Adopting Mobiles and Game- Base Learning in the classroom.

The use of mobile devices in education is today a key topic that tends to change the way students are learning nowadays.  The use of ipads, palms, kindles, cellphone, smartphones in the classroom, has been throughly discussed in schools all around the planet. The questions wether they should be allowed in the classrooms has been an important topic in the last few years. Many schools argue that mobile devices can distract and disrupt students, and have prohibited their use on school grounds. However, it is a fact that today the number od students owning a mobile device is growing more and more every year, and the emphasis that new generations are giving to technology can not be ignored.


As it is stated in the NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K12 Edition mobiles are no longer devices used only to text messages or make phone calls, the possibility to access the Internet  from almost everywhere and their portability has turned them into an excellent and easy way to stay connected and to have access to all type of information all the time.  All this characteristics added to the fact that companies like Apple and Google have developed several educational apps that students can download them to their devices, has enriched the process of teaching and learning, and todays data has shown wonderful results when devices are included in the classroom as learning tools.


However, as teachers we cannot ignore the risks that can be involved when we decide to incorporate the use of mobile devices in our classrooms. Whenever technology is included, students and teachers have to be properly trained to face the possible consequences of an improper use of these devices. Facts like security is an importante issue to handle, together with other possible misuses of technology by students, such as cheating, bullying, threats, taking inappropriate pictures to name some.

On the other hand, Game-Based Learning has little by little gained territory in learning environments. The concept of games has changed drastically. Far aways are the days when games where poor on graphic design and short on pedagogical content. Today,  as it is stated in the NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K12 Edition games are seen as a solution to engage and motivate students, asses their knowledge,  improve their ability to solve real life problems,  develop their critical thinking and creative skills, collaborate with others and socialize. In other words, games have shown to be an excellent tool to improve the learning process in many and different ways. Today many schools are replacing textbooks with video games, and data shows that the learning outcomes have improved significantly. That should be, from my point of view, the future focus of education. 

An excellent way to engage students in their own learning process is by asking them to build and create their own games. Games in the form of apps are easy to access and have increased the use of mobile devices. Another interesting and successful form of gaming is through simulation based games where students are challenged to use their creativity and solving problems skills to face real life problems and issues.

Our big challenge today, is to have more companies making a mayor investment in educational games that could be applied in many and different learning contexts. Based on research and the experience that shows the effectiveness of games in the learning process, we can hardly wait to see this happen.