Handheld Learning

Last week we had chidlren from a primary 6 class in to look at some handheld ways of learning. We decided to do a treasure hunt around the campus of the university and get teh children to collect clues to the next destination as they went. We asked the children to use the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad to take photos and videos during the treasure hunt. We then used this to get the children to create an iBook on teh iPad afterwards, telling the story of their hunt around the campus. This meant the children were using QR codes to look for clues around the campus and then using what they had found to create something on a handheld device.

Example of iBook Creator

I found this useful as it allowed me to see how motivated the children can become over learning. The group were very enthusiastic about the treasure hunt and every children tried their hardest to complete the task set. At the end of the input, we asked the children to feedback using PollEverywhere.com which enabled each child to feedback and gave us an overview of the success of the day. I thought this was useful for each child to have a handheld device and use this to self-assess their learning for the input.

My only concern about the task was the reality of this sort of lesson in classrooms over Scotland. I believe that it will be a while yet before handheld devices are available in all classrooms for every child to engage with. Also, technical difficulties made for some learning experiences. There were a few apps that would not download whilst I was working with a child and this meant time was wasted trying to sort this problem. Therefore, the iBook was not fully created. The children only had time to make about half of the book with their experience of the day.

I have taken some of the experiences of the children and put these into QR codes: