REPORT 11:
Literature Review in Mobile
Technologies and Learning
A Report for Futurelab
Laura Naismith, Peter Lonsdale, Giasemi Vavoula, Mike Sharples,
University of Birmingham
The Futurelab reviews are designed to enable readers to identify rapidly the key issues raised in reports and also to explore the literature in depth.
The key findings and implications of the report are presented within the Executive
Summary. The main body of the review enables readers to explore in more detail
the background to these headline issues.
Acknowledgements
Claire O'Malley, University of Nottingham
Educational Technology Research Group, University of Birmingham
FOREWORD
Mobile technologies are a familiar part of
the lives of most teachers and students
in the UK today. We take it for granted
that we can talk to other people at any
time, from wherever we may be; we are
beginning to see it as normal that we can
access information, take photographs,
record our thoughts with one device, and
that we can share these with our friends,
colleagues or the wider world. Newer
developments in mobile phone technology
are also beginning to offer the potential
for rich multimedia experiences and for
location-specific resources.
The challenge for educators and
designers, however, is one of
understanding and exploring how best
we might use these resources to support
learning. That we need to do this is
clear – how much sense does it make
to continue to exclude from schools,
powerful technologies that are seen as
a normal part of everyday life? At the
present time, however, the models for
using and developing mobile applications
for learning are somewhat lacking. |
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This review provides a rich vision of
the current and potential future
developments in this area. It moves
away from the dominant view of mobile
learning as an isolated activity to explore
mobile learning as a rich, collaborative
and conversational experience, whether
in classrooms, homes or the streets of
a city. It asks how we might draw on
existing theories of learning to help us
evaluate the most relevant applications
of mobile technologies in education. It
describes outstanding projects currently
under development in the UK and around
the world and it explores what the future
might hold for learning with mobile
technologies.
We look forward to hearing your views
on this review and welcome comments
at research@futurelab.org.uk
Keri Facer
Director of Learning Research
Futurelab |
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CONTENTS:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION
SECTION 2
AN ACTIVITY-BASED
APPROACH TO CONSIDERING
LEARNING WITH
MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES
SECTION 3
TEACHING AND
LEARNING WITH MOBILE
TECHNOLOGIES –
CASE STUDIES
SECTION 4
IMPLICATIONS FOR
LEARNERS, TEACHERS
AND TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPERS
SECTION 5
THE FUTURE OF TEACHING
AND LEARNING WITH
MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX 1:
CHARACTERISTICS OF
MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES
APPENDIX 2:
MAJOR MOBILE LEARNING
RESEARCH PROJECTS |
FUTURELAB SERIES
