Having worked as a professional teacher close to a decade now, I get disturbed whenever arguments are raised to introduce mobile technology as some of the changes in the teaching and learning in this institution.
I'm against this proposition basically for two major reasons; one - mobile technology has detrimental effect on traditional skills of learning and mastery of basic literacies. And two - the technology will be responsible for the development of what other educators call a 'culture of disrespect' between learners and the teachers. And this is how all this can happen.
One of the key reasons why we have a poor reading and writing culture among the new generation of learners is due to their obsession with computer-based games and digitalised devices. Instead of listening to academic lectures, these mobile learners are listening to music. If this technology is adopted in this institution, print-book based reading and writing will be relegated to the periphery, yet this is the foundation of a solid literacy culture in society.
And while reflecting on current practice in evaluating mobile learning in 2005, Traxler and Kukulsa-Hulme concluded that:
"The evaluations we examined seem to be based on tacit foundations of 'common-sense' or perhaps a tacit consensus among mobile learning evaluators. It seems to us that many of the trials and pilots themselves rest on a 'common sense' view of learning. ...These facts jeopardise the credibility of outcomes reported in mobile learning trials and pilots" (Traxler J and Kukulska-Hulme, 2005, p.7).
Is it therefore pedagogically logical for us to adopt mobile technology basing on accounts of trials and pilots which produce only indicative rather than definitive findings?
And we shouldn't forget the disruptive nature of mobile technology in a classroom environment. A number of commentators have raised observations about recent high profile instances of school and university students being sanctioned for distributing inappropriate comments about their peers and teachers. Is this the route we are prepared to take in this institution?
Therefore, I feel strongly against the adoption of mobile technology in this institution because of the above and believe this house will agree with me.
Dear Godfrey
ReplyDeleteFinally a teacher that talks sense! I have lost count of the times I have had to real in academic staff, who charge off on constant tangents with little thought of the consequences (both technically and pedagogically).
Thank you for bringing an educationalist outlook to this debate.
Best, Rufus.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with this, there is a lot of scope for the use of computers in education but as a student I find the use of the shorthand and slang used on mobile devices annoying. I cannot see that the style of communicating via mobile devices would change if they were used for education, it would be another way of avoiding using correct and full English.
ReplyDeleteI would like to substantiate my point about the detriment mobile technology has on the development of basic literacy skills. Findings by Smith, Salaway and Caruso (2009) in the ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology showed that:
ReplyDelete'A third of the respondents (32.2%)agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "While in class,I regularly use my cell phone or handheld Internet device for non-course activities". When asked if they use their handheld devices for course-related activities, only 11.3% agreed or strongly agreed'.(Available online from: http://educause.edu/ecar).
The implication from this in relation to basic literacies development is clear; mobile technology is used mostly for non-academic activities that have little or no impact on the development of strong academic reading and writing skills. And this is not the future that we want the 21st century generation kids to have.