Using mobiles in
your classroom
Dr Andrew LeeHead of Juniors, St. Pauls SchoolLondon, United Kingdom | Geography
Secondary physics teacher
Interested in social media and mobile tech
Avid blogger
Google certified educator
Honarary geographer…
Primary Geography
Apple Distinguished Educator
…In charge of the iPads
Obj
ectiv
es• Learn to adapt our pedagogy to
accommodate mobile phones• Look at how to use mobile phones to
distribute information• See how mobile devices can be used to
get contributions from students• Get students interacting with each
other • Take away a toolkit of ideas that we
can adapt and use
What you’ll need
Essential• A smartphone or tablet with
internet connection • Ability to access websites• Ability to send emails• Barcode scanning app (for
iPhone you can use RL Classic, Android use Barcode Scanner, BB has a barcode scanner too)
Nice to have• A Google/Gmail account• A twitter account• A facebook account• [A posterous & bit.ly
account]• A computer
You don’t really need• Loads of apps
• Most people have one• Cheap • Access loads of information
at your fingertips• Ability to collect a range of
data• Instant access• Connectivity
“An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator... these are NOT three separate devices! And we are calling it iPhone! Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone. And here it is…”Steve Jobs
• Most people have them• Distracting• Lots of different systems
and devices• Difficult to input large
amounts of text• Accessing resources can be
a little fiddly
Ice cream sandwich
Gingerbread
Froyo
iPhone 3G
iPhon
e 4G
iPad
iPod
touc
h
Windows mobile 6
Windows mobile 7
Windows mobile 8
Distributing resources part 1
Using bit.ly
ProblemTyping in Long URLs makes accessing web resources difficult
SolutionUse a URL shortener. http://bit.ly is a really useful one
Example http://geography.org.uk/cpdevents/annualconference/programme/
shortens to
http://bit.ly/IwM3DP
on a phone you just need to type in bit.ly/lwM3DP
Distributing resources part 1
Using bit.ly
Give it a go1.Find the longest URL you can 2.Go to the address bar (in the iPhone you need to hold your finger down and drag to the start of the address. In Android, scroll to the left)3.Type bit.ly/ (you may need to click “123” or “Sym”)4.Press the big “Shorten this link” button*
*I experienced some trouble with this on iPhone
Distributing resources part 1
Using bit.ly to make custom URLs
ProblemThese new URLs are kinda…hard to type and remember?
SolutionUse bit.ly’s customization feature. You will need to sign in to use this*
*I experienced some trouble with this on iPhone
http://youtu.be/qP8F3uAIqIg
Distributing resources part 1
Using bit.ly to make bundles
ProblemWhat if I have a lot of links I need to share?
SolutionUse bit.ly’s bundles feature. As far as I know you can only do this on a computer i.e. not yet in the mobile version, so you may need to use the Full site link at the bottom of the page if you are using your mobile
https://bitly.com/tour/bundles/
Bundle for today’s session http://bitly.com/INak2U
Distributing resources part 2
Reading QR codes
ProblemSo we’ve made the process shorter but text entry is still pretty inefficient…
SolutionQR codes
and they are what exactly…?
iPhone/iPadUse the Red Laser/RL Classic barcode reader app
AndroidUse the Barcode Reader App
Blackberry Use the Scanlife App
Instructions – line up the 4 corners so that they fit in the scanner. The device should read the address.
Distributing resources part 2
Using QR codes
Q.R. – WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR…absolutely everything!*
*(as long as it’s on the web and “public”)
Never heard of QR codes before this. They look really useful! I kinda wish I could run a lesson like this, the ideas seem sound
…but QR codes look really hard to make.
This lesson must have been really hard to put together
It’s simple Mr Parrot. Just click “Info+” next to the link you want in bit.lyOr you can just type “.qrcode” after your bit.ly link…
http://bit.ly/geoagenda.qrcode
You can do this with bundles too.
As a Rhinocerous I find this really cool….
Wow. That was easy. How about showing me how this all meshes together? And let’s try and fit in those iPhone users who are having trouble with
bit.ly shall we…
Bringing it all together
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6779296686/
1 – make sure your phone has a barcode readeriPhone – RedLaserAndroid – Barcode Scanner
2 – Create a QR code using an online QR code makere.g. http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
3 – Print your QR code and stick it where you need it
QR Codes
What they do• Takes long web addresses
and turns them into a barcode
• Use barcode reader on phone to read the information
• Easy access to multimedia on phones
• Allows you to “embed” digital information in real locations
Treasure hunt• QR codes printed out and
posted around campus• Students learnt very quickly
how to use QR codes to access information
• Information was also printed out as text in case of electronics failure
Distributing resources part 3
Developing custom resources
*(as long as it’s on the web and “public”)
Distributing resources part 3
Developing custom resources
*(as long as it’s on the web and “public”)
Contributing resources part 1
Developing feedback forms in Google forms
http://docs.google.com
Distributing resources part 1
Pros and cons of using Google applications
• One login for many applications
• Easy to get started • Formatting is dynamic
with native apps for Youtube, docs, maps on most platforms
• Privacy settings are consistent across all products
• Too big to fail?
• Some schools have blocks on certain products
• A little too basic• Privacy settings are
not perfect• Different sites for
every format of media
Contributing resources part 3
The Posterous advantage
Posterous is quickly becoming my favourite educational blogging platform
Contributing resources part 3
The Posterous advantage
Common blogging queries for an e-learning advisor
• Please show me how to set up a blog• Can I (easily) get my students to share easily
among themselves but not with anyone else?• Is there any way students can share
documents/videos/music/etc without having to reinvent the internet?
• Can you set up something where students can upload from their mobile phones?
Contributing resources part 3
The Posterous advantage
Easy to set up. Privacy controls way too basic
Not easy to set up for one off projects and costlyCustomisation for all the features needed takes too long
Set up in secondsPrivacy really well thought outNo account set up for bloggers – post by emailPosterous takes and rearranges all media for you – upload anything you want!
http://ga2012.posterous.com/
[Password – Geography]
- Just email- Teacher moderates- Post automatically goes up online- Posterous handles most file types and
formats them appropriately
Contributing resources part 3
The Posterous advantage
Now your turn
• [email protected]• http://ga2012.posterous.com/[Password – Geography]