Mobile Literacy; Ubiquitous Learning

Critical Issue: Mobile Literacy

Eileen Quinn

Fordham University

ASGE 5112 Fundamentals of Educational Administration

Rocco Grassi

July 20, 2011

Introduction:

What is the issue and why is it critical for school and the school leader?

High school students are not equipped with technological-literacy skills needed to compete in an academic and global market. More often than not, students get confused about which websites are appropriate for research, what plagiarism means, and how to write effectively using sophisticated language to convey ideas. It is the responsibility of school leaders to implement a mobile literacy program in their school, granting student access to immediate references, collegial collaboration, and infinite exposure to academic information that will enhance social networking skills needed for the job and college market. It is also the responsibility of the school leader to equip students with the skills needed to approach the digital age with an ethical-academic responsibility.

As an English and ESL teacher, I am always looking for better ways to get students access to literature. The last two years, I spent time writing curriculum for student blogging and electronic portfolios via Quinnenglish.blogspot.com and Turnitin.com. However, as more mobile devices such as smart phones become available to students, more information is accessible to them and as a result; lesson planning around the use of a desktop computer is no longer current. Social networking and mobile literacy is changing the landscape of the classroom, and school leaders need to take part in the change, as do I.

Today, I started a twitter account to learn more about mobile literacy. In the last hour, I have read three New Yorker magazine articles, found four blogs that write about mobile literacy, networked with two current favorite authors and found two relevant articles to support my thesis. I also updated my profile picture, and in less than 120 characters, I wrote a brief bio about myself on twitter @ QuinnEnglish200. Finally, I purchased a personally engraved IPAD 2; it should arrive in the mail next week. I was surprised about how much I learned about books and this paradigm shift in education in such a short time of changing my thinking about teaching. There is a variety literature out there that suggests students today are extremely technological literate and it critical that as educators, we commit ourselves to embedding technology such as mobile literacy into our curriculum development to ensure that students can navigate with confidence in an educationally sound, ethically responsible way. Additionally as we become more aware of cultural and diverse learners, it is important to look to mobile literacy to bridge academic gaps that continue to grow; it should be the responsibility of the school leader to strive to grant access of as much literature and multimedia as possible to all students.

Literature Review:

What does the research say about the issue? Have others addressed the issue?

Mobile literacy participants are growing quickly, particularly in third world countries. The global literacy landscape is growing and changing the components of a traditional high school classroom is expanding into innovative ways. Because of the writing and reading involved in manipulating social media sites, and the academic navigational skills needed for noteworthy networking, it imperative that we employ the use of mobile devices as an instrument of literacy.

“We are already at the moment in which the ability to use social media, and particularly social media as amplified through the power of the mobile web, has become a key literacy. (Literacy here is perhaps the wrong term, for the skills needed to navigate and take ownership of these spaces far exceed the comparatively simple skill of comprehending written text.)” (Parry, 2011)

Which reads as a critical issue, the technology that is available to students today exceeds the public education system’s capacity to address it, manipulate it and become proficient enough to manipulate it as a tool for students. Parry goes on to describe how we are moving out of the desktop era and mobile wireless devices are changing the landscape to education. In fact, he encourages students to tweet in his class, suggesting it is a collaborative note-taking tool,

“Understanding Hyperconnectivity. I often encourage students to Twitter exercise, students often tweet about what is going on during class. This serves as both a collaborative note-taking exercise³ and a demonstration of how conversation can be extended beyond the classroom space; similar to the way Twitter is now a popular tool at conferences.” (Parry, 2011)

Right after I read that part, I signed up for a twitter account and will start using it in September in my English class, I hope the principal at my school is ok with the idea, and parents find tweeting, when structured and used academically, can be a tool for expanding literacy. During my twitter adventure, I wound up reading article after article on technology in the classroom, the cell phone ban controversy and stumbled on this principal’s blog,

It is my opinion that we would not be able to teach our students to be fully responsible citizens if there is not a huge technological component integrated into our teaching . . . I would add (without any intended offense to parents) that if the school is not teaching responsible use of technological devices then the students will be missing this crucial portion of their education totally because things have changed so dramatically for parents since they were in school . . . not to mention the fact that there are countless constructive uses for cell phones in school." (Hosford, 2011)

Mobile literacy is growing into a global transformation that is quickly expanding access of material to students all over the world, bridging literacy gaps between students with diverse levels of exposure to literature and technology. Mobile devices allow students to transcend the barriers imposed by a classroom’s four walls without losing their ability to gather, access, and process information. (Carly Shuler, 2009)

Schuler continues to point out that there is in some cases a disparity between their learning in school and in home. Especially for struggling learners, there is a need for a 360-degree approach to learning, in which the experiences that underlie in-school learning are aligned with those in afterschool and home settings. The ubiquity of mobile technologies may allow new breakthroughs in scaffolding learning across different settings.

