The 12 Apps of Christmas 2016 (Fun Free PD Starts Dec 1!)

Sign up Now to Take Part in This Award Winning Free Professional Development Opportunity

The third iteration of The 12 Apps of Christmas (#12appsDIT) will start on December 1^st and will run online for twelve consecutive weekdays. To register for this award winning free, open, short, online Continuing Professional Development course, visit the course website at https://the12appsofchristmas2016.wordpress.com/.

This year, the course is a collaborative effort. Educators from Ireland, UK and America have come together to produce 12 case studies, each one showcasing a different mobile app with descriptions of how they have integrated it into their own learning, teaching and assessment practices. It is hoped that reading and reflecting on these real stories will inspire participants to explore mobile apps that might be of interest to them and their students.

This course will be run by Dr Frances Boylan of the Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Ireland, with thanks to Trevor Boland for producing all of the artwork.

The aim of this short course is to:

1. Raise awareness amongst educators of the benefits mobile technologies and mobile apps present for learning, teaching and assessment in this connected mobile enabled world that we live in;
2. Upskill anyone interested in experiencing, exploring and learning more about integrating mobile learning technologies into their teaching, learning and assessment practices; and
3. Help connect like-minded individuals and provide them with an opportunity to expand their personal learning networks and start powerful conversations with others interested in this emerging field.

In 2014, 700 educators, learning technologists and librarians worldwide followed the course and were introduced to apps such as Aurasma, Explain Everything, Animoto, and Thinglink to name a few. Each app was evaluated in turn against the SAMR model of technology integration and explored in terms of its potential to enhance, modify, and redefine teaching, learning and/or assessment practices in the higher education context.  The course itself adhered to the social constructivist theory of learning, and the content presented each day was influenced heavily by the TPACK framework. The feedback from the course was very positive and comments such as the following were made:

“thank you for a great course, it was informative, practical and bite-sized, ideal for the busy lecturer!”

“I really enjoyed being involved in the course when I could take part. It was a really innovative idea and I enjoyed the pedagogical approach taken in suggesting how to integrate the apps into someone’s teaching and learning. Great achievement, well done…”

“Really enjoyed learning about the apps and reading about the examples to help me understand how we could put them into practice. Each section was short enough so you learnt enough but it didn’t take up too much time. This is actually the first free short course I have ever completed. Others are usually too demanding of your time…so you got this one just right. Thank you!”

The second iteration of the course in December 2015 was aimed primarily at students but supports for the educators were provided also. It focused on showcasing mobile apps that students could use to personalize their learning and included apps such as Office Lens, Trello, Pocket, RefMe and Cogi. Again, the course adhered to the social constructivist theory of learning. The feedback was excellent again and the course really seemed to have addressed a need. To qite some of the participants:

“Thank you for this excellent course and resource. I hope that the '12 Apps of Christmas' is continued next year and into the future. The area of mobile apps is continually evolving so this course has and will continue to be invaluable. It also encouraged me to make my first tweet!”

“The course is innovative, fun, exciting, timely and helpful. It encouraged me to be braver about recommending apps to colleagues (in the library) and students. Thanks for a great course.”

So, join us in December to explore twelve mobile apps and be inspired by what your peers are doing.

To register, visit https://the12appsofchristmas2016.wordpress.com/