ACU has been experimenting with the use of iPhone and iTouch devices for mobile learning. They distributed devices to their incoming freshman class. Students were allowed to choose either an iPhone or iTouch, but would have to pay the service fees for the iPhone. The iPhone users were mostly people who wanted a new phone or were already on AT&T while the iTouch users were more concerned about costs like the ongoing service fees.
Their mobile portal: http://m.acu.edu. They offer links to campus news, sports, facilities, and other services. They offer interaction tools (nano - no advanced notice) with things like quick polls: true/false, likert scale, etc... and word cloud - where students select from a list and then the most selected words are shown in a larger font (like a Wordle). They have lists of blogs that faculty manage and let students contribute to those blogs (Wordpress) through a post-by-email function so they could include media files.
Overall students were excited about getting them and found them easy to use. ACU asked questions related to academic and social impact and found that the iPhone outperformed the iTouch in nearly all cases, but most distinctly in areas like social interaction. In other categories like using the device for entertainment purposes, the reactions were more similar.
When they implemented this, they ran into some issues. One was that they provided these devices to freshmen, but in a class with about 250 students, about 8% of students didn't have a device because they were sophomores, juniors, or seniors. This was a barrier to faculty since they couldn't assume equal access. They ended up creating a pool of loaner devices to cover non-freshmen who didn't have their own devices.
Some of their nano tools had additional functions built in that increased interaction. For example, an attendance tool sent an e-mail to students who did not respond that they were present. [BUSTED!] Those students then contacted the faculty to explain their absence.
Overall outcomes were reports of improved: attention, involvement, interest, active learning, contact with professors and teaching assistants, and overall class experience. In a chemistry course, an instructor created a special lab section of only iPhone and iTouch users. She turned the lab instructions into podcasts, which students should watch ahead of time and then come in and perform the lab with the ability to go back to the podcast for reference. Students performed about as well in the lecture version versus the podcast version. There were some unexpected uses as well, for example students would use their devices to look up an online periodic table for reference during the lab.
Faculty got the devices as well. In their faculty survey, faculty 87% considered the program a success and felt that the students were more engaged. They thought it was useful, but not for every class session. After one year of use, the vast majority of faculty were on two or more pages of applications that they added. Students and faculty alike were very likely to always have their iPhone with them, but sometimes left their iTouch at home since they thought of it more like a traditional iPod.
Some lessons learned:
Their mobile portal: http://m.acu.edu. They offer links to campus news, sports, facilities, and other services. They offer interaction tools (nano - no advanced notice) with things like quick polls: true/false, likert scale, etc... and word cloud - where students select from a list and then the most selected words are shown in a larger font (like a Wordle). They have lists of blogs that faculty manage and let students contribute to those blogs (Wordpress) through a post-by-email function so they could include media files.
Overall students were excited about getting them and found them easy to use. ACU asked questions related to academic and social impact and found that the iPhone outperformed the iTouch in nearly all cases, but most distinctly in areas like social interaction. In other categories like using the device for entertainment purposes, the reactions were more similar.
When they implemented this, they ran into some issues. One was that they provided these devices to freshmen, but in a class with about 250 students, about 8% of students didn't have a device because they were sophomores, juniors, or seniors. This was a barrier to faculty since they couldn't assume equal access. They ended up creating a pool of loaner devices to cover non-freshmen who didn't have their own devices.
Some of their nano tools had additional functions built in that increased interaction. For example, an attendance tool sent an e-mail to students who did not respond that they were present. [BUSTED!] Those students then contacted the faculty to explain their absence.
Overall outcomes were reports of improved: attention, involvement, interest, active learning, contact with professors and teaching assistants, and overall class experience. In a chemistry course, an instructor created a special lab section of only iPhone and iTouch users. She turned the lab instructions into podcasts, which students should watch ahead of time and then come in and perform the lab with the ability to go back to the podcast for reference. Students performed about as well in the lecture version versus the podcast version. There were some unexpected uses as well, for example students would use their devices to look up an online periodic table for reference during the lab.
Faculty got the devices as well. In their faculty survey, faculty 87% considered the program a success and felt that the students were more engaged. They thought it was useful, but not for every class session. After one year of use, the vast majority of faculty were on two or more pages of applications that they added. Students and faculty alike were very likely to always have their iPhone with them, but sometimes left their iTouch at home since they thought of it more like a traditional iPod.
Some lessons learned:
- Don't underestimate the bandwidth requirements
- Devices need to be ubiquitous before faculty feel comfortable using them for required class activity
- You need to invest in the development of applications
- There were a lot more than this...They have a year-end report and I'll grab a copy.
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