Tablets, mobile phones and other mobile devices have become the norm in society today, with access to to the internet and knowledge only a few seconds away, but what impact has this had on education and the way we both teach and learn???
Weldon (2013) reports on a study carried by Project Tomorrow of two class of the same age in different schools where giving tablets and wireless access both at school and at home. The study revealed that through the introduction of mobile technology both study groups found;
From a teaching perspective: Teacher and student communication had improved and the teachers found productivity increased with the ability to develop new learning opportunities for the students.
The students found research and gaining learning materials easier, and learning styles and how they approached learn changed with the use of technology now their first port of call.
Weldon states that it has been hard to measure the importance of technology in learning and how studies like this can help us gain un understanding, this is supported by Julie Evans (Cited by Nagel,2013) who is the CEO of Project Tomorrow who Stated;
"This study is important because it gets beyond simply putting a tablet in the hands of students, and it examines how to effectively implement tablets within instruction to improve student learning".
Nagel goes on to explain that the implementation of mobile devices at home did not encourage bad behaviour and some doubters may have thought but enhanced the learning experience, however he stresses that teachers need to control mobile learning and support students with clear goals and structure.
Overall I believe this study just supports what I already thought, with mobile technology becoming a very important tool for both learning and teaching with students being to gain information so easily and pushing the research boundaries further than anyone could of imagined. Nagel makes a good point however, to make sure there is still structure and clear goals form the teacher to keep the students learning relative and to still have control of their students learning.
Bibliography
Nagel, D (2013) Mobile Study: Tablets make a difference in teaching and learning, The Journal accessed on 3rd December 2014 from http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/11/20/mobile-study-tablets-make-a-difference-in-teaching-and-learning.aspx
Weldon, D (2013) Recent studies confirm value of mobile technology, tablets in classroom, FierceMobileIT, Accessed on 3rd December from http://www.fiercemobileit.com/story/recent-studies-confirm-value-mobile-technology-tablets-classroom/2013-12-05
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