Project summary
If ICT, and mobile devices in particular, are to have the impact on learning that is envisaged, there in an urgent need for educators across the educational spectrum to work more collaboratively to design and evaluate learning experiences for young people that exploit the transformational benefits of these technologies. Current practice with mobile technologies tends to replicate existing pedagogical practice and many valuable opportunities, especially to engage learners from diverse and marginalized backgrounds, are wasted. However, where mobile technologies are used in a transformative way there is compelling evidence of greater engagement from learners, more social inclusion, motivation and community involvement effectively transcending many of the boundaries and limitations of traditional schools and education. Therefore, this project advocates an innovative, developmental approach to widen the spread and reach of these isolated examples.
Since no single group of stakeholders is likely to be effective in tackling the problem described above, this project will develop a cross-sectoral and transnational partnership to challenge existing attitudes and practices. This involves teacher educators in universities working with the next generation of teachers, teachers and leaders in schools, and policy makers who can legislate for sustainable change at scale. The project aims to demonstrate how the professional profile of educators across this spectrum can be strenthened to ensure that learning is responsive to the benefits and opportunities afforded by mobile technologies. It seeks to define what transformational learning with mobile technologies looks like and to help stakeholders design and evaluate transformative mobile learning episodes using a bespoke mobile app, developed iteratively over three design cycles. Additionally, the app supports users in evaluating the impact of these transformational lessons, enabling teachers and their school leaders to make more informed judgments about how they invest and deploy these technologies in future.
The project includes the following activities:
Since no single group of stakeholders is likely to be effective in tackling the problem described above, this project will develop a cross-sectoral and transnational partnership to challenge existing attitudes and practices. This involves teacher educators in universities working with the next generation of teachers, teachers and leaders in schools, and policy makers who can legislate for sustainable change at scale. The project aims to demonstrate how the professional profile of educators across this spectrum can be strenthened to ensure that learning is responsive to the benefits and opportunities afforded by mobile technologies. It seeks to define what transformational learning with mobile technologies looks like and to help stakeholders design and evaluate transformative mobile learning episodes using a bespoke mobile app, developed iteratively over three design cycles. Additionally, the app supports users in evaluating the impact of these transformational lessons, enabling teachers and their school leaders to make more informed judgments about how they invest and deploy these technologies in future.
The project includes the following activities:
- The creation of a multi-purpose mobile app that will support educators and pre-service teachers in designing and evaluating creative and innovative learning episodes for their students. The project team uses a design-based research methodology to design and construct the app over three iterative cycles.
- A scoping report informing the app development, involving extensive consultation with experts in the field of mobile learning.
- Multimedia case studies on the use of the app in 24 partner schools.
- An online MOOC and various academic papers to disseminate the outputs and findings from the project with a wider audience.
