Potential of mobile devices to improve education

This was originally written as a think piece for the DfE for the http://schoolstech.org.uk/ site, think pieces weren’t used in the end so here it is!

Our young learners inhabit a world where communication and access to knowledge is being transformed by mobile devices. A world in which we as adults would be lost and frustrated without our own mobile devices. There are 81 million mobile devices connected to major mobile operators in the UK. 60% of 9-16 year olds in the UK access the Web from a mobile device. More than 1 for every man, woman and child in the UK. This excludes iPod Touches, Wifi iPads, Nintendo DSs etc.. 

I own a smartphone, tablet and tiny laptop. I have 24/7 access to tools, knowledge and people that was unimaginable even just a few years ago. I have learnt more through applying ideas picked up in discussion with colleagues all around the World via Twitter and their thoughts and experiences recorded on individual blogs than I ever did during my PGCE or any school-based CPD

Are we allowing our learners access to this amazing pool of knowledge and opportunities? Many schools need to re-align their thinking in three key areas if we are to make the most of this revolution:

  1. Student owned devices:  Schools are actively encouraging the use of student owned devices. With clear and consistent expectations they can be used to support learning and supplement school devices.
  2. Internet filtering: Schools that have prioritised wireless coverage and fast Internet connections can allow students access to the majority of the Web, including the likes of Youtube and Facebook. Allowing student owned devices onto your network means you can continue to filter and monitor.
  1. IT provision and procurement: The days of the Computer Lab are numbered. Is your school still investing in desktop PCs? Or have they investigated mobile devices, perhaps funded by parental contribution models?

What would learning look like if your students had increased access to learning opportunities through mobile devices? A pedagogical shift is needed to make the best use of the opportunities that are provided. My personal experiments have shown promise new pedagogical models such as Minimally Invasive Education and student led 20% time. Opportunities abound to collaborate with learners worldwide, revolutionise assessment, and to tap in to the 80% of learner’s lives spent outside of school, but alongside their mobile devices. 

What are your experiences of using mobile technology and connectivity for learning? Where do you see the biggest opportunities and barriers?

I’ll leave you with words from Lord Puttnam at The Schools Network National Conference 2011:

“Technology has not as yet been able to make anything like the significant impact as has proved possible in most of the other fields of human activity”

“We need to develop a far better sense of the challenges [our students] face and we need to engage far more effectively with their world… to see the digital environment as they do, as transformative… as something that’s already changed the nature of how they go about their daily lives and indeed the way that they learn and can be helped to respond to learning.”

Bravo Mr Gove #schoolstech #ictcurric

Unless you’ve been living under a rock today I’m assuming you’ll have seen some excitable headlines followed by a more detailed speech about the future of technology in education in the UK and in particular the future of the subject of ICT.

In a nutshell Mr Gove has scrapped the ICT curriculum, whilst keeping ICT in the curriculum. Confused? Don’t be. We can now effectively teach whatever we want. There will be a consultation, and there will hopefully be new ‘Computer Science’ qualifications in the pipeline. Mr Gove has listened to the calls of industry and responded with startling ruthlessness.

I’m delighted that my school is in a great position to make the most of these changes (in fact we won’t have many changes). We acted on the NextGen report when it came out last year and have a Y10 group working on the OCR Computing GCSE that I suspect Gove was alluding to in his speech. (Some of our other decisions back then with regards to Creative iMedia & MOS might not prove so long serving).

I never thought I’d say the words, but bravo Mr Gove!

The ICT programme of study was dull and out of date in places, and there is a lot of poor ICT teaching across the country. There is also a wealth of incredible teaching by teachers who have ignored / bent / destroyed the current program of study to their needs. Gove’s decision today means they are free to do so without worry of Ofsted and co castigating them for doing so. There is of course a danger that specific ICT lessons will dwindle in number further with this move. Integrating the skills across the curriculum is key, but we still need specialist teachers delivering these skills with panache if we are to really generate the next generation of talented, creative, coders.

The move to include more Computing / Programming / Computer Science has been much debated of late. It needs to be optional at KS4 but I’m in full support of this. Well qualified & skilled teachers to deliver this will be an issue.

It’s an exciting time to be involved in ICT. It’ll be interesting to see if we really do make it through the next few years without being told what to teach. And it will be interesting to see what qualifications become available at KS4 for us to work towards (and in turn what skills they focus us upon). This is a great chance to continue some of the great work that has gone on with #ictcurric and other endeavours to start putting together a set of core skills and competencies for Digital Literacy & ICT.

A particularly exciting thought crossed my mind when reading the full transcript of the speech. As the programme of study goes, so do the assessment levels and criteria. There will be nothing to say what a Level 5 in ICT is. So how about we scrap levels? What does achieving a Level 5 in ICT really mean? And who understands it? I’d suggest that half the students in KS3 don’t know, no teacher outside of the subject would know, and very few parents would know. Could we put together a simple list of core skills and competencies and measure learner’s progression in each of these. Something akin to APP lite, maybe with a Mozilla Badge system to award and recognise mastery and application of these skills? I suspect that National Curriculum levels will be phased out across the board over coming years, so this could be a great opportunity to put together something far more meaningful. I’d be much happier with my Maths teaching hat on if I could look at my learners records and see who has a Silver Award in Spreadsheets, or a Bronze Award in Scratch Programming, it would be far more meaningful to me and make planning the integration of ICT skills into that subject far easier.

So. Bravo Mr Gove. I may disagree with you a lot of the time, but you’ve been bold today and deserve respect for it. Join in the conversation that has been started today using the hashtag #schoolstech and at the website http://schoolstech.org.uk/. And welcome to the brave new world, when the National Curriculum review finally kicks into action don’t be surprised to see other subjects head in a similar direction.