|
|
|
Keynote Speakers
|
Big Issues in
Mobile Learning
by Professor
Mike Sharples, University of Nottingham, UK
Email:
|
 |
Abstract
Research in mLearning has developed rapidly over the past
ten years, such that a recent bibliography of mobile and
contextual learning includes over 500 references. However,
most of the studies report individual projects or describe
new technologies. In this presentation I shall take a
broader perspective and discuss some of the 'big issues'
emerging from the research and practice of mLearning. For
a final session of the European MOBIlearn project (the
largest research project in mLearning to date), the core
invistigators reflected on "what we know now, that we
didn't at the start" of the 33 month, 7.5 million Euro
project. The big issues that emerged from this reflection
included: that it's the learner that's mobile; how mobile
learning can both complement and conflict with formal
education; the importance of context, constructed by
learners through interaction; how learning is interwoven
with everyday life; and the ethical problems of ownership
and privacy. My presentation will explore these issues
and, possibly, new ones that are emerging from a debate on
major issues in mobile learning within the EC Kaleidscope
Network of Excellence.
Professor Mike Sharples is Professor of Learning
Sciences and Director of the Learning Sciences Research
Institute at the University of Nottingham, UK. Professor
Sharples has over 25 years experience in human-centred
design of new technologies for learning, and an
international reputation for research in mobile and
contextual learning. He inaugurated the mLearn international
conference series and is co-Chair of the international
workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE).
He has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the
Kaleidoscope European 6th Framework Network of Excellence in
Technology Enhanced Learning. As a member of the MOBIlearn
European 5th Framework project he led the design and
evaluation of its context awareness subsystem. He is author
of over 150 publications in the areas of interactive systems
design, artificial intelligence and educational technology.
|
Technologies that
Motivate Children to Learn
by
Professor Cathie Norris, University of North Texas,
Denton, TX, USA
Email:
and
Professor
Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
USA
Email:
|
 |
Abstract
While
we can dicker about the details, at its core, school is
about helping children to be successful, and helping
children to learn and to achieve. In order to learn,
children need to be motivated and engaged. For the “kids
these days,” what deeply engages them is being
continuously connected – to each other, to their music, to
their games, to digital things that they create. Outside
of school, such connections are facilitated by technology
– cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, etc., which
they use for text messaging, for remixing songs to create
their own personal ringtones, and for expressing
themselves through multiple media. If we think that the
kids these days are going to find paper-and-pencil
assignments motivating, we are fooling ourselves.
Fortunately, there are powerful, but low-cost, handheld,
mobile, multimedia computers that schools can provide for
children to use on a continuous basis that children do
find motivating. Most importantly, teachers can use their
existing instructional strategies with these devices; with
experience, we find teachers adapting their strategies to
better leverage the affordances of these task-appropriate,
non-overwhelming devices. In our presentation we will
describe classrooms – urban, suburban, rural – all around
America where children and teachers are using these truly
personal, palm-sized computers to pursue state-mandated
curricula to learn and achieve.
Professor Cathie Norris
In leading the development of handheld technologies for
teaching and learning in K-12 at GoKnow, Cathie Norries
continues to pursue her dream of making schools a better
place for children to learn, to grow, to thrive. Cathie’s
central design philosophy is that the key to being
successful in K-12 with technology is to win over the
classroom teachers by providing software that is truly easy
to learn, easy to use, and incorporates just the right
amount of educationally-appropriate functionality. While a
tall order, GoKnow’s award-winning handheld software, e.g.,
FreeWrite, Sketchy, Cooties, Fling-It, PAAM, etc. does have
precisely those characteristics.
For 10
years, Cathie was a high school mathematics and computer
science teacher before moving to the University of North
Texas where she is a professor in the Department of
Technology and Cognition. In the fall of 2003, Cathie
published a seminal paper on her Snapshot Surveys on the
state of computer and Internet access in K-12 classrooms in
schools and districts nationwide. That research establishes
the fact that the lack of impact of computer technology on
student achievement is not due to issues of teaching or
teachers, but is solely due to lack of access to the
technology. Indeed, given the economic situation in the
U.S., handheld computers are the only way that each and
every child will have access to their own personal computer.
Cathie is
a Past President of the International Society for Technology
in Education (ISTE), the leading international organization
for technology-minded educators. From 1991 to 2001, she was
the President of the National Educational Computing
Association (NECA) that organized the premier conference on
technology in K-12. As she brings both a classroom
teacher’s perspective, a scientist’s perspective, and most
recently, a business perspective to the use of technology in
education, Cathie is a much sought after speaker both
nationally and internationally. And, Cathie is a co-founder
and the Chief Education Officer of GoKnow, Inc., an
educational software company in Ann Arbor, MI devoted to
making sublaptop computers the computer of choice for K-12.
Professor
Elliot Soloway
For the
past 25 years, Elliot has worked to improve K-12 education
through the use of computing technologies. His latest
venture, GoKnow, Inc., is demonstrating how handheld
computers can transform K-12 classrooms by enabling,
finally, 1:1 computing for each and every child. GoKnow
provides administrators, teachers, students and their
parents/guardians with a complete, handheld-centric
solution. GoKnow’s award-winning handheld software, e.g.,
FreeWrite, Sketchy, Cooties, Fling-It, PAAM, etc. are based
on 15 years of classroom-based research at the University of
Michigan.
Starting
out as an Assistant Professor at Yale University, Elliot
worked in the New Haven Schools, bringing in the first
personal computers to middle school classrooms. For the past
15 years, he has worked in the Center for Highly-Interactive
Computing in Education, at the University of Michigan,
developing learner-centered software and curriculum for
personal computer technology, Internet technology and most
recently, handheld technology. For the past 6 years, Elliot
and his colleagues in HI-CE have worked in 28 middle schools
in Detroit, with over 10,000 students. Most impressively,
when using HI-CE’s technology-enriched science curriculum,
15% more middle school students pass the state-mandated
tests when compared to other reform programs, while the
scores of those students who pass the MEAP tests score 10%
higher than their peers in other programs.
Elliot
has published over 200 articles in books, journals, and
magazines, and has received numerous national awards. In
particular, in 2001, the undergraduates at the University of
Michigan selected him to receive the “Golden Apple Award” as
the Outstanding Teacher of the Year at UM. In 2004, the EECS
College of Engineering HKN Honor Society awarded Elliot the
“Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award.” And, Elliot is a
co-founder and the CEO of GoKnow, Inc., an educational
software company in Ann Arbor, MI devoted to making
sublaptop computers the computer of choice for K-12.
Back
|
|
|
