Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks

Fischler College of Education: Faculty Articles Abraham S. Fischler College of Education

2014 Mobile integration: Shared experiences from three initiatives C. Lacey

G. Gunter

Jennifer Lyn Reeves Nova Southeastern University, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_facarticles Part of the Education Commons

NSUWorks Citation Lacey, C.; Gunter, G.; and Reeves, Jennifer Lyn, "Mobile technology integration: Shared experiences from three initiatives" (2014). Fischler College of Education: Faculty Articles. 155. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_facarticles/155

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fischler College of Education: Faculty Articles by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more , please contact [email protected]. Mobile Technology Integration Shared Experiences From Three Initiatives

Candace H. Lacey, Glenda A. Gunter, and Jennifer Reeves

INTRODUCTION their courses. They need to understand obile devices and tablets are how to develop and use an iCurriculum, M fundamentally changing the tailored specifically for digital learners, and way students of all ages collab- infused with mobile and skills orate, communicate, participate, and ulti- that students can immediately put into mately learn. In order to attract highly practice (21st Century Learning Solutions, qualified students, colleges and universi- 2013). ties must offer a curriculum that is engag- This article offers an overview of the ing and sustained by the latest process involved in envisioning, develop- technological advancements. To facilitate ing, and integrating mobile technology the use of mobile devices and evolving cur- into the curriculum at two institutions of ricular needs, educators must learn how to higher education and a public charter integrate the newest tools and apps within school.

Candace H. Lacey, Glenda A. Gunter, Program Professor, Abraham S. Fischler School Associate Professor of of Education, 1750 NE 176th St., and eLearning, Department of Educational North Miami Beach, FL 33162. and Human Science, University of Central Telephone: (954) 262-8575. Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., E-mail: [email protected] Orlando, Florida 32816. E-mail: [email protected]

Volume 11, Issue 1 Distance Learning 1 LITERATURE REVIEW Hargis, Munns, and Kamali (2012), “In Tim Flood, former director of information order for new approaches, tools, resources, systems for the student affairs division at and environments to transform pedagogy Stanford University, captures the impact in ways that facilitate student-centered, mobile technology is having on higher engaged, meaningful learning, they must education: “'If you can’t carry it with you, be adopted, adapted, and infused in prac- why have it’? These are the consumers of tice by educational institutions” (p. 4). today’s education. Woe to the institution In a review of the research on student that does not heed this trend” (as cited in engagement, Prince (2004) reported that Raths, 2013, p. 5). He concludes with a student engagement was consistently cor- powerful question that all administrators related with increased learning outcomes. should ask themselves: “If I have a choice, Although little empirical evidence exists on will I choose to attend the college that mobile technologies and the effects on appears old and out of touch or one that engagement, a few studies (e.g., Chen, seems to get where I’m at?” (as cited in Lambert, & Guidry, 2010; Nelson Laird, & Raths, 2013, p. 6). Kuh, 2005) found student engagement Schrum and Glassett (2009) suggested increases with the effective use of educa- that information and communication tech- tional technology. Diemer, Fernandez, and nologies can play a central role in empow- Streepey (2012) specifically found a posi- ering students to demonstrate authentic, tive correlation between perceived meaningful learning. As part of the Apple engagement and perceived learning while Classrooms of Tomorrow study, Sandholtz, using iPads in the classroom. In addition, Ringstaff, and Dwyer (1997) developed a Diemer et al. also found students who five-tier model for technology integration: were uncomfortable using mobile technol- entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and ogies for learning at the beginning of the transformation. According to Cavanaugh, study reported interest in continuing to use iPads in the future, suggesting that although discomfort might initially be a barrier, it is one that can be easily over- come.

THE PROJECTS Experiences envisioning, developing, and integrating and technology within three projects informed the content of this article. The first project took place at Nova Southeastern University (NSU), a large, private, not-for-profit university in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The second proj- ect took place in a prekindergarten class at Big Pine Academy (BPA), a public preK-3 Jennifer Reeves, charter school in Big Pine Key, Florida and Program Professor, Abraham S. Fischler School the third project took place at the Univer- of Education, 1750 NE 167th St., sity of Central Florida (UCF), a large public North Miami Beach, FL 33162. institution of higher education in Orlando, Telephone: (850) 727-8994. Florida. E-mail: [email protected] The NSU and BPA initiatives stemmed from a brainstorming focus group with fac-

