Descriptive Writing Mobile Activity

Grade Level: College Freshmen Subject: English Composition 90 or 101 (online) Prepared by: Brenda Volk Overview and Purpose: This lesson introduces students to the Blackboard Mobile App. Students will access and read an online lecture on their mobile device. They will test their knowledge with mobile-friendly activities embedded in the lesson and will complete an online activity and reflection. The purpose is dual: to introduce online students to the Blackboard Learn App and to bring that technology and the tool that goes along with it (the mobile phone) into their learning environment. Objectives: Specify skills/information that will be learned Locate and download the Blackboard Learning App Locate and review a course lecture on a cell phone Complete mobile-friendly activities in the course lecture Utilize the cell phones camera to photograph and upload an image to the class Demonstrate the skills in the lesson by completing a discussion activity Evaluate the pros and cons of mobile learning Materials Needed: A Smart Phone Internet Access on the Smart Phone (Students without a Smart Phone can complete the activity using a Tablet, or computer) Other Resources: The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing, 6th edition The Blackboard App Information: 1. Each week, students are provided with an overview of the weeks work. In this weeks overview, the activity will be previewed. 2. Students are provided information on the Blackboard App and instructions on how to download it on their Smart Phones. 3. Students are provided information regarding how to log in and access their class. 4. After logging in, students will access the current weeks material and this specific mlearning activity. 5. Students should read the lecture about descriptive writing on their cell phones and complete the graded mobile-friendly activities that are integrated within the lecture. Verification: Steps to check for student understanding

1.Students are encouraged to email if they need help, to visit virtual office hours, or
to post on a Help discussion board. 2.Students will respond to mobile-friendly questions in lecture.Upon doing so, these answers will be automatically transferred to the gradebook for assessment. 3.Students will post their images and paragraphs in the class discussion.These posts will give a clear sense if the student has understood the activity.

4.Students will post a second class discussion reflecting on m-learning.

Activity: 1. Read the lecture on Writing Low on the Scale of Abstraction and complete the graded embedded learning activities. 2. Next practice the skill of descriptive writing. Take your cell phone out for a walk--go on campus, to the library, down by the river or even to a room in your own home. 3. Use your cell phone to take a picture of a place you would like to describe. 4. Navigate to your classs discussion board on the Blackboard App. 5. Find the Two Scenes M-Learning Activity discussion. 6. Reply to the activity, creating a new thread. Put your name in the subject line. 7. Insert the picture of your scene into the message. 8. Using the descriptive writing tips in the Writing Low on the Scale of Abstraction lecture, describe the scene in two ways: 100-200 words in a way that is favorable, pleasant, or attractive. Then, 100-200 words in a way that makes the exact same scene seem the opposite: unfavorable, unpleasant, or unattractive. 9. Spell check and post your descriptions. 10. Next, locate the E-Learning Reflection discussion thread. 11. Respond to the thread by writing a 100-200 word analysis of your experience with mobile learning.Explain at least two pros and two cons and then give your overall assessment of this emerging technology. Will you use your cell phone to read future class lectures? Do you think the technology made this activity easier or more difficult? Explain. 12. Return to the E-Learning Reflection discussion and use your cell phone to respond to at least three of your classmates reflections. Where do you agree, disagree? What can you add or explain?