Course Description
Examining the underlying concepts driving the adoption of mobile and gaming technologies in education, this course will investigate potential devices/apps/games, issues (e.g., supporting infrastructure, management, digital divide), resources selection, integration in curriculum, and potential venues for creating mobile and/or gaming content for educational use.
Course Learning Outcomes
- Critically assess and evaluate resources for best practice in mobile learning and gaming environments.
- Create assessment and evaluate methods/tools most suitable to the strengths and challenges of the specific environment.
- Integration of current cognitive learning and educational gaming theory and examination of current research around best and emerging practices.
- Develop practical and technical skills in all phases of concept, development, design, implementation, etc. within mobile learning and gaming environments.
- Develop skills to optimize learning experiences through personalization based on characteristics, needs, stages of development, current personalized learning mandates, and misconceptions
- Be familiar with common terms, definitions and elements related to mobile learning and gaming environments
- Demonstrate basic competency with design and implementation within a variety of mobile learning and gaming environments.
- Plan learning opportunities most suitable to the strengths and challenges of a variety of mobile learning and gaming environment
- Develop and design intentional learning activities suitable for the appropriate mobile learning and gaming environments and the learner.
Evidence of Learning #1: App Evaluation Rubric
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App Evaluation Rubric
Learning Outcomes Addressed:
There are an abundance of apps available for educational use, but as you shift through these apps it is clear that the quality of apps vary, and not all apps are truly educationally sound. While there are many different aspects to consider when choosing an educational app, it is valuable to have a tool that allows educators to assess the strengths and weaknesses in terms of learning outcomes, ease of use and navigation; level of engagement, etc. This task was a valuable learning tool as it forced me to critically evaluate the suitability of apps for educational settings; driving at my teaching philosophy and pedagogical teaching methods. This awareness of best practices is of prime importance in education, as we should not be selecting tools for the tool sake, but for educational sound principles--there must be educational value to using this tool/app with our students.
- To critically assess and evaluate resources for best practice in mobile learning and gaming environments.
- To create assessment and evaluate methods/tools most suitable to the strengths and challenges of the specific environment.
There are an abundance of apps available for educational use, but as you shift through these apps it is clear that the quality of apps vary, and not all apps are truly educationally sound. While there are many different aspects to consider when choosing an educational app, it is valuable to have a tool that allows educators to assess the strengths and weaknesses in terms of learning outcomes, ease of use and navigation; level of engagement, etc. This task was a valuable learning tool as it forced me to critically evaluate the suitability of apps for educational settings; driving at my teaching philosophy and pedagogical teaching methods. This awareness of best practices is of prime importance in education, as we should not be selecting tools for the tool sake, but for educational sound principles--there must be educational value to using this tool/app with our students.
Evidence of Learning #2: Application of the 4c's Lesson Plan
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Learning Outcomes Addressed:
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Lesson Plan with 4c's in mind
I tend to gravitate toward assignments that provide for practical, relevant and useful application to my current work as an [online] educator. In completing this task, I was able to implement my understanding and knowledge of mobile learning and apply it to a "real-world" situation: the Psychology 12 course I had been developing. I was to design three lessons or a module as a means of leveraging Quinn's (2011) 4Cs Framework of mobile learning (content, capture, compute, and communicate); considering that the 4Cs are specifically developed around the use of mobile devices and apps allow students complete certain tasks. Next, I was asked to reflect upon the implications for how mLearning is employed in the classroom.
I found that mLearning methods add another dimension of complexity to the teaching methodology, although as Quinn (2011) states, the components for effective learning are the same that , “…introducing the learning, presenting the application of those concepts within contexts, allowing the learner to practice the application in other contexts, and finally closing off the learning experience.” (Quinn, 2011). The tricky part was adapting the learning experience to fit the needs of the mobile device, which is primarily a cellphone. In this project, I chose the cellphone as the main tool for capturing “self” portraits, for engaging in content through the Weebly app, for communicating on discussion boards and finally for "computing," where students used a survey tool called Socrative, which works as a clicker device. This task provided me with elements of mLearning methodology that I am now able to apply to my teaching situation.
As an both an online and f2f educator, I want my students to be engaged, active and full participants in the learning experience. With mobile technologies students are able to fully participate with the content of my course, at anytime and anyplace, without the requirement of a computer; all that they need is a cellphone, which many students have at their disposal.
I found that mLearning methods add another dimension of complexity to the teaching methodology, although as Quinn (2011) states, the components for effective learning are the same that , “…introducing the learning, presenting the application of those concepts within contexts, allowing the learner to practice the application in other contexts, and finally closing off the learning experience.” (Quinn, 2011). The tricky part was adapting the learning experience to fit the needs of the mobile device, which is primarily a cellphone. In this project, I chose the cellphone as the main tool for capturing “self” portraits, for engaging in content through the Weebly app, for communicating on discussion boards and finally for "computing," where students used a survey tool called Socrative, which works as a clicker device. This task provided me with elements of mLearning methodology that I am now able to apply to my teaching situation.
As an both an online and f2f educator, I want my students to be engaged, active and full participants in the learning experience. With mobile technologies students are able to fully participate with the content of my course, at anytime and anyplace, without the requirement of a computer; all that they need is a cellphone, which many students have at their disposal.
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