Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Cell Phones in Learning Radio Show: Wed May 6th: Dr. Dick Ng'ambi from South Africa
Chat Transcript:
Liz Kolb:Welcome! We are speaking with Dr. Dick Ng'ambi tonight. HEre is the link to his information http://www.cet.uct.ac.za/DickNgambi
Liz Kolb:Dr. Ng'ambi is giving us background on how students in SA were afraid to speak up in class b/c of history of segregation in SA....thus wanted to create a space where learners could share annoymously
Liz Kolb:90% have cell phones
Liz Kolb:HI Peggy! Thanks for joining us
Jeff Stanzler:Hi, Peggy
Peggy_G:Hi Jeff and Liz
Liz Kolb:Sounds similiar to students' apprehensions in the US
Peggy_G:is he talking about university students or K-12 students?
Jeff Stanzler:university students, Peggy
Peggy_G:thanks
Peggy_G:that is an interesting way to get those notices--pulling vs pushing! makes so much sense
Jeff Stanzler:I agree...apt and vividly descriptive language
Liz Kolb:Love how the teachers are learning from the students via cell phones
Peggy_G:constructivism at its best :-)
Peggy_G:I've never heard anonymity stressed so much--very interesting perspective!
Jeff Stanzler:Peggy, I don't know how clear it was, but part of the issue was these students growing up in apartheid SA, came to lack confidence in their ability to participate, and to feel self-conscious.
Liz Kolb:HI John !
Peggy_G:thanks for that clarification
joevans:I'm late to the party. Hi Everyone!
Peggy_G:Hi Joe-great to see you
Liz Kolb:Dick is talking about how his students use text messaging to get over their political concerns of speaking up in class
Jeff Stanzler:It may be that these ideas have some applicability here, do you think?
Liz Kolb:Better late than never
Peggy_G:maybe??
joevans:You too Peggy. Very interesting presenter
Jeff Stanzler:Or that they speak to some concerns that might manifest themselves differently here, but would still be resonant.
Jeff Stanzler:Welcome, Joe
Peggy_G:typo--John! :-)
Jeff Stanzler:Sorry!!
joevans:Hi Jeff. It's John Evans - hn = joevans
Liz Kolb:Link to research paper of Dick's about his text messaging project http://74.125.93.104/search?q=cache:YmTV69ZfkWkJ:www.mlearn.org.za/CD/papers/Ngambi.pdf+%22Dick+Ng%27ambi%22+AND+%22FAQ%22+AND+%22phon
Jeff Stanzler:Sorry, John...thanks for the correction.
Peggy_G:I think teachers in the US are afraid of anonymity--control issues
Liz Kolb:Dick is also on Facebook
Liz Kolb:@Peggy I agree...we love our filters
Jeff Stanzler:Good point, Peggy.
joevans:Teachers everywhere I think fear anonymity as it may bring negative consequences
Peggy_G:knowledge respositories--interesting concept
Liz Kolb:We forget there could be some excellent benefits
Jeff Stanzler:I'm with you, John. Yet I do think that some of our students lack a sense of their ability to contribute. Maybe anonymity might be a bridge to some of these students...
Peggy_G:do students in South Africa take more responsibility for their own learning than those I've experienced in my university classes?
Liz Kolb:Good question Peggy we will have to get the answer later from Dick
Jeff Stanzler:Dick.Ngambi@uct.ac.za
Liz Kolb:Thanks everyone!
joevans:I agree Jeff.
Peggy_G:very informative conversation! Thanks!
joevans:Man that timer waits for no man!
Jeff Stanzler:Glad you liked it, Peggy. Thanks for listening everyone!
Jeff Stanzler::-)
Peggy_G:isn't that the truth?? :-)
Liz Kolb:I know, maybe we should extend to 45 min
joevans:How long does the chat stay open?
Liz Kolb:About 10 minutes after show
Jeff Stanzler:I don't know when they close it, John. I'll stick around.
Peggy_G:See you next time-thanks for a wonderful guest!
Jeff Stanzler:Sounds great, Peggy...thanks!
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Cell Phones in Learning by Liz Kolb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at cellphoneseinlearning.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://cellphonesinlearning.com.
2 comments:
I was fortunate to see cell phones in education in use while I was in South Africa this past summer for my job. My job was funded by USAID to create Textbooks and Learning Material in all 11 official languages for the children of South Africa in grades 4, 5, and 6. These books were written and created by teachers in rural villages for their learners in their home language. During the writing workshops, teachers would pull out their cell phones and call their elders to find out specific words in their home language. Many times we heard teachers say, "I am writing in a language I've never read a book in." Over 3 million books were later published and distributed to many rural village schools. I worked with two colleagues from the University of Limpopo (UL) and the University of Pretoria. I was amazed at the way these universities use cell phones for exams, and other course work. One professor in particular at the UL, Leketi Makalela, began using them with his annual storytelling event. The event began as a way to preserve the cultural stories that had been passed from generation to generation but had never been written or published. Truly amazing experience! This experience is the inspiration to the mLearning Initiative we are about to begin at UTSA. Thank you to those individuals in South Africa who have helped to provide real, rich and relevant examples of mLearning!
Thanks for sharing!
Lucretia M. Fraga
The University of Texas at San Antonio
I agree with this, I was amazed at the way these universities use cell phones for exams, and other course work. One professor in particular at the UL, Leketi Makalela, began using them with his annual storytelling event. The event began as a way to preserve the cultural stories that had been passed from generation to generation but had never been written or published. Truly amazing experience! This experience is the inspiration to the mLearning Initiative we are about to begin at UTSA. Thank you to those individuals in South Africa.
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