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.