Mobile technology opens a world of possibilities for extending the classroom beyond its four walls. That's why, like many other schools and districts that want more for their students, Health Sciences High and Middle College purchased laptops and wireless connections in 2007, upgraded to iPads and high-speed Internet in 2012, and started encouraging students to bring their own devices starting in 2013.
And like similar efforts in many other schools and districts, it was a disaster. Students often used their devices as a distraction instead of focusing on classroom instruction or learning tasks. Teachers were unsure how to use the equipment effectively; they often used it to reward students for completing all their "real" work. Students complained that the independent learning tasks they were assigned to do online were isolating and too often replaced the collaborative learning they were used to.
Our solution to these problems was threefold.
Update Technology Policies
First, we updated our school policies regarding mobile technology. Although we hadn't had an outright ban on mobile technology like some schools do, we also hadn't had clear guidelines about appropriate use of the technology—either devices that we had purchased or those that we had invited students to bring from home.
We decided to implement a technology policy focused on courtesy and respect. We defined discourteous behavior as anything that interrupted learning and showed disrespect to others, including the teacher. As an example, we noted that listening to music on an iPhone during group work was disrespectful to others; in contrast, using your iPhone to search for information needed for a collaborative learning task was not. This seems obvious, but our students often did not realize when they were being rude. Framing the issue through the lens of courtesy, rather than imposing a blanket "don't text" or "don't listen to music" policy, helped students make good decisions.
This approach often evolved into classroom agreements about "plugged" and "unplugged" time. Some teachers have posters with arrows pointing to the type of technology use that's appropriate for the lesson at any given time.
Over time, and with practice, students and teachers have reached an understanding about the use of mobile technology in the classroom. Students are held accountable for when and how to use technology to achieve their instructional goals.
Use a Learning Management System
When we first adopted mobile technology, teachers did not have a way to organize content and tasks. When students were assigned specific tasks, they often didn't know how to access the necessary apps or websites or where to put their work-in-progress or their finished work. A learning management system (LMS) provided the container that students and teachers were looking for. In fact, investing in this system was a major breakthrough in our use of technology.
Schools can choose from a number of different learning management systems that allow for the integration of a wide range of tools. In our school, just about anything can be imported into the LMS, including quizzes, discussion boards, and video links. Students can log into the LMS at school and at home. They can begin a task in one location and complete it in another. As a faculty, we agreed on some standard aspects of our learning management system; for example, each content block has a purpose statement, and areas like discussion boards and assessments have consistent tabs.
In the that accompanies this column, 11th grade English teacher Marisol Thayre describes the variety of resources she makes available to her students through our learning management system, Haiku, and how she uses such resources as discussion boards, writing frames, and Google Docs to help students improve their writing skills.
Make Technology a Collaboration Tool
Which brings us to the third aspect of our solution. Rather than using technology mainly to assign personalized, independent work, we've found that it's important to also use it to create new forms of collaborative learning for students. For example, online discussion boards enable all students to contribute, which can be an advantage over classroom conversations that limit the number of students who participate. Students can also collaborate by sharing their work on Google Docs so they can receive feedback as they edit and revise.
Even conventional paper-and-pencil assignments have become more interactive, as students use Aurasma, an augmented reality application, to record themselves supplying additional information to supplement their work. For example, following their art project in which they painted ceiling tiles, students recorded themselves talking about the individual contributions and their artistic style. Students can use their smartphones or classroom tablets to scan one another's work and view the commentary.
A Learning Process
Teaching and learning with mobile technology can be powerful—with the right procedures and supports. Our school, like many others, is learning that providing access to technology is important, but what we do with the technology is even more important.
