I am so excited to be presenting at Union University‘s 5th annual Educational Research Forum today.  My dear friend and colleague Dr. Anna Clifford invited me to submit some proposals to present.  Together with some current and former students, we’ll be presenting three sessions for the Ed:Forum.  The links and info for our sessions are below.

• Coming to Understand the Influences on and Artifacts of Learning
  Michael M. Grant, Ph.D. 

  Learning artifacts are tangible representations of an individual’s learning. However, they are limited in their ability to completely reflect all the learning by an individual. It is important to understand learning artifacts because learning and the products of learning are individualized for the learner and by the learner. By understanding the products of learning, as well as the developmental process of these products, there may be a more complete understanding of what has been learned by the individual. This manuscript attempts to understand the creation of learning artifacts, as well as the influences on learning artifacts. A model is proposed to understand how learning products are generated and an example case from our research is illustrated.

  >>> Download the paper.

• The Promise of Mobile Learning in Higher Education: Affordances, Implementations, & Challenges
  Michael M. Grant, Ph.D. & Joanne Gikas, Ed.D. 

  Mobile teaching and learning in higher education is approaching a tipping point. One of the most significant promises of mobile learning is the ability for faculty members, teachers, and students to use their own mobile computing devices. In the US, 75% of American teens have cell phones and almost 30% have smartphones with Internet capabilities. In universities, the numbers appear to be much higher. It seems instructionally sound and fiscally prudent for institutions and faculty members to leverage the existing devices in which students are most comfortable. The purpose of this paper is to (1) critically examine the definitions and affordances of mobile learning in higher education, (2) identify the ways mobile teaching and learning have been and could be accomplished in higher education, (3) identify the challenges to implementing mobile teaching and learning in higher education.

• Teaching with Web Tools: Characteristics, Implications, and Limitations
  Michael M. Grant, Ph.D. & Suha Tamim 

  Like the variety of Web 2.0 applications, theories of learning and instructional models are also primarily content independent. So it is left up to the teacher educator to match learner characteristics, content, pedagogy and technologies. This presentation will concentrate on the use of Web 2.0 technologies in contemporary constructivist and cognitivist learning environments. We will present the characteristics of Web 2.0 tools to support teaching and learning, including low threshold applications, a variety of tools and models, as well as access to tools and knowledge. Finally, we will identify the limitations and challenges that exist with using these tools, such as immature applications, longevity of applications, number of applications, unconsolidated services and security and ethics.

  >>> Download our paper.