Introduction
This blog is intended to provide 'notes' for those attending workshops on Technology Enhanced Learning in the field. Created by me (Tim Harris, Staffordshire Uni) I hope others will also contribute, please feel free to make your own contributions.Background
I became interested in the possibilities of Technology Enhanced Learning in field work a few years ago through personal experiences of using my new smartphone to help me interact with places I was visiting during my own leisure time. I had also experimented with the the potential of 'palm pc' technology (remember them?) in field work in Iceland and the UK.
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Prof. Derek France (Chester Uni.)
demonstrating Ipad use in the field at the Preston Montford EFL showcase. |
Inspired by demonstrations at the 2013 event I decided to apply for a Vice-Chancellor's Small Research Grant to fund a project that is investigating the use of tablets in fieldwork, along with Professor Fiona Tweed and Dr. Caroline Sturdy-Colls, Staffordshire University colleagues with whom I have a history of collaboration in field work. We decided to purchase Android Tablets, since most presenters at the showcases so far had used Ipads, and it seemed that there might be potential to get around some of the problems apparent with using the Apple products. In addition, the fact that Android is a Google product and we had been using 'Google Maps' and 'Google Earth' in developing new teaching, we considered that Google-based tablets could offer a lot of potential. In arriving at this decision, I have to acknowledge Dr. Sarah Taylor of Keele University. She had presented her intention to explore the use of Ipads at the 2013 EFL showcase event in Betws-y-Coed, and directly inspired me to apply for the grant to investigate the use of Android tablets as something we could compare notes about. Sarah and I have stayed in touch and shared experiences, with a view to future publication on the effectiveness of both technologies.
Why Use Tablets and Ipads?
For a number of years colleagues and I in the Geography department have been using small, portable, digital video cameras, digital still cameras, mp3 voice recorders and hand-held GPS (Global Positioning Systems) units in field work. The advent of smart phones and tablets meant that all of these tools could be combined into a single portable device. In addition, tablets can be used to collect and store data in a variety of formats and the data can be easily shared (using cloud technology). The project is designed to see if the aspiration of using multiple tools on a single, portable device is both practical, and can enhance learning. For a more in-depth analysis on the use of the use of mobile technologies in field work see Welsh et al. (2013).
Practical Issues
Tablets and pads are expensive, especially if you wish to have a usable class set, and they are quite fragile. The fragility issue was raised by colleagues at the first EFL showcase, and a blog entry from 2012 discusses a solution. We went for Gumdrop Cases for our Samsung Tablets. They are a little expensive (at around £40), but they are a good investment.
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Only a few seconds after
this image was taken,
the student knocked the
tablet out of her right hand
and onto the hard, wet ground.
No damage was done.
|
The image shows a student carrying one of our tablets on a field trip to Cannock Chase who accidentally knocked the tablet out of her hand, sending it flying onto the ground. After a brief panic, the tablet was seen to be unharmed. As each tablet cost £400, the price of the protective cases has already justified itself!
Another important practical issue to consider is whether to use a fully mobile tablet. That is to say, one that can contain a sim, enabling wireless connection to the internet. In a location such as Cannock Chase, it is unlikely that there will be access to a wi-fi hotspot! This decision needs to be made prior to the purchase of a tablet, as not all tablets are sim-enabled, but the non-sim tablets are cheaper. We went for the sim-enabled devices, meaning that we can access the internet in the field. This is a really important consideration, as many apps (e.g. Google Maps) will not work without an internet connection. Of course, this also ramps up the costs. As we are not using these tablets for teaching in the field every day, the idea of a mobile contract is not really worthwhile, yet monthly pay-as-you-go deals for sim cards are also not cheap.
Our first experience of using the tablets was in Alderney, in the Channel islands. This was as part of a two week, research-led field course, led by Caroline Sturdy-Colls in 2014. We purchased sims in Alderney, at £10 each, but this gave us free phone calls and texts between tablets during the field course, and unlimited data downloading for a month. A bargain, especially as we could use the tablets as wi-fi hotspots and connect our PCs to the internet, too!
