Mobile phones and the classroom: reflections on the wiki

The following is in response to the mobile phone wiki completed online last week. This highly scaffolded activity required students to respond to the topic of mobile phones and whether or not they should have a place in the classroom. Characteristic of a ‘first timer’ I was slightly nervous, shy and apprehensive about sharing my personal thoughts and ideas. As a learner, I often feel this way particularly in face to face lectures –afraid to share speak my mind or contribute my ‘two cents’ because I am afraid that others will judge or fail to see value in what I have to say. Cue wiki, a cleverly scaffolded online space where my opinions were not presented as isolated ideas, rather a collaboration reflective of many different opinions and valuable suggestions.

I believe that a wiki scaffolded in such a way is highly effective as it allows for a wide range of perspectives to be incorporated into an informative space, a space where people can learn and expand upon their already existing knowledge or challenge their existing ideas. This type of ‘flexible thinking’ is something that I consider to be an important characteristic of a lifelong learner –the type of teacher/student/human being that I aspire to be; therefore I can definitely see the value in using a wiki within my own classroom. I think that this would be a great way for all students to share their thoughts and opinions without the concern of judgment or backlash from their peers. What amazing potential this could have to boost the confidence of students who may feel marginalised or silenced during regular classroom discussions. This would also  provide the teacher with the opportunity to actually see the thinking that is going on within the minds of all students including those who do not usually contribute.

Another major benefit previously outlined is the learning that can occur from participating in collaboration such as this. I think that as I student I often underestimate a valuable resource –my peers whose knowledge, skills, experiences, thoughts, and opinions form a colourful informative bank that I can use to deepen, alter and excel my own learning.

Below are the responses that I contributed to this wiki, however I have somehow disappeared off two sections which I contributed to.

	Katie Chaseling	Creativity: What new ideas are possible with this? What is my suggestion for success? Can I create something new?	-Limitless amounts of downloadable apps for IPHONES (many of them free) that can be used as educational resources. A great free app that I have seen is 'Planets' which would be great for studying earth and space sciences as it shows where all of the planets should be positioned in 3D (very engaging)! There are also many applications that could be used as a part of your behaviour management, with noise controllers etc. -Another great application (QuickOffice Pro) allows you to view,create, edit and email Microsoft WORD, EXCEL and POWERPOINT documents.
	Katie Chaseling	Feelings: How do I feel about this? What do I like about the idea? What don't I like about the idea?	I think that it is inevitable that students will bring mobile phones to school. Actually incorporating them into the learning process is a great idea and would be a better way for teachers to monitor their use whilst at school. However I wonder if it would create bigger problems, like disadvantage for students who don't wiki have the privilege of owning a phone.

Overall I found this experience highly valuable as I read others responses that both agreed with and challenged my own opinions. Whilst it is easy for me to discuss the benefits of such a space for learning, it would be naïve to not consider the possible downside of using a wiki in the classroom as personal opinions could lead to conflict between fellow users or form a ground for cyber bullying. I am led to wonder if it would be effective in a less controlled environment, and therefore I assume that such a space would need to be heavily monitored by the teacher. I do not think that this would deter me from using a wiki at all and I look forward to trying it out in my own classroom.

So after looking at this wiki in correlation with some course readings, I feel that the forum was reflective of a number of learning theories that I have been exploring throughout the weekly activities.

Deeply embedded within social constructivism this wiki encouraged students to negotiate ideas and findings within a community of peers (Snowman et al, 2009, p. 413). This theory supported by Lev Vygotsky and John Dewey acknowledges that the knowledge that is acquired through discussions with knowledgeable others –like that that occurred between peers on the wiki, is connected to our existing schemes, before gradually becoming internalised (Snowman, 2004, p. 341). Using an online space like the wiki participants were able to construct new understandings and a shared meaning from the information contributed by others.

I also believe that this forum reflected aspects of cognitive constructivism as participants in the wiki may have modified their already existing knowledge ‘schemes’ as they accommodated or assimilated new information that they considered to be relevant (Snowman et al., 2009). I know that I did as there were many points put forward that I had not previously considered including numerous negative points that explained some social, emotional and physical reasons that mobile phones should not be allowed in the classroom. I found that the more that I read the more I began to question my pre-existing ideas on this topic and therefore my learning began as I assimilated these new ideas and information into my schema.

I believe that connectivist learning theory was also evident as participants had to make connections between, and sort through the information that they were reading in order to gain an understanding of and make a decision on whether or not mobile phone technology should be used in the classroom. Siemens (2004) describes connectivism as a theory that considers learning as process that occurs within undefined environments –adverse to cognitive learning theories that believe that  knowledge is constructed purely within the learners mind. Participants in this wiki networked with others to find valuable sources of information about the topic that could be used to inform their opinions. Siemens (2004) discusses how connectivism –which recognises that “learning can reside outside of ourselves” requires the learner to make connections that are more important than our current state of knowing, meaning that what was considered as the correct answer today, may be wrong tomorrow.

Thank you for reading. Below are the references for the sources of information that I read to inform my reflections J

Lein, K. (n.d). Elearning pedagogy. Retrieved from http://elearningpedagogy.com/cognitivist.html

Siemens, G. (2004) Connectivism: a learning theory for the digital age.Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing e-learning, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au

Snowman, L., Dobozy, E., Scevak, J., Bryer, F., Bartlett, B., & Biehler, D. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching (1^st ed.).Milton, QLD: John Wiley and Sons.