Mobile Learning: an agent for change – TEDxLondon

Mobile Learning: an agent for change – TEDxLondon:
Geoff Stead presents our work on mobile learning at TEDxLondon – a TED event dedicated to shaking up education.

Geoff shared the stage with educational legends: (Sir Ken Robinson, Judy Kelly, Ken Spours and Max Whitby); music maestros (Goldie and Tim Exile) and a host of exciting new innovators who will be changing your world: (Adam Robert, Evan Grant, Ewan McIntosh, Georgia Mills, Nick stanhope, Scott Snibbe, Sophie Bosworth). if you dont know these names, check out their talks on the TEDxLondon site.
Quick synopsis of our m-learning talk:
“Ubuntu” is a whole lot more than a Linux distribution. it is a super cool African concept that means “I am me because of us”, “I grow myself by helping others around me to grow”.
It is an awesome word. I try to live my life by it. And it is the philosophy behind the a family of m-learning projects we co-sponsor in South Africa
The projects are collectively called m-ubuntu, and use mobile learning as a stimulus to encourage critical debate between teachers, and improve the quality of teaching.
They take refurbished smartphones, with some educational software and tools installed onto them, and use them to improve teaching and learning. The results have been inspiring. Local teachers even won a grant from the US to go to Washington and share what they had learned with American teachers!
But the successes are not down to putting smartphones into poor schools – they are about using them as an agent for change. The real wins happen when teachers work with other teachers to discuss how best to use these new tools.
TOP 3 tips for getting involved in m-learning:

1. Firstly – don’t be constrained by pre-packaged learning resources. Think of the smartphone as a tool to do stuff. Record music. Film a movie. Build an app. This is what they are made for, and makes for the best learning.
2. Secondly – It won’t be right first time, but if you try again it will get better. And the time after than even better. It is OK to make mistakes – so plan in flexibility
3. Thirdly – Share the learning with your students. Discuss mobile learning with them. Let the kids learn the details about the phones, and become your technical support. By building autonomy and problem solving skills they will be learning some real future skills

To find out more:
Original slides available on slideshare, transript over on our m-learning site
Presentations by the other (amazing!) co-presenters on the TEDxLondon site