NUI Galway Conference on Mobile Technology in the Classroom

Mobile technologies are becoming a standard teaching tool in the classroom. However, as an ever-growing range of devices and apps come on stream, many teachers are struggling with a technological skills gap.

To help combat this gap, NUI Galway’s School of Education, will host the First International Conference on Mobile Technology in Initial Teacher Education (MiTE) on Friday and Saturday, 23 and 24 January, in the Galway Bay Hotel, Salthill.

The two-day conference will celebrate the possibilities and explore the challenges of integrating mobile technology in teacher education and provide a forum for practitioners to come together to benchmark and share best practice. Speakers include experts in the field of mobile technology including representatives from CalStateTEACH, California State University, Apple, Google and national and international education institutions.

Punya Mishra, Professor of Educational Technology and Director of the Master of Arts in Educational Technology programme at Michigan State University, observes that technologies become obsolete as quickly as they arrive. This rapid rate of change is a challenge for educators and leads to an increased pressure on teachers to learn new ways to incorporate technology into their teaching. Professor Mishra, an internationally renowned pioneer in the area, will give a keynote address at MiTE.

This conference is open to parents, teachers and students who are interested in seeing and hearing how mobile technologies, for example, smartphones/tablets, can contribute positively to the learning processes within our classrooms today.

To find out more see www.gratek.ie/mite2015.