iPad use in fieldwork: formal and informal use to enhance pedagogical practice in a bring your own technology world

We report on use of iPads (and other IOS devices) for student fieldwork use and as electronic field notebooks and to promote active. We have used questionnaires and interviews of tutors and students to elicit their views and technology and iPad use for fieldwork. There is some reluctance for academic staff to relinquish paper notebooks for iPad use, whether in the classroom or on fieldwork, as well as use them for observational and measurement purposes. Students too are largely unaware of the potential of iPads for enhancing fieldwork. Apps can be configured for a wide variety of specific uses that make iPads useful for educational as well as social uses. Such abilities should be used to enhance existing practice as well as make new functionality. For example, for disabled students who find it difficult to use conventional note taking. iPads can be used to develop student self-directed learning and for group contributions. The technology becomes part of the students’ personal learning environments as well as at the heart of their knowledge spaces – academic and social. This blurring of boundaries is due to iPads’ usability to cultivate field use, instruction, assessment and feedback processes. iPads can become field microscopes and entries to citizen science and we see the iPad as the main ‘computing’ device for students in the near future. As part of the Bring Your Own Technology/Device (BYOD) the iPad has much to offer although, both staff and students need to be guided in the most effective use for self-directed education via development of Personal Learning Environments. A more student-oriented pedagogy is suggested to correspond to the increasing use of tablet technologies by student

Visual literacy for libraries: A practical, standards-based guide

When we step back and think about how to situate visual literacy into a library context, the word critical keeps coming up: critical thinking, critical viewing, critical using, critical making, and the list goes on. To understand our approach, start with your own practice, add images, and see where it takes you. Do you encourage students to think critically as they research? How can you extend this experience to images? Do you embrace critical information literacy? Can you bring visual content to enrich that experience? Do you teach students to critically evaluate sources? How can you expand that practice to images? You’ll see a lot of questions in this book, because our approach is inquiry- driven. This is not to say that we don’t cover the basics of image content. Curious about color? Covered. Not sure where to find great images? We’ll show you. Wondering what makes a good presentation? We talk about that too. But what we really want you to get out of this book is a new understanding of how images fit into our critical (there it is again) practice as librarians and how we can advance student learning with our own visual literacy. This book grounds visual literacy in your everyday practice—connecting it to what you know and do as a librarian who engages in reflective practice. Heidi Jacobs put it well when she argued that, for information literacy pedagogy, “one of the best ways for us to encourage students to be engaged learners is for us to become engaged learners, delve deeply into our own problem posing, and embody the kind of engagement we want to see in our students” (Jacobs 2008). We extend this viewpoint to visual literacy pedagogy and provide many opportunities for you to embody the kind of visual literacy that you want to develop in your learners

Befriending through online gaming

Peer reviewe

Three of a kind: how young adults engage with print, online and mobile platforms

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 18, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Amanda HinnantIncludes bibliographical references.M.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."May 2012"Mobile devices, Internet websites and print newspapers and magazines supply a veritable feast of options for finding and reading editorial content. Like any meal, however, readers can only consume so much in any given day. Through the combined constructs of uses and gratifications theory and the technology acceptance model, this study examined why focus group participants engaged with one platform versus another, the extent to which social gratifications existed for print products and how gratifications obtained from print, online and mobile media compared to the technology acceptance model factors. Findings showed that focus group respondents preferred to read print but actually engaged the most with online content. No manifest social gratifications appeared for print products on a personal level, but people in this study held a sense of social awareness when talking about reading printed products versus mobile products in a public space. Finally, navigation, distraction, media brand reputation and the personal curation of online content sharing connected with technology acceptance model factors. The study concluded that print, online and mobile platforms can be thought of in some senses as exhibiting a three-of-a-kind existence for reader engagement

ACUTA Journal of Telecommunications in Higher Education

In This Issue President\u27s Message From the ACUTA CEO Transforming an lT organization to a Service organization: lt\u27s About the People Beating the odds: lmplementation of a University Portal Journey to the Cloud Near Field Technology Opens Doors Legal Considerations in DAS Deployment Managing BYOD and Mobile Devices in a University Environment One-Size-Fits-All Websites Don\u27t Always Fit lnstitutional Excellence Award: Sewanee: The University of the Sout

Perceptions, practices, and attitudes on the use of technology in the English as a Foreign Language classroom: The iPad in the Andorran school system

