In response to the growing use of mobile technology, CDL has several projects underway that focus on increasing mobile accessibility to our online courses. Discovering Math Across Generations, a course in which math partners work together on learning activities, utilizes available mobile math applications and podcasts to increase convenience and flexibility of course content delivery. In addition, revised activities will incorporate use of popular mobile devices, such as iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad and Androids.
Our new course, American Popular Music of the 20th Century (first offered this fall), will feature integrated mobile technology applications that allow students to access course content and participate in online discussions while on the go. The ability to instantly upload audio, video and images to the course will expand students’ learning environment and allow them to connect with their classmates from almost anywhere!
Other projects include exploring the potential benefits of e-readers, such as the Amazon Kindle, in literature studies. In particular, students could take advantage of pre-1923 titles, thousands of which are available in digital format from Project Gutenberg, Open Library and others.
But we understand mobile technology’s practical and logistical value as well, and consistently strive to make our adult students’ lives a little more manageable. Currently, those enrolled in GPS and the New Geography are able to access their course schedule via smart phone, to keep up with assignments and due dates.
The Mobile Learning Task Force, a collaborative committee with members from the CDL faculty, Curriculum & Instructional Group and the Office of Academic Technology. The committee will participate in a panel discussion at the 2011 Empire State All-College Conference (March 23-25) and the CDL Conference (April 29-30). Stay tuned!
From an introductory Algebra course, an activity based on the mathematics of weight loss encourages students to reflect on the relationships inherent in linear equations. As students gather and evaluate data from a given set, they are also asked to predict future values, observe potential erros, reflect on their results and consider how certain conditions can produce a different (and possibly unexpected) outcome. Students are also asked to synthesize their previous assumptions about the data with their newly acquired knowledge, which ultimately highlights one of the most important applications of mathematics: Creating models of real world processes and events. By asking students to think of mathematical models as general solutions to problems, the models can then be reused to solve any number of problems – even those outside the world of mathematics.