year without any difficulties, but we did face some challenges. Honestly, however, I’m hard-pressed to come up with many! One thing that is emerging as a concern is the amount of traffic on our wireless network. More devices accessing our connection has the potential of slowing things down for everyone, so we have had to look at increased security settings, as well as differentiated access privileges for users. In our planning stages, many potential obstacles were avoided with careful education of students and staff. For example, we emphasized to staff that mobile devices should be considered optional and should offer additional access to resources. That way, if students do not have them, they are not at a disadvantage in completing their work.
with our Technology Coordinator to ensure that the programs we were using would work with mobile devices. Not shockingly, we quickly found with most situations that (as Apple constantly reminds us) “There’s an app for that!” I, for one, was amazed at how much students were anxious to do on their tiny cell phones and iPods! One example is using Moodle to complete classroom assignments. Even with those tiny screens, students enjoyed the flexibility of completing their assignments any time, any place, and on their own devices.
Speed Bumps
I would love to report that we put our plan on cruise control and just smoothly rode out the first few months of the school
Buckle Up!
If your district is considering making a move with mobile learning (or even if they aren’t!), I encourage you to research mobile learning in Michigan and beyond. Education has never changed at such a rapid pace, so perhaps we either put ourselves in motion or the world of technology will leave us in its dust!
Kristi Bush is the K-12 Media Specialist for Shepherd Public Schools and also works with Michigan Virtual School as an Online Instructor Trainer and Course Developer. She may be reached at
snearybush@gmail.com.
MACULJOURNAL
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