ENGAGING THE 21ST

CENTURY LEARNER

Presented by:

Jessica Bentz

WHAT DOES LEARNING LOOK LIKE AT FANNIN?

Students and teachers are overloaded with stacks of heavy textbooks and mounds of unending paperwork and worksheets to complete.

Don’t get me wrong! Our students are educated by some of Corsicana’s best teachers. But are we giving it our all?

Education in America is not designed for the 21st century. As a country, we “rank 16th among developed nations” (West, 2013, p. 2).

WHAT COULD LEARNING LOOK LIKE AT FANNIN?

According to West (2013), “Wireless technology is a way to provide new content and facilitate information access… It enables, empowers, and engages learning in ways that transform the learning environment for students inside and outside of school” (p. 1).

Differentiation has always been at the forefront of education. That’s because “pupils come from different backgrounds, have divergent interests, and learn in unique ways” (West, 2013, p. 6).

Why shouldn’t their education allow for personalization, spike their interest, and engage their mind?

HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN?

Students have the ability to learn technology very quickly and efficiently. Teachers on the other hand often learn new technology slower and less effectively than our students.

The problem won’t be training the students on how to use devices. It will be training the teachers on how to use the devices in a way that is pedagogically effective for learning.

Teachers “are not effectively prepared to investigate the advantages or make informed decisions” when it comes to mobile learning (Baran, 2014, p. 1). Baran’s 2014 study of mobile learning in the area of teacher education across the world found had a positive and valuable impact on student learning. “Mobile tools were found to have potential for helping teachers understand and develop new literacies, explore mathematics in the real world, conduct scientific investigations, engage in rich language contexts, and explore real world physical education” (p. 24).

Teacher training with mobile learning should look like this:■ hands-on exploration of mobile devices

■ developing mobile lesson plans

■ micro-teaching mobile lessons

■ planning mobilized curriculum

■ collaborating with peers

■ accessing teacher education content

■ reflecting with teaching

■ sharing classroom practice

■ using peer feedback

■ assessing performance

(Baran, 2014, p. 28)

Using online webinars and lessons through iTunes U, EdTechTeacher, and a number of other online sources, we can make mobile learning a reality at our school.

“…THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT AMERICA HAS WORK TO DO IN THE EDUCATION

AREA” (WEST, 2013, P.4).

BIBLIOGRAPHYBaran, Evrim. 2014. A Review of Research on Mobile Learning in Teacher Education. Retrieved from

http://www.ifets.info/journals/17_4/2.pdf

Nagel, David. 2013, May 8. Report: Students Use Smart Phones and Tablets for School, Want More. Retrieved from https://thejournal.com/articles/2013/05/08/report-students-use-smart-phones-and-tablets-for-school-want-more.aspx

West, Darrell. 2013, September 17. Mobile Learning: Transforming Education, Engaging Students, and Improving Outcomes. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2013/09/17-mobile-learning-education-engaging-students-west

***All images used are tagged with the Creative Commons license.***