When I was a kid, mobile devices consisted of a slingshot, pocket knife, magnifying glass, and pocket-sized book of flower and insect classifications. The guide-on-the-side was my grandmother, who knew everything about every tiny plant or living creature. Together with some of my many cousins, we roamed through fields and trails picking up rocks, bark, grasses, flowers, and bugs, carefully examining them, discussing their features, and skimming through the book trying to classify what we had. Grandmother coached us, giving hints to help us find the right match. Sometimes we broke up into groups and would meet up to share our finds, collaborating to determine just what we had found.
I often wonder how things would have been different if I had mobile technology as a kid. In a way, the natural curiosity that was fed by my primitive "mobile apps" is what has fueled my adoption of technology as an adult. As new technologies have emerged, I've immersed myself in learning about them and trying the ones that appealed the most to me. Sometimes I find things I love, like my laptop, and other times I adopt things that I consider necessary evils, like my smartphone. For years, I put off buying a smartphone because I like being untethered at times and didn't want to spend the money for the data service. Now, however, I find that my smartphone has become as important as my laptop. The smartphone provides me with access to all my email accounts, texting, GPS, the web, a camera, my reading apps (Nook and Kindle), voice recorder, and even radio and TV. As much as I loathe the device, I now cannot live without it.
Thinking back to my days as a kid, a smartphone would have really supported my investigative hikes. I could see myself using the web to replace my pocket classification book. I could have photographed my finds and posted them to a site like Facebook. It would have made sharing finds with my cousins on another trail almost instantaneous. Grandmother could have managed us all via Twitter. Given that opportunities for in-depth learning about plant and animal life were not part of the formal curriculum at school, having my own device to support informal investigation of the world around me would have helped broaden and enrich my formal learning in class.
Making connections between people and leveraging technology to share content and solve problems are advantages of using mobile devices (Wagner, 2007). In a world where the learning environment is constantly challenged by lack of funds, high-stakes testing, overcrowded classrooms, and overworked teachers, mobile technology offers an informal intervention that individual students can use to augment and expand on what they learn in class.
This week, I leave you with a short (6:36 mins) video of teachers discussing the hows and whys of integrating mobile technology into the learning environment. From my perspective, I think one of the things we have to consider – especially with children – is the role that natural curiosity plays in the learning process. If we could use mobile technologies to harness that curiosity, we may have a powerful intervention on our hands. What do you think? Is it possible to leverage natural curiosity? What would the benefits or drawbacks be?
References
ACU (Producer). (2011, March 1). Thoughts on the state of mobile learning [Web video]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/AQgCXEoTap4
Wagner, E. (2007, February 20). Mobile matters: Why learning professionals need to care [Archived web conference presentation]. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/mobile-matters-why-learning-professionals-need-care
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