This week, we explored the use of mobile devices in education in today’s society. Research has been carried out by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) showing that “schools see technology such as games consoles and smartphones as playing an important role in primary-aged children’s education (Gurney-Read 2015).  Similarly, children agree with this. A consultation carried out by The Children’s Parliament for Scottish Government found that some children see digital technology as an enhancement to learning. They believe that by using digital technology and mobile devices, this can help make better links between classroom learning and homework. These children also stated that the use of mobile devices such as I-Pads should become a normal part of their school day and not only used as a reward.

The benefits of using mobile devices according to Beauchamp are:

• Flexibility and portability – as devices are relatively small, portable and usable anywhere, they allow the learner freedom to learn on the move
• Multi-functionality – mobile devices bring together more than one function that would previously needed separate devices: for instance, viewing web pages and viewing images
• Multimodality – they allow users to create multimodal texts
• Interactivity and communicative potential – communication between a large number of users can be achieved through text and speech.

 

Although there are many advantages to using mobile devices and the role they play, it has been found in a poll of 500 teachers that over a third of teachers are unsure as to how to integrate their use into everyday lessons. Lack of training has been cited as a cause for this, meaning that thousands of pounds worth of technology is lying around unused (Curtis 2014).  Children are now beginning their school life as fully fledged digital natives. Recent research by OFCOM has found that six year olds have the same digital understanding as a forty-five year old.  In this rapidly changing digital era I feel it is important as an educator to be able to match the needs of this new generation with confidence. I have found that in the brief time I have undertaken the Digital Literacies module, my confidence and knowledge has vastly improved. This is an area that I hope to continue my learning in throughout my studies and future career.

Our practical task this week was to create an I Am….. poem and present this by PowerPoint including images and sound. To record sound, we used an Easispeak microphone. This a small handheld device that can be used to record your voice. It is simple to upload recordings onto a computer and use the audio on other programs. The poem itself is a great way for children to think about themselves and express their feelings. The use of a poem could also be used in other contexts for example how they think someone else may feel.  If using what we have learned today in a lesson, we could achieve many Experiences and Outcomes for Curriculum for Excellence:

• I am aware of and able to express my feelings and am developing the ability to talk about them. HWB 0-01a/1-01a/2-01a/3-01a/4-01a
• Within real and imaginary situations, I share experiences and feelings, ideas and information in a way that communicates my message. LIT 0-09a
• I can explore digital technologies and use what I learn to solve problems, share ideas and thoughts. TCH 0-01a

As always, today’s session has been an eye opener for me in ways that digital technologies can be used in the classroom. As a learner, I am becoming more confident every week and enjoy all the fresh challenges. Looking forward to my career as a primary teacher I feel today’s session has re-enforced how important it is to be competent in Digital Literacies. Mobile devices are something that I hope to incorporate into future lessons I deliver.

 

Reference List

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary Classroom: From Pedagogy, top Practice. Pearson.

Children’s Parliament (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland: The View’s of Children

[Online] http://www.childrensparliament.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/REPORT_digital-learning-consultation_Childrens-Parliament-1.pdf [Accessed: 05 March 2018]

Curtis, S. (2014) Digital Learning:How technology is reshaping teaching. The Telegraph [Online] 23 August 2014. [Accessed 05 March 2018]

Gurney-Read, J.(2015) Classroom Technology ‘rarely used’ by half of teachers. The Telegraph  [Online] 24 November 2015 [Accessed 05 March 2018]

Scottish Executive (2004) Curriculum for Excellence. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive