Making the Case for Online Teaching & Learning?

---

As I work with colleagues on developing an Online PhD program, and think to my ongoing research and writing, I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast findings across Project Tomorrow, the ECAR Annual Survey, PEW Internet Data and Device Acquisition Trends in 2013.
I have taken the JOURNAL's 10 Technology trends from Project Tomorrow 2013 -representing 400,000 surveys from 9,000 schools and 2,700 districts nationally with [students, teachers, parents, administrators and this year community members] - and put them alongside infographic visuals from the The Annual ECAR Student and IT Study - a collaboration with 251 institutions with 112,000 undergraduate student responses about their technology experiences around their 4 themes of 1. Mobile Device Ownership and Use; 2. Technology Value and Use; 3. Connectivity and Engagement; 4. Learning Environments

ECAR 2013 UG Study Report

The ECAR - Educause Center for Analysis and Research 2013 Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology REPORT came out in September. I always appreciate the insights and perspective it provides on technology trends, ownership, and how students evaluate both their and their instructors' use of technology. The numbers are impressive. Of the 1.6 million students solicited across 251 college/university sites, 113,035 responded from over 13 countries.

In discussions I have had with educators and teacher candidates, a recurrent concern has been that their students often have greater experience using technology -  the digital native vs. digital immigrant argument.  My response has been that though this may be the case, students tend not to know how to use the tools for learning, and that our role as educators can be to provide perspective and help develop their digital literacy skills, or 4C's: Critical Thinking & problem solving, Communication, Collaboration,  and Creativity and Innovation [see: Partnerships for 21st Century Skills].

PEW Results: Cell Use & the Internet

Of a national study - surveys and interviews - of 2252 18 years + from April to May 2013, results indicate that 63% are cell internet users [i.e. use their phones to access the net] up from 31% in 2009. if this, 34% - comprised most likely of young adults, non-whites, with relatively low income and education - are cell-mostly internet users.
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Cell-Internet/Main-Findings/Cell-Internet.aspx

Adding Formative or Summative Grading to G Forms Using Flubaroo

Google Forms: are a great way to create surveys, quizzes, etc, but combined with Flubaroo instructors now have a quick way to grade.

Flubaroo: http://www.flubaroo.com/ is an tool that integrates with Google Forms [just add the Google App Script from the gallery in the spreadsheet drop down menu] that lets you easily perform diagnostics, grade assignments and do in-class assessments [such as dipsticking or thumbs up/down but on an individual student basis], as well as exit slip/tickets to see how well students have understood content. The tool allows the isntructor to create a report and these results can be emailed or shared out to students [with an individualized message and their score]. 

More information on how to use Flubaroo can be found at Google Education - which includes an archived webinar]:  https://sites.google.com/site/eduonair/conference-sessions/using-google-apps-to-enhance-instruction

Here too is video with a shorter review:

App Review Socrative 2 Minute Overview

A nice quick review of the possibilities for using the App Socrative - http://www.socrative.com/ -  in the classroom. The power of the tool is that it is user friendly and can be used across different devices for quick a formative assessment or CFU [check for understanding].

Education in the Age of Mobilism

---

10/25/12 Lightening Webinar, ISTE’s SIGML
Education in the Age of Mobilism: Biggest Change to K-12-Ever
Eliot Soloway, U Michigan Cathleen Morris U N. Texas
Webinar: http://iste.adobeconnect.com/p3qqtqqf1rn/

The essence of this webinar is that the shift to mobile is here, but SW + mobile devices need to reflect 21st century learning – i.e. 4 C’s – Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity – and not to reinforce outdated pedagogies.

Some Highlights:
Post PC era = Age of Mobilism
1.5 billion smartphones connected to the internet – mobile fastest uptake ever
Smartphones vs PCs vs Feature Phones: FLURRY survey on Smartphone use:
- 2010 = Browsing @ 94mins/ Apps @ 43min
- 2011 = Browsing @ 72mins/ Apps @ 94mins
Feature or non-smart phones will disappear in 3-5 years [Horace Dedui, analyst]
PC shipments decline 1% in 2012 first time in a decade
School shipments of PCs down 13.9% even as & 1million iPads sold to schools
Negroponte’s $100 tablet is here now [one e.g. Google to drop 7” tablet to $100 when 10” is released]
- Smartphones = device of choice
Project Glass: $1500 wearable computer [glasses] à predict $150 in 2 years = BIG change
Why Software is Eating the World, Mar Andreessen [Mosaic browser creator] e.g. iTunes [SW + mobile device] Netflix

Smartphones to Surpass 1 Billion in 2013

Smart phones will grow 40 percent this year compared with 2012, while the overall mobile phone market will grow just 7.3 percent worldwide to 1.8 billion units. By 2017, smart phones are expected to reach 1.7 billion unit shipments per year, with overall cell phone shipments reaching 2.3 billion units.

iCharts

Source: http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2013/09/05/Smart-Phones-To-Surpass-1-Billion-Units-This-Year.aspx?Page=1

The Anthropology of Mobile Phones

What are the top 3 most important items that people carry? Money, keys, and our cel phones. According to Chipchase, this is true across gender, cultures, and contexts.

This TED talk shares some interesting and surprising discoveries about how people in third world countries strive to connect over time and space - some 3 billion + have mobile phones worldwide. Street innovations - such as using the mobile phone as an ATM to send money to rural villages, and reverse engineering to meet the demand for fixing broken phones - exemplify how necessity is the mother of invention, as well as our impressive creative capacity when faced with few or limited resources.

Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/jan_chipchase_on_our_mobile_phones.html

Transcript: HERE

Trends in Mobile Device Acquisition 1975-2011

---

We've all heard about the massive proliferation of mobile devices, the worldwide increase in the purchase of cellular phone. This image [does not include all mobile platforms] shows units of devices shipped from 1975-2011 and provide an interesting window on trends in the marketplace.

PCs on the downfall:

• iPad can no longer be considered a niched- volume of sales in its first 2 years places it within an order of magnitude of all PCs sold.
• iPhone, Android, iPad as the new entrants into personal computing have a combined volume that is higher that PCs sold in the same period [approx. 358 million vs. 336 million excluding Macs in 2011]

Three Phases or Eras

1975-1991: Emergence & rapid growth but also multiple standards and experiments

1991-2007: Microsoft Dominates

2008 - 2012: iPhone & Derivatives Dominate

Which Tablet Case...?

---

As I prepared to loan out the half dozen iPads that I was able to pull together - from my Faculty Development Grant and loan from our Educational Tech Director Al Weiss - I was faced with the question of how best to protect the devices to ensure the longest shelf life. This turned out to be quite the challenge. First off, there are a gazillion varieties to choose from. What I'll share here are the 3 models we ended up going with. I did also buy one standard case sleeve model seen on the right here - those provide good basic protection and come in at various prices - but as those are fairly basic no further explanation is needed. 

I ended up buying 3 different models through Amazon, and between using them personally and getting feedback from my students have some thoughts about what one might want to consider when looking for a case:

Kensington - KeyFolio Pro 2 Removable Keyboard, Case and Stand For iPad 4 with Retina Display, New iPad (3rd Gen) and iPad 2 (K39512US) - approx $50 AMAZON

This case offers good protection so is a solid choice. To use the iPad alone, it is easy to remove the keypad, however, the bottom half of the case will hang loose and flap which may make using the iPad alone a bit awkward.