2 Distance Learning Volume 11, Issue 1 ulty at NSU in the Spring of 2012. The pur- two iPad carts with 50 iPads, iPad apps, pose of the session was to envision the and other devices to be used as teaching future of education. One of the ideas that and learning tools for preservice and in- resulted from that focus group was giving service teachers. The other UCF initiative every faculty member and every incoming was to make sure the undergraduates in student an iPad, fully loaded with every- EME 2040 were also exposed to mobile thing needed to complete their program. devices by focusing on using the iPad for None of the colleges or schools at NSU had skill building in their area of certification. implemented this innovation. In trying to Because these are evolving projects, this establish a collaborative research agenda, article focuses on the early successes, mid- the researchers envisioned pilot studies course challenges, and future directions for using mobile technologies with two conve- these initiatives. These are important con- nience samples: NSU’s Athletic Adminis- siderations as these projects support the tration Master’s program, where one of the creation of a paradigm shift in the way researchers oversees the curriculum; and these projects were envisioned, designed, BPA’s Voluntary Prekindergarten program and implemented. where one of the researchers is a parent- volunteer. The third project took place as part of a THE PROJECTS: EARLY SUCCESSES teacher preparation program at UCF, the Looking back on evolution of the three second largest public institution of higher projects, it is clear that three constructs learning in the country. The UCF initiative framed the early successes: the evolution encompasses the Instructional/Educa- was serendipitous, the development was tional Technology programs, which collaborative, and the support was ongo- include master’s and certificate programs ing. in Education Technology and eLearning, and the state mandated undergraduate THE EVOLUTION WAS SERENDIPITOUS technology course, EME 2040—Funda- mentals of Educational Technology. The In October 2012 the researchers sched- course is offered in over 20 sections to uled a meeting with the dean of NSU’s approximately 800 students a year. It is a School of Education. The purpose of this certification class for teachers who desire meeting was to propose the Athletic to become highly skilled at successfully Administration Master’s iPad initiative. integrating technology into the K-12 curric- Serendipitously, just 1 hour prior to the ulum. meeting, NSU’s chief information officer During 2007, the Florida Legislature and the executive director of the Office of amended Florida Statutes implementing a Information Technology Innovation and technology fee of up to 5% to support the Collaboration came to the faculty meeting instructional technology implementation. to discuss recruitment and retention of stu- At UCF, faculty, student organizations, and dents. Their discussion focused on describ- administrative staff can apply for funds to ing today’s student as: someone who is assist with technology needs from this Stu- working on an iMac, surfing the web on an dent Tech Fee. A Tech Fee grant was writ- iPad, and communicating with an iPhone, ten and submitted by one of the all at the same time. They stressed that researchers to create a mobile learning ini- NSU must be ready to meet the educa- tiative for teachers in UCF’s College of tional needs of the digital generation. One Education (CED). The project was the first hour later the researchers presented their of its kind in the CED and was funded in proposal to the dean, who had attended 2012. This funding was used to purchase the presentation. He readily agreed to pur-