It should be the role of the administration to expect that the educator would present linguistically diverse students with culturally sensitive material that would mirror that instructor’s knowledgeable perspective. This open practice could enhance the literacy development of multiple cultures in one classroom.

“All literacy users are members of a defined culture with a cultural identity, the degree to which they engage in learning or using literacy is a function of its cultural identity.” (Perez, 5)

Each culture has it’s own definition of value of literacy. It would be difficult, and stereotypical to define each culture’s use of and regard for literacy. With a mobile device, all students can have access to material that is culturally relevant to their background. Administrators could use the platform of a mobile rich literacy classroom to foster and support community, access and equity within the building.

There are no connections between race, social class and literacy. The three major facts of literacy development, regardless of race and social class are the student’s level of language proficiency, parent’s educational aspirations for their children, and levels of parental controlling factors. Of those factors, a “literacy rich,” environment is helpful in attaining literacy, be it in the student’s first or second language. With a mobile literacy classroom, students have access to literature relevant to their need, leveling the playing field for members of the class.

Findings/Conlusions

What is the major findings around this critical issue?

Is there an emergencing consensus about the issue and what should be done?

It is apparent that a child’s environmental influence supports his language acquisition process, thus expanding his literacy rate. Students with different cultural backgrounds speak, listen and interact in different ways, which interferes with their language acquisition and literacy development in the classroom. A child’s environment influences the language acquisition process (Phillips, 1993). Mobile literacy device can positively influence that environment.

School leadership should implement mobile literacy as a tool in the classroom as all students need the skills to navigate through the digital age. Curriculum should be designed around emerging technologies to integrate and support their development while increasing their literacy rate.

Proposed Solution(s) Recommendations (s)

Based on your research and analysis what other recommendations do you have for addressing this critical issue?

There is a variety literature out there that suggests students today are extremely technological literate and it critical that as educators, we commit ourselves to embedding technology such as mobile literacy into our curriculum development to ensure that students can navigate with confidence in an educationally sound, ethically responsible way. Additionally as we become more aware of cultural and diverse learners, it is important to look to mobile literacy to bridge academic gaps that continue to grow; it should be the responsibility of the school leader to strive to grant access of as much literature and multimedia as possible to all students.

A program will be developed to assess the needs of the students and develop mobile literacy curriculum via survey, interview, writing performance and reading comprehension assessment. As the performance data is studied, curriculum will be tailored to suit the needs of the student. Students will be required to compile texts, read form a variety of sources, tweet, blog, record their voice, podcast, research, present their methodology, create and design a trailer, create and design an how to you tube video, and create and design an application for the phone. With all students having access to the mobile device each has an opportunity to individualize their learning journey.

Summary

It is the responsibility of school leaders to implement a mobile literacy program in their school, granting student access to immediate references, collegial collaboration, and infinite exposure to academic information that will enhance social networking skills needed for the job and college market. It is also the responsibility of the school leader to equip students with the skills needed to approach the digital age with an ethical-academic responsibility.

The above-described pilot program is a suitable beginning to enhance the literacy skills of the diverse learner via a mobile literacy program. Students need a broader range of ways to represent their ideas. Mobile literacy classroom is a platform for that expression; meeting to the needs of the diverse learner. With appropriate manipulation of a mobile device, students have access to a ubiquitous learning environment.

Bibliography

Carly Shuler, E. (2009). Pockets of Potential. Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children’s Learning. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.

Hosford, R. (2011 йил 11-February). Burlington Patch. Retrieved 2011 йил 17-July from Patch Network: http://burlington.patch.com/articles/bhs-principal-say-cell-phone-ban-in-schools-would-limit-education

Parry, D. (2011 йил 1-April). Mobile Perspectives: On teaching Mobile Literacy. Retrieved 2011 йил 17-July from Educause Review: http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume46/iMobilePerspectivesOnteachingi/226160

Philips, S. (1993). The Invisible Culture; Communication in Classroom and Community on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.