologies to help students make adequate gains. First comes the willingness to try and accept student voice as a tool towards designing rich learning experiences for them. In Dunn, Gray, Moffet, and Mitchell’s article “It’s more funner than doing work: Children’s perspective on using tablet computer in the early years of school,” the authors investigate the child’s perspective and attitudes on using tablets in a learning setting. While the societal attitude includes some credible skepticism, the research article looks at how the students feel about using iPads for their schooling. Teachers come from a place of uneasiness when it comes to implementing technologies into the classroom, especially with the littles. The text states “…many teachers lack pedagogical and technical knowledge and report confusion around when and how to effectively integrate technology into their teaching” (pg. 820). To me, this shows that teachers’ negative attitudes towards technologies leads to their unwillingness to use them. Teacher’s uneasiness should not be tolerated as an excuse to not use tech.

Dunn et. al’s article goes on to state “Yet, it is alarming that, despite the huge financial investment in digital technology and the reported benefits, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

recently reported that over the last 10 years, there has been no appreciable improvement in

student achievement in reading, mathematics or science…” (pg. 820). Many more districts committed to using technology in response to the coronavirus pandemic that emerged in 2020. Trends of using technology aren’t going away any time soon.

So where does that leave us? School districts are strapped with these mobile devices that are paid for with some staff unwilling to implement them. First, the narrative needs to shift towards inviting student voice and choice as a resource. Adults need to be willing to take a backseat and embrace their students as “users, testers, informants, and design partners” (Kim, Buckner, Kim, Makany, Taleja, & Parikh. 2012. pg. 330). Student’s input into these mobile technologies used to enhance their learning is invaluable. Student aptitude using these technologies far outpaces the teacher’s aptitude, and students are able to adapt to the technology’s affordances without the need for teacher intervention. Adults, especially older millennials, are only able to approach these technology’s from an outsider’s point of view whereas students of the current school-aged population are growing up digital. Furthermore, Dunn et.al’s research into student’s perspective into tablet usage concluded 4 overarching themes that students brought up in conversation: links with home, fun and games, choice, and competition. These themes need to be considered when selecting programs for students to interact with. The article as well as my own observations conclude that students, for the most part, enjoy using the technologies to learn.

Research from this class as well as my other classes has lead me to decide what perspective I’ll be coming from as I select my topic for my final project. For my final project, I’ll be wearing both my teacher and designer hat to collect and curate rich learning opportunities that can be accessed across devices both at home and at school. I will scour the Web to find programs that are accessible to my students, that are standards aligned, that work towards student growth and achievement of the 4th grade PA Core Math Standards. Fortunately, my school has 1:1 affordances, so all students will have access to a Chromebook during school hours. We will use the Chromebook predominantly to work towards proficiency in these standards by utilizing trackable programs containing aspects and design considerations in alignment with this course’s overarching themes. My designer perspective will allow me to see beyond what the program contains, and understand why these programs include such features. All this for the betterment of student achievement.

REFERENCES:

Martin, F., Pastore, R., & Snider, J. (2012). Developing mobile based instruction. TechTrends, 56(5), 46–51.
Dunn, J., Gray, C., Moffett, P., & Mitchell, D. (2018). ‘It’s more funner than doing work’: Children’s perspectives on using tablet computers in the early years of school. Early Child Development and Care, 188(6), 819–831.
Kim, P., Buckner, E., Kim, H., Makany, T., Taleja, N., & Parikh, V. (2012). A comparative analysis of a game-based mobile learning model in low-socioeconomic communities of India. International Journal of Educational Development, 32(2), 329–340.