The cellphone: ultimate distraction or powerful learning tool?

01.10.08 The cellphone: ultimate distraction or powerful learning tool?
Steve Vosloo

The growing disconnect
Cellphones: pros and cons
Challenge

“ There is now an extraordinary contrast between the high levels of activity that characterise children's consumer cultures and the passivity that increasingly suffuses their schooling.”
(Buckingham, 2003)‏

Classroom vs the world
Formal & structured
Top-down
Passive
Disengaged
Un-networked & disconnected
CAMI & Powerpoint
MCQs & simple creations
30 mins/week
Informal & fluid
Bottom-up
Active
Engaged
Networked & plugged-in
MXit/Facebook, games, web
Communication, play & exploration
Up to 2 hours/day

Classroom vs the world

“ ICT in schools is predicated on the ‘top-down’ understanding that we know how children should be learning from technology rather than seeking to learn from their existing practices.”
( Their Space , 2007)‏

Cellphone affordances
Pervasive
Low-cost
Content delivery and creation medium
Klopfer (Jenkins 2008):
Portability - can take it to different sites and move around within a location
Social interactivity - can exchange data and collaborate with other people face-to-face
Connectivity - a common network that creates a true shared environment

Cellular South Africa
Cellphones:
72% own a cell phone
Nearly half SMS almost daily
MXit:
8 million subscribers
250m messages/day
Computers and Internet:
Only 17% ever used the Internet
6% use it (almost) daily
9% have Internet access at home
(Kaiser Family Foundation & SABC, 2007)‏

Dr Math
Dr Math is a maths tutoring service to school learners that uses MXit
2-8pm, Sunday-Thursday, with some 20 tutors.
3,200 learners have used service (from grade 3 up)‏
Tutoring mostly done in English, but some Afrikaans cases are occurring
Learners contact Dr Math from their homes, while on buses, taxis and on the sports field. Even from the bath!
LATEST: Text-adventure game (interactive fiction)‏

dr.math: What grade are you in? what are you covering in math? Spark plug: 7 dr.math: grade 7? Spark plug: yes dr.math: are u doing "pre algebra" stuff like What is the value of X if x + 3 = 10? Spark plug: yes dr.math: ok, so what is the value of x if x + 3 = 10? Spark plug: 7 dr.math: ok. how about (15 x 2 ) + x = 35 Spark plug: 5 dr.math: (I am going to use * for multiply so not to confuse it with x, ok?)‏ Spark plug: ok dr.math: (2 * x) + 8 = 18 Spark plug: 5 dr.math: very good. can you explain to me how you figured that out? Spark plug: 18 - 8 is 10 so 2* what is 10 and the answer is 5 dr.math: Excellent.

M4Girls Project
Improve maths in grade 10 rural girls (by Mindset)‏
43 mini videos, 3 “mobisode” animations, 2 games

Alternate Reality Game
ARG: an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions. (Wikipedia)‏
Think “Finders Keepers” but played collectively using web, email, SMS, voice, video, etc.
Collaborative problem-solving
Skills: collective intelligence, judgement, transmedia navigation (Jenkins et al, 2006)‏

Reading/writing cellphone
Using the cellphone as a “book” delivery and authoring tool
Serialised m-novels: e.g. 28 chapters, 900 characters (Novel Idea)‏
Othello as an m-novel?
Communities engaging literacy practices of writing and reviewing

But ...
1) Distraction
2) Antisocial?
3) Risk of violence/abuse
4) Effect on reading and writing?
5) Cost

What do these things have in common?
Printing press
Film
Comics
Rock 'n roll

Challenge
Consider ways to exploit cellphone affordances to support teaching and learning, while limiting the distraction and risk factors
Only YOU can do this ...

Thank you
Email
[email_address]
Blog
innovatingeducation.wordpress.com
Games and learning group
groups.google.com/group/galsa
Slides
www.slideshare.net/stevevosloo

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The cellphone: ultimate distraction or powerful learning tool?

by Steve Vosloo on Sep 30, 2008

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