Volume 11, Issue 1 Distance Learning 3 chase 10 iPads for the researchers and pro- assignment serendipitously resulted in a gram faculty. The project would begin with new way of thinking about learning. iPad training focusing on identifying the In addition, when the in-service teach- resources needed to rewrite the curricu- ers went back to their home schools lum to integrate mobile technologies. spreading this new enthusiasm about iPad While volunteering with BPA’s Pre-K possibilities and teaching strategies, a rip- class, one of the researchers approached ple effect occurred: the teachers and school the principal and the Parent Teacher Orga- administrators began purchasing iPads for nization (PTO) about buying iPad minis for the classrooms. Several teachers even every classroom. By the end of the month, applied for and were awarded grants to 25 iPad minis were purchased for the char- purchase iPads for their classroom. ter school (2 for each of the 11 classrooms, and 3 for each of the ESE/Gifted/SLP teach- THE DEVELOPMENT ers). These were parents who recognized the importance of technology in their chil- WAS COLLABORATIVE dren’s future and were eager to fund the Because the curriculum for the Athletic project. Administration program is being rede- There were two serendipitous moments signed around the use of the iPad, the during the UCF initiative: integration proj- effort has been fully collaborative. The fac- ects and the ripple effect. Preservice teach- ulty are working with the researchers in ers in the state-mandated technology designing and writing their courses. A wiki course were exposed to mobile devices by has been established to support communi- focusing on using the iPad for skill build- cation and share information. The ing in their area of certification. For the researchers designed a series of predesign final course project, students can choose assignments that allow the faculty to any technology to integrate into their les- explore the devices through web quests son plan. However, it was unforeseen over and data collection. Everything is shared. that 50% of the preservice educators Training and information meetings are would choose to create their integration held using Blackboard Collaborate so lesson using the iPad. This was the first everyone is able to attend. time preservice teachers integrated mobile At BPA the PTO and the principal col- devices in an integration project. laborated to fund the initiative and the Similarly, all in-service teachers enrolled principal collaborated with the researchers in the Educational Technology master’s to ensure the most appropriate devices program at UCF are required to complete (i.e., iPad minis) were purchased. Since the subject specific curriculum integration iPad initiative is being implemented projects in their area of certification (e.g., schoolwide, all teachers are involved. The science, language arts, mathematics, etc.). researchers have collaborated on two train- In fall 2012, for the first time, in-service ings with the BPA teachers: an introduc- teachers were required to integrate iPads tory training and curriculum integration into their subject specific curriculum. In training. learning to use the technology each new After seeing the success of integrating demonstration of an app or a technique iPads into the curriculum in the instruc- flipped the “lifetime learner” switch tional technology programs, other faculty within the educators. Students gravitated in the CED at UCF have become interested to the touchscreens with the enthusiasm of in learning more about the iPad because digital natives and the experienced wis- they see its application to their own curric- dom of those always on the lookout for ular areas. Next year, one of the new ways to teach and learn. A course researcher’s focuses will be collaborating

4 Distance Learning Volume 11, Issue 1 with faculty in integrating the iPad using but also to bring a needed sense of practi- different instructional strategies across cality to teacher strategies. The activities CED programs at UCF. and discussion allowed these future and current educators to think not just in terms of technological capacities, but also possi- THE SUPPORT WAS ONGOING bilities. In other words, what can these The willingness of the dean of the devices do, what can they do for me as an School of Education to fund the NSU’s educator, and what can they do for my stu- Athletic Administration project was a testa- dents? This fall UCF will support the local ment to the level of support offered by the area schools by offering workshops on university. Additionally, the university mobile technology integration. offers the highly competitive President’s In looking back on these projects, it is Faculty Research and Development Grant impressive to see just how far each of them for innovative research. Once the pilot has come in less than a year. In addition to studies are completed, the researchers will enhancing the education of students from be able will be able to expand their initial Pre-K through master’s level, each of the data collection by applying for this grant. projects provided faculty and students At BPA, the principal is continuously with the opportunity to use the most cur- supportive and committed to making the rent mobile technology. The journey, how- initiative a success. The PTO was support- ever, had its challenges. ive with funding the initiative and the researchers are supporting the initiative by providing teacher training and an iCom- THE PROJECTS: munity where teachers can learn new MIDCOURSE CHALLENGES ideas and share their experiences. One of As with any initiative, each was confronted the researchers plans to provide parent with challenges that needed to be training sessions in the near future to sup- addressed. These challenges included port the use of iPads for education at start-up time, management responsibili- home. ties, security issues, participant account- Support is ongoing at UCF, through sev- ability, and resistance to change. None of eral different avenues. The CED is assisting these came as a surprise, but each posed in adding more tools and ways for faculty unique barriers to successful implementa- to check out and use the iPads. The educa- tion. tional technology faculty currently has 10 iPads dedicated to individual program areas. The vice provost for information START-UP TIME technologies and resources has provided Working through a university purchas- support by proposing that students, who ing office involves a tremendous amount become future school leaders, have no of paperwork and signatures. It took 4 restrictions on their training in using these months to receive the iPads purchased for devices; students are taught all functions the NSU Athletic Administration Project; and apps are added constantly and shared and even longer to receive the covers. during class. In others words, “just in time” Most of this was the result of the lengthy teaching and learning is taking place. approval processes. For BPA, time issues One of the researchers provided sup- presented themselves differently; it was port at UCF by teaching several workshops not the technology, but the teachers that for preservice and in-service educators. took time and nurturing. The researchers These workshops allowed not only the provided two half-days of training over opportunity to spark the fire of creativity, the course of 3 months and created an

