Bonfyre

It is amazing how things can come a full circle. I had initially intended on using Bonfyre as the app for the 2015 mobile learning project. However, when full time students appeared less enthusiastic in getting involved in chat forums to get support for accounting problems. So why mention Bonfyre now? Having a conversation around running a distance learning program without 'who's on line' in webcourses or PRONTO, I was reminded that Bonfyre could provide a mechanism to create a chat forum. Weighing it up, I saw the benefit that it somewhat separates helps segregate private chats (what's app and viber) from the educational chats. Determined to set up some sort of chat support for students studying abroad I created a Bonfyre for the group on the 13th of September. As of the 19th of September, I have 7 of the 17 students joining. It is early days, the module only officially commences today.

New academic year... considerations for the year ahead

Reflecting on the mobile learning project. Socrative is certainly worth using in tutorials. I can't see it replacing my clickers in lectures unless there is a significant technical issue with broken clickers! But, there is a role for the Socrative app in tutorials and it is my aim to incorporate the app into a significant portion of my lectures in the semester ahead. I will provide an update when the tutorials progress.

e-Learning Excellence Update

A quick update... Having submitted the 3000 word case study for the competition, it failed to be included among the ten chosen for the final stage.

e-Learning Excellence Competition

I decided to submit an entry to the 2016 e-Learning Excellence Awards entitled 'Get Engaged with Accounting' which was accepted and I am now required to prepare a 3000 word case study. The mobile learning project really provided the extra layer to the case study. Clickers, Socrative and also other e-Learning initiatives will be evaluated in the case study.

Evaluating Clickers and the Socrative App

CLICKERS An end of year survey indicated with one group of first degree students that 60% strongly agreed and 40% agreed with the use of clickers. Another group had 43% strongly agreed and 52% agreed with the use of clickers and 5% with no opinion. Comments in relation to clickers included -Encourages to not lose focus in lectures -Helps you learn from your mistakes -It provided a new and unique way of answering accounting questions -Kept the class involved within the lecture -Sometimes I think I know exactly what I'm doing then with the clickers questions I realise my mistakes and how to fix them as they're all explained. -More interesting than just basic day to day lectures. -Everybody works at the same pace and everyone sees the correct answer at the same time. SOCRATIVE The same group reported for Socrative a 40% agreement to use, 40% no opinion and 20% didn't support its use. An other group indicated, in relation to Socrative, 29% strongly in favour, 14% in favour, and only 10% not supporting. The positive feedback was in relation to style of feedback / working at own pace / having the question in front helped keep concentration / able to move at a slower/quicker pace / it was more descriptive and interactive than the clickers / led you through what you should be writing / it would tell you if you went wrong and the solution that would give you the right answer / really good as a guideline !! just wish I could use it at home. I liked that it went along each step with me The issues reported by the same group were, harder to function & use than the clickers / very difficult to concentrate on it in a classroom environment / Everybody was working at a different pace and the class ended up splitting into multiple groups of people working on different parts of the question / The feeling of being way behind the rest of the class / if I'm stuck on a Socrative app question it might take longer to get help from the lecturer whereas with the clickers questions the class all move at the same pace. My own view... The tool however is really dependant on how much effort you put in to providing the detailed feedback.

Quick Update

A number of times during the run-up to the end of year exams students asked if I had Socrative guides for some of the questions. After one tutorial they asked could they use at home. This actually highlighted a major weakness with the approach - you can only deliver one poll at a time!!!

A very sucessful tutorial

The Socrative app was a fantastic tool during a packed tutorial. Having prepared a long sequence of sub questions to guide students through a full exam standard question I was able to let a large number of students work at their own pace. They reported that the feedback on why they got the answer wrong was hugely helpful. I felt that a significant portion of the group worked really hard and managed to progress well through the tough question.

