Mobile learning

In their chapter 16 in the book Rethinking Pedagogy for the Digital Age (Ed. H. Beetham and R. Sharpe, New York: Routledge 2ed.) the authors A. Kukulska-Hulme and J. Traxler clarify how mobile learning differ from the regular education. They stress that the mobile learning 'will be more personal, situated, authentic or informal than would be possible by other available means'.
 
Design principles
The authors indicate that mobile learning should reflect that:
  1. 'Mobile technologies are ubiquitous, diverse, personal, social and changeable, not uniform, consistent, or institutional.
  2. Learners’ expectations about educational uses of mobile technologies may be coming from outside formal or institutional education, as part of experiences driven by curiosity, personal enquiry and individual recreation.'

They finish their chapter with a summary of the design principles which should be followed by the teacher designer.

Nine design principles of mobile learning

'They propose the following nine principles:

  1. Start with learners - recognize their diversity, agency and habits, including patterns of mobility and ubiquitous social interaction
  2. Design to meet learners on their terms, with their devices, in their spaces.
  3. Work with learners - seek opportunities for prototyping, participation and feedback.
  4. Look for added value, e.g. opportunities for contingent learning, situated learning, authentic learning, context-aware learning.
  5. Design for inclusion, enabling accessibility and greater access than may be possible using desktop computers.
  6. Recognize that learning activities designed by you are liable to be played out differently as learners engage with them outside the classroom.
  7. Be prepared to trial and discard activities more frequently as technologies evolve.
  8. Wait for the novelty to wear off before evaluating, and take account of lifestyle and environmental factors that may impact on mobile learning.'
They conclude with the remark: 'The design principles we have put forward recognize the centrality of learners with their personal technologies and preferences, alongside the unique nature and added value of mobile learning, and the idea that mobile learning is synonymous with unpredictability and constant change'.