“We put our focus on behavior as critical, and revised student behavior when dealing with mobile technology at the same time we revised our AUP,” said Miller. “We brought in all the districts as we revised, and, sure, there were still a couple that thought we should ban mobile tech, but the majority thought that the devices could expand learning.”
Miller explained that these types of meetings can help guide policy making at the local level, which is the state’s main function.
“From this AUP revision and other meetings, our state now has multiple one-to-one projects—some BYOD and some district-owned—and we made sure to focus on allowing all devices on the network, but also remaining CIPA compliant for student safety,” he said.
It’s important to allow districts to set their own policies, said Miller, with state policy used as a model.
Jon Bernstein, founder and president of the Bernstein Strategy Group, a lobbying and strategic services firm, said the eRate remains one of the keys to enabling mobile learning in the classroom.
“eRate provides the infrastructure, or the plumbing, for all mobile learning … but it’s running out of cash fast. We really need more money under the cap, which hasn’t changed in 14 years—or before the substantial boom of the wireless industry. We need a call to action,” he said.
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Bernstein also said the only way schools would meet the goal of having online assessments by 2014 would be to close all of the multiple digital divides (hardware, bandwidth, professional development, and so on)—and not just keep buying devices and hope for the best.
From a federal perspective, Richard Culatta, deputy director of the Office of Educational Technology for the U.S. Department of Education, said the federal government’s role is to help bring mobile learning initiatives to scale.
“Feds can help this mobile drive by looking at what strategies work and devising a way to drive these down. For example, as part of the Race to the Top initiative, we needed digital tools to help measure the effectiveness of some reform efforts. We … gathered together a number of companies to help develop these tools, and now everyone—not just those [states and schools that are] part of RTTT—can have access to these tools,” he said.
What’s here now
Moving on from broad policy recommendations, a panel discussion on “Planning for the Future of Mobile Learning” highlighted some resources that can help with mobile learning.
Daniel Torres Mancera, director general of CSEV (the Center for Higher Virtual Education), discussed the center’s mission to promote virtual learning. CSEV is in the process of developing massive open online courses, or MOOCs, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The center also has created a platform for app developers, as well as an Open Educational Resources platform.
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