Evaluation of Clickers v Socrative

A quick evaluation of Clickers versus Socrative CLICKERS first Pros: Students really like using clickers Students are active and engage with the material Delivers within PowerPoint presentation Can create numeric input questions as well as text input and standard MCQ Students get feedback Students can benchmark against rest of the class Lecture gets feedback Software is easy to use within PowerPoint Cons: Messy to distribute at the start of every lecture Hard to time how long to allocate to each question Good students get bored while waiting for others to input answers Weaker students may not get enough time to work out their response SOCRATIVE Pros: Students can be presented with a serious of questions which they can work through at their own pace You can give detailed feedback if they select wrong answer They see everything on their mobile device lecturer does not have to distribute devices Cons: Connecting to WIFI Not every student has mobile device No numeric input question option (all though can work around by using Text Input) Students are tempted to use social media Students don't see where they are positioned with their peers DECISION POINT: Use clickers when presenting new material building clickers questions into PowerPoint presentation. Use Socrative as a tool to guide students through long exam style accounting questions which they can work through at their own pace getting feedback on the bits they don't know.

Every cloud has a silver lining...

Not a good start to February - keyboard on laptop has broken so I have had to abandon using clickers in my lectures until it is repaired. Needs to be sent back to Fujitsu so will take at least two weeks. However, students disappointment at no clickers has inspired me to try Socrative. The vast majority of my students indicated they had either mobile / tablet or laptop which they could get wifi access on. So after a day of trial and error I manage to build a lecture around using Socrative. My own feelings - I miss the integration with Powerpoint (specially the TurningPoint ribbon) but I can see a way of letting students work at their own pace. It was The students view - they missed the clickers, they felt they were too tempted to use the phones for social media as well as having difficulties with connecting to wifi. They missed the instant feedback of clickers. However I did overcome somewhat the following day by showing them the right versus wrong inputs. Decision point: Socrative was worth pursuing for my Mobile Learning Project instead of ThingLink.

New Semester Resolutions

I guess as semester two is about to begin I will make a resolution to move my Mobile Learning project on a little. Will start by re-evaluating the direction the project is taking.

ThingLink Frustrations

I tried come up with some more exercises using ThingLink in the lead up to the Christmas Exams. I found the interface more frustrating than last time and am considering the need to upgrade (costs money) or find an alternative tool. Will spend January evaluating options but - not feeling confidence that ThingLink will work.

Sample Idea

This is a sample of what I am considering...

At the moment I am using the free option on Thinglink. I feel that it may be worth upgrading to get access to better pointers and to be able to customise the space better. I would also like to have voice explanation of whats behind the pointer but I haven't figured out how yet.

May Update

Just reporting that I haven't made much progress with project as I have been snowed under with corrections.

However, before exams started I was able to chat to some students to get their opinions on what would work or wouldn't work for them.  I found that the option to use Bonfyre to post problems or questions on a topic to class mates was not favoured for two reasons 1) they had their own favoured communication channels and 2) they felt that the threads would move onto other questions before theirs was answered and they would get confused or frustrated.  Also, the mobile glossary app did not appeal to them as they felt they tended to have access to info they needed already in webcourses.  The idea of having solutions with hotspots to find out where the figures came from or why they there really appealed to them so it appears that this is the direction my project will take.

The Options

The workshop run by Frances today was great and helped me identify the following options;

1) Use Bonfyre to facilitate students posting messages about points they can't following on a topic and encourage peer support

2) Create a mobile app that enables students to look up key terms they haven't grasped in a glossary

3) Use Socrative for in class assessment

4) Use Thinglink to create pointers on accounting solutions which students can view on mobile devices either in class or during self directed learning

I will discuss ideas with students over the next couple of days to help with evaluation and reaching a decision.

The Project

The Learning, Teaching & Technology Centre (LTTC) at the Dublin Institute of Technology are running the Mobile Learning Project (2015) which will support DIT staff who want to work with mobile technology within the structure of a pedagogically and technologically supported project.

This blog will provide information about 'Mobile Accounting' one of the proposals in the 2015 project.