Mobile Tools For Teaching And Learning

Mobile Tools for Teaching and Learning Presented by Jym Brittain Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Northeastern State University Based upon a presentation (with permission) titled TWITTER and Other Mobile-izing Tools for Teaching and Learning by Biray Alsac of Mesa Community College

Cell Phone Use (Statistics)

255.4 million wireless subscribers in US 1

84% of total U.S. population 1

96% of NSU students use mobile phones

35% of cell phone owners send and receive text messages 2

75% of NSU survey respondents use text messages

48.1 billion text-messages sent per month 1

1 http://www.ctia.org/advocacy/research/index.cfm/AID/10323 2 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Cell_phone_study.pdf

Available Tools

Text/Multimedia Messaging

Textmarks

Text based polls and surveys

Twitter

Winksite

Wirenode

Cell Phone Use (Applications*)

Campus Security Alert system

Communication among students (Instant messaging)

* Specifically regarding text-messaging on campus

Cell Phone Use (Applications + )

Faculty bulletins or class reminders

Text-Messaging based surveys & Polls

Building community outside classroom

+ Examples of applications in the classrooms

Bulletins and Class Reminders

Textmarks.com – it’s FREE!

Students subscribe to class text feed by typing CLASS** to 41411

Students get class updates via text on phone every time teacher creates new alerts

No need to know student cell phone numbers

** ‘CLASS’ is just an example word, teachers can choose any word for their class when setting up account

TM-based Surveys & Polls

PollEverywhere.com *

Create live polls

Survey students

Gain instant feedback from class

Similar to using clickers in classroom

No need to know student cell phone numbers

* Free and paid subscriptions available – see website for feature details

Twitter * – What is it?

Mini-updates in 140 characters of text (or less)

Microblog of whatever you want it to be…

Answers the question: What are you doing?” * http://www.twitter.com

Twitter – Teaching & Learning

Create bulletins or class reminders

Build student connection beyond classroom

Students become part of a global community

No need to know student cell phone numbers*

* Students must update Twitter setting to link incoming messages to phone.

“ HealthyBee” An example of a Twitter used by an instructor for a college health class Create profile so students & colleagues can follow you. Keep your updates public or private.

This is the visual list of who you are following (aka your students) All “tweets” are included on this timeline (most recent on top) so you never miss an update. HES100: Remember to bring a nutrition label to class. Send updates on class assignments, announcements, website URLs, or general info. BULLETINS & CLASS REMINDERS

Thanks for bringing it up @dncr4u3 , the quiz will stay available for one more day Create public chatter among your students. A Tweets with “@” plus username means it’s a public reply to a specific user. STUDENT CONNECTION BEYOND CLASSROOM Promote classroom community by suggesting your students also follow each other

You can send a private message directly to a student, too. Student will receive your direct message via: Email Twitter Cell Phone (if activated) STUDENT CONNECTION BEYOND CLASSROOM

GLOBAL COMMUNITY Suggest that students find other Twitter users to follow related to their interests or class topics. i.e. – a search for “health” found many health-related feeds, such as BBC Health and American Cancer Society who post news on their Twitter feed) -and- A search for “fitness” found professionals, such as, personal trainers, body builders, and fitness enthusiasts

Grab the Twitter code and embed your updates or timeline on your blog or social network.

Twitter - Mashups Schedule updates and reminders to your students in advance so you won’t miss a beat – er – a tweet

Twitter - Mashups Put all your students into one “crowd” and follow everyone at-a-glance on the web. (see also TwitterCamp)

Twitter – Example of Teacher Uses Announcement Communication with students Class Reinforcements Discussion Prompts & Additional Follow-ups Task Reminders

Twitter – Example of Student Uses Health-related feeds Most health-related feeds post URLs that link to a blog post or news article. Students were asked to follow the feed & stay current on news. This tweet sums up what they learned. Response to a discussion prompt Personal Comment Student feeds

Mobile classes

winksite.com – it’s FREE!

Faculty set up course via website

Students and faculty interact with course through mobile device or the web

Similar tools to Blackboard type systems.

Mobile website authoring

wirenode.com – it’s FREE!

Author a mobile friendly website from a desktop browser

Can be seen with mobile device or the web

Easily convert class website to mobile format

References http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/10/23/why-twitter-isnt-a-waste-of-time/ http://crowdstatus.com http://tweetlater.com http://Tweetstats.com http://Tweetscan.com or http://metweets.com Check out the wiki for ‘all-things’ Twitter http://twitter.pbwiki.com http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/