Education 2.0: Mobile Learning

Resources for Grades 7-12

1. TED

TED Talks is a non-profit organization that shares short talks from innovators, educators and interesting people across the globe. It also has a subset TED-Ed, short lessons created by teachers and students to explain concepts.

Most content on the site would be academically appropriate for Grades 7-12 and adult learners, but some TED Talks or TED-Ed lessons could definitely be used in elementary education as well. It is a great source to use in a "flipped classroom" model.

A junior or senior high school English or Health teacher could have students watch Amy Cuddy's talk "Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are" <iframe src="" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> followed by Brene Brown's explanation of empathy Ask the students to write a reflection of a time they had low self-worth or were struggling, then have students detail what helped them grow from that experience. Then have students write how their body language and perspective towards other has changed after watching the two talks.

2. Strict Workflow: A Great Productivity App

Strict Workflow is an excellent application to introduce to students that works with Google Chrome. It allows students to set a timer for 25 minutes to focus on work and then have a 5 minute break. The best part? It blocks popular time wasting websites (Facebook, Instagram, etc.). Students can personalize the timer and add websites to the blocked or allowed websites during work time.

For students who struggle meeting deadlines, budgeting their time or for students who forget to take breaks, this would be a fantastic application. With mobile learning, I could plan activities for my students that could be broken down into manageable chunks that would fit a 20-25 minute time. For example, I could have students watch a 15 minute TED Talk, followed by 10 minutes of brainstorming for a reflection. After the students 5 minute break, they could spend the next 25 minutes writing a 350-400 word reflection about the TED talk.

Big image

3. Fotobabble

Fotobabble is a website that allows the user to upload a photo and add audio to that photo. Simple to use and a great concept.

In a Social Studies classroom I can definitely imagine using this website with my students. For example, I could have students work in small groups to upload a photograph of four major historical figures and provide a one minute explanation of who the individual is and why they are important. Or, I could have political comics assigned to individual students and have him/her explain what political figure or current event the cartoon is critiquing.

Fotobabble Tutorial

4. Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere is a free, live polling generator.

In an English class, I could post polls with important quotes from the text and have students respond to a poll that asks which character that quotation belongs to. This would help me as a teacher know who has and has not read the text and allow for some student involvement before transitioning into class discussion.

I could also use Poll Everywhere to receive feedback on my lesson each day. I had a university professor have students fill out a quick, written survey weekly to assess whether readings were helpful or too long, if class time was used effectively, etc. I think Poll Everywhere would give students a voice about my engagement as a teacher and provide instant feedback.

5. Quizlet

Quizlet is a free application that allows users to build flashcard and interactive games. This tool could be used by students to create their own interactive, online review before a test or by teachers to provide review material. Quizlet also has millions of study sets of flash cards already available by other users.

As a junior/senior high school teacher, I will definitely use Quizlet. At first, in a Social Studies class, I would provide students with a flash card set that I have created for them, so students are given an introduction to the application. Afterwards, I will have students work in groups of four: each student will take one chapter of the textbook and provide flashcards on key vocabulary, historical events and content. Then students can share their flash card set with their group members. This activity gives students a sense of accountability and ownership, allows students to interact with their peers and cuts down on individual student time of reviewing material.