Mobile Learning and Digital Games in School

SL Moocs for Educators

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Details: Category: Mobile Learning; Last Updated on 01. May 2014; Published on 01. May 2014; Written by Anabel Nowak; Hits: 4385

It took me so long to write about this special EVO course because it contains two of the most complicated things to explain ever. Machinevo is a word made of EVO (Electronic Village Online) and

Machinima which is making videos in second life. So, what does that have to do with mobile teaching? I need to explain SL first, as far as it can be explained. You really have to experience it. Machinevo 2015 starts in January. In the mean time try my explanation: Second Life (SL) is a "life" you live in a virtual world through an animated avatar, you can communicate live with people all over the world via voice and chat, it can be accessed via any mobile device able to surf the internet. What does that have to do with teaching? SL can be used for educational purposes, in fact, it has been used for educational purposes for a couple of years now and nowadays many universities around the world have discovered that teaching through SL works wonders. Teaching languages through SL can be fascinating. It is a hit with young people. SL provides any environment you want, that is why filming there with or without students is so interesting. There are serious islands made specially for education where you can go with your students and teach for free, for instance Edunation. The downside of SL is that anybody can access the islands and some are not safe of grievers who occasionally try to interrupt classes. Being expert teachers we can handle such disruptive behaviour, we also inform people in charge of the islands who take care of the problem. Grievers are then banned for weeks. It is possible to track them and sue them, that would be an interesting joint project for faculties of informatics and law. There are safer islands where teachers can visit with classes after registering, such as Virtlantis. A safe island for children would be Quest Atlantis. It is not necessary to go to SL with your classes to actually profit from Machinema. Many teachers who use SL have already made machinema for teaching any kind of class, so you can flip your classroom using machinema to explain or practice grammar, conversation, poetry, mathematics, etc. Machinema is uploaded on Youtube, Vimeo or on Screencast. Here are some examples:

Teachers can learn how to reinvent school during a Mooc, but that is not all SL has to offer, there are many conferences, regular meetings and activities for educators during the whole year. Lifelong learning has been finally made possible by SL and Machinevo. There is still a lot to say, but this article is just intended to give a brief overview of a very complex topic that can not be covered even in a book. More articles to follow. Next: How to get started in SL.

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Preschool Learning

Tiptoy is an interactive, audio and learning game series made by Ravensburger in Germany. It consists of games, for all ages, 3-D Puzzles and books for children from three up to ten. Different topics and school subjects can be chosen, for example: Farm, music, numbers or geography and a digital pen with sound. The pen recognizes pictures and produces their respective sound, when you hold the pen on the picture of a river; you can hear the sound of water. The pen also recognizes various symbols at the bottom of the page, each symbol has a different function, e.g. by tipping the ear symbol a voice starts explaining what a river is. Tiptoy is ideal for teaching English as a foreign language as well because it helps develop listening skills at a young age. (read also Interactive Dictionary)

Who applies Mobile Learning?

Many schools have been using mobile devices to teach. Some schools even have their own apps. Universities rely on Mobile Learning because of the advantages. Primary schools use mobile devices because they have proved to be useful in many ways, for example for disabled kids. Many schools talk about their experiences with Mobile Learning and their positive results. But what do students think? Do they have a different view of Mobile Learning or even further ideas on how can Mobile Learning help us in future? One student explains why Mobile Learning should be standard learning. All in all, we can summarize: Mobile Learning is the future.