Engaging learners - Use their mobile phone!

No, no…I’m not talking about mobile learning here but rather on using mobile phone in a classroom for interactive learning. First, let’s picture this scenario: You walk into the classroom with high spirit and full of enthusiasm, eager to start your lecture. As usual, you have prepared well in advance and you have visualised in your head how you would deliver the lecture. You start the lecture and after 10 or 15 minutes you pause and ask, "Does anybody have any questions?" More often than not, nobody raises a hand. “Hmm…sure everything clear?” (yeah…nodding…). If you ask a specific question, “Can anyone give one example of shear-thinning food?", perhaps only one or two students would willingly respond (in most cases, the same student every time). This scenario is quite common in most traditional “passive” classrooms and it can be very discouraging even for enthusiastic teachers. Obviously, merely asking questions and pausing for students to think is insufficient – it hardly engages the students and makes them an active participant in the learning process. It is likely that you end up giving the answer for your own question! Read more...