Relationships with technology
Ideas for using technology in Geography fieldwork.
HKU 7 Jun 08
david.flint@kgv.edu.hk

Perspectives
(No it’s not another CPD Day title)

With that in mind
• What does technology in education mean to you
personally?
• In the context of your organisation, what, if anything,
appeals to you about the technology use you see?
• What benefits do you see for the students and you in
using one or more technologies in your teaching?
• What are the barriers to you personally putting into
practice the use of technology if you wish to?
• How do you feel they could or should be overcome?

Mobile Learning in Geo at King George
V School – A bit of history
• A pilot investigation programme
• Learning focus
• Cost
• Collaboration:
– Students
– University of Hong Kong
– Daniel Churchill and David Kennedy
– Parent Teacher Student Association
– ESF Development Centre
– HP Hong Kong

Setting
• To travel to Thailand and
collect, share, analyse and
present real world data.
– Urban area
– Rivers
– Rural Area
• Syllabus requirement.
• Traditional approach (no
batteries!)
• Streamlining the current
approach - fuller learning
potential

Setting 2
• Urban Studies:
– Traffic Counts
– Landuse data
• River Studies:
– Flow
– Load
– Dimensions
– Natural life
– Water quality
• Rural Studies:
– Landuse
– Ethnic classification
– Economic activity

Role of the PDAs
• Collecting
• Sharing
• Storing

Complemented by
• Laptops • Learning Objects
• Photos - annotation
• MM Projector • Audio & Video notes
• Digital cameras • GIS
• Mobile phones • Bluetooth
• Infrared links
• GPS units • Laptops
• Movie maker
• Empirical data sets
• Sharing information –
learning platforms
• Photostory…………

River.mp4

Sharing

The Joys
 Visual use of data – Learning Objects
 Greater quantity of quality data
 Ability to audit data in the field
 Enhanced data analysis capability
 Enhanced sharing potential both during
and after the trip
– Between students
– Between schools
 Engaging for students
 Fun

The Pains
Screen size
Glare
Connection issues –
discontinuity
WLAN use not always
easy
Camera quality
SIM Card costs
Additional software
– projecting the pda
- CAB files

• They don’t float
• They don’t bounce
• Not for music
• Phones not free
• Pre-use in class
• Co-learning atmosphere
• Integration of technologies
• Clear aims
• Feedback = refinement

The next step……

MScape

http://movinglearning.ning.com/ david.flint@kgv.edu.hk

So, to look at the questions one more time
• What does technology in education mean to you
personally?
• In the context of your organisation, what, if anything,
appeals to you about the technology use you see?
• What benefits do you see for the students and you in
using one or more technologies in your teaching?
• What are the barriers to you personally putting into
practice the use of technology if you wish to?
• How do you feel they could or should be overcome?
The presentation can be viewed and downloaded by
going to:
david.flint@kgv.edu.hk

Finally
What has been useful today for you and
what would you like to change if such an
event was to run again? Please be blunt but
use of profanity should be avoided unless
absolutely necessary.
http://movinglearning.ning.com/

Thank you.