Case Story: Como: mobiles + flickr = co-reflective practice

Summary	Supporting the embedding of mobile phones in a HE context
Group / workshop	Making stuff together	Status	seed
Project details...	The CoMo project focuses on how collaborative activities can be enhanced through the use of mobile phones and in what contexts this occurs. A 1-year London Knowledge Lab project, directed by Niall Winters, funded by the [Centre for Distance Education>http://www.cde.london.ac.uk]. The empirical work was undertaken at the Royal Veterinary College. http://comolearn.org/

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Situation

What was the setting in which this case study occurred?

The situation was a vet training hospital at the Royal Vet College. Students were engaged in practical work as part of their training on surgical rotations.

Task

What was the problem to be solved, or the intended effect?

The task for the students was to capture instances of practice on a mobile phone.

The images taken were then to be used in group discussion sessions with their tutor.

Actions

What was done to fulfil the task?

We started with a round of interviews and on-site observations or current practice. Based on these we developed several scenarios of using mobile phones to support co-reflective learning. We presented these scenarios to students and tutors, and adjusted them to reflect their feedback.

Morning rounds: “See how that bone is jutting out? I want you to keep track for swelling and discolouring.”	Student takes pictures throughout the day. Uploads them to blog. Tags them with: caseID, dog, fracture, swelling
Students uses a quiet moment to add details to the blog postings. At the same time uses these as a memory anchor for updating the case record.	Evening rounds: Student presents case progress using the blog posts and a projector. Group reviews the diagnosis and actions taken.

Students worked in groups of 4 or 5 and each was provided with a mobile phone. Students were given a short familiarisation session.
The photos collected were automatically uploaded to flickr from the mobile phone.

The photos mediated discussion with their tutors.

Results

What happened? Was is a success? What contributed to the outcomes?

• Temporal analysis: students documented case progress over time.

Tutors reported that the availability of images which bring the medical case into the seminar room shifted the tutorial conversation from abstract "textbook theory" to what they called "case presentation": how the particular condition presents itself in a particular case, how to analyse symptoms in real-world conditions and how to assess treatment. These are key skills which are often neglected due to the inabilty to have a concrete presence of the case in the seminar room.

Tutors also reported that observing students' pictures gave them a window on their thinking: what they noticed, where they assigned importance, etc.

Lessons Learned

What did you learn from the experience?

The immediacy of internet-connected mobile phones was found to be important to students. They could document their practice and in 1-click their photo was available to others.
Deep consideration need to be given to how any new technology, and any new practices derived from it fit in with the existing ecology of the HE institute.
The learning activities must be part of students’ everyday practice. In terms of deep embedding with the Institute, one tutor commented that it “needs to have critical mass”. 
Tutors used the website as a “window on where the students attention was” and felt that it “integrated very well”