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| Staff and students using their tablets during an orientation exercise in Alderney, 2014. |
Unfortunately, we have not found such a good deal in the UK. Mobile phone companies do produce sims specifically for tablet use, but the cheapest you will find is around £5 for a month, and limited data quantities. As yet we have not exceeded data download limits, but these are early days!
Tablet Management
Mention of the sims leads me onto tablet management. At the first EFL showcase, Prof. Derek France told delegates how he had christened his Ipads that he lent out to students, and this had generated a useful sense of bonding between the students and the Ipads.
This seems a little strange, but it is our experience too. A strange anthropomorphisation effect takes hold, and the students become attached to 'their' machines, who have names! (The names are written on the front of the machines).
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| This student became very attached to 'Jenny Tablet'. |
The naming of the tablets was initially undertaken to enable the easier tracking of who was using which tablet. Names are easy to remember. A further unforeseen but useful consequence arose from 'naming'. The names have been written on each tablet and also entered into the stored tablet data. Using the identitites ('Jenny Tablet', 'Chris Tablet' etc.) it was then easier to set up accounts for the sim cards, and use of the names was also made in the 'contacts' app. Each tablet is a separate 'contact', but as a new user takes charge of the tablet, they take a 'selfie' and add it to the contact profile, making it easy to contact users in the field.
This enabled better co-ordination and supervision of groups, and enhances field safety.
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Messaging between tablets in Alderney was free, and a useful means of
contacting and organising groups billeted in different locations around
the island.
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Tablets also need to be managed in terms of maintaining their battery power, and ensuring that apps and operating systems are up-to-date. A tablet that has been left unpowered and unconnected to the internet for a few months or even weeks can take a very long time to set up to be usable. If you have not used the tablet for a while, do not expect to be able to simply turn it on and go. Updating a tablet can effectively render it unusable for some time as operating systems and apps are updated.
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| Cheap-and-cheerful charging station. |
Storing and charging tablets and Ipads is therefore an important consideration. Dr. Sarah Taylor discovered this when using her Ipads at Keele university (her blog outlines some of her problems). A solution I found for charging and managing our tablets was to use a dish drying rack. The particular one I have bought costs £2.50 (cf. the charging stations mentioned in Sarah's blog) from Dunelm stores (I have found this particular one nowhere else) and can fit a socket extension cable into the side compartment.
A final element of management involves the setting up and configuration of Google accounts. Whilst not a necessity, it is useful although there can be drawbacks. Unlike Ipads and Itunes, where each device has to be registered and have its own account, any number of tablets and computers can log into and use any number of Google accounts, once set up, if permissions are granted. There are a number of benefits to this. Once an
account is created, using Gmail, the Gmail address can be used to set up Google+ and Google drive accounts. A Google drive account comes with 15GB free cloud storage. The Google+ account comes with Google photos, and another free 15GB of storage for photos and video. This is a lot of useful free space. Under the auspices of the project so far, I have created a number of accounts (including the one under which this blog appears) that can be used to deliver teaching and learning materials for students, and allow the storage and sharing of data and images from fieldwork (see image, left). It is very easy to ensure that all tablets have the same apps from Playstore as the apps download record is stored under the name of the account, and is not related to the machine. Synchronisation of all tablets is therefore possible.
There is a downside. On the tablet, every single Google app has to be signed into using the same account, on every tablet. If this is not done, then when backing up to the cloud, images and data can be stored under a variety of different accounts, and it can become very confusing as to where a blog, or spreadsheet, or image has actually been saved. The tablet manager has to ensure that, for example, when switching from one field course to the next, each and every tablet that has photos stored locally has all those local files removed. If this is not done, when you switch from one account to another (and autobackup is on) every photo from every tablet will be backed up to the new account, filling up your Google drive/photo storage capacity, as well as cluttering up the facility with irrelevant files and photographs.
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A number of accounts
I have created.
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There is a downside. On the tablet, every single Google app has to be signed into using the same account, on every tablet. If this is not done, then when backing up to the cloud, images and data can be stored under a variety of different accounts, and it can become very confusing as to where a blog, or spreadsheet, or image has actually been saved. The tablet manager has to ensure that, for example, when switching from one field course to the next, each and every tablet that has photos stored locally has all those local files removed. If this is not done, when you switch from one account to another (and autobackup is on) every photo from every tablet will be backed up to the new account, filling up your Google drive/photo storage capacity, as well as cluttering up the facility with irrelevant files and photographs.
