"The objective of M-learning is to provide the learner the ability to assimilate learning anywhere and at any time."(1)
One place I could see mLearning being used in the lesson plan could be in the place of the word maps. They could use an online site, such as http://www.text2mindmap.com/. Here is an example of how a website could be used in the place of old-fashioned paper maps:
This aspect of the lesson would be improved in that it would allow students to take the terms that they have learned home, to the library, to a coffee shop (outside of school/school hours) and create an interactive word map. This is helpful to students because it is on their own time and would allow class time to be spend on learning rather than creating. It would also improve the overall lesson because it would be using a different skill set than simply writing out all the information on a pre-designed word map sheet. It is engaging different learning styles as well as opening up the activity to the student's creativity. With this specific site the students could change the colors of the boxes to suit their liking, they can also rearrange the boxes to a design they think looks better. It is almost 100% open for customizing.
Three things I would consider before incorporating this mLearning strategy into the lesson could be:
1. Is the site user friendly on mobile devices such as cell phones or iPods as well as computers?
The answer to this is no, however; that is why options are always positive. The students could have the option of using either text2mindmap.com or www.MindMeister.com (which is mobile compatible). In fact, Mind Meister even has a free iPhone app.
2. Is the site at the skill level of my students, would it be too challenging for them to understand?
The answer to this is yes. Both site options are very user friendly and I would of course go over the "how to's" of each site before sending the students off to do it on their own time.
3. How would I, as the teacher, be able to access the students work?
I would introduce an application called "Jing" that allows students to take screen shots and make screen casts. I would ask my students to take a screen shot of their mind map (like I did at the top of this page) and print it out to bring to class and hand in.
This is the link to the lesson plan I was referring to in my reflection:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/sample-lesson-plan-new-teachers
Resources:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLearning
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