Mat622

To achieve the promise of mobile learning, we have to stop thinking about these powerful mobile multimedia devices as only consumption devices and get students using them as production devices.

Brain researchers have been telling educators for quite a while that engaging multiple senses helps students better learn material. Therefore, the excitement here is not so much about the portability or mobility of these teaching devices; instead, it is that these devices can both convey teaching material in more than two media (text and images) and be portable.

it is not enough to just give students PDFs of pages from an anatomy textbook. It's not even enough to allow them to take self-grading quizzes. We need to provide materials or applications that allow students to practice identifying parts of the body on their mobile multimedia devices before taking the high-stakes midterm or final exam.

It's one thing to learn about different architectural styles in a Western Civ or Construction textbook or lecture; it's another to apply what you've learned by going out into the community and taking pictures of buildings and then identifying the architectural influences. It's one thing to hear or read about the results of sociology studies about gender bias; it's another to go out, collect primary data, and immediately show, as well as discuss, the dynamically growing study results with the recently queried participant. In both cases the activity of capturing "raw" digital material can lead to further learning or assessment activities where students might develop multimedia projects.

access is not an excuse. Just as instructors will need to be creative in developing and assessing these mobile learning activities, instructors and institutions will need to help students be creative in finding access to different mobile multimedia production devices.

One of the easiest ways for individual instructors to address the access and support issues is to have students work in groups, share access to resources, and help one another figure out how to do it all. Bonus point: Employers want students who know how to work in groups. Getting students engaged in mobile learning projects might not only better facilitate learning, it might also have them learning about various 21st century literacies like group work, composing in multiple environments, and information literacy.

"What makes electronic books a potentially transformative technology is the new kinds of reading experiences that they make possible."