RSA #1 Professional Learning and Mobile Learning

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing: A handbook for
professional learning communities at work (2nd ed.). pp 38-59,  Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree


"Mobile Learning Communities – Are We There Yet?", K. Nahrstedt, L. Angrave, M. Caccamo, R. Campbell, B. Godfrey, I. Gupta, K. Karahalios, R. Kravets, S. Kamin, S. Poole, W. Sanders, Y. Huang, Z. Seng, L. Vu, A. Sridhar, Technical Report, Information Trust Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, November 2010


https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/17402/TechnicalReport-MLC-final.pdf?sequence=2





DuFour uses many examples of learning communities and the various benefits to students, teachers, and the community at large.  In the article "Mobile Learning Communities..." the various authors focused on the idea of the technology really being a novelty or a fully embedded part of day to day life. 




The authors discuss the use of tablets, cell-phones and laptops accessing the internet 24/7.  Communication is ubiquitous and without the boundary of time.  I have students that email me at 2 AM.  We are expected to be on call all the time and the students are expected to respond constantly.  I have review sessions from 9-10PM through Live Question Tool Chooser through Harvard University.


The article also goes in depth into the use of cell phones as educational tools.  The article simply looks into the possibility of the phone being integrated into the learning community effectively.  The authors seek to analyze how the phone would and could be used, the deployment of phones to students for professional and learning purposes, and can the infrastructure handle all of the users online at the same time.  


The authors interview and survey students and come to the conclusion that it is a resource heavy indulgence but may be worth it.  The study finds students do more work and the infrastructure may be strained but it is possible with some of the new hardware and technology available today.  


The major issue in relating to the reading is that teachers do not need or want to be talking to colleagues twenty-four hours a day about work.  It is not necessary and will turn people off to the PLC and ruin some of its goals and vision.

Basically, the answer to the question seems to be that some people and groups are ready to create "mobile" learning communities and others are not.  Nobody should be "forced" to communicate all the time but to find the proper incentive to want to communicate more.

Missed the face to face but online and happy