Using the Tablets in the Field
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| The Homescreen as I have set the tablets up. |
This is all about the apps. Once accounts are set up and the tablet is charged and updated, you are ready to go. In the image above you can see many of the generic Google apps that I have set up for general use. I have also included 'dropbox', but more of that later.
In the field work I have been involved in, using the camera to take both stills and video is very important, particularly as the images can be set to be automatically 'geotagged'. A geo-tagged photo has locational information embedded in the file meta-data. A whole set of images can then be embedded into a Google Earth map, or just Google Maps. With the addition of text icons, a lot of information about individual sites can be stored and retrieved.
The ability to access locally stored files is important, but perhaps of greater importance is the ability to access data stored on the cloud. In this respect Google Drive is very useful. Data stored on Google Drive can be downloaded to a local machine, but for the educator files only need to be created once, meaning that important information for students can be communicated effectively. Communication with students is enhanced by using the phone and messaging apps. Using the contacts app is also an important element, enabling contact with students that are remote from you.
In the field work I have been involved in, using the camera to take both stills and video is very important, particularly as the images can be set to be automatically 'geotagged'. A geo-tagged photo has locational information embedded in the file meta-data. A whole set of images can then be embedded into a Google Earth map, or just Google Maps. With the addition of text icons, a lot of information about individual sites can be stored and retrieved.
The ability to access locally stored files is important, but perhaps of greater importance is the ability to access data stored on the cloud. In this respect Google Drive is very useful. Data stored on Google Drive can be downloaded to a local machine, but for the educator files only need to be created once, meaning that important information for students can be communicated effectively. Communication with students is enhanced by using the phone and messaging apps. Using the contacts app is also an important element, enabling contact with students that are remote from you.
In the image above, you can see some of the items stored on Google Drive for the Alderney field course. There are folders containing health and safety documentation, folders storing data collected in the field by students, and folders containing articles and literature to assist the students with their learning. There are also more specific files relating to specific tasks for the students, details of assessment tasks and even a spreadsheet detailing daily events and activities.
Using Specific Apps to Engage in Learning
The image below is of another screen that contains some more specific apps.
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| Some of the more regularly used apps. |
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| Screen shot of 'First Steps' walk. |
One example of this is the 'First Steps' task which is set for level 4 Geography students during welcome week. A map of the area around the university has a specific route, and at particular locations the icons on the map can be tapped to reveal particular questions for the students to investigate. The students are also are asked to photograph the locations, and write a short commentary on each of the locations visited. This written piece of work is used to introduce the students to loading their work up to Blackboard (the University VLE) during their first week of study. This helps the students learn about the assessment and feedback process and allows the teaching staff to gain first impressions of their tutees.
A similar exploratory walk has been created for students attending the Alderney field course in 2015, this enabled them to familiarise themselves with the island, and through the addition of different layers, interrogate certain archaeological information that had been made available to them through the My Map app. Students were asked to use the 'Blogger' app to record their thoughts and experiences as they explored the island.
Students who attended the North Wales Field course in April 2015 were given an extended version of this task. Route maps (on-line) of locations to be visited were made available, and tablets issued to groups of students. Students were asked 'blog', live about their experiences and to reflect and comment upon the places they were visiting. The intention was to enable staff to respond and interact with students as they explored locations. The final blog that they produced was formally assessed and contributed to the overall marks for the module. Although a bit hit and miss, the purpose of the blogs was to ensure that the students engaged with daily tasks, and if you wish to see what they did, here is one example of a blog from the field course. Students in Alderney in 2015 were also asked to blog, although it was not assessed, interestingly some students continued to blog for a number of days.
Specialised Apps
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| Original photo. |
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| Image converted to line drawing with 'Sketch Guru' and annotated with 'Skitch'. |
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Students used this image of a map
to accurately record the locations
of certain data points using 'Skitch'.
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There are some very useful and specific apps that can be used in the field. 'Skitch' is useful as it allows the user to add text and diagrams to photos taken with the tablet. 'Sketch Guru' allows the user to convert photos into line drawings.
