Your Mobile Site in a Few Clicks

As I was preparing one of my presentations to TESOL 2012 in Philadelphia, I dispersed a bit after much time of focused work to enjoy myself into serendipity, which took me to a very nice, simple site to create your mobile site.

In a few clicks, you can have your mobile site at http://getsharesquare.com/

Here's the final result of mine. Pretty interesting tool.
http://shsq.re/25ZP/

4 simple steps to join the mRevolution

For long, we've been talking in our circles of students as producers, not simply audience, and students finding their own voice. Educators know how important it is to move from our classrooms industrial production-like type of education. We've realized that there's much more potential in networking, in giving back to students the control of their own learning. We do know, however, that this is much easier said than done.

students in charge

This is a time of production, way beyond the passive-receptive mode of education. For some time now, we've had powerful tech tools around for the shift, but new devices, which are smaller, portable and in the hands of our learners are bound to give us the support we need for this active, exciting passionate movement towards meaningful learning. The world is more MOBILE than ever before. And we should grab this opportunity to make the move, to experiment, to learn with our students and to give a step forward.

So, here's what I've been doing that might give you some hints of what you could do to start an mRevolution:

1. Give your students a chance to teach you new trick using those portable devices. They are experts! They know cool apps, they are into cool features that you don't even imagine they are there in cellphones, cameras, tablets, netbooks.
2. Don't ask your students to turn off their devices. Ask yourself how you could use them to have exciting, dynamic lessons that tap into students' creativity and make students smile and enjoy themselves while learning. 
3. I've been reading as crazy about mLearning, downloading apps to my tablet and cellphone, testing things out. The most important thing in this first step is to keep a record of all that, using a very visual curation tool, Scoop.it: http://www.scoop.it/t/elearning-mlearning and being closer, interacting with educators interested in the topic:
4. I've been fearlessly trying mPossibilities in my classroom, which requires a lot of planning, but it is totally awesome when you see the positive results and the students' excitement. I had an adult group last year, and I tried different activities with them using the power of what they had in their pockets: cellphones. I had the idea that if they, who were not so aware or comfortable using those gadgets for learning, could profit from the experience, imagine the younger gang! The most important aspect of the trial part is reflecting upon it and keeping a record. So, blogging was an essential part of the process: http://collablogatorium.blogspot.com/search/label/mlearning

This is just the beginning of an exhilarating world of new possibilities in which our learners are truly in charge of producing something meaningful, of becoming active participants in their own learning process. 

What would you add to your mRevolution list?

In the meantime, here's a show I'd recommend following:

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m-Learning in the EFL Classroom

More and more, I've been interested in finding and testing possibilities of using mobile devices in the classroom - flip cameras, smartphones, recorders, tablets - everything which is at a student's reach. When I had a group of teens, it was simply natural to explore what was at my students' fingertips, as for them it is just part of who they are and how they use the devices on a daily basis.

One of the results was this very simple, but extremely rewarding class project I had with them. I brought a Flip Camera to class, we were working with relative pronouns. I told them about my international friends' interest in learning Portuguese. So, they decided for the words they wanted to teach my friends, they wrote sentences with the definitions of those words, they recorded it and we posted on a Voicethread. Then, I invited my friends through my Twitter network to learn Portuguese and work on their pronunciation skills. My students were marveled to see that their work was valued and used by an international community.

Here's the result:


http://voicethread.com/share/525514/ 

What does this mini-project show?

• m-Learning is not a distant concept. We can start profiting from it with what we have now in class. Just look around and ask your students what devices they have that can be used for learning and connecting to others.
• Project-based learning doesn't mean year-long project. It can be a one-class hour project.
• Engagement means choice. Give your students as many choices as possible within the learning framework you've established for the project.
• Projects can be truly simple and productive.
• Give up control, guide, and let the students be the producers of content.
• Stop underestimating your students' abilities to produce content.
• Let them be the owners of the language they are studying through hands-on activities.
• Remember that learning is not a passive act, that our attention capabilities are triggered by movement and not stillness.
• Start small and get more ambitious as you get used to using the mobile devices.
• Start exploring the online references about m-Learning, tablets, smartphones...

Here's my list to help you get excited for the next term at your school with new projects that might bring great learning outcomes, powerful teaching moments and the enjoyment of you with your learner being learning partners:

mLearning Resources