The Challenge for Educators

The education landscape is changing! Knowledgeable, flexible and innovative workers are being sought by employers so that their workforce can add value to their own environment.

The research that tells us this is indicated on other pages in this site.

Educators are having to look differently at the way in which they prepare their students for the workplace. Not just skilled at what they do but able to reflect on why they do it, collaborate with colleagues to improve and know where to find the knowledge they need to grow and develop.

The attributes of such a "knowledge worker" are not something that can be described in a competency standard!

Mobile learning uses the tools and language of students and so the challenge for educators is to understand those tools and prepare their material so that it can be delivered to current and emerging technologies.

A New Way to Plan Lessons

In simple terms, there are three layers to any piece of learning. The Underpinning Knowledge, Learning Activities or Practice, and Testing or Assessing. Current workbooks and lesson plans integrate all these layers without specifically identifying each layer in its own right. In a paper based/face to face teaching environment there is little need to worry about the physical size of the books used by students (within reason!).

When offering delivery by means of technology size becomes an issue as material must be transmitted to the learner through a range of connections.

The Oliver Learning Structure model shown here starts to break down learning into the three layers as defined elements. Those wanting genuine and extensive flexibility are able to access their learning by a range of means at every level. So while each element is discreet in its own right, it remains linked to the other elements by virtue of the subject it covers.

This represents the first major shift in thinking that teachers must make so that they can prepare material for students in such a way that it can be transmitted as easily face to face as it can be by means of computer or mobile phone.

Click to Enlarge

Underpinning Knowledge

Underpinning knowledge is obtained by a great many means from formal research through to that which is almost subliminally absorbed through life experience or workplace activity.

The Oliver Underpinning Knowledge model shown here identifies the range from which knowledge may be acquired. It is by no means definitive but merely serves to open the mind to the many options available.

Wetware refers to the brain of the teacher, who acts as a guide and a filter to make sure that there is maximum access in maximum media. While this model shows a linear progression through the teacher, through technology to the student there is a process that also flows back up this model as the students themselves contribute to increasing the body of knowledge itself.

Click to Enlarge

Learning Activities

Learning activities offer the most variety and creativity for teachers and students and therefore also offer the greatest scope for mobile and other technologies.

The Oliveer Learning Activities model shows how the management of the teaching still remains with the teacher and is only limited by the imagination. A range of technologies are available and will continue to become available to convert those activities into a variety of appropriate formats.

The body of work behind this lies with the creation of wizards and templates that will make it as easy as possible for teachers to create activities for mutliple platforms from a single starting point and without having to learn multiple programmes.

Not all activities will lend themselves to all technologies but there are enough options to ensure that genuine flexibility is achieved.

Click to Enlarge

Assessment

Where a drag and drop game as learning activity might not allow you to put something in the wrong spot, when it comes to testing the facility to auto correct might be turned off. This will provide and assessment but in a vocational environment it is important to ensure that we are testing a competency - not how well a student can play a game!

The Oliver Assessment model follows the same process as the others in recognising the teacher responsibility while allowing as much flexibility as possible for the student.

As will underpinning knowledge, there is the option for students to use the technology itself to deliver an assessable piece of work. An example of this being the digi-lessons presented by students as a report on a field trip.

Click to Enlarge

Work in Progress

All of the above is a part of work in progress towards introducing mobile learning as genuine choice in the overall delivery mix for all students within a vocational learning Institute. Equity requires that the same options be available to all so a series of procedures and policies have to be developed at a practical level in order to implement genuine flexibility.

Comment and input is welcomed and anything used will be acknowledged.