How will the students access the learning? Will it be with their own devices? - if so how do we know what devices they will use? It will be incredibly difficult to configure a system that will allow the myriad of devices available to access the learning in a way that is uniform throughout. For instance if smart phones / PDA’s needed to included then the iphone/ipad/ipod doesn’t display flash and all the other devices (running windows mobile, android etc) will interact with and display the content differently. This could result in some of the students not being able to properly access the content with content displaying incorrectly or not having access at all.
Even configuration to a singular device will require a huge change to the back end infrastructure which will require me hiring more staff to configure the architecture, which at consultancy rates, wont be cheap.
I see some people have purchased the devices to give to students which they say is better as you are only dealing with one device, but as explained above, this isn’t much of a solution from a back end point of view.
Even supplying a device isn’t easy as we will need to find a partner to sponsor the devices which will again drive up the cost, not only with the initial outlay for the devices, but with on going technical support and maintenance costs. There will also be costs in replacing the devices as I can see many of them bouncing off the playground or being ‘left on the bus’!
The device it’s self will be tricky to get past the students. As some of the research uses mature students or work based participants, who can be a bit more forgiving about the look and functionality of a device, the students here will dismiss it immediately if it’s not cutting edge and ‘cool’. For the devices I’ve seen this won’t be feasible on a schools budget.
Dominic King
Technician/IT support
As a parent, I worried that my son's mobile wouldn't be compatible (or whatever) and I'd have to buy him a new one - but when I did some research (using the Internet on my mobile), I found out that there are some very simple but effective ways just using text messages that teachers have developed to get students involved in their studies in interesting and motivational ways, so this doesn't need to be an issue!
ReplyDelete