The Met office app has obvious useful application for planning field work on any day. The iGeology apps, from the British Geological Survey are brilliant apps. iGeology 3D is an 'augmented reality' app that allows the user to view a landscape through the screen, and see the geology overlain on the landscape. The screen is interactive and allows the user to find out lots of information about the geology. 'My soils' is a similar app. Strike and Dip is a specialised app for geologists, enabling the recording and storing of strike and dip data, with a time stamp and gps location. Smart Measure and Smart Distance (the latter requires some calibration) can help determine the size and shape of objects, including the height of trees and buildings, for example. 'Map' uses GPS to enable the mapping of specific areas.
FieldTripGB
This interesting app was designed by a combination of Edina and JISC at Edinburgh University. It is a combination of a PC and mobile tablet/phone app. The tool allows you to create data collection forms, in a variety of formats. You can also download maps for use with the forms. You need to use their web-authoring tool to create your own custom form. The form is then stored in your own 'Dropbox' (I told you I would get back to this). For each of the Google accounts that I have created, I have also created a  |
A data capture form used on the
North Wales Field Course. You
can enter free text, select from
pull-down menus or use sliding
scales to enter data.
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We have used the app on both the North Wales field course and the Alderney field course, and it has enabled the rapid collection of masses of data in a uniform format.
Concluding Comments
Tablets seem to offer plenty of opportunity to enable students to effectively engage in learning opportunities away from the classroom. On a simple level, a tablet can provide a number of 'tools' within one piece of equipment (video, still photography, GPS, voice and data recording). The same applies to mobile smartphones as well but the tablet has the advantage of a larger screen without being significantly more inconvenient to carry. With some planning and thought tasks can be set to encourage students to investigate phenomena for themselves, using Google mapping tools, and blogger. However, planning and management is key, as is the need for the educator to be fully familiar with the limitations and quirks of working with apps. Apps are not programmes, and the functionality of a tool such as Google Maps, which incorporates Google My Maps on the PC, is not the same as is found with the mobile apps. There are ways of achieving objectives, but the educator needs run 'experimental' trials of tasks before they can expect to get the tasks right. Knowing in advance whether you will need mobile internet, for example, is critical. For example, unless an Ipad has a sim, the GPS is not functional (this was certainly the case for earlier Ipads).
This brings us onto other issues. Management of tablets as they update both their operating systems and the apps is critical, and very time consuming. At present, neither Apple nor Google have created a system whereby multiple machines (class sets) can be set up to be easily synchronised together, so each individual machine needs to be managed. This is particularly a problem with Google, as it stands. Users (students) need to be very aware that if machines have multiple accounts, then whenever they use a different app, they must be sure which account the Google apps are logged into. A surprising number of apps fall into this category. Using the camera, and having autobackup set on it, means that the images will be backed up to the automatic account. Blogger, My Maps, Skitch and Evernote are all Google apps and need to be managed the same way. If you add a Dropbox account, then you need to aware of the need to switch accounts on Dropbox, too.
Another issue with apps is updating and compatibility. For example, GeoSpike, a useful geoblogging app, was demonstrated at the 2013 EFL showcase. I used it on my Android mobile phone and thought it worth pursuing, but it was only when we had purchased the tablets that I discovered that there was no GeoSpike app for Android tablets. Bizarre. Apps can become outdated, withdrawn and unsupported. This can be a problem when operating systems are updated. Sarah Taylor (Keele Uni) developed a learning package based upon an Apple app called Hear and Near, but as the iOS has updated, the app has not been. She now cannot upgrade the iOS on her class set of Ipads for fear of not being able to use the Hear and Near app, which is no longer being developed and updated.
This is the big fear that many will have in relation to the use of Mobile Tablet PCs. They seem to be a good idea today. In 2010 Ipads were fairly new, Android Tablets hardly developed. In the following four years they have already undergone a lot of change. Will they become as obsolete as the Palm-top PC, Netbook and Clam Phone, just as quickly? For now, I think it is worth investing the time to develop opportunities for students to engage in learning using Tablets. In the near future I hope to investigate possibilities with colleagues.
