Academic Use of Cell Phone Technology at Montclair State University Patricia Kahn, Ph.D., Director, Technology Training, & Integration Office of Information Technology Leslie Wilson, Ph.D. Faculty, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Jessica Brandt, M.S Faculty, College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Fairleigh Dickinson University

2 The Challenge for Educators Newly designed courses promoting student learning through active engagement Higher education needs to employ strategies of using emerging educational technologies to facilitate the learning process by providing a learning environment that matches the student’s new style of learning (Dede, 2005)

3 Mobile Technology Can Help An instructional technology that support the 21st century learner but does not require a high level of technical proficiency Enhance the learning process by making learning more interactive and enjoyable Affords curriculum customization to match learners' developmental needs as well as personal interests Promotes a constructivist approach to teaching and learning Bridge the gap on how students live and learn realizing that they will spend their adult lives in a technology- driven multitasked fast-paced world

4 Campus Connect

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Bb 7 Rave

Supplement Learning Integrate with Bb –Announcements and Grades –Group Activities –Learning Units –RSS feeds 8

Supplement Learning Interactive Activities and Group projects –Polling (cell phones as clickers) Assess student understanding of material Receive anonymous feedback on provocative content –Blogging Fieldwork Exercises Text messaging to blogs Pictures from phones to blogs 9

Advantages of Using Cell Phones To Teach Use as clickers Conducting polls Immediate and portable access to the web Making learning fun

11 Polling The instructor can ask a question in class that the students can answer anonymously and within minutes The answer can be displayed to the class via a computer projector or smart board

12 Three Examples Students were polled for a New Student Seminar course Polls were related to text readings Students were polled during the class Students were polled outside of the class Results were viewed by all The results sparked conversation inside and outside of class via text messages, and blackboard (accessible through the students phones)

13 Question # 1 Why did you come to college? Offered choices: 1.To get an education 2.To lead to a job or career 3.Family obligations 4.Other

14 What motivated you to apply to college?

15 Question # 2 What are you going to do with your free time? Offered choices: 1.Hang out with friends 2.Study 3.Get involved in campus affairs 4.Work 5.Party

16 What will you do with your free time?

17 Question # 3 How many hours a week do you expect to study? Offered choices: 1.Five hours 2.Ten hours 3.Twenty hours

18 How many hours do you plan to study each week?

19 Conclusions Students like using the technology Class becomes more fluid and student oriented Students use the technology outside of class Learning is initiated through the students not through the instructor

20 Free-time Activities Scavenger Hunt Polls and Fieldwork: German “As a vocabulary building exercise in the chapter on how we spend our free time, I gave the students a list of about 25 verbs. In teams of 4-5 students, they had 15 minutes to walk around campus and find people engaging in activities from the list. Using their cell phones……

21 Free-time Activities Scavenger Hunt “I put together a list of trivia questions (in German) about famous Germans, such as "What did Goethe write?" or "Who is Joseph Ratzinger?" Each question was set up as a poll with multiple choice answers accessed from the cell phone.... Polls and Fieldwork (Germ. cont.)

22 Introduction to German: Autobiography Blogs Fieldwork Activities Constructed, through blog postings, students had to provide a description of him/herself and daily life (or that of someone you know, or a fictional person, if you wish). The posts were grounded by a photograph (or photographs) taken from your cell phone. You will then describe the picture in a few short sentences in German

23 Blogs Fieldwork Activities (cont.) Linguistic Assignment: Gender Differences in Speech “Linguistic research has shown that males and females use formal and informal speech under different circumstances and at different rates. Using your cell phone post your observations on your blog” Count how many turns the females take. Count how many turns the males take….

24 Urban History Students learning about urban history are studying fires as a historical event. Students are required to visit a local fire house and interview a fireman/firewoman and post the highlights of the discussion on their blog page by using their phones. Blogs Fieldwork Activities (cont.)

25 Conclusions/Recommendations Important to meet with an instructional designer well advance of implementation to develop appropriate teaching strategies Provide activities that are interactive and engaging and serve a purpose Not make cell phone use mandatory; Give several options based on learning style Support, support, support – don’t assume comfort level of 21 st Century Learner

26 Questions?