The Benefits and Challenges of Mobile Learning

In the article, "The Benefits and Challenges of Mobile Learning", I learned that while it may be beneficial and useful to introduce technology into both teaching and learning, it might also present challenges.  Some of the positives about utilizing mobile technology in the classrooms are that there is learning across multiple contexts and that it allows for portability and versatility in learning. Technology also allows for more creative and new ways to teach and learn as well as transforming learning and teaching into a more meaningful and authentic experience. Some of the downsides to this approach are that many schools have major privacy concerns, have financial restraints, and that creating the new ways of teaching might be difficult to instill and learn. There is also the issue of accessibility, because there are many schools that may not have access to technology and mobile devices. The article, "There’s an app for that", features the perspective of a teacher and his use of iPod touches in his own classroom, and the benefits of following the Mobile Learning Assessment. I learned that there are many creative ways to use technology in a classroom because teachers are able to create surveys to evaluate the students, while the students can use the technology to access the Internet, stream videos, and download applications.

I see the potential integration of mobile technology into the classrooms a positive thing that may also come along with some hardships. It would be unfair for the better areas to have access to the best and newest technologies while children in lower-income areas have older technology or even none at all. I could see it being very challenging, the way that our government is set up now, to supply and coordinate the distribution and use of technology for students around the country. While I believe that it is very important and helpful for students to be introduced to technology at a young age so that they will be able to safely and productively navigate the internet speedway in hopes of bettering themselves and their studies, I also think that it may cause students to disassociate from their peers and rely on their technology for many things that they are fully capable of and should be doing themselves. Therefore, I think that the introduction and use of some technology in the classrooms could create a fun, creative, and new way to teach that will keep the students attention, but that there should be a limitation of how much it is used and that there remains some traditional ways of teaching and it becomes a blend of the two.

References

Crompton, H. (2013). The Benefits and Challenged of Mobile Learning. Learning & Leading Through Technology. Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20130910?pg=40&search_term=mobile%20learning&doc_id=-1#pg40

Heisey, B. (2011). There's an app for this! Leading & Learning through Technology. Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201102?pg=38&search_term=mobile%20learning&doc_id=-1#pg38