I have worked with Geography students who have learned about landscape evaluation techniques, and increasingly important area for Geography graduates to exploit in the workplace. Combined with GIS, the technological approach to landscape evaluation is going to be an important skill. Caroline Sturdy-Colls has introduced Forensics students to techniques of archaeological recording using apps such as FieldTrip GB. In time I think that Forensics students can exploit the tablets to learn techniques of Crime Scene Investigation in a field setting, where the relatively inexpensive tablets can be substituted for more expensive equipment to learn the critical techniques and approaches. In ecology Sarah Taylor has already developed effective learning tools (see video below) and with her and other biological colleagues I hope to be able to develop further effective use of tablets, whilst remembering Prof. Brian Whalley's mantra that the use of technology in learning is driven by pedagogy, not the technology itself.
That said, combining learning with technology can help students to achieve the graduate attributes now championed at Universities. The adjacent diagram, created by Edinburgh University, illustrates the framework for Graduate Attributes, and is worth considering when asking whether to invest in using tablets to foster learning beyond the classroom. In particular, the need to encourage students not only to engage with the technology, but to assist educators in developing effective use of the technology, is vital. I leave it to you to consider.
This brings us onto other issues. Management of tablets as they update both their operating systems and the apps is critical, and very time consuming. At present, neither Apple nor Google have created a system whereby multiple machines (class sets) can be set up to be easily synchronised together, so each individual machine needs to be managed. This is particularly a problem with Google, as it stands. Users (students) need to be very aware that if machines have multiple accounts, then whenever they use a different app, they must be sure which account the Google apps are logged into. A surprising number of apps fall into this category. Using the camera, and having autobackup set on it, means that the images will be backed up to the automatic account. Blogger, My Maps, Skitch and Evernote are all Google apps and need to be managed the same way. If you add a Dropbox account, then you need to aware of the need to switch accounts on Dropbox, too.
Another issue with apps is updating and compatibility. For example, GeoSpike, a useful geoblogging app, was demonstrated at the 2013 EFL showcase. I used it on my Android mobile phone and thought it worth pursuing, but it was only when we had purchased the tablets that I discovered that there was no GeoSpike app for Android tablets. Bizarre. Apps can become outdated, withdrawn and unsupported. This can be a problem when operating systems are updated. Sarah Taylor (Keele Uni) developed a learning package based upon an Apple app called Hear and Near, but as the iOS has updated, the app has not been. She now cannot upgrade the iOS on her class set of Ipads for fear of not being able to use the Hear and Near app, which is no longer being developed and updated.
This is the big fear that many will have in relation to the use of Mobile Tablet PCs. They seem to be a good idea today. In 2010 Ipads were fairly new, Android Tablets hardly developed. In the following four years they have already undergone a lot of change. Will they become as obsolete as the Palm-top PC, Netbook and Clam Phone, just as quickly? For now, I think it is worth investing the time to develop opportunities for students to engage in learning using Tablets. In the near future I hope to investigate possibilities with colleagues.
I have worked with Geography students who have learned about landscape evaluation techniques, and increasingly important area for Geography graduates to exploit in the workplace. Combined with GIS, the technological approach to landscape evaluation is going to be an important skill. Caroline Sturdy-Colls has introduced Forensics students to techniques of archaeological recording using apps such as FieldTrip GB. In time I think that Forensics students can exploit the tablets to learn techniques of Crime Scene Investigation in a field setting, where the relatively inexpensive tablets can be substituted for more expensive equipment to learn the critical techniques and approaches. In ecology Sarah Taylor has already developed effective learning tools (see video below) and with her and other biological colleagues I hope to be able to develop further effective use of tablets, whilst remembering Prof. Brian Whalley's mantra that the use of technology in learning is driven by pedagogy, not the technology itself.
That said, combining learning with technology can help students to achieve the graduate attributes now championed at Universities. The adjacent diagram, created by Edinburgh University, illustrates the framework for Graduate Attributes, and is worth considering when asking whether to invest in using tablets to foster learning beyond the classroom. In particular, the need to encourage students not only to engage with the technology, but to assist educators in developing effective use of the technology, is vital. I leave it to you to consider.
