Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

11pm on a Friday, I know, I know, I should have a bit more in my life than work!  But here goes, I am going to have a rant.    Humph. I have just spent a miserable few hours marking mock exam papers that could have been done in no time at all in class with my students using their mobiles.  If I had enough time (IF!!!) I could have transferred the questions on to moodle or my school website and created instant feedback so the kids would know immediately what grade they got, and didn't spend all weekend with the wrong answers cemented in their heads.  I know that the students all have their phones (even though they are banned in my school) and I have the expertise needed to set up the electronic marking.  It would save me my evening (and my sanity) and help the students evaluate their learning more efficiently.  It would also stop them from relying on me to provide the 'right' answers. Ahh, that's better.    Anyway, y'all have a nice weekend now!

From what I read (including on this forum) I don't think any of the negative associations of Mobile's shows anything new. I wrote in a different section yesterday that the bullying associated with mobiles (and I would put the terrible attack on teachers described by Jocelyn in that category) is just the same problem using new medium. Perhaps the difference is now the level of exposure. So maybe 5 - 10 years ago a clever but vindictive kid might have used some program (or even manually cut and pasted and then photocopied) to make nasty pictures and then distribute them locally but now the distribution happens globally.

So my rambling (apologies for that) point is that nothing is new, apart from the medium.

If education exploits mobile devices then perhaps that is the best way to engender responsibility. If a child or older student is shown how they can use it in a positive fashion, things might change. Also, I think educators need to learn how to use these devices. It is of course another burden but if more people understand how these devices work then some of the fear of what they can do in a negative context can be removed and even successfully challenged?