Text messages to help students study
by phone
The following article is for a project developed by Touchpoint for
AUT - see www.studytxt.com for
more information.
NZ
Herald - 15 May 2006
"Cd Hamlt's deth b dscrbd as 'poetic justis'?"
Students will get cellphone text messages delivering bite-sized
revision notes in a plan to teach them on their own terms in a
language they identify with.
In what is understood to be a world first, students at several
tertiary institutes have been piloting the programme.
And this week secondary school students at Trident High School
in Whakatane will test the project for NCEA English revision.
Instead of having their phones confiscated, year 10 and 11 students
will be able to text a number and receive a reply with notes on
Shakespeare in a matter of seconds.
Liz Stevenson, who is co-ordinating the project at Trident High,
said almost every student had a cellphone and the pilot was about
putting them in control of their education.
"It's not just what is in the message, but it is encouraging
students to own their learning and to learn in groups.
"The messages are not only chunks of Shakespeare, but hints on
learning with content focused toward the exams."
If successful, the school plans to extend the trial to maths,
social sciences and physical education.
Other companies and education institutions around the world have
developed methods of sending out texts reminding students to study
a certain subject, or giving them exam preparation tips.
But this is the first system where students can download a complete,
albeit condensed, revision package. The technology is much the
same as that used to download music, screen pictures, videos or
games.
Peter Mellow, senior lecturer at Auckland University of Technology,
came up with the idea after seeing his students throw their cardboard "flashcards" straight
in the bin. It wasn't "cool" to sit on the bus looking at flashcards,
but gazing at their phones was not a problem.
He said existing systems were "push" factors - unsolicited texts,
which could be regarded as spam. StudyTXT was the world's first "pull" system
in schooling, where the students actively sought the information.
"It's about getting the information to students on their terms
rather than trying to force them into accepting the way we want
to teach them," said Mr Mellow.
"It's a modern incarnation of flashcards that students can study
and review at any time in any place."
He developed StudyTXT and began running it for his first-year
AUT anatomy students at the end of last year. Now more than 700
students access study notes for 12 papers.
"We are finding between
30 and 40 per cent of students are using it. Obviously it's not
for everyone and some will always prefer traditional methods of
learning, but it's a significant portion."
It costs 50c to download a message and 30c for subsequent messages
in the same subject.
But the younger generation, who are always at the forefront of
the technological revolution, are already finding ways to stay
one step ahead.
"They are getting together in informal study groups,
downloading a few pages each, then texting them to each other on
free text weekends," said Mr Mellow.
"And that is also inadvertently helping. They are focusing on
study outside normal study time."
It is not the first time mobile
phone technology has been harnessed for education or use in schools.
A British mobile phone service has condensed the works of Shakespeare
into text language, while the Bible has also been translated to
text message form in Australia.
Some schools text students examination
times and study tips.
NZ
Herald - 15/05/2006
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