Educational Technologies- Mobile Learning
Smart phones are everywhere you turn from the youngest of users to the oldest of users. Smart phones have changed the way we see and use cell phones. Two decades ago, I never would have thought I would use a smart phone to review discussion boards, check emails, and or grades. Now, this is only a small view of what smart phones can do for the student. Fast-forwarding to today the smart phone can go pass your wildest imagination for the classroom.
Smart phones and education have made a nice pairing for example Blackboard mobile is a popular app that can be used to check assignments, discussion board postings and so on. Smart phones have the ability to give the learner access to school 24/7 whenever and wherever if this option is selected. Smart phones take learning in a hold different direction for example every time you use your smart phone you are informally learning and this is a beautiful thing.
With that, said educators can use this informal learning to take connected to their learners via “twitter for instance feedback” (Dunn, 2012). “Students now have the ability to do research on a topic within the class” from the internet that is provided on their smart phones (Inside Halton.com, 2012). No more waiting to class is over to go to the library or making time to even go to the library.
The first way that I would incorporate smart phones would be to encourage organizational skills and suggest applications that could be helpful to learners for example, the apps for the school and Evernote. Second, I would incorporate smart phones to help learners share their information on an agreed social networking site such as Delicious to share information about the course. My rationale behind selecting smart phones is simple almost everyone has one and the technology is user friendly.
Tablets and or iPads in education have made learning and completing assignments much easier verses not having these devices at all. With tablets and ipads learners have the ability to take their work with them anywhere and download apps that can make their school lives easier. I selected both of these devices because of their portability and the resources that these two devices can hold are unimaginable. “Tablets are especially suited for today’s fast-paced, modern learning environments and tablet versions of textbooks, with interactive and visual tools for teachers” (Mobiledia.com, 2013). I would use either of these devices in the classroom for electronic library database use. Secondly, using apps that can be download onto tablets or iPads to help with locating information on the physical campus by using one of the gps apps that are free and readily available.
Dunn, J., (2012). The 60-second guide to smartphones in education. Retrieved from,
Dykes, T., (2012) Smartphones as educational tools in the classroom. Retrieved from
Rock, M. , (2013). The future of education: tablets vs. textbooks. Retrieved from