Marymount School NYC student using mobile technology in the classroom

In his book Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn, professor and author Larry D. Rosen states “iGeners are growing up with portable technology. But I look as the little ‘I’ as reflecting the individualized culture.” Portable technology can take on many forms in education, including a 1:1 laptop program or the integration of smartphones and other mobile technology into the curriculum. No longer are our students sitting behind a desk with an open textbook, reviewing the “end of the chapter problems” on stoichiometry. They are blogging, commenting, sharing; they are accessing multimedia, multitasking and evaluating. Whether they are commuting on the subway on the way to school; hanging out in social spaces within school or sitting on the bench at sports practices, how our students access, interpret and respond to knowledge is rapidly changing. And its changing at a rate at which educators often cannot keep up with.

At Marymount, we have taken several steps to integrate mobile technology into our curriculum. We also tip our hat to the Atlanta Girls’ School, whose nationally recognized technology program was the impetus for our foray into mobile technology. We developed our program, the Marymount Mobile Computing Initiative, through the lens of research on how girls learn. Cognizant of the 2009 UCLA study, which noted that girls’ school graduates have more confidence in mathematics and computer abilities, and further supported by the 2010 AAUW report, which suggested that there has been an increase in the number of women in STEM careers, we sought to create a program that would allow girls to interact in an environment of interconnectedness while using a wide range of instructional strategies. The goals of this initiative were also fully in line with the Marymount Model of STEM education: an interdisciplinary focus, supported by technology, pedagogically-sound resources, all under the umbrella of a real world context.

Phase I of the initiative focused on the integration of mobile technology in two Advanced Placement courses: French Language and Physics C: Mechanics. Students in each class were given an iPod Touch for use during the school year. In AP Physics C: Mechanics, the curriculum was supported by pedagogically-sound Apps from the iTunes Store. For example, the study of oscillations was enhanced by the MassSpring app, a basic physics lab in which a block is attached to an ideal spring; students could then investigate the influence of the mass of the block and the spring constant, for example, on simple harmonic motion. Using the Newton’s Cradle app, students could investigate Newton’s Third Law and Conservation of Momentum. These Apps were used to supplement the curriculum and did not replace the required lab activity. However, the students were able to complete the activities “anytime, anywhere.” Moreover, students were able to access a variety of physics-related podcasts found on iTunes as well as additional teacher-produced, interactive podcasts.

In AP French Language, students used Twitterific and TweetMike to further develop their speaking, listening and comprehension skills in the target language. For example, on a weekly basis, the teacher would “Tweet” the link to an article on French culture found in LeFigaro or Paris Match. Students would then read the article on their iPod Touch and, using TweetMike, produce an audio recording or “TweetCast” that included a response in the target language. Students were also able to Tweet their peers the links to any article, audio or video file as well as access current events and other content in French on through a variety of apps, including Radio24 and TV5.

The student response to the use of the iPod Touch in the classroom has been very positive. Students commented:

• I am a visual learner so being able to conduct basic demos of physics concepts made learning more dynamic and enhanced my basic understanding.
• I appreciated being able to access course material and podcasts at any time.
• All of the French radio apps allowed me to listen to French in real time. It definitely improved my listening comprehension and speaking
• The iPod Touch is a terrific way to learn a language!

Planning of phase II of the Mobile Computing Initiative, for 2010-2011, is currently underway. Students in AP Biology will receive an iPod Touch, which will allow them to access teacher-produced and student-produced course-related podcasts and vodcasts. Students in Atmospheric Science will use the iPod Touch to become “Mobile Meteorologists,” in which they will be able to access current weather information and numerical model data to remotely write and produce audio forecasts for the school community here in New York as well as for our sister school in Los Angeles.

Perhaps the biggest paradigm shift, though, in education is the introduction of the iPad. The iPad provides a new education platform for both teachers and students. While some may argue that the iPad allows for people to consume media and not create it, others contend that the iPad will further enhance and drive the interactive nature of education. Marymount faculty has already embraced the iPad as part of the faculty pilot program this spring.

In the fall of 2010, the iPad will be integrated into our curriculum in all divisions. This additional strand of the Mobile Computing Initiative comes after careful consideration and evaluation by the faculty. As Larry Cuban suggests, “One reason technology integration has historically failed in schools is because technology is initiated with a top-down approach, in which administration forces certain technologies on teachers, and teachers force these same technologies onto students.”

To support the integration of the iPad into the curriculum, Marymount faculty is being given the opportunity to be iPad Innovators this summer. Participating faculty will receive an iPad for the summer, with the overarching goal to redesign a course curriculum using Apps available for the iPad. So far, potential redesigns of Lower School Music, AP Statistics and Middle School Science have been proposed, among others.

The success of the Marymount Mobile Computing Initiative results from a thoughtful approach to technology integration and has given our students the opportunity for individualized, yet instructional avenues using portable technology.