Volume 11, Issue 1 Distance Learning 5 iCommunity (i.e., a wiki solely for the BPA ability issues facing the other two projects. teachers to learn, share, and integrate). Since grades are dependent on participa- However, only about 10% of teachers are tion in class activities, students are held truly integrating the iPads into the curricu- accountable. lum (as opposed to having them on a table for students to use at their leisure) and RESISTANCE TO CHANGE fewer are exploring the iCommunity. Finally, resistance to change (or perhaps fear of change) seems prevalent, even in a MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES society where mobile technology is perva- Management responsibilities were sive. The teachers at BPA are resistant to another area that posed challenges to all of change, the IT team at UCF is resistant to the initiatives. At UCF, the information let go, and the faculty at NSU are resistant technology and facilities administrative to moving forward. These are challenges team tries to micromanage the project’s 50 that must be overcome. iPads by locking them down; they want to be the sole managers of the devices, apps, and settings. Perhaps this is because the IT THE PROJECTS: MOVING FORWARD staff does not understand the iPad and the While not all projects might have the needed flexibility with this mobile device. opportunity to experience the early suc- The IT staff feels the iPad is difficult to cesses that supported the development manage and has concerns over security and implementation of these pilot projects, issues. In truth, these devices are not like a it is worth noting that many universities that presents various security and schools are anxious to adopt mobile issues due to viruses and software. The technology in their classrooms. Moving iPad, in fact, has fewer security issues than these initiatives to the next phases of most any other technological device. development, full implementation and Within the BPA and NSU initiatives, data collection involves incorporating les- there has been the opposite effect. Each sons learned from best practices. Some of teacher/faculty member manages and these lessons guided the early phases of maintains their device. This however, project development and some were resulted in the next barrier. learned during project implementation. For example, it is essential to “go slow to go PARTICIPANT ACCOUNTABILITY fast.” Before getting started, develop a At BPA there is a lack of accountability plan, with flexibility, for integrating mobile that is minimizing the potential of the ini- technologies into the curriculum. Plan for tiative. The principal, while supporting the extra time to order and receive the technol- initiative, had avoided setting minimum ogy and plan for a slow rollout; choose one accountability standards for use. At NSU, or two classrooms/programs for the initial the faculty teaching in the Athletic Admin- pilot study. istration program live all over the country, Training and support are critical. Incor- making accountability more challenging. porate ample training time. The first train- Initially all faculty were eager to receive a ing should consist of an introduction to the “free” iPad; however, not all have been par- digital learner and the mobile device of ticipating in each of the pilot study phases; choice. Suggest a few applications for and at least one faculty member has failed teachers to get comfortable with their to participate at all. devices and allow them time to “play” Working with classroom students has with them. After allowing time to get helped UCF avoid the participant account- familiar with the devices, offer a second

6 Distance Learning Volume 11, Issue 1 training on how to integrate the devices apps out fully before using them in class; into the classroom. Provide tools for suc- one of the researchers used an app with cess such as having the teachers create a the Pre-K class that made inappropriate presentation using Keynote to “teach” noises when the children answered incor- their colleagues multiple ways to integrate rectly (the app was tested prior to entering a designated app. Develop and introduce the class, but only correct answers were an iCommunity for stakeholders to seek chosen during testing). App evaluation and share information. If you have the rubrics are becoming popular as a way to staff, assign a technology mentor to the assess educational apps for their relevance teachers in the pilot study to assist them in and functionality (see http:// integrating mobile devices. At the end of learninginhand.com/blog/ways-to- the pilot study, have a debriefing meeting evaluate-educational-apps.html or http:// with the teachers involved to learn what www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/11/ was most effective. Then, slowly begin a-must-have-app-evaluation-rubric- expanding the initiative to other class- for.html for examples). rooms, grades, or programs using the orig- Another popular way to engage the dig- inal pilot teachers as mentors. ital learner is by designing curriculum that Administratively, one of the most offers the opportunity for flipping the important strategies is to determine how to classroom and utilizing teacher created be supportive and still hold participants materials. In the flipped classroom, teach- accountable. Depending on the group and ers provide out-of-class content (i.e., lec- the time, some options might include hav- tures or review materials) for students to ing them present a lesson plan at a staff watch or play at home and then use class meeting, requiring them to integrate the time for working through examples and devices a certain number of times each assisting struggling students. Teachers can week in their class or across all content create their own out-of-class content (e.g., areas, asking them to share favorite apps using screen capture software such as edu- and integration ideas on the iCommunity, creations to create a video or tutorial) or or having them develop out-of-class con- use existing tutorials (see Khan Academy tent or videos for students to view on their at khanacademy.org/ or search YouTube for own or with their parents. Even for admin- great examples). Additionally, teaching the istrators who generally trust teachers to production elements of the iPad using move forward on their own, having an iBook Author and iMovie are great ways to accountability plan is vital to the success of support curriculum design and implemen- any initiative. tation. Engaging the digital learner is also As these initiatives move forward, the important. The first step in engaging the barriers that impacted these projects must digital learner is choosing appropriate be addressed. Failure to plan for the applications. There are more than 1 million constraints posed by start-up time, man- apps in the App Store and specifically, over agement responsibility, participant 80,000 education and learning apps accountability, and resistance to change (Statista, 2013). There are many free apps will result in disappointing results. out there to use and try out, but be wary of the in-app purchases in many of these “free” apps. For purchasing iOS apps and CONCLUSION books in volume, consider The Apple Vol- Mobile technologies are not going away. If ume Purchase Program, which offers spe- teachers and administrators do not want to cial pricing on purchases of 20 or more be left behind, learning and supporting the apps (Apple in Education, 2013). Test the integration of mobile technologies into

