It would be too easy to make a joke about our District's IT issues and if they could learn something from developing nations about the use technology in education, but frankly I've already done that in previous posts so doing it here would be repetitive. Libraries in developing countries are supporting their patrons by travelling to them, relying on donations from other countries, or collaborating with people like Marlene Asselin who have a passion for teaching reading and an inclination for helping others. Whatever resources are used in these environments are beneficial, but if so many of us in the world have mobile devices, why not use them in this way? Obviously they would be better for gaining relevant information than an encyclopedia from the 70's that was culled from a Library here.
I think we are in an age where libraries are expected to have more than just books, and although developing nations should still get weeded books from developed nations because there are access issues with internet and mobile technology, perhaps their focus should be
more towards developing their ability to use mobile devices
instead of mostly donated resources. I think mobile devices help people access educational information in a way that is personal, meaningful, and timely. They allow patrons to find things they didn't even know they were looking for from places they didn't even know they could find them. That is certainly a different paradigm from when I grew up and looked in the one "World Book" my library had, in order to track down some facts about tigers for a Science project.
This isn't
always a positve though, and I cringe about what kids can see these days on YouTube or other sites on the internet that is intended for adults in terms of language, violence, or sex. On a little side note, I had a spirited discussion with my class at the end of the day about the validity of being "famous" because of YouTube which I think is a joke and they think is legit. No word of a lie; I saw a celebrity birthday online site that listed famous people who had bithdays on the same day. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shares a day with some guy with a large amount of followers for his YouTube Channel. Yeah, they are both famous; one for civil rights/changing the world and the other for putting videos online of people getting hit in the groin with objects. Totally the same and equally famous. Anyone else see something wrong with that?! But I digress. They say information is power and I can see how true that is for citizens of a developing nation who may not have any idea what they are missing, but that access to the internet could provide. One example I found was Vodafone, which aims to help kids in India learn using technology. The
Learn out of the box programme, being implemented by the Vodafone Foundation in India in partnership with Pratham Education Foundation, aims to improve the standard of education at 1,000 low income schools, targeting 50,000 underprivileged children in India over three years. The service uses innovative software and the mobile internet to train teachers and help them engage students with interactive learning materials and multi-media content. The service makes education more accessible to students whether they are using mobile phones, tablets or the Vodafone WebBox (a low-cost internet-enabled device that connects to a television).
I have no problem with students using mobile devices, but my school is located in a low socio-economic area and some of our students can't afford them which is a problem. My issue is more that kids haven't yet developed the self- discipline to use them appropriately. Heck, there are some staff members in our school who
need to update their Facebook status several times while at work. I'm not confident a 10 year old would use their mobile device for anything educational, but rather only to play first person shooting games. How much of my time am I supposed to spend policing these devices instead of collaborating with students about their learning? Kids at the elementary level are impulsive and immature and lack the ability to moderate their screen time. Do you know of an adolescent that uses their mobile device for the forces of good? I mean something other than games, Snapchat or Instagram? Honestly, I'm not sure I do and as much as I want our District to allow BYOD - ASAP, I'm worried about the implications of such a move in terms of all kids having equal access and the ability to use them properly for learning.
Photo #1 courtesy of:
http://zaggblog.s3.amazonaws.com/community/blog/wpcontent/uploads/2011/04/cellphone1.jpg
Photo #2 courtesy of:
http://www.whiting.lib.in.us/images/2010_World_Book_largeview.jpg
Vodafone:
http://www.vodafone.com/content/sustainabilityreport/2014/index/transformationalsolutions/education.html
Photo #3 courtesy of:
http://www.creativity.com.au/rapjumping/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/youtube-channel-logo.jpg
Photo #4 courtesy of:
http://s1.hubimg.com/u/4673320_f520.jpg
So, this blog post started off really strong with some excellent discussion about world libraries and how they are using new models, new tools and new resources to leverage access and support in enabling remote communities in developing countries.
ReplyDeleteAccess is a huge issue in that, is it better to have old, out of date, obsolete, half-falling apart cast-off books and encyclopedias from the developed world to learn from, or access to current, up-to-date, modern and supportive media through access on a smartphone, small OLPC laptop, or free internet access to select and supported resources? Most of the work that Marlene and others have been doing has been around developing Libraries and Resources that meet the needs of the local population and that means books and resources in their language, about their culture, and about their history, not our old stuff from our developed world. It means access to current and appropriate digital resources, accessed through the library infrastructure and mobile devices (much lower cost to implement and support)
Your discussion about mobile devices in our world seems to be more about self-regulation, than about the potential of these devices. While many of your points are valid currently, where students struggle to maintain self-control in the face of so many distractions, I believe this is a call to arms. As no one else is stepping up to teach our students self-regulation skills, and they most definitely need to learn them. We need to role-model and discuss with our students what self-regulation looks like as things will only get worse as they get older.
I think back to our older debates about sex education and that for many years, the strategy was abstinence, rather than information. That strategy did not work very well for the teen pregnancy rate, and it is only through targeted strategies and education about safe sex, and protection, that students get informed and begin changing their behavior.
These devices and tools and resources are definitely part of our world and will not be a 'fad' that's going away in a few years, its time for all of us to teach responsible usage, responsible behaviour, safe usage and digital literacy, just as it is our responsibility to teach safe sex education. There are many parallels between these two important topics in our education system.
Overall, a very engaging and thought-provoking blog post with many strong observations and criticisms. One aspect for improvement would be some discussion of strategies and attempts to address some of your identified concerns around behaviour and self-regulation skills.
I agree that kids will often use their devices to play games but I also know that using their device in the classroom is such a privilege that students may not want to jeopardize that by breaking the rules. In my classroom, I allow students to use their cell phones as tools (calculators, timers etc) and they are good about having them away otherwise. I have grade 8s and they still seem to follow the rules. Grade 9s and 10s are another matter entirely.
ReplyDeleteWow!! i am very impressed with your lovely post.. i am so glad to left comment so interesting read, would love to read more here....
ReplyDeletemusic technology news