About the Event :

As mobile devices continue to shrink in size and cost, their functionality and potential for learning is expanding, mediated through their various affordances which include more powerful multimedia, social networking, communication and geo-location capabilities. Hence Dr Burden thought that educators are increasingly seeking ways to exploit the appeal and growing ubiquity of mobile devices and the learning which is associated with it (m-learning), although their use and appropriateness in formal contexts, such as schools is relatively unknown and under-theorised.

Mobile technologies such as the tablet device and the personal phone have been described by some commentators as ‘boundary' objects which enable teachers and learners to transcend many of the barriers such as space and time which have hitherto restricted and bound traditional forms of education and learning. If this claim is true and boundless learning is set to become more commonplace in our schools and institutions of education, how do educators design and develop learning scenarios that genuinely exploit the unique affordances of mobile technologies rather than simply replicating existing forms of pedagogy?

This workshop will explore this question drawing upon the emerging evidence from a current large Erasmus+ project which Dr Burden is leading on behalf of the European Commission called the Mobilising and Transforming Teacher Education Pedagogies project (www.mttep.eu). This project seeks to develop a mobile learning toolkit for educators which will enable them to evaluate and gauge their current use of mobile technologies (and that of their institutions) with a view to developing this practice more effectively. The workshop will explore with participants a variety of tools and instruments which are currently under development as part of the wider toolkit and its applicability to their own context within Hong Kong (the resources from the project will be openly available across the world).

Using a selection of interactive activities and mobile devices, the workshop will focus on the development of a digital survey instrument for educators and their students which will eventually provide a detailed summary at both the individual and institutional level about how mobile technology is currently being used and how this might be developed in the future. Participants will have an opportunity to use the survey tool and will be encouraged to become part of a wider user-testing group which will have access to the full toolkit during and after its development.

The workshop will also explore how teachers and teacher educators are using mobile devices to support alternative forms of learning (e.g. knowledge building) for their students and participants will have the opportunity to construct an artifact of their own on a mobile device in order to experience the process themselves. Finally the workshop will encourage participants to consider an action plan for the future development of these technologies in their own institution which will include the opportunity to produce a case study of their own for the MTTEP project if they so desire.

Facilitator(s) :

Dr Kevin Burden

Dr Kevin Burden is a Reader in Educational Technology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hull in the UK. He was recognised as a National teaching Fellow by the Higher Education Academy in 2015 and was awarded a senior fellowship by the same organisation in 2013. He leads the Technology Enhanced Learning research group at the University of Hull where his research and teaching focuses on the interface between learning and technology and he is particularly interested in exploring how educators use technologies to mediate their own learning and the experiences of their students. His recent work revolves around the concept of mobility and mobile technologies and has been featured in a number of international journals including Computers and Education and the Journal for Teacher Education. Dr Burden has led several national and international research projects investigating the use and impact of digital technologies in education and is currently the principal investigator (PI) on a major European Erasmus+ project to develop a mobile learning network for teacher educators. He is the author of over fifty research and conference papers/chapters and has produced many major reports for governments in England, Scotland and Wales in addition to various outputs for the European Commission. Dr Burden is currently the programme director for the Taught Education Doctorate in the Faculty of Education and was previously responsible for the entire PGT provision across the faculty.

Intended Learning Outcomes :

This is a practical workshop in which participants will be expected to contribute their own ideas and examples to gain a broader appreciation and understanding of how mobile technologies are currently used across Hong Kong and the wider world, before exploring what the future might look like with the effective use of these devices.

Target Audience :

All VTC Staff

Enquiry :

Mr LAI Siu Man, Chris
Deputy Director and Head/Centre for Learning & Teaching
Tel: 2836-1237  
E-mail: chris-lai@vtc.edu.hk

Ms CHUNG Kit Man, Gloria
Senior Project Officer
Tel: 2919-1557  
E-mail: gloriac@vtc.edu.hk

Resources :

 
 
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