Overcoming resistance to learners using mobile devices in class proved to be the
biggest hurdle. The use of smartphones in the classroom had to be approved by the
director of the school because learners are normally not allowed to bring any digital
devices whatsoever onto the campus. To help her colleagues and the management
of the school understand what they wanted to do, Karin and Çiğdem invited the
teachers in the English Department (plus the school administration) to a Pecha Kucha
presentation (i.e. 20 slides explained in 20 seconds) where they explained what they
wanted to do, why they wanted to do it, and how they planned to do it. They also
asked for help from their colleagues with the permissions required and helping them
develop an acceptable use policy. During this meeting, the school also decided to
produce a student checklist that would be consulted before publishing anything
online and an internet safety learning programme for the learners (Tıraşın, 2011).
Permission was given on the condition that all parents signed permission slips
agreeing to let their kids participate in the project, bring in their mobile devices,
post photos/video/text of themselves on the internet, as well as use Web 2.0 tools
and Facebook/YouTube whilst at school.
By presenting a very detailed plan for the project, and including the school in the
planning, they overcame initial resistance. It also helped that they had carefully
thought through and outlined objectives, had produced detailed lesson plans, and
specified the reasons why, and how, the use of mobile devices would benefit the
learning process.