Journal 8

Journal #8
The Future of Education-Learning while Mobile
By Mark Vant Hooft

Technology is so commonly used today in a rapidly changing world. Learning is becoming just as unpredictable as the world is. In the classrooms, it is apparent that formal education and technology are butting heads. But, technology is bringing changes into learning and the classroom. The article discusses how technology will affect the future of education. It talks about learning while mobile. This involves students today using handheld computers and mobile phones to access information. Mobile learning is social, collaborative, and can be done at any place or time. Learning is not just limited to inside the classroom. On the internet, learners talk about what they know and share it with their peers or teachers. The context of learning is always changing from the classroom to just about anywhere. As a result, the author states that mobile learning can serve as a bridge between schools and society. The author then goes on to discuss what learning will look like while being mobile. MyArtSpace is a service that helps students spread their learning between schools and museums. In the Frequency 1550 project, students become pilgrims for a day and use mobile phones and pictures to learn what life was like in 1550. In the National Museum of Natural Science, students take a tour with an audio voice that discusses artifacts in the museum. By using a GPS system, the computer can tell where the student is located in the museum and talk about the exhibits in that area. The author then goes on to discuss some of the challenges that are there from mobile learning. He talks about a “participation gap” in which the demands for literacy are different than just giving presentations to students for pure entertainment. Also, the opportunities, skills, and experiences of each students are broad. He also worries about a “transparency problem”. In this section, he discusses how advertising, news, and media can give students biased information. There are also ethical concerns that could be present in what the child can view. The internet is so vast and many types of information can be found. Despite the pitfalls, he believes that mobile learning will become more popular and is the wave of the future. It allows for students to gain skills in creative thinking, problem solving, interacting with technologies, and expanding one's mental capacity.

Questions:

Why is learning while mobile such an important issue?

The world is becoming more and more technology based. With this trend, we cannot expect it to stop. The future will rely even more heavily on technology. Our goal is to prepare students for their future. As a result, we must get them to become technology efficient and aware. Furthermore, we do not want to limit students to learning just inside the classroom. There is so much to the world and reading is not the only way to learn. Students are able to retain information better if they can see and hear it as well.

What about the pitfalls?

I believe that students can abuse the internet for their own personal interests. I believe more in online research databases at school. An important concept is to get students to critically think and not be swayed by the propaganda and biased opinions that can exist on the internet. It is important for students to check their sources.