are they [young, tech-savvy learners] transfering their tech skills to their learning contexts?

Good question Marg. I think that there is a need for teachers to promote the application of technical skills to a learning context. For example, at may not “tweak” with a learner that they could download an audio file supplied by a teacher, and play it on their iPod as a learning tool. It would need a teacher to specifically suggest this as a way of learning to prompt the learner to take the appropriate action. The same goes with Powerpoint presentations being used as learning guides on PDAs – it’s not an immediate link most learners would make.

I think that the documentation and diffusion of information and ideas on m-learning is a key to getting teachers to think of mobile learning approaches and suggesting these approaches to students. Clarifying and simplifying things for teachers can be done in several ways, including this one – documenting ideas in an online format and encouraging other educators to contribute to the “pool of thought” on mobile learning.

If we can arm educators with the tools, models of application, and examples, hopefully they will then provide the front line for designing, developing and delivering learning that can be utilised in mobile ways; and they will, in turn encourage and educate learners to use mobile approaches that support their learning outcomes or personal lifestyles.

“…how do we facilitate the continuous improvement and skills development of our teachers, especially as we must come to terms with the now real fact that we are an aging workforce?”

From my experience, Rogers’ Theory of Diffusion of Innovations is a useful model for predicting the adoption of new teaching and learning learning approaches, including mobile learning. We can expect that initial efforts to encourage users to try out mobile learning approaches, and develop skills, will be met with initial resistance, with just a few teachers taking on these new ideas and putting them into practice.

However, it’s critical that we support and train these innovators, as it is their example that will help build examples of teaching and learning that will inspire later adopters to follow. I think support and training will come in various forms, such as:

• Nurturing of a critical mass of like-minded people to discuss and develop ideas
• Documentation of practical ways to design, develop and deliver mobile learning
• Documentation of examples of successful/best practice case studies of mobile learning
• Workshops, training, support and advice on a range of technical skills that may be required for the design, development and delivery of mobile learning

If innovators and early adopters of mobile learning are seen as supported and rewarded for their efforts, it will provide a strong foundation for encouraging others to follow and try out new ways of delivering training using movile devices. Despite the prospect of an aging workforce, I think it’s vital that whoever wants to give mobile learning a go is supported in and guided to facilitate successful learning outcomes. We can then look forward to the prospect of other teachers becoming enthused about trying out new ways to enhance teaching and learning.

“there’s a strong possibility of older generations being left behind by younger ones who have grown up in a mobile world. Older learners, and indeed, teachers, need to reskill and adapt, or perish.”

My question in response to this is: how do we facilitate the continuous improvement and skills development of our teachers, especially as we must come to terms with the now real fact that we are an aging workforce?

In our work as professional (and staff) developers, we have some responsibility to project future needs and skill our teachers up to those needs. I like your observation that the digital divide is not restricted to the socioeconomic contexts of our learners. Along with the need to skill our teachers, is the need to develop teachers to the point where they are more than capable of developing ICT awareness in their learners. By this I mean that younger people who are tech-savvy, don’t necessarily display the same level of tech skills in a learning context – in fact, are they transfering their tech skills to their learning contexts?

Kathy Sierra of ‘Creating passionate users’ queries the integration of one’s knowledge and skills using a hierachy from data to wisdom. I ask, where do our educational institutions sit in facilitating the development of learners, using such a hierarchy? And, consequently, where do we see our learners (and thus our future) within such a hierarchy?

Good questions worth the effort of asking I think!

Marg )