Bringing school curriculum to the 21st century can mean making math a game or using text messages to convey terms. Dr. Rozhan M. Idrus of USM's School of Distance Education says "the mobile phone is an essential part of a student's life, it only makes sense to use it as a teaching gadget."
Although the messages are restricted to 160 characters,Rozhan says it is possible to deliver pedagogically articulated and didactic content through a short message service (SMS) that works like texting, something most tweens are familiar doing.
It was announced this week that a university grant will allow Rozhan and eight postgraduate students to research various aspects of mobile learning in the 2010/2011 academic session.
Quest to Learn (Q2L) is another approach that is being used for a 6-12 grade school in New York City. The Q2L curriculum has video games at the center of all lessons. According to the school web site "It's important to note that Quest is not a school whose curriculum is made up of the play of commercial video games, but rather a school that uses the underlying design principles of games to create highly immersive, game-like learning experiences."
Some middle and high schools are using cell phones as a way of receiving games-based learning. In North Carolina, the program called Project K-Nect, gives students smartphones that have access to math games that are part of the teacher lesson plans. The smartphone device helps the students be in touch and make connections to work through problems. The end result are more students passing their Algebra and math exams.
All approaches seem to help tweens feel more responsible in completing homework assignments. The group approach offered through Project K-Nect and Q2L build accountability in working through projects.
Watch the video below to learn more about Project K-Nect.
To receive regular updates from the National Parenting Tweens Examiner, just click "subscribe" at the top of the story and enter your email address, which will not be shared.
Comments