Going Mobile with Nicky Hokly

Recently, we have been invited to attend a dissertation about a book called “Going Mobile”, delivered by the Director of Pedagogy, specialized in the area of online teacher training and online course design, Nicky Hockly. As advanced learners of the teacher training programme and owners of this blog, we couldn’t reject the invitation!

To understand what this talk meant to us, you should watch this video. In a nutshell, Nicky talks about Digital Immigrants, web 2.0 resources, keeping a regular blog and blended learning, among other points that we have been dealing with along this year. So, now that you have a clearer idea of why we instantly decided to go to the meeting, let’s focus on it.

As we have said, the meeting was about “Going Mobile”. Nicky started by asking us some questions regarding where we used our mobile phones, and made her point by saying that we never think of using it in educational contexts.

After that, she made us consider the pros and cons of using them, and made some useful and down-to-earth connections between different tasks and the SAMR model (see "Dispelling Myths" post).

Immediately the “hands on” section started which, of course, was what we enjoyed the most. She suggested very simple activities, such as looking up in the pictures gallery of our phones a list of pictures, and talk to our partner about them; or using new apps that work with geographical information. The good thing about the activities suggested was that all of them were easy to apply, and that she always suggested some alternatives to work with different groups according to their access to connectivity, inside or outside the school.

At the end of the meeting we all took a picture with her, she was very nice and put a big smile!

Can "teacher robots" replace human teachers?

Definitely NOT.

That would be the answer if we considered the article published by the BBC in commemoration of the teacher's day. Which factors do they take into account?

It is impossible to deny the impact that technology has on the educational field: test that are marked automatically, educational games, tutorial videos, are only some of the vast enumeration we can make. However, it is difficult to think about education without teachers.

The first factor introduced in the BBC's article is that "teachers can support students in ways that computers can't". These include how to understand, interpret and apply the amount of information available to fit their needs, as well as acting as guidance counselors.

Furthermore, and expanding on the idea of "guidance counselor", the article exposes that "face-to-face experiences convey linguistic and emotional complexity". We have all seen news of innovative robots that can imitate human facial expressions and tone of voice. Still, the feeling of empathy is so human that no robot could be programmed to "imitate". It is undeniable that great part of learner's success should be associated with teachers understanding of their needs and feeling of empathy.


Nevertheless, we can mix face-to-face education with online working so as to enhance learner's motivation and contribute to an updated form of education. This is generally called Blended Learning. 

What does Blended learning exactly is? It is a term used to describe the way e-learning is being combined with traditional classroom methods and independent study to create a new, hybrid teaching methodology (retrieved from https://www.mindflash.com/what-is-blended-learning).

Teachers that use this method assure that some of the benefits are:

• that students get individual instructions 
• that it is more engaging 
• that it is relevant for the 21th century 
• that expands learning beyond the classroom 
• that it optimize time 
• that personalize learning.

In order to use this method, teachers must decide on a platform to use with their students, and upload videos explaining the theory that is going to be dealt with the following lesson. Students, on their part, are expected to study before entering the classroom. What is more, teachers can make a test of the theory using the virtual classroom so as to have an overall view of how their learners have learned the theory, and what to focus on during the lesson. In this way, personalization and a more effective use of time in the classroom are guaranteed.

You may ask, "What is the difference with regular homework?" This question is asked in the video "Blended learning in 2minutes and 38 seconds", and a very funny answer is given:


"...imagine you have a pot of ice cream and some strawberries. Both of these things are really good on their own, but when you mix them together you get something even better [...] (Even more,) the online world is a lot more interesting and attractive than most textbooks"


Perhaps, the best way of understanding what the role of technology and teachers in education is, is by quoting a Greek historian, biographer and essayist, Plutarch, who said that "the mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled". We can add that with the resources available and the creativity of the teachers, we can found a lot of innovative ways of creating and maintaining motivation o "to kindle the fire", and that is what teaching is about.