Over the years, computers and mobile devices have transformed the way the English language is taught at school. While numerous bodies of literature are available globally regarding computer- and mobile-aided language learning, this field has never been explored in the local context of Andorra. This research thus aims to study the teachers’ and students’ perceptions, practices, and attitudes on the use of iPads in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in the Andorran school system. Guided by the interpretive-constructivist paradigm, it uses qualitative research design, employing ethnography as its methodology, to gather detailed and grounded answers to the research questions. Classroom observations, semi-structured focus group interviews, and questionnaires were used to collect data from English teachers and EFL students of the first and second levels of Andorran secondary schools. Qualitative data analysis and descriptive statistics were carried out to process the information. Findings reveal that the users have positive perceptions towards the use of iPads in English classes and the technology is used primarily to accomplish tasks identified in the course curriculum guidelines. Their attitudes are mostly favorable towards iPads especially due to the perceived benefits of inclusivity, flexibility, increased engagement, and more efficient production of better outputs. However, there are also some drawbacks identified, such as distraction, dependency, and saturation. Further studies are recommended to explore the benefits of using tablets in educational management and technology.Al llarg dels anys, els ordinadors i els dispositius mòbils han transformat la manera d’ensenyar anglès a l’escola. Tot i que hi ha força bibliografia disponible d’àmbit mundial sobre l’aprenentatge de llengües assistit per ordinador i dispositius mòbils, aquest camp no ha estat mai explorat en el context local d’Andorra. Aquesta investigació pretén, doncs, estudiar les percepcions, les pràctiques i les actituds dels professors i dels estudiants sobre l’ús dels iPads a les classes d’anglès del sistema educatiu andorrà. Guiat pel paradigma interpretatiu i constructivista, l’estudi segueix el disseny de la investigació qualitativa, emprant l’etnografia com a metodologia, per recollir respostes detallades i fonamentades a les preguntes de la investigació. Per recopilar dades del professorat d’anglès i dels estudiants de primer i segon nivell de secundària de les escoles del sistema educatiu andorrà, s’han utilitzat observacions a l’aula, entrevistes de grups focals semiestructurades i qüestionaris. Per processar la informació, s’han dut a terme anàlisis qualitatives de dades i estadístiques descriptives. Les conclusions revelen que els usuaris tenen percepcions positives sobre l’ús dels iPads a les classes d’anglès i que la tecnologia s’empra principalment per dur a terme tasques identificades a les directrius del currículum del curs. Les actituds dels usuaris són majoritàriament favorables envers els iPads, sobretot a causa dels beneficis percebuts d’inclusivitat, flexibilitat, millor interacció i producció més eficient dels treballs encomanats. No obstant això, també s’han identificat alguns inconvenients, com ara la distracció, la dependència i la saturació. Es recomanen estudis addicionals per explorar els avantatges de l’ús de tauletes tàctils en gestió i tecnologia educatives

The Effects of Mobile Devices & Maker Projects on Middle School African American Students’ STEM Knowledge Base & Interest

The nature of future employment is rooted in the sciences, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Educating the current and future workers will require the inclusion of STEM education, especially in the K-12 classrooms. African Americans run the risk of being left behind in future STEM jobs due to their poor STEM representation throughout institutional education. In general, African American students have a poor attitude towards and poor academic performance in STEM. This research was explored using ubiquitous smartphones and a unique form of student-centered learning called maker education to increase the attitude and STEM knowledge of African American middle schoolers. A mixed method approach was utilized through a pre- post- questionnaire, comprised of three Likert-type scales for Attitude: Interest, Difficulty, and Importance, and a knowledge base multiple-choice portion to investigate the study quantitatively, supplemented by direct observation and focus groups to investigate it qualitatively. Twenty-nine African American students from four St. Louis, Mo., middle schools were divided into two groups, one of 24 treatment and one of five control participants. The research setting for both groups was a local Boys and Girls club. The treatment group completed two maker-ed interventions with smartphones, while the control participants completed two similar interventions without smartphones or maker activities (see Appendix F). The qualitative data were thematically coded, and the quantitative data were statistically analyzed for significance. The knowledge base of both the treatment and control groups showed no statistically significant difference, either before or after the interventions, which supported the null hypothesis H1o. The Likert-scales suggested a slight increase in African American middle schoolers\u27 attitudes in both treatment and control groups, but it was not statistically significant, supporting null hypothesis H2o. The thematic analysis of the observation and focus group data was logically inconsistent with the Likert-scales data in that it suggested a strong increase in attitude in both groups. More research is warranted in this area to increase African Americans in STEM

Generation Z, Learning Preferences, and Technology: An Academic Technology Framework Based on Enterprise Architecture

This work provides an overview of Generation X, Y (Millennials), and Z and their characteristics in academia. We present the ways that mobile technology is infused into their lifestyle. We reference how Generation Y and Z in particular expect technology to be integrated into their educational experience, as well as how it helps faculty to facilitate both synchronous and asynchronous learning. Furthermore, an overview is provided of how technology currently contributes to learning and provides a framework for how educators can better engage current students. The conceptual academic technology framework (ATF) put forth in this work will provide an immediate impact in several key areas. This framework enhances structure during course design, which may be based directly on learning outcomes and department/school objectives. It will also directly improve consistency in faculty/student communication by closely monitoring how changes in communication methods have evolved. Finally, we describe how to integrate technology in a meaningful way, in a manner that does not distract students while preparing them for careers in business