Grounded design is "the systematic implementation of processes and procedures that are rooted in established theory and research in human learning (Hannafin, Hannafin, Land, & Oliver, 1997, p.102)." Four conditions are basic to grounded design:
designs must be rooted in a defensible theoretical framework
methods must be consistent with the outcome of research conducted to test, validate, or extend the theories upon which they are based
designs must be generalizable to situations beyond the unique conditions in which they are being utilized
grounded designs and their frameworks must be validated iteratively through successive implementation
The popularity of mobile technologies among college students is increasing dramatically. Results from the ECAR research study on students suggest that many undergraduate students bring their own digital devices to college, favoring small and portable ones such as smartphones and tablets. 2 Although students still rate laptops (85 percent) as the most important devices to their academic success, the importance of mobile devices such as tablets (45 percent), smartphones (37 percent), and e-book readers (31 percent) is noticeably on the rise. Increasingly, students say they want the ability to access academic resources on their mobile devices.3 In fact, 67 percent of students' smartphones and tablets are reportedly being used for academic purposes, a rate that has nearly doubled in just one year.4
