Mobile Blog Project: uploads

 


A Selection of work uploaded by the students during our trip to the museum. Some of the students added more photos when they got home or in the following days before the presentation.

One of the groups did not upload any photos to facebook but instead uploaded a powerpoint presentation with photos in it - they then worked collaboratively through facebook to make changes to it.

 

Feedback:

Most of the students said they enjoyed the experience and found it easy to access facebook, their group, upload photos and share information. One of the groups did not upload any photos, instead deciding to work offline and then share online through facebook. 

Of the 12 students who took part, 10 said they found it very easy or easy to share information through facebook, partly as it is so familiar to them already.

10/12 said they preferred to work collaboratively using facebook rather than the LMS (currently Blackboard). Reasons included that it was easier to see when info had been updated in their group because they were often on facebook anyway; that the secret facebook groups were easier to use and more familiar.

11/12 said they enjoyed taking photos of interesting information in the museum and that they preferred this to making notes.

All the students said they found the mobile element 'fun' and some commented that it made the trip more interesting. Other positive comments included that fact that it was quicker to take photos than write/ copy notes and meant they could gather more information and sort through it later.

10/12 said it was easier for them to share their photos over facebook and prepare their presentation from home, rather than having to meet in person.

4 students commented that it was a good idea to use their facebook groups as a depository for information and that they deleted many photos from the group when they got home.

Some negative comments included:

• technical issues connecting to the WiFi at the museum
• Photos taking a long time to upload to facebook (from older phones mostly)
• Students wanted to 'check' their photos first before they uploaded them
• 2 students found that the cameras on their phones were not working;one had to share with a partner - they found it 'annoying' having to share a phone. The other used her iPad which the whole group then worked around, directing the photos together.
• Some groups did not communicate well and therefore ended up taking duplicate photos which they had to delete.
• One student found the photos he had taken of some text next to a photo had come out 'blurred' and therefore he couldn't read the information. He did manage to find the info online through a search but this could be a major problem.
• Interestingly, most of the student did not like presenting from facebook; they could not find the photos they wanted to show quickly and preferred to use powerpoint.

Asked if they would prefer to use mobile blogging or traditional note-taking next time, 8/12 said they would prefer mobile blogging, 2 said they would use a combination and 1 said she would prefer to just take notes but work within a group where the others were taking photos.

From a teacher's perspective, the project was easy to monitor and I didn't have to ask any group to get on with the project as they were all motivated in the museum and already knew how to upload their photos so they got on with the task straight away. This was easier than i had expected.

However, the set-up was a little tricky. One student did not friend me before we got to the museum so we ended up having to friend each other in the museum and I had to put her into a facebook group using my phone. Also, one group had trouble accessing the WiFi at the museum and so it was a bit stressful to get them all set-up and ready to start.

Following the museum trip, it was easy for me to see 'who was doing what' as I got constant updates through facebook anytime a student uploaded or changed content in their group. It gave me a good idea of their online contributions and I was able to prompt one group who had not started to compile their presentation a few days before the deadline.