New Research from ECAR on the use of Mobile Apps Purdue Univeristy
Follow the link below to see some new research from the Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) on student preferences for mobile app usage at Purdue University.
24th September Update Meeting in A253
This morning, some of us met to both share ideas and suggest workshops that might be useful in developing our mobile learning projects. Unfortunately, the timing of the meeting did not work for Mirabelle or Francie, and Margot is off sick.
- A brief desciption of the projects so far.
Daryl ( Educational Technology Liason/Biology) Students post to a blog. Daryl also uses D2L on a mobile device.
Eugene (Statistics) Eugene is exploring using ipad for powerpoint as well as clickers.
Mark (Geography) Students use their mobile devices to post to a blog for a lab assignment.
Nora (Math) Students use apps to teach basic math concepts
Sandra ( English) Students use their cell phones to collect academic vocabulary and then post these words to a course web page.
- Workshops
Steve Musson in Recreaction – the use of mobile technology
Daniel Thorpe- The Use and Abuse of an Ipad
A D2L mobile session with Daryl for the group
A hands-0n workshop where we can try out some of our ideas in a practice course.
Cellscope
LIF Mobile Learning Survey Results
LIF Mobile Learning Project Evaluation Survey
Executive Summary
Students participating in the mobile learning projects were given an opportunity to take a survey regarding their experiences. The primary goal of the survey was to answer the question; Did the students perceive the mobile learning activities to be engaging and worthwhile? Responses to the survey varied among the different classes and activities. Overall the results of the survey indicated that students found the activities to be both engaging and worthwhile. Other aspects of the survey focused on access to mobile device and previous experience with mobile devices.
Mobile Learning for Photographers
As detailed in my July 21/11 post, I made use of an iOS app that allows for predicting the position of the sun on a given date, time and location. This information is overlaid on a Google map and can also make use of the built-in camera on many iOS devices to show the actual position of the sun in the sky.
From a photographer’s perspective, knowing where the sun will be is a key element in creating a successful image outdoors. I chose to incorporate this app in the architecture photography assignment that existed in the PHOT 2338 course.
Process
Step 1: Choose a compelling building to photograph.
Step 2: During a site visit, capture a range of images to explore various camera positions and how the objective viewpoint of the camera will affect the image versus our perception. While on location, use the Sunseeker app to visualize the angle of the sun and how it changes. The built-in GPS of the device will identify the location automatically.
MLIF in French : Project Review
Main Project: Explore the Francophone resources in Vancouver (using Blogs and Twitter)
Activity:
- Students chose a place (restaurant, coffee shop, cultural centre, chocolate shop, movie, etc.) to visit.
- They left a tweet the day before the outing and a comment on the class blog to announce to the class where they were going (others could join in if they wanted or if they hadn’t found a place to explore yet).
- I posted an example of my “Francophone outing” and interview on the class blog to give students an example.
- Students went on outing (alone or in groups), took photos and interviewed a Francophone.
Genes, Genetics and Genomes Summary
I started out making a project that was not mobile device dependent. I focused on an active learning assignment which took advantage of mobile technology if it was available.
The assignment was on Gene, Genetics, and Genomes and given to an Introduction to Biology class for science majors (BIOL 1115). I was not teaching the class at the time but had taught the first half of the course.
Nora’s Math1190 experience
My main concern at the beginning was the potentially “cranky” attitude of the students. 😥
That worked out just great – they were willing to do the mini projects as suggested. By the time the last project rolled up, they had their own ideas of how can they make things better.
Mobile Learning Module for Geography 1190 – Review
In earlier posts I outlined a prototype module for using mobile devices as tools for teaching topographic map skills and described the experience of testing the module with a GEOG1190 class. The following is my list of some of the benefits of the project.