Volume 11, Issue 1 Distance Learning 7 their curriculum is essential. The possibili- www.apple.com/education/volume- ties presented by this technology are limit- purchase-program/ less. Each new demonstration of app or Cavanaugh, C., Hargis, J., Munns, S., & Kamali, technique holds the potential to flip the T. (2012). iCelebrate teaching and learning: “lifetime learner” switch within all of us. Sharing the iPad experience. Journal of Teach- ing and Learning with Technology, 1(2), 1-12. However, the investment in time and Chen, P. S. D., Lambert, A. D., & Guidry, K. R. money for such initiatives can be exten- (2010). Engaging online learners: The impact sive. Currently, the research supporting of Web-based technology on college student such an investment is limited. Future engagement. & Education, 54(4), research needs to focus on providing 1222-1232. empirical evidence showcasing the effec- Diemer, T. T., Fernandez, E., & Streepey, J. W. tiveness of mobile technologies in educa- (2012). Student perceptions of classroom tion. engagement and learning using iPads. Jour- The researchers are currently working nal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, on three studies to provide empirical data: 1(2), 13-25. (a) a quasi-experimental design to deter- Nelson Laird, T. F., & Kuh, G. D. (2005). Student experiences with information technology mine whether iPads significantly improve and their relationship to other aspects of stu- Pre-K student achievement as measured dent engagement. Research in Higher Educa- by the Florida Voluntary Prekindergarten tion, 46(2), 211-233. Assessment; (b) an exploratory case study Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? A on teachers’ experiences integrating review of the research. Journal of Engineering mobile devices at a community charter Education, 93(3), 223-231. school; and (c) a concurrent, triangulation Raths, D. (2013, January 24). What’s hot? What’s mixed methods design to determine how not? 2013. Camps Technology (Digital edition, integrating digital devices into a master’s pp. 5-6). Retrieved from http:// program affects students’ engagement, sat- campustechnology.com/Articles/2013/01/24/ isfaction, knowledge and skills, and time Whats-Hot-Whats-Not-2013.aspx? Sandholtz, J., Ringstaff, C., & Dwyer, D. C. on task. Future research focusing on (1997). Teaching with technology: Creating stu- parental involvement is necessary so par- dent centered classrooms. New York, NY: ents can learn how to use mobile devices to Teachers College Press, Columbia University. enhance children’s learning at home (i.e., Schrum, L., & Glassett, K. (2009). Teacher beliefs supplement what they learn in school). and student achievement in technology-rich The future, as is the way with technol- classroom environments. International Jour- ogy, is bright and optimistically uncertain. nal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 5(2), As student enthusiasm, teacher ease of use 138-153. and comfort with integrating, and admin- Statista. (2013). Most popular Apple App Store cate- istrative support increase, the use of gories in January 2013. Retrieved from http:// mobile technologies like the iPad will tran- www.statista.com/statistics/166976/popular- categories-in-the-app-store/ scend novelty into the strata of essential tools. As for advancement of these proj- ects, focus will shift from building the plan to actually flying it.

REFERENCES 21st Century Learning Solutions. (2013). Design- ing instruction for a new generation. Retrieved from http://www.21cls.com/ Apple in Education. (2013). The Apple Volume Purchase Program. Retrieved from http://

8 Distance Learning Volume 11, Issue 1