Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Developers, Educators, and Learners - Hardcover

by Scott McQuiggan (Author), Jamie McQuiggan (Author), Jennifer Sabourin (Author)

Explore the game-changing technology that allows mobile learning to effectively reach K-12 students

Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Developers, Educators and Learners provides research-based foundations for developing, evaluating, and integrating effective mobile learning pedagogy. Twenty-first century students require twenty-first century technology, and mobile devices provide new and effective ways to educate children.

But with new technologies come new challenges--therefore, this handbook presents a comprehensive look at mobile learning by synthesizing relevant theories and drawing practical conclusions for developers, educators, and students.

Mobile devices--in ways that the laptop, the personal computer, and netbook computers have not--present the opportunity to make learning more engaging, interactive, and available in both traditional classroom settings and informal learning environments. From theory to practice, Mobile Learning explores how mobile devices are different than their technological predecessors, makes the case for developers, teachers, and parents to invest in the technology, and illustrates the many ways in which it is innovative, exciting, and effective in educating K-12 students.

• Explores how mobile devices can support the needs of students
• Provides examples, screenshots, graphics, and visualizations to enhance the material presented in the book
• Provides developers with the background necessary to create the apps their audience requires
• Presents the case for mobile learning in and out of classrooms as early as preschool
• Discusses how mobile learning enables better educational opportunities for the visually impaired, students with Autism, and adult learners.

If you're a school administrator, teacher, app developer, or parent, this topical book provides a theoretical, well-researched discussion of the pedagogical theory and mobile learning, as well as practical advice in setting up a mobile learning strategy.

Front Jacket

Digital learning has been slow to take off, in part because computers and smart phones lack features that can truly make technology-assisted learning engaging, interactive, and widely available. Tablets are poised to change all that. Their size, price, touch-based interfaces, and endless flexibility make them perfect for use in K-12 classrooms. However, the few educational apps developed to date have not taken full advantage of the tablet's educational potential. The reason for this has been a lack of communication and mutual understanding between K-12 teachers and mobile app developers. The authors of Mobile Learning have identified this critical gap and have written this book to bring teachers and developers together in conversation.

Teachers, education leaders, and developers alike need to get on the same page when it comes to the opportunities and challenges of educating students in a digital world. Dozens of interviews with in-service educators, along with decades of development experience and thorough academic research, form the basis for the ideas presented in Mobile Learning. Readers are introduced to the possibilities that mobile devices offer in both traditional and informal learning environments. The authors' rich discussion of how students learn creates a synoptic view of the contemporary educational landscape, allowing readers to orient themselves in ways that will be of the greatest benefit to today's students.

Without a clear definition of what makes a good mobile education app, we risk subjecting students to technology for technology's sake. Countless educators have already made this mistake, striving to bring mobile learning into the classroom without a clear sense of what makes mobile learning work. In this book, the authors--a team of educational software experts at SAS--develop a framework that will orient app development and provide teachers with a way to gauge whether current and future apps meet their students' needs.

Back Jacket

Digital learning has been slow to take off, in part because computers and smart phones lack features that can truly make technology-assisted learning engaging, interactive, and widely available. Tablets are poised to change all that. Their size, price, touch-based interfaces, and endless flexibility make them perfect for use in K-12 classrooms. However, the few educational apps developed to date have not taken full advantage of the tablet's educational potential. The reason for this has been a lack of communication and mutual understanding between K-12 teachers and mobile app developers. The authors of Mobile Learning have identified this critical gap and have written this book to bring teachers and developers together in conversation.

Teachers, education leaders, and developers alike need to get on the same page when it comes to the opportunities and challenges of educating students in a digital world. Dozens of interviews with -service educators, along with decades of development experience and thorough academic research, form the basis for the ideas presented in Mobile Learning. Readers are introduced to the possibilities that mobile devices offer in both traditional and informal learning environments. The authors' rich discussion of how students learn creates a synoptic view of the contemporary educational landscape, allowing readers to orient themselves in ways that will be of the greatest benefit to today's students.

Without a clear definition of what makes a good mobile education app, we risk subjecting students to technology for technology's sake. Countless educators have already made this mistake, striving to bring mobilelearning into the classroom without a clear sense of what makes mobile learning work.In this book, the authors-a team of educational software experts at SAS-develop a framework that will orient app development and provide teachers with a way to gauge whether current and future apps meet their students' needs.

Author Biography

SCOTT McQUIGGAN leads SAS Curriculum Pathways, an interdisciplinary team focused on the development of no-cost educational software. He developed his first app, SAS Flash Cards, in 2010.

LUCY KOSTURKO is a research scientist and curriculum specialist for SAS Curriculum Pathways. Kosturko's research interests include self-regulated learning and educational technologies.

JAMIE McQUIGGAN is a writer for SAS Institute Inc. She coauthored Implement, Improve and Expand your Statewide Longitudinal Data System: Creating a Culture of Data in Education.

JENNIFER SABOURIN is a research scientist and a software developer at SAS Institute Inc. Her research focuses on educational technologies and data analytics.