Holding Hands in the changing face of learning
The theme of the three day conference was to allow staff involved in primary & secondary education together to discuss the use of handheld platforms and their pedagogical applications.
The sessions I attended included a few product demonstrations, including:
- GCSEpod - using iPods to deliver audio books with multimedia content for GCSE revision. App and content available through iTunes Library. Subscriptions already in place from some schools for library style lending of pre-loaded iPods.
- Second Sight - using Sony PSP camera to pre-load graphical/audio content relating to a lesson. Barcodes were then used as the trigger to release to content to students, augmenting textbooks / museum displays. (content creation tools provided to teachers). Reportedly found to engage the students in the lessons, encouraging creativity and discussion (as reported by all using handheld devices -in the classroom from what I saw)
Other sessions:
A case study presented by a secondary school teacher lent a set 50 or so rugged audio/video devices that were rolled out to students for 6 months. Intentions being to see how they would be used. It was found that students used them as Dictaphones to record language classes, also tasks set in the classroom were able to be carried out and recorded visually for presentation as group work, eg interviews, . Students also found them useful for revision purposes.
The final session I attended was the most entertaining, as it was structured in a way that anyone presenting just turned up on the day and put their name down. Each presenter had 6 minutes 40 to present 20 slides (20 seconds each) in an auto-advance slideshow. The time taken to switch between speakers was used for questions. A very interesting session, offering people chances to give what-if? presentations, to provide results of studies, and to seek out partners for potential projects. It was a heavily attended session, the presentations ranged from one word slides to full graphical presentations. The common theme was speakers struggling to keep up with the content!
David Richardson - Handheld Learning 2009, 5-7 October 2009
(http://www.learningwithoutfrontiers.com/)