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How three theories have shaped distance learning over the years. Connectivist theory shows how learning is about forming connections with others through human and digital interaction. Developed in the digital age and assumes access to social networking technologies.

This is a March 2011 journal article that highlights the shifts in technology and theory for distance learning. First, there was the cognitive-behaviorist with it's focus on read, watch, and recall. As the web developed, we saw constructivism shift the teachers duties from content creator to a guide through the content as students synthesized. Connectivism promotes the teacher as a "co-traveler" helping students to explore, connect, and create.

This article presents a case to make mobile learning theory a subset or offshoot of connectivism. Mobile technologies have taken over classrooms and social situations and could carry their own theories of learning.

Article examines parents' attitudes towards mobile devices as learning tools.

The authors of the paper postulate that traditional learning theories do not adequately cover the use of mobile technologies, particularly phones in a learning context. This paper looks at a class of native Arabic speaking students learning English as a second language through the use of mobile phones and facebook. They conclude that in this context, connectivism fully accounts for the interactions that their students naturally gravitated towards when interacting in english thus furthering their study of interest.

In this Q&A podcast, I speak with Sarah Gilbert, who facilitates ATD's Essentials of Mobile Development Using Adobe Captivate® and Mobile Learning Certificate. Sarah Gilbert specializes in training strategy, design, and development at meLearning Solutions. In her PHII Academy director role at the Task Force for Global Health, she leads a team to create global solutions for public health informatics training challenges.

Mobile Learning Proves to Benefit At-Risk Students As we explore the potential of mobile learning, especially as it relates to reaching out to disenfranchised students, the most recent results from Project K-Nect seem that much more relevant.

Ideas of how to engage in mobile learning

The Mobile Learning infoKit is a developing resource from JISC infoNet launched at ALT-C 2011 alongside the new JISC publication Emerging Practice in a Digital Age

Video offers great description of the importance of PLN's and although there is a lot of discussion on ways to create a PLN, the importance of communication is highlighted as the key to a successful PLN.

This tutorial gives a step by step description of how to create your own PLN as a teacher. A 5 minute video provides the importance of creating a PLN and tools to use. There are various links on how to use social media to grow your PLN. Another list provides links to specific tools to use to help grow your PLN or join another PLN.

This resource does have some excellent resources. I look forward to exploring more of the how-to aspect in future modules.

This article provides an overview of connectivism and distinguishes between learning theory and instructional theory. It also introduces what it calls the three largest reservoirs of information including online classrooms, social networks, and virtual reality or simulated communities, along with mobile learning and looks for evidence of how they align with the theory of connectivism.

This article tracks current trends that are happening with mobile apps in education. Trends such as HTML5 adoption, analytics, multi-screen, bite-sized learning, and gamification are covered briefly, but this gives readers an idea of where mLearning is moving.

This article is a good resource for mobile apps that can be applied to many subjects and content areas. There are writing, collaboration, blogging, screen-capturing, and LMS integration apps that teachers can use for their classroom.

This article explore the problems and innovative solutions for ELLstudents.  

Informative blog about what is happening in the mobile learning community.

Set up quiz games that students can play using clickers or by texting their answer from a cell phone

This is an example of an instructional game type of software. This is a fun and entertaining educational game that students can play on their mobile device or tablet. Teachers can search for pre-made Kahoot games (in math) or make their own. Students are engaged and points add up to show a leader board and the score of each student to introduce some competition.

Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn - any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

This is the government's take on Communities of Practice, and I included it because like it or not, it impacts many of us on so many levels. The National Education Technology Plan asserts that we need PLC's, and if you have never read this document, it is worth the read. It definitely furthered my knowledge when I read it in EDTECH 501. The bottom line is that because so many students have access to mobile technology, they are able to be a part of social networks. The goal is to harness this power and cultivate collaboration and engaging learning experiences. Its premise is student-centered learning where students are able to make decisions and choices that form their own pathway to learning.

Thanks for including this document. I was impressed to see the progressive views outlined with many strong and important points for changing our education culture. One of the main areas included the need to leverage technology to empower students and shift learning responsibility from teacher to learners. In essence we want to strive to create master learners, where students understand how to evaluate and gain the information they need as life-long learners. The section "Measure what Matters" I especially applauded, as I feel our extreme emphasis on testing is misplaced if we don't make sure the tests and measures are appropriate for what students need to know to be life-long learners. Do standardized tests even have a section about locating information and assessing its validity? This report started out with a short list of recommendations that included, "Be clear in outcomes we seek". I think this is an important point as we strive to embrace and utilize the